Bride Ball Page 13

  On some level, it stunned Darren that he’d proclaimed Kambry was not the exhibitionist of the two only to take her this way. One glance at her sprawled beneath him wiped his misgivings away. Already, he was aching for more.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Darren drove up into her, closing his mind to imagine Kambry in her place.

  “Oh, Darren,” she breathed.

  He captured her mouth, stilling her endless string of empty words, pressing her back into the wall over the bureau to minimize the chance she’d free herself before he was done. Marquita came at him hard, believing him impassioned for her.

  I should gag her, play at restraint games with her to quiet her.

  He winced at that uncharitable thought. How did I get myself into this mess? Darren knew his father would have “I told you so” on the tip of his tongue, if he knew Darren was considering gagging one of his two mistresses to climax for her. His father had been against this contract from the start.

  None of this is helping me finish. And he had to finish. If not, Marquita would make Darren’s life misery, insisting that equal time of him wasn’t equal time, if she didn’t have his fill.

  Worse, Kambry would take the brunt of her sister’s displeasure. Darren had come upon them unaware several times, catching snips of Marquita’s cruel humor and taunts that she would beat Kambry to the marriage bed. Had Kambry’s eyes not shown her misery, Darren might have believed it a game between them, but it wasn’t.

  The only way to keep the worst of Marquita shut was to give her a topping off on her days for it; that left Darren still trying to finish. The last thing he wanted was to start again. After one successful finish, he could legitimately beg off on a second.

  Kambry. Remember Kambry. Her slumberous brown eyes danced behind his closed eyelids. Her sounds echoed in his ears.

  His hips slowed automatically. Kambry deserved to be taken slower. She liked that...and so did he.

  Memories of her climaxing in various positions sent him over. Darren kept his eyes shut a moment longer, holding to the wisps of memory that would fade at—

  “That was sublime.”

  That simply, he was going flaccid. It was so bad, he was considering using an illegal aphrodisiac to get hard for her. The only things holding him back were the chance that he’d need to bed her more than once before it cleared his system...and the chance that he’d think he liked bedding Marquita in the drug’s grip.

  * * * *

  “I have a surprise for you,” Marquita called out.

  Darren didn’t turn to her, fisting his pen until his fingers ached. He bit back a sigh, his heart sinking in the knowledge that it was Marquita’s night. She was surely dressed in some sex-show piece, a costume that would be lost on him.

  I should dismiss her. He’d begged off two nights entirely before he decided that suffering Marquita to return to Kambry every other night was preferable to days upon days without the younger sister’s touch.

  Worse, the sight of Marquita, beautiful as he’d admit she was, barely stirred him. At least three times, he’d only managed to perform with Marquita by fantasizing Kambry in her place. Once, he’d resorted to gagging her.

  He didn’t have to look at her to know Marquita was pouting. The memory of that expression turned his stomach.

  It is definitely time to dissolve our contract. My father will be displeased, but it would be worth it.

  “Darren?”

  “Sorry. Lost in work. You were saying?” He turned to her, pasting on the same smile he used for state holidays.

  To his surprise, she was dressed for town and not for the bedroom. The reality was something of a relief.

  Be honest. It is the best news you’ve had all day. It was, which only reinforced that it was time to dismiss her.

  “Don’t you want to know?” She seemed irritated for some reason he couldn’t place a name to.

  “Know?” He searched his memories of the last few minutes. “Oh, you mentioned a surprise. Please do.” Goddess, please don’t let it be sexual. Not now.

  Her smile returned. “I’m pregnant.”

  A block of ice lodged in his stomach, and his mouth went dry in some emotion akin to panic.

  Pregnant. He couldn’t dismiss her. Goddess help him, if the child was male, he was stuck with marrying her. His head ached at the thought of enduring her moods and shrill voice for the next seventy years of his life.

  Unless the Goddess is kind and kills me in the next few decades. To escape Marquita, he might decide to kill himself.

  Why now? he raged silently. Why did she have to catch, when he’d worked himself up to correcting this misstep?

  Marquita planted her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing in fury. “Well, aren’t you happy?” she snapped.

  “Of course,” he managed in a voice that fell far short of sincere. “It’s just...as you said, a surprise.”

  There was no question that Marquita was unconvinced. “Well, then,” she stated. “I am fatigued.”

  Darren nodded dumbly. “You will likely be fatigued quite a bit.”

  Her smile returned but wanly. “Possibly. It isn’t uncommon.”

  Visions of Marquita playing at fatigue gave way to the realization that this could work to his advantage. She was pregnant. She would likely want to play up her frailty, which would mean she wouldn’t want Darren in her bed.

  His smile was wide and heartfelt. “By all means, rest. I’ll send an extra maid to you. You’ll need the help, I imagine.”

  Marquita sighed deeply. “My thanks, Darren. It is a help.” With that, she sauntered away.

  He stared at the work on his desk, calculating that there was nothing pressing. Semi-erect already, Darren took to his feet. There was nothing to stand between himself and Kambry.

  Except the possibility that Marquita carries a son. That thought sent a shudder of revulsion down his spine. His father was right. He never should have accepted this arrangement.

  * * * *

  Kambry looked up from the embroidery in her lap as the door eased open, praying it wasn’t Marquita again. She’d had more than enough of her sister’s gloating. This time, it would probably be a report of how overjoyed Darren was with the news that she carried.

  To her surprise, Darren ambled in. He pushed the door shut, then leaned against it, staring at her.

  Her heart pounded, and she had to force herself to breathe. Was he upset that she didn’t carry yet when Marquita had caught so quickly? Men could be incredibly obtuse about such things, disregarding cycles and fertile windows as completely irrelevant.

  Beside that, Marquita had been taking the drug to conceive. She’d had an unfair advantage in the race, though Darren didn’t know it.

  I knew it, and still I agreed to this! Why?

  But Kambry knew why she had. Something had passed between them at the Bride Ball, something she hungered for. Even life as his mistress was enough, if Darren was a part of it.

  The only nearly-intolerable part of the deal was Marquita. Could she accept being Darren’s mistress when Marquita was his wife?

  Only if she produces the heir first. She may carry a daughter instead of a son. No drug can promise a son.

  If there was such a drug, their mother would have given Marquita that. For that matter, it would have to be outlawed, because every wife and mistress would be taking it, in hopes of cementing their positions, unbalancing the population in the process.

  Then again... A shortage of women might force an improvement in their lot in life.

  The question remained. Could she accept being Darren’s mistress and Marquita his wife? It wasn’t that being a wife gave Marquita any more hold over Kambry than both of them being mistresses. Marquita could hardly treat her worse than she did now. But if Kambry was his wife, she could request Darren rein in an unruly or unpleasant mistress. A mistress couldn’t request the same of an unpleasant wife.

  “Kambry? Are you well?” His voice was laced in concern that warmed her heart.
<
br />   “I am,” she lied, her smile wavering somewhat. She wasn’t. There was an even chance Marquita carried a son. Can I accept being a mistress and Marquita wife? Should I leave for another position, if it comes to that?

  Darren appeared before her, taking the frame and needle from her hands. She met his eyes, drinking in the stark need in them.

  Yes, I will accept it, if it comes to that.

  The embroidery hit the dressing table surface, and Darren drew her to her feet, guiding her away from the furniture. She followed him, already aroused and wanting.

  The days he was bound to spend with Marquita were a torture. Kambry couldn’t touch him, could hardly bear to think of him touching her sister, couldn’t even imagine herself in Marquita’s place without the reality torturing her.

  She couldn’t spend time with him on Marquita’s days without her sister intruding and Kambry paying the price for it later. Spending time with him would have been enough for her. She felt she wilted on days she had no conversation with Darren.

  Today is Marquita’s day. How was it that Darren was here? Had Marquita refused him? She was pregnant, after all. She might have. If she’d turned him away, where Darren chose to take solace was none of Marquita’s concern.

  He circled her, coming to a halt at Kambry’s back. The sound of his shirt skating off and hitting the carpet made her heart pound.

  Darren’s chest pressed to her back through the silk gown she wore. His hand trailed from her cleavage to her woman’s curls, prompting a moan from her. Kambry reached back and fisted a hand in his hair, turning to offer her mouth.

  He didn’t take it. Darren’s breath raced over her cheek, teasing her. His fingers made circles, gathering her gown into his hand a turn at a time. When she was uncovered to mid-mound, his index finger eased down.

  She spread her legs for him, encouraging him in words her mouth and throat wouldn’t fully form. The first touch on her clit sent shards of color through her field of vision, and she choked out a cry of delight, her hand tightening on his hair.

  “You want to carry my heir,” he whispered.

  Kambry managed an affirmative response. She did want it, more than anything. If Marquita carried a daughter, and Kambry conceived his son, it would be a blessing. It was almost enough to make her forget what Marquita would do to her innocent child, if Darren dismissed her or she chose to end the contract.

  “Oh, yes...you will.” He nipped at her ear.

  The sound of his trousers opening made her breathing go ragged and her already heated core weep more fluids to ease his way. Darren urged her to the closer side of the mattress.

  “On the edge,” he grumbled.

  She complied, kneeling on the edge, bringing herself to a height that positioned her for his ease. Darren thrust up into her, crying out harshly. His finger continued its massage, driving her to the edges of reason.

  She didn’t want reason. Kambry didn’t want the reminder that even a son of her wouldn’t make her wife, if Marquita also carried one. She wanted this...the length of Darren bringing her bliss.

  His movements were smooth and sure, and she forced her hips up and down, meeting him fully. Darren’s free hand was everywhere, touching her, enflaming her.

  Her climax was blinding in its intensity, and she screamed his name. He came in a hot, hard explosion, caressing, battering, working her taut muscles looser.

  In a dizzying move, she was on her back on the mattress, her boneless fingers ripped from Darren’s hair. His body covered hers...then his mouth, a demanding kiss that stole her sanity and her breath. His cock breached her body again, launching her into another release and him into aftershocks with her.

  His hand cupped her face, and the kiss gentled. He was abruptly the Darren she knew best...and loved, if she dared admit it. They could sit for hours, touching and kissing. It was a joy to have even that much of him. As if he agreed, his cock bucked within her.

  Kambry moaned against his tongue, wrapping her legs around his waist. Darren didn’t hurry away from her. He lay inside her, growing flaccid enough to slide free, then hard again against her swollen nether lips.

  The next time was all slow touching and peeling clothing, deep kisses and gasps of pleasure. In the aftermath, they slept soundly in each other’s arms.

  * * * *

  Darren smiled at the curls tickling his cheek. That prompted another decision, and he set about waking her.

  Kambry sighed at the first suckling motions against her nipple, coming awake slowly. She writhed against him, venting sweet sounds of arousal.

  He released her, levering himself up to take her mouth. “You’ll be sleeping in my bed tonight,” he informed her.

  Kambry laid another kiss on his cheek, rising against him.

  “I said—”

  “Yes,” she breathed. “Your bed.”

  “Do you mind it?”

  The shake of her head was punctuated by another teasing kiss to the edge of his mouth.

  “And if I asked you to stay longer than the night?” he persisted.

  She went still, her eyes sliding open.

  “Kambry?” he prompted her.

  “Marquita would never stand for it.”

  Anger spiked at that, and Kambry’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “I meant no—”

  “Marquita is my mistress, Kambry. If I choose to move you into my bedroom, it is no concern of hers nor a matter of law.”

  Horror dawned on her face. “I am your mistress, Darren. It may not be illegal for you to...to show a preference between mistresses, but...” She seemed to search for the proper words.

  He calmed himself. Women were notoriously uncharitable when they felt one had broken with their social hierarchy. “Then I will join you here,” he offered.

  Her brow creased. “Permanently? It’s unseemly for a lord to—”

  “When I wish. And when I wish you to grace my bed... Will you refuse me, Kambry?”

  “Never.” It came out more a gust of air than a proper reply.

  Mollified, he stroked a hand over her abdomen.

  “It is only a woman’s timing,” she offered sadly.

  He stared at her. “What is?”

  “The fact that I haven’t caught. I had passed my fertile cycle just before we reached your home.”

  Your home, as well. But mistresses weren’t considered “of the estate.” They were contracted employees of the lord who kept them. Darren traced swirls on her body, smiling at her beading nipples and gasp.

  “And Marquita was fertile soon after,” he guessed.

  Leave it to women to know themselves so intimately. Would that he would have known it, Darren might have had the advantage in stacking the cards in favor of Kambry as his wife. In his examination of his thoughts and feelings, he was certain he knew which sister he’d wanted as wife and which as mistress, even when he’d faced them at their home the day he’d offered the contract.

  She didn’t answer. Her face went crimson, and she avoided his eyes.

  Darren abandoned his play at her womb and turned her face back to his. “What is it?”

  She cleared her throat. “The...the fertility drug would have extended her fertile windows.”

  His blood ran cold. “What fertility drug?” No one had mentioned such interventions to him. Was Marquita infertile then? It could be a reason to invalidate the contract...if she didn’t already carry his heir.

  “She wanted to conceive the night of the Bride Ball. Obviously, it wasn’t that...effective. My...my mother wanted her to conceive, then...to Prince Edward, thinking that you were the prince, but... She gave Marquita the drug.”

  “Is she infertile?” Goddess but he hoped she was.

  Kambry shook her head. “Simply...” She bit back whatever epitaph she was about to use. “Simply driven to conceive quickly.”

  “And you? Are you also taking the drug?”

  He was torn. Part of him hoped she wasn’t, for several reasons. Darren didn’t trust the u
ncertain effects of such a drug on a healthy body and the babe it would create. And taking the drug would indicate a mercenary streak he never would have tacked Kambry with.

  Still, the drug would make her more fertile, increasing the chances that she’d catch close to her sister. If Kambry went early or Marquita late, Kambry could beat the shrew to the confinement bed. If the Goddess was kind, she’d confine with a son.

  She hesitated, shaking her head in seeming misery.

  “Do you not wish to conceive? Are you trying to prevent it?” If she was, had she any feelings for him? If securing her place as his wife was of no importance to her—

  “I do. By the Goddess, I do. I am not taking anything to prevent it. I swear it, Darren.” There was a note of panic in her tone that made him regret the accusation.

  He laid a soft kiss against her mouth, and her muscles relaxed. “If Marquita was taking the drug, why were you not?” He needed to know her mind.

  A wince marred her beauty for a moment. “Lady Reanne refused to advance my mother’s stipend to prepare for the Bride Ball.”

  “Why?” he interrupted her, interested in the politics of such a choice.

  “Mother refused to act as Amber’s escort. If Mother wouldn’t do that one little thing for Lady Reanne, the lady would make Mother’s job of preparing us that much harder.”

  His mind spun at the simple elegance of the exchange. Women were crafty when set to a task. “And if she would have had the money to supply you both?”

  Kambry didn’t answer him.

  “If she—”

  “Had I known you... Goddess, I would have taken it in an instant.” She glanced at him, then away. “It sounds horrid, I’m certain.”

  “No. No, it doesn’t.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Why do you still share his bed?”

  Marquita sneered, making an ugly mask of her lovely features. No matter how many times Mother had warned her that such exploits would cause wrinkles, Marquita ignored her. The one time her older sister had dared suggest she would find a man willing to pay her surgical upkeeps, she’d gone two days under ice packs to reduce the swelling to her cheek from Mother’s hand. Mother, predictably, had told the neighbors that Marquita suffered a summer cold.