Page 184 of A Very Bellamy Christmas

Chapter 39

Andrew led Stacia through the narrow doorway into their ‘bridal chamber’.

She couldn’t help laughing. “Whose idea was this?” she asked as they paused to admire the familiar scene at the far end of the priest hole.

Andrew grinned. “It seemed…fitting.”

“Is somebody going to lock us inside this time, too?”

“Would you mind terribly?”

“Hmm.” She thoughtfully tapped her chin. “It depends on what books have been included.”

He laughed. “Come,” he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the blazing fire. “Needham looked so happy to oblige my request to use this as our bridal suite that I suspect the viscountess will find herself imprisoned up here sooner rather than later.”

“Do you think he knows about our first stay in this room?” she asked, taking a seat on the settee while Andrew investigated the hampers.

“He did not give me that impression,” he said, pulling a bottle from a bucket of ice. “Champagne?”

“Yes, please. I felt sure that Kathryn’s sisters knew.”

“Perhaps they decided the rest of their families did not need to hear the truth,” he said, removing the cork with a pop, filling the waiting glasses, and handing her one before sitting down beside her. He raised his glass. “To us.” He paused, grinned, and then added, “Wife.”

“To us,” she echoed. “Husband.”

He laughed and they both drank. Afterward he took her glass and set it down before sliding his arms beneath her and lifting her onto his lap, shifting her until she was exactly where he wanted her.

“There,” he said, looking smugly satisfied. “I have been dying to hold you for days. And I’ve been dying to do this, too.” He claimed her mouth with a deep, drugging kiss that left her body limp when he finally released her.

His eyes were dark as they flickered over her and landed on her hand. He lifted it and examined the ring as if he’d not been the one to give it back to her mere hours earlier. “It is lovely, but I cannot believe you will not allow me to buy you a more suitable ring.”

“I don’t want another one, Andrew, I adore this one,” she said, admiring the perfect rose.

“But it was a Christmas present—not a wedding ring.”

She ignored him. “I still cannot believe you knew how much I liked this.”

“I was spying on you that day. Stalking you.” He waggled his eyebrows in a villainous manner. “It was to be your secret St. Nicholas gift, but it wasn’t ready when I went to the village to fetch it before going to London. I had to take it along to a jeweler I know in town, and he sized it.”

Stacia stared for a moment, and then said, “Oh.” She suddenly felt like a jealous toad.

“What is that oh for?”

“Nothing.” The last thing she wanted to do was expose her jealousy to him.

He cocked his head. “What?”

“It is just—well, it wasn’t a very nice thing.”

“What thing?”

“I knew you’d gone to the village before going to London—Mr. Higgins mentioned it—and I thought—” She bit her lower lip.

“You thought what?”

“That you had gone to see Mrs. Johnson,” she blurted the words out in a rush, hoping that would make her feel less insecure and foolish. It didn’t.

He frowned for a moment and then his eyes widened in comprehension. Instead of being angry, he clucked his tongue. “I told you I wanted to marry you only a few hours earlier! What a filthy mind my new wife has. I shall have to see that she turns it in the appropriate direction henceforth.”