Page 18 of Provoked

But I make the mistake of opening the book Ingrid left on the nightstand. She must have been reading it while waiting for me to wake up for another dose of pills. It opens somewhere in the middle of the book:

“There’s no help for it, Kitty. You’ve been compromised beyond recovery. You’ll have to marry me. I’ve already dispatched Carter to the local vicar to arrange for the bans.” The Duke’s weary voice held only resignation, without a hint of love.

Kitty’s eyes filled with angry tears. “Why am I the one that’s compromised? Why aren’t you the one facing social ruin?”

“Because you are the weaker sex, much more susceptible to temptations. And besides, I’m a duke.” His matter-of-fact recitation of the social bounds only served to inflame Kitty’s already bruised emotions.

“Well, I don’t want to get married,” she announced firmly, crossing her arms over her dimity covered chest.

“Neither do I. But married we shall be. We’ll wait at least a month to consummate the marriage to add credence to the story that this is a love match.”

Kitty’s jaw dropped in astonishment. “You can wait forever as far as I’m concerned.”

The Duke’s snort of disbelief held all the arrogance of his position. “That’s not an option, my dear. Eventually, I will need an heir, preferably more than one. I thought to delay that for at least another five years, but that was before a wife was thrust on me. I might as well enjoy the perks that come with the position of a married man.” His gaze raked Kitty’s still form with a new kind of speculation.

Kitty froze and suddenly had the vision of a small animal encountering the hunting instinct of one of the big cats in the newfangled London zoo. She gulped. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, her most feminine core began to tingle.

What the hell is this drivel? And why is Ingrid reading it? But my brain quickly dances over to the sudden realization after reading that passage that Ingrid is most likely a virgin. Something I hadn’t considered before. And quite frankly, had no reason to even think about. If pushed, I would have said it would be highly unusual for a young woman as pretty as she is to remain a virgin past the age of twenty. And that would be stretching it. Even an ultra conservative religious community would find a way to marry her off long before that. But it would explain the pink cheeks and averted glances. Although her rather delighted acceptance of my erect cock under the sheet doesn’t fit with that scenario at all.

And does it really matter? We’re about to be legally married. Fuck, I’m back to thinking about the problem I’d already firmly decided to table.

Footsteps sound on the staircase down the hall. Lots of them and too heavy to be Ingrid. I guess the time has arrived. I push myself up slightly in the bed and paste a less sour expression on my face.

11

Oh dear. When Danvers steps through the front door behind Fred and a somber gentleman in a cowboy hat, my hands go clammy. At best, this is going to be embarrassing. Danvers gives me a squinty-eyed look, but I firm my chin and stare back at him. He barely knows me — who is he to judge? The other man draws my attention by pulling the large black Stetson from his head. I blink. He doesn’t look like a cowboy. Danvers does, but his head is bare this time. I’m so confused.

“Ingrid, this is Judge Simons and I hear you’ve met Danvers, who will be our second witness,” Fred informs me in his gravelly smoker’s voice. Which means it comes out sounding menacing, but the more time I spend with Fred, the more I want to adopt him as family. I bet if someone dared to hand Fred a baby, he would absolutely melt.

I dry my hands on the dishtowel and nod. “Let me just go get the rings. I’ll meet you in…” I was about to say Justin’s room, but I don’t want to shed any suspicion on the nature of our relationship. My white sundress has seen better days, but it’s the closest thing I have in my available wardrobe. And besides, wearing a real wedding dress while sitting on a bed next to an invalid might look like trying too hard.

Thankfully, Fred takes over. “This way, gentlemen,” he gestures towards the staircase, then leads the way.

I take three deep breaths and head up behind them, detouring to my workroom, which is also where I’ve been sleeping while Justin has my bed. I have the two wedding rings polished and waiting. I slip them onto the ivory display pillow so it will give the whole thing more of a sense of ceremony and head into the next chapter of my life.

Or sort of. None of it seems out of the ordinary, really. Danvers stands lounging against the far wall, staring at Justin, who’s glaring back from the bed. Danvers quirks an eyebrow in my direction. “I thought you said he was your lawyer,” he drawls, his voice full of suspicion.

“He is,” I answer breezily. “And I finally won the argument.”

Even the judge smiles at that one. Justin rolls his eyes, which plays into my stubborn attorney story, which is why I went that direction. I crawl onto the bed and snuggle into Justin’s side so the judge can face us from the foot of the bed. Judge Simons doesn’t even blink at doing a bedside ceremony. I wonder if that comes up often?

Danvers is just beyond the judge in my line of sight, so I keep one eye on him while we do the standard vows. His body language says he’s finally buying into it, but I know that the kiss could make or break us. Not that Danvers is likely to have any connection to Margot, but he’s tied to this community. So if word gets out that something’s fishy, it will be known everywhere, and she’s likely to hear of it.

I blink a little when I slide the ring I made onto Justin’s finger. It looks right, and it feels a little like he’s accepted meand my claim on his heart. Even though I know most of that is an illusion, it stillfeelsthat way.

“You may kiss the bride,” Judge Simons says, sounding the most cheerful of the entire ceremony. Is that because it’s almost over, or is he a closet romantic? I’m going with that, given the hat. I lean down so Justin can kiss me from his semi-reclined position. I’m expecting just a dutiful peck on the lips, but what I get is unexpected. Maybe he too thinks a good impression needs to be made for our audience.

His lips close over mine with a sweet firmness that has my fingers threading through his dark hair to keep him close. It feels like a lifetime passes by in an instant. One where I learn more about Justin than I ever dared imagine, and I don’t want it to end. When he finally pulls back, there’s an odd glint in his green eyes that has me biting my lip and blushing.

Fred coughs, and I force my attention away from Justin’s searching gaze. The judge hands us paperwork to sign and Danvers says goodbye after scrawling his signature across the bottom. I try to peek at it to see if that’s his last name or his first, but all I can make out isDanvers,with some extra squiggles at the front and the back. Huh.

I gave Fred my cell phone earlier so he could snap a few pictures. I’m not expecting much, although he is trained in taking surveillance photos. But I’m surprised when I open the camera roll to see how romantic the pictures are. The rings, our hands clasped, and then the kiss. Oh, my. Anyone seeing that would swear this was the love match of the century. I giggle to myself as the phrase from the book I’m reading pops into my head. Except Kitty got a wedding night, even if she thought she didn’t want one. And I know better than to expect that.

“What’s so funny?” Justin growls. I show him my phone, but he only stares at it then at me, before turning back to Fred.

“You’ll go get that filed at the courthouse now?”

“On my way. They’re open for another couple of hours, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

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