Once and Always (Sequels 1)

“No,” Victoria said, smothering another smile at Caroline’s determination to elevate Jason from devil to saint. “What did he say?”

“He said I have always reminded him of a pretty butterfly.”

“How lovely,” Victoria declared sincerely.

“Yes, it was, but not nearly as lovely as the way he described you.”

“Me? How on earth did all this come up?”

“The compliments, you mean?” When Victoria nodded, Caroline said, “I had just finished remarking on how happy I am that you are marrying an Englishman and staying here, so we can remain close friends. Lord Fielding laughed and said we complement each other perfectly, you and I, because I have always reminded him of a pretty butterfly, and you are like a wild flower that flourishes even in adversity and brightens up everyone’s lives. Wasn’t that utterly charming of him?”

“Utterly,” Victoria agreed, feeling absurdly pleased.

“I think he is far more in love with you than he lets on,” Caroline confided. “After all, he fought a duel for you.”

By the time Caroline left, Victoria was half-convinced Jason actually cared for her, a belief that enabled her to be quite gay and positive the following morning, when a staggering procession of callers began arriving to wish her happy after learning of her impending marriage.

Victoria was entertaining a group of young ladies who’d come to call on her for exactly that reason when the object of their romantic discussion strolled into the blue salon. The laughter trailed off into nervous, uncertain murmurs as the young ladies beheld the dangerously impressive figure of the unpredictable Marquess of Wakefield, garbed in a coal black riding jacket and snug black breeches that made him look overwhelmingly male. Unaware of his impact on these impressionable females, many of whom had cherished secret dreams of captivating him themselves, Jason favored them with a glinting smile. “Good morning, ladies,” he said; then he turned to Victoria and his smile became far more intimate. “Could you spare me a moment?”

Excusing herself at once, Victoria followed him into his study.

“I won’t keep you away from your friends long,” he promised, reaching into the pocket of his jacket. Without another word, he took her hand in his and slid a heavy ring onto her finger. Victoria gazed at the ring, which covered her finger all the way to her knuckle. A row of large sapphires was flanked by two rows of dazzling diamonds on both sides. “Jason, it’s beautiful,” she breathed. “Breathtakingly, incredibly, beautiful. Thank—”

“Thank me with a kiss,” he reminded her softly, and when Victoria tipped her face up to his, his lips captured hers in a long, hungry, thorough kiss that drained her mind of thought and her body of all resistance. Shaken by his ardor and her body’s helpless response to it, Victoria stared into his smoky jade eyes, trying to understand why Jason’s kisses always had this shattering effect on her.

His gaze dropped to her lips. “Next time, do you think you could find it in your heart to kiss me without being asked?” It was the thread of disappointed yearning Victoria thought she heard in his voice that melted her heart. He had offered himself as her husband; in return he asked for very little—only this. Leaning up on her toes, she slid her hands up along his hard chest and twined them around his neck, and then she covered his lips with hers. She felt a tremor run through his tall frame as she innocently brushed her lips back and forth over his, slowly exploring the warm curves of his mouth, learning the taste of him, while his parted lips began to move against hers in a wildly arousing kiss.

But in the mounting turmoil of their kiss and unaware of the hardening pressure against her stomach, Victoria let her fingers slide into the soft hair at his nape while her body automatically fitted itself to his—and suddenly everything changed. Jason’s arms closed around her with stunning force, his mouth opening on hers with fierce hunger. He parted her lips, teasing her with his tongue until he coaxed her to touch her own tongue to his lips, and when she did, he gasped, pulling her even closer, his body taut with fiery need.

When he finally lifted his head, he stared down at her with an odd expression of bemused self-mockery on his ruggedly chiseled features. “I should have given you diamonds and sapphires the other night, instead of pearls,” he commented. “But don’t kiss me like this again until after we’re married.”

Victoria had been warned by her mother and by Miss Flossie that a gentleman could be carried away by his ardor, which would lead him to behave in an unspecified—but very unsuitable—way to the young lady who wrongly permitted him to lose his head. She realized instinctively that Jason was telling her he had been very close to losing his head. And she was feminine enough to feel a tiny twinge of satisfaction because her inexperienced kiss could so affect this very experienced man—especially since Andrew had never seemed so affected by her kiss. On the other hand, she had never kissed Andrew in the way Jason liked her to kiss him.

“I see you have my meaning,” he said wryly. “Personally, I have never particularly prized virginity. There are distinct advantages to marrying women who have already learned how to please a man. . . .” He waited, watching her closely as if expecting—hoping for—some sort of reaction from her, but Victoria merely looked away, her spirits drooping. Her virginity, or so it was said, should have been a highly valued gift to her husband. She certainly couldn’t offer him any experience in “pleasing a man,” whatever that entailed. “I—I’m sorry to disappoint you,” she said, embarrassed at the subject. “Things are very different in America.”

Despite the haggard strain in Jason’s voice, his words were gentle. “You’ve no need to apologize or look so miserable, Victoria. Don’t ever fear telling me the truth. No matter how bad the truth is, I can accept it and even admire you for having the courage to say it.” His hand lifted to caress her cheek. “It doesn’t matter,” he said soothingly. Abruptly, his manner turned brisk. “Tell me if you like your ring, then run along back to your friends.”

“I love it,” she said, trying to keep up with his swift, incomprehensible changes of mood. “It’s so beautiful I’m already terrified of losing it.”

Jason shrugged with complete indifference. “If you lose it, I’ll buy you another.”

He left then, and Victoria looked down at her betrothal ring, wishing he hadn’t been so cavalier about its potential loss. She wished the ring was more important to him, and less easily replaced. On the other hand, as a token of his affection, it was dismally appropriate, since she was unimportant to him and easily replaced.