The Bridal Contract (Darrington family Book 3) Read online

  “Yes?” She half sat, half lounged on the settee, her face flushed, her legs splayed with her breasts free, and she was easily the most gorgeous creature he’d seen in all his life.

  And she was his.

  “Can you love me and only me? Please tell me you’ve set Peter’s memory and promise free, and that you come to my bed unfettered by the past.” After all, he couldn’t compete with a ghost and he didn’t care to try. If she couldn’t love him without reservation or whole of heart then—

  “I let him go in the carriage ride following your routing of Lord Everly.” She sighed when he kissed a path up the inside of one thigh. “Although I’ll never forget Peter, he belongs in my past. I want to walk into my future by the side of the man I desire above all others—you.”

  That was all he needed to hear. The sweet words broke the last of the chains keeping him from her. “Oh, darling, we’ll have such fun together!” When his lips brushed her curls that were already damp with her arousal, her body trembled, and he grinned against her sex. Eloisa was his match in every way. Though petite and delicate, there was no doubt she was a force to be reckoned with.

  The temptation to taste her proved too much to ignore. He licked her slick flesh. Her sweetness lingered on his tongue just as her soft moans became the sweetest sound in his ears. He chuckled when she grabbed a handful of his hair and pressed him closer. Oliver obliged her need by seeking out the swollen nubbin hidden in her folds then teasing it with his teeth, tongue and lips. It wasn’t long before Eloisa bucked beneath him. He applied more friction to the slippery button and she shattered, coasted gently into release.

  “There truly isn’t anything more satisfying than bringing a woman to completion,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone as he withdrew from beneath her skirts. “Shall I leave you like this or would you like to finish sealing our new betrothal with the final act?”

  She glanced at him with passion-clouded eyes. “Oliver Darrington, if you don’t thoroughly and completely ruin me this instant, I may never marry you at all. I’ve thought of little else these last few days.”

  “Well, if my lady insists, but I must correct you. A woman cannot be ruined twice.”

  Eloisa snorted. “Semantics.”

  “Indeed.” He couldn’t help his grin as he worked the buttons on his trousers with shaking hands. Lud, how was it he felt nervous to claim his soon-to-be bride? Perhaps because she meant the world to him. Being in love with a woman made the act sacred and more meaningful than simply bedding a mistress or a convenient female in port.

  When his hard length sprang free of the fabric, he joined her on the settee then settled between her splayed legs once she’d squirmed into position beneath him. “I apologize for the setting and the brevity in advance. This wasn’t how I’d intended to seduce you tonight.”

  “What makes you think this is the only time I want to be seduced tonight?” she countered with a grin of her own that promised infinite pleasures in the nights to come.

  Was it any wonder he’d fallen for her?

  Oliver kissed her and didn’t bother to hide his hunger or desire. The deeper he plunged his tongue into her mouth, the more he met her stroke for stroke, the more painful his member grew. No matter how awkward their position was, he maneuvered them until she wrapped her legs about his waist and his tip kissed her wet opening.

  He wrenched away, panting. With Eloisa, he’d never be bored. “Tell me what you want,” he asked, his voice graveled with strain. He couldn’t very well ram himself into her without finesse.

  “I want to give Daniela a sibling.” Her eyes shone with joy and love.

  In his mind’s eye he saw a few children with her brown-gold curls and his Darrington-blue eyes, and the image threatened to spill his seed prematurely, so greatly did he want that picture to be a reality—the evidence of their love. “With pleasure.” Oliver entered her in one smooth, strong thrust. He uttered a contented groan that blended with her sigh. Warm heat surrounded him and he withdrew simply to experience the bliss of penetrating her once more.

  All the teasing and all the angst of the past few days culminated in this one moment—he was finally one with the woman he’d unconsciously sought all his life.

  They moved in time and connecting rhythm. When he drove into her, she tilted her hips and received him. Flesh met flesh, punctuating the silence with faint slapping sounds. He gripped the curved arm of the sofa above her head for greater stability, but he was too far gone for courtly romance. Their meeting was raw and rushed and real. It was bodies coming together in a wet mess and jumble, lips meeting lips with biting need and fingers and nails scraping and marking.

  All too soon hot sensation rushed through his shaft and stones. Release was near. “Eloisa, love, I can’t last.” He wiggled his free hand between their bodies, fought his way past the yards of her skirts until he found her slick nubbin once more. Sweat pasted his lawn shirt to his back, but he didn’t slow his strokes or decrease the flash of his fingers on her button.

  “Oh!” Eloisa stiffened beneath him. “Yes, Oliver, yes!” She threw back her head, arched her back and dug her heels into the small of his back as she spasmed around him.

  He fell into his own release with her name on his lips. His member pulsed again and again, shooting his seed deep. When he finally collapsed on top of her, his heart beat out of control and his breath sounded ragged to his own ears, but he was happy beyond measure and truly content for the first time in his life.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like our nuptial ceremony to take place onboard the Scandalous Lady once it’s ready to sail. Then we can immediately begin our wedding trip without delay,” he whispered against the side of her neck.

  She released her legs from around his waist. Her sigh ruffled his hair. “That sounds like a marvelous plan.” Eloisa pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Next time we indulge our passion, I do hope it’s in a bed and without clothes. I won’t be cheated out of seeing you entirely naked.”

  A chuckle escaped. “Perhaps we should wait until midnight. Didn’t you say you liked to sea bathe in the nude? It might be a novel experience to make love on the shore and perhaps make a scandal so big Brighton will talk about us for years to come.”

  “It matters not to me since we’ll be away for even longer.” Her gentle laughter blended with his. “Imagine how that will go over.”

  An urgent knock sounded on the parlor door. It interrupted the interlude. Oliver groaned. “What now?” With regret, he unwrapped himself from Eloisa’s body, stood and strode to the door, tucking his flaccid member into his trousers as he went. “I thought I told you I didn’t wish to be disturbed tonight,” he warned as he did up the buttons then put the remainder of his clothing to rights.

  “I understand that, my lord, but your mother has just arrived, and she’s quite miffed to find you previously engaged,” came Carruthers’ answer from the other side of the door.

  Devil take meddling mothers everywhere. “Very well. Tell her I’ll attend to her in my study shortly.” Oliver shoved a hand through his hair. He returned to Eloisa, who’d stood and hidden her charms beneath her clothing once more. “Are you ready to face my mother already?”

  The smile she gave him bolstered his confidence and renewed his spirit. “Poor Roberta. Won’t she be incredibly disappointed to know you truly intend to wed a woman without a title or even a dowry? I rather suspect Charles hasn’t made provision for that. He’s no doubt lost my dowry and probably Helen’s as well.”

  “She might be disappointed, but then, that’s for her to square with. I think, under all her managing, she only wants her children to be wed and happy. Heaven knows it would kill her to actually voice those words.” He held out a hand to his fiancée—his real one this time. “The sooner we beard the lion, the sooner we can retire.” The thought of having Eloisa in his bed, even if he had to sneak her over from her house until they were wed, sent his desire soaring.

  Who knew that having a bridal contract drawn up wou
ld bring him the woman he loved for a wife? Plus, he’d gotten the better of his mother and her machinations and found a daughter he adored beyond measure. It had all come together rather well indeed, even if he had to become a temporary landlubber to accomplish it.

  The End

  More Regency era books from Sandra

  Scandal in Surrey Series

  Lady Parker’s Grand Affair

  The Bride’s Gambit

  Misfortune’s Lady

  Miss Bennett’s Naughty Secret

  Scandalous Shorts

  (tie ins with the Scandal in Surrey series)

  Library Tryst

  Bedroom Assignation

  Staircase Encounter

  Darrington family series

  Marriage Minded Lord

  To Bed or to Wed

  Stand alone books

  Act of Pardon

  Angel’s Master

  About the Author

  Sandra Sookoo is a bestselling author who firmly believes every person deserves acceptance and a happy ending. Most days you can find her creating scandal and mischief in the Regency-era, serendipity and happenstance in Victorian America or snarky humor in the contemporary world. Reading romance is a lot like eating fine chocolates—you can’t just have one. Good thing books don’t have calories!

  When she’s not wearing out computer keyboards, Sandra spends time with her real life Prince Charming in central Indiana where she’s been known to goof off and make moments count because the key to life is laughter. A Disney fan since the age of ten, when her soul gets bogged down and her imagination flags, a trip to Walt Disney World is in order. Nothing fuels her dreams more than the land of eternal happy endings, hope and love stories.

  You can keep current on her releases as well as read unedited snippets from what she’s working on and see new cover reveals by signing up for her newsletter. Just send an email to [email protected] with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.