Earl of Benton by Madeline Martin

Author:Madeline Martin [Martin, Madeline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Highland
Published: 2018-03-05T18:00:00+00:00

***

Alistair had not kept to his intention to not have Emma until the next night. In fact, they spent a good deal of time through the late hours and into dawn exploring one another's bodies.

They made their way to the carriage the following morning, arm in arm. Happy satisfaction glowed on Emma's face and left Alistair's chest puffed with pride.

Hamish doffed his battered tam and held it to his chest as they strode past. “Marriage suits ye, Lady Benton.”

Emma slid Alistair a sly grin. “Does it?”

MacKenzie, however, glanced at them, and the skin around the valet's eyes tightened. Had Alistair not known the man for so long, he would have missed the look and what it implied. MacKenzie was uneasy with the arrangement. It took only that one small note of speculation for Alistair's joy to be ruptured.

Because MacKenzie had every right to be uneasy.

He'd heard the exchange with Hamish where Alistair and Emma had declared themselves to be husband and wife. What had transpired between he and Emma was written across her face as brilliantly as the red carmine had been when they first met. Her cheeks were flushed, her face glowed, and her attention constantly gravitated in Alistair's direction. And there was still the matter of Madge…

For the first time since Alistair had decided to have Emma the night before, he harbored regrets.

He climbed into the carriage and found Emma sitting on the bench he'd occupied thus far on their journey. She'd moved over to only consume half the available space. Leaving the other half for him, of course.

“A husband should sit beside his wife, should he not?” she asked with a glint in her eye.

Alistair obediently sat.

Beast eagerly availed himself on the bench opposite them and flopped over the entirety of its surface in a show of luxury.

“I took advantage of you last night,” Alistair said.

Emma did not reply. She regarded him with large blue eyes, her full mouth settled in a subtle pout of disappointment. “You regret having been with me,” she said slowly.

He stared down at her and couldn't stop the memories from flooding back. How soft those lips were to kiss, how warm and alluring. The things she had done with that mouth…

Even as he attempted to explain what he did was wrong, he could not stop the pull of desire. “No.” He closed her eyes to blot out her image and found it seared in his mind the way stars did the sky. “And yes.”

When he opened his eyes again, she was watching him with a plaintive expression, awaiting his explanation. “My God, you're so exquisite, Emma. I cannot help myself with you.”

Her brows drew down in a stubborn expression. “I don’t understand. Why do you regret it?”

“Ye were a maiden,” he said.

“1 don't intend to wed. It doesn't matter.”

“But it does.” His protest came more sharply than he'd intended. Beast lifted his head and gave a nervous wag of his tail.

“You're right.” She tilted her head in an airy fashion. “It does matter.

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