Till Dawn with the Devil by Alexandra Hawkins

Author:Alexandra Hawkins [Hawkins, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9780312381257
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Published: 2010-08-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“My friends, my lady and I bid you a good night!”

With his friends goading him, Reign swept Sophia into his arms and tossed her over his shoulder.“Reign!” she shrieked in protest.

“Five hours married, and already sounding like a shrew,” Reign said mournfully, giving her bottom a playful smack. He strode out of the drawing room, across the hall, and toward the center staircase.

It was not surprising that the drunken merrymakers followed them into the hall. Sophia caught glimpses of white and peach, and assumed that Fanny and Juliana had joined the men.

“This is highly improper, my lord!” she said, burrowing her face into his back.

Reign realized her intentions when she nipped his skin with her teeth. The high ceilings echoed with his friends’ cheers and his own laughter. His insides were warmed by the brandy he had imbibed, and the notion that the lady dangling over his shoulder belonged to him.

He affectionately rubbed her backside. “Behave yourself, Lady Rainecourt, or we will be spending our wedding night under the watchful eye of a surgeon because one of us is bound to crack our heads.”

“Ho-ho. If you want an audience, Frost and I will volunteer!” Vane shouted as he raised his glass in their honor. “We are not squeamish.”

A disagreeable noise rumbled in Frost’s throat. “Speak for yourself. I, for one, have no desire to see Reign’s hairy, bare arse!”

“The feeling is mutual, Frost,” Reign called out over his shoulder.

“I say, another toast . . . to Lady Rainecourt’s lovely ankles,” Saint declared, beckoning everyone to raise their glasses.

“To Lady Rainecourt’s ankles!” Dare seconded, and everyone, including the ladies, echoed the toast to his countess’s perfect ankles.

“Good heavens, Reign,” Sophia said, her embarrassment increasing with each toast. “First my lips, now my ankles . . . I am showing an indecent amount of leg if your friends are commenting on my ankles.”

His sheltered bride was unused to the frank appreciation of his friends, and he found her innocence charming. “My friends mean no disrespect. And truthfully, you do have very lovely ankles, my dear.”

“Oh, you are all impossible!” she said, or something close to that remark. It was difficult to tell with her voice muffled by his frock coat.

Once Reign reached the top of the stairs, he strode down a passageway and nodded to the two maids leaving the bedchamber he had ordered the servants to prepare for his new bride.

“It appears that Lady Rainecourt will not require your assistance, after all,” Reign said, giving both young maids a jaunty wink. “You both may retire for the evening.”

“Aye, milord,” they said in unison, curtsying as the couple walked by them. “Good tidings to both you and your new bride.”

“Reign, you have had your fun. Set me down at once!”

He grinned at her surly tone. “Be patient, Sophia. I am yours to command.”

His outrageous remark was overheard by the maids. He and Sophia could hear their giggles as they vanished around the corner.

His valet had anticipated Reign’s arrival and opened the door.

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