Becoming Countess Dumont Read online

  I erupt into a fit of giggles. “Gertrude? Are you mad? And why is it you see fit to name all of my freckles?”

  His teeth nibble on my ear, and I stifle a moan.

  “Because they’re all beautiful and have a life all they’re own. They should have names.”

  I smile at his words. We’re relaxing in the hot bath together, and the bubbles have long diminished. When his hand slides over my belly, I squirm as it begins teasing its way down south.

  “Mmm,” I whimper when his finger grazes over my clitoris.

  When his cock becomes stiff against my back, I suddenly want him very badly. However, I still need answers from him before I will allow myself to completely let go.

  “Alexander?” I ask as he begins massaging me in an achingly slow pattern between my legs.

  “Yes, beautiful?”

  “How come it took six months for you to see me?” Tears sting my eyes at my question, but it has often plagued me.

  “Come here,” he growls, halting his motion.

  After twisting in his arms, I straddle his hips and lower myself down onto his cock. But once we’re connected, neither of us moves. His dark eyebrows are narrowed as he studies my face.

  “My dear wife, you are sadly mistaken.”

  I scrunch my nose in confusion. While he took on many lovers—and I did too—I felt as if I had been just a neighbor to him who met him for dinner and nothing more. I could have died suddenly and he wouldn’t have taken notice.

  “You see, Edith, I always noticed you. Each morning, I knew you loved cinnamon and honey in your tea. I made sure to pay the inn tenfold to make sure those ingredients were always in stock and they weren’t to offer them to the other guests. Whenever I would catch scent of the enchanting combination, it meant you were near. I would inhale it and it filled my soul—with you.”

  He presses a kiss to my lips. “And when I’d see you bring a lover to your room, I would nearly go mad with confusion. Even though it was our agreement, it didn’t feel right. I despised every man that looked at you. But the ones that touched you—shared a bed with you—I wanted them gone. It didn’t make sense at the time but now I understand. You were mine and I didn’t want them to have you.”

  I frown. “I heard you with your own lovers. You didn’t seem at all distracted by the fact I had my own.”

  His palms grab my arse, and he begins urging me up and down his shaft. It’s easily drawing me away from our conversation, and the water splashes out of the tub and onto the floor.

  “You misunderstand, dear. I wished they were you. My cheeks endured their fair share of abuse when I insisted upon calling them by your name. I was maddened by the idea that you were next door with someone other than me.”

  I ponder his words and, for a moment, lose myself to the way he feels inside me, the water adding a beautiful element to our lovemaking.

  “I also,” he grumbles, “know that you hate venison. Your favorite vegetable is potatoes. And that, if someone were to bring you a dessert at this moment, you’d climb off me and choose it over me.”

  I giggle because it’s pretty much true. I love my sweet treats. Luckily for Alexander, he’s my most favorite sweet treat.

  I smile. “I never told you any of that.”

  He flashes me a sheepish grin. “I know, but I observed every detail that is you from the very first moment I saw you.”

  I ride him a little faster, and our conversation is lost to our moans and grunts. Once we’ve both come and I’ve curled myself against his chest, he speaks again while stroking my wet hair.

  “Darling, I know that, when you bathe alone, you sing a beautiful song I’ve never heard before, but it’s my favorite. And I know that, when you see an animal, your face lights up and your soul rejoices at the opportunity to connect with the creature. I also know that, when you have a bad dream, you pace around at night to soothe the unease in your mind. I know that, even though you agreed to forge forward with a seemingly wicked plan with me, there was a twinkle of hope in your eyes that matched mine—a twinkle that hoped we truly would find happiness in one another.”

  I close my eyes and let his words blanket me. When I didn’t think he was watching me, he was. It warms me to my core to know that his level of interest in me has always matched mine with him.

  His fingers trail down my back, and I shiver in his arms.

  “I know that you belong only with me, wife. I love only you, Edith.”

  “I love only you, Alexander,” I sigh, contented.

  “Father gifted me with a large sum of money last night,” he says quietly.

  I kiss his chest. “That’s nice.”

  He chuckles. “It was for us to build a home of our own.”

  Jerking back, I stare down at him. “What? I don’t want a home of our home. This is our home.”

  His hands slide into my hair, and he pulls me toward him. Then our lips meet for a chaste kiss before he speaks again.

  “My thoughts exactly, darling. I’m going to lend it to Alcott instead. This will always be our home. I want our children to grow up here and run wild in the same fields Alcott and I used to play in. We should grow old in this home—together.”

  The idea of growing old with this man fills me with joy.

  “Are you still going to make love to me when we’re wrinkly and old?” I laugh.

  His face spreads into a mischievous grin. “We’ll be the talk of the town because, beautiful, a day won’t go by when I won’t be inside you. Even when we’re old and grey. I hope you have thick skin, because we might become the joke everyone speaks of.”

  I feel him harden inside me again, so I begin riding him slowly. “We’re partners, Alexander. Remember? Now, get me out of this cold bath and fuck me, old man.”

  His hands pop me on the arse, and I cry out. Then he lifts us out of the cool water and climbs out of the tub. We don’t even make it out of the washroom before he has me smashed against the wall and he’s driving into me.

  “Will it always be like this?” I moan as he takes me.

  He grunts and nips the flesh of my neck near my ear. “No, Edith. It will only get better.”

  HER SCREAMING IS NEARLY MY undoing, and I almost break the goddamned door down to get to her. “Edith!” I growl as I fist the knob.

  “Son, let the doctors take care of her,” Father firmly instructs with a hand on my shoulder.

  But the problem is that they’re not taking care of her. Dr. Egnater has one foot in the grave, the old man, and he thinks he can help my wife.

  She screams out again and then begins loudly sobbing. I can’t handle it anymore. After bursting through the door, I push past the nurses and doctor to my wife’s bedside.

  “Alexander!” she cries out upon seeing me. Her normally put-together face is glistening with a sheen of sweat, and her hair is matted to her head.

  “Darling,” I murmur before I press a kiss to her chapped lips and take her hand with mine.

  “Sir, you should go,” the older nurse snaps. “You’re distracting her. We really need one more push and the baby will be out. Time is of the essence.”

  I ignore her and bring my lips to Edith’s ears. “Push, beautiful. I’m here. We’ll get this baby out together. I know you’re in agony, but you’ve waited so long for this baby. You can do it, my brave Edith.”

  As if my words ignite her internal fire, she clutches on to me fiercely and screams as she bears down, pushing with all of her might.

  “Ahhhh!”

  The moment she relaxes, I hear it.

  A tiny wail pierces the air, and I drag my gaze from my wife’s toward the little voice.

  “Earl, Countess,” Dr. Egnater says proudly, “congratulations. It’s a boy.”

  A boy.

  The nurse quickly wraps our child in a cloth and sets him on Edith’s stomach. She and I devour him with our eyes while he cries.

  “Oh, Alexander, he’s beautiful,” she chokes out through her tears.

  And he is b
eautiful.

  His crying stops when he hears her voice. I watch in awe when his eyes lock with mine. He regards me in the same way his mother did when we first met. With one look, he asks, Will you love me forever?

  I answer him aloud the same words I thought when I first saw his mother. “Forever. I’ll love you forever. You’re mine now.”

  “May we come in?”

  My eyes find Edith’s and she nods her head in agreement. Seconds later, Jasper ushers Elisabeth in on his arm.

  “We came as soon as we heard you had delivered him,” Elisabeth gushes as she breezes in and sits beside her sister. “Oh my, he’s absolutely perfect.”

  “Where’s Gus?” Edith asks about Jasper and Elisabeth’s baby boy that isn’t but a few months older. Elizabeth scoops Xander into her arms and presses a kiss on his forehead.

  Jasper chuckles while he stretches out on the sofa in our master bedroom. “Ma has him. One would think he were her own flesh and blood by the way she adores him.”

  I smile at his response. My mother was born to be a grandmother. I’ve already had to make her leave every evening since Xander was born so Edith could rest. Each time, Mother cries and tells me I’m a horrible man.

  But, every morning, she returns to our room tending to the boy so we can sleep in. I can’t say that I’m unhappy about the arrangement. Originally, I had worried I would lose time with my wife assuming the child would need her continuous attention. That was before I considered the mother of all hens that lives under our same roof and her obsessive need to assist us.

  “Gus is family. They’re cousins,” I tell him as I stand from the bed and walk over to him.

  Jasper sits up and rests his elbows on his knees, regarding me with furrowed brows. “You do know that these two are going to raise all kinds of hell when they get older being as that they’re both boys and close in age. Not to mention, they’re our offspring.”

  My mind briefly flits through times of when Jasper and I accidentally caught the woods on fire and got drunk on countless occasions from old whiskey found in Father’s cabinet. There were times when we stole fruit from our neighbor’s orchards because we were rebellious little bastards and even though we could afford the fruit, it was entertaining to act as if we couldn’t. We were harmless enough, I suppose.

  “They’ll manage, brother. We certainly did alright for ourselves,” I wink.

  We both regard our wives for a moment as they chat over whatever it is women chat over. Both of us are smiling when we turn back to look at one another.

  “What if you have a daughter?” Jasper muses with mischief in his eyes.

  An image of a small girl with Edith’s wide brown eyes and fierce personality seizes my heart. No girl should ever be allowed to do half the shit Jasper and I did. Especially no daughter of mine.

  “What if you have a daughter?” I challenge back.

  His face darkens. “I shall lock her away until her twenty-first birthday.”

  “Do you imprison all the females in your life?”

  He glances over at Elisabeth and nods as a wicked grin curls the corners of his lips up. “It would seem that way.”

  My mind is plagued with thoughts of what having a girl would do to my sanity. At one time, I imagined Edith and I having many children. Now, I’m afraid that we’ll have a mess of girls and I’ll end up going mad with worry in my attempt to protect them.

  “Dear God, I hope we don’t have any girls,” I groan, mostly to myself.

  Jasper stands and slaps me on the shoulder. “Don’t fret, Alexander. We’ll set to work at dawn on a tower with no windows or doors to house all of your daughters,” he chuckles.

  His words are in jest but I nod my agreement.

  I wave my hand toward the door and raise a brow at him. “Will you accompany me into town and we’ll fetch the supplies now?”

  He laughs. “Lead the way, brother.”

  The End.

  Becoming Mrs. Benedict

  Book Three

  Alcott

  ELLA MERRIWEATHER. THE INNOCENT BLONDE I never pursued because I actually respected the wishes of her older sister, Edith. Now, it’s too late. Somehow, I blame myself. For if I would have gone after the young woman who had somehow seized my heart with her shy glances and unusually wise, crystal-blue eyes, she would be safe.

  In my arms.

  When I met her, I assumed that my normal urge to conquer and fuck the woman would possess me.

  But with Ella? It did not.

  Instead, some other feeling overwhelmed me. The need to protect her. Even if that meant protecting her from the likes of men like myself.

  And now?

  At what cost?

  “Edith! Alexander!” I shout as I burst into their bedroom without warning.

  Edith’s eyes widen in surprise, and Xander is suckling on her tit. My nephew is perfect, and upon his birth a few months ago, something began to fester inside of me. I had a newfound desire to have a child of my own and soon. I’d need to find a wife first though.

  “Brother, what is it?” Alexander demands.

  My chest heaves because I’ve been traveling without stopping at an almost inhuman pace to get here to deliver the news.

  “It’s . . . It’s . . .” I pant out and then double over to attempt to catch my breath.

  “What?” they both exclaim in unison.

  “Ella. She was taken in the middle of the night. That is all of the information I have been given at the moment.” The second part is a lie to spare her feelings—the truth isn’t my place to tell her. I shall leave that to my brother when he discovers the news.

  Edith bursts into tears while Alexander curses. After stalking over to my brother’s wife, I lean forward and plant a kiss on the top of her head. Then I pull back and stare at her fiercely.

  “Don’t you worry, sugar. I’m going to get her back—for us.”

  And with that, I stalk out of the bedroom and begin making my journey back to London as fast as I possibly can. I’m going to go save my future.

  To be continued. . . .

  Thank you to my husband for doing that thing with your tongue (you know what thing)! Ha! You’ll always be my inspiration and my muse. Keep swatting my ass in the gym in front of everyone and I’ll keep having sexy material for my books. You rock my world, babe.

  I want to thank the beta readers on this book, whom are also my friends. Nikki McCrae, Wendy Colby, Dena Marie, Elizabeth Thiele, Lori Christensen, Michelle Ramirez, Shannon Martin, Amy Bosica, Sian Davies, Ella Stewart, Nikki Cole, Anne Jolin, Maggie Lugo, Kayla Stewart, Elizabeth Clinton, and Melody Dawn (I hope I didn’t forget anyone) you guys provided AMAZING feedback. You all gave me helpful ideas to make the story better and gave me incredible encouragement. I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions.

  A special thank you goes out to Ella Stewart and Dena Marie for pointing out some plot issues that I needed to work through. Even though it was difficult to go back and fix these areas, I trusted your words and took care of them! This book wouldn’t be what it was without your help. And thanks to both of you and Nikki McCrae for reading through it once more after the changes to make sure I covered everything that needed addressing. You all are too good to me!

  I’m especially thankful for the Breaking the Rules Babes. You ladies are amazing with your support and friendship. Each and every single one of you is amazingly supportive and caring.

  Mickey, my fabulous editor from I’m a Book Shark, thank you for always going with the flow with each and every one of my books. It is nice to know that you’ll be able to handle whatever it is I throw at you. Love ya!

  Thank you Stacey Blake for dealing with my blond problems like me forgetting when I’ve booked you and about a million other things (including my love for Beringer White Zin). You are patient and always take care of my book babies as if they are your own. I appreciate you immensely! Love you!

  Lastly but certainly not least of all, thank you to all of the wonderful read
ers out there that are willing to hear my story and enjoy my characters like I do. It means the world to me!

  I’m a thirty four year old self-proclaimed book nerd. Married to my husband for twelve years, we enjoy spending time with our two lovely children. Writing a fun hobby for me that has now turned into a livelihood over the past year. In the past, I’ve enjoyed the role as a reader. However, I have learned I absolutely love taking on the creative role as the writer. Something about determining how the story will play out intrigues me to no end.

  This writing experience has been a blast and I’ve met some really fabulous people along the way. I hope my readers enjoy reading my stories as much as I do writing them. I look forward to connecting with you all!

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