Pride and Pleasure

Epilogue

Eliza stood in the middle of her uncle’s study and wondered how she would find a slender journal amid the multitude of books.

“Are you quite certain it’s not in your bedchamber?” she asked.

Melville’s wild head of hair appeared on the other side of a high table. His face was seen shortly after, his cheeks red and eyes bright. “I’m certain I looked for it there.”

“Can we not purchase a new journal for your use on the island?”

“I require the information in the journal,” he said. “Not simply blank pages on which to write.”

“Are we ready?”

Eliza jumped at the sound of Jasper’s voice, startled as ever by how silently he moved. He stood directly beside her. “Not quite. We’re still searching for his lordship’s journal.”

“In the barren desert of my heart,

you bloom with radiance

and fill the air with heaven’s scent.”

Jasper’s brows rose as Lady Collingsworth entered the room while reading from a thin-spined book.

“I’m delighted, Burgess,” Regina said, with a telltale blush. “Who knew you were a poet?”

Eliza was of the mind that her uncle was less than proficient in poetry, by any estimation, but she’d learned that the sentiment behind a gift or gesture was the most important aspect. Practicality came a distant second.

“Now may we set off?” Jasper held out his hand to Eliza. “I, for one, would prefer not to miss the ship carrying our luggage.”

“I’m ready,” Regina said, closing the journal and holding it out to Melville. When he accepted it, she took his arm.

“It will sound better when I read it to you,” his lordship whispered, leading Regina out to the waiting carriage.

Setting her hand in Jasper’s, Eliza wondered if the vibrating excitement reverberating through her was obvious on the exterior. He squeezed her fingers and smiled. “I can feel how anxious you are.”

“Not anxious. Eager.” She followed him back out to the foyer, where Robbins held her pelisse and bonnet. “I love the ocean and temperate weather. I cannot wait to be surrounded by both.”

“There’s nothing like falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves,” he murmured. “I intend to lay a blanket on the sand and ravish you in the moonlight.”

“Jasper.” Eliza was scandalized…and intrigued. “Outdoors?”

“In sunlight, and in rain. On the beach, and beneath the trees. Also indoors, in every room in the house.”

Her smile was wry as he helped her up into their carriage. Melville and Regina were in a separate equipage behind them. Although the two claimed to be no more than friends, it was clear there was a connection between them. Eliza had initially been surprised to learn of their affection, until Regina explained that Melville had courted her long ago. In the end, he felt it would be best for her to marry a man who spent the majority of his time connected to the rest of the world, and Regina had assumed Melville simply didn’t love her. Eliza and Jasper’s delayed wedding provided the time and opportunity for the two sweethearts to reconnect. So far, their renewed relationship seemed highly promising.

“I don’t see how you expect to schedule all these hours of sexual congress,” Eliza said, as the carriage lurched into motion, “while attempting to make a success of a sugarcane plantation.”

“Is that a challenge, madam?”

“Could be…”

“There is a guesthouse. Melville and Lady Collingsworth will be no deterrent. With unhindered access to you, the possibilities are endless.”

Eliza smiled. “Melville intends to cultivate a variety of seeds while he’s with us, taking advantage of the warmer weather.”

The light in Jasper’s dark eyes was wicked. “I suspect it will be Lady Collingsworth he will be cultivating and tending.”

“You have a lascivious mind.”

“I do,” he purred. “But my claim is bolstered by the indefinable magic of the tropics that stirs a man’s blood.”

“Ah.” She nodded sagely. “Now your true intentions are revealed.”

He leaned back into the squab and watched her with slumberous eyes. “Didn’t I tell you the first day we met that seduction was my method of choice with you?”

“Yes. I’d forgotten.” She hadn’t, but in the weeks since they wed, she learned that teasing him led to delicious results.

“Shall I remind you?”

She licked her lower lip. “You are welcome to make the attempt.”

He moved quickly, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her over him. “Wifely satisfaction is a point of pride with me, Mrs. Bond.”

“I fear you may be too handsome for the task.”

“Oh?” Jasper grabbed fistfuls of her skirts. “Considering the shortness of the distance to the docks, that’s likely a boon.”

“In addition,” she went on, her voice growing husky, “it’s impossible to disguise the air about you which distinguishes you.”

“Pray tell me what that is.” He reached into the opening of her pantalettes and parted the lips of her sex. He found her slick and hot for him.

“You are a predator. A dangerous man.”

“Dangerously aroused,” he agreed. “And madly in love.”

She reached for the placket of his breeches and pressed her lips to his. “And mine.”

“Always.”