“I’m sorry, my dear.” He sighed. “As you know, my mother can be difficult. I learned early that to show emotions was to risk having them used against me, so I became first-rate at concealing what I felt. Unfortunately, that left me at a flat loss at saying what matters most. I promise that from now on, I will say that I love you at least once a day.”
“I’d rather have that than the Thornborough tiara.” Shyly she touched her abdomen, which as yet showed no sign of the new life within. “Are you happy about the baby? You didn’t seem very interested.”
“I’m awed and delighted.” A shadow crossed his face. “If my reaction seemed unenthusiastic, it was because I feared that if it was a boy, you would go off to Paris or New York and never want to see me again.”
“What a dreadful thought!” She shivered. “May I ask a favor?”
“Anything, Sunny. Always.” He laced his fingers through hers, then drew their joined hands to his heart.
“I would very much like it if we slept together every night, like people who can’t afford two bedrooms do.” Her mouth curved playfully. “Even with central heating, it’s often chilly here.”
He laughed, jubilant. “I would like nothing better! I’ve always hated leaving you to go back to my own cold and lonely bed.”
“We can start a new fashion for togetherness.” She lifted their clasped hands and lovingly kissed his fingertips.
He leaned over and claimed her mouth, and the embers of passion began glowing with renewed life. As he slid his hand into the loose neckline of her gown, he murmured, “We’re both wearing entirely too many clothes, especially for such a fine day.”
Remembering their surroundings, she said breathlessly, “Justin, don’t you dare! We have already behaved disgracefully enough for one day.”
“Mmm?” He pulled her gown from her shoulder so that he could kiss her breasts, a process that rendered her quite unable to talk. She had not known that there was such pleasure in the whole world.
She made one last plea for sanity as he began stripping off his coat. “If someone comes along this path and sees us, what will they say?”
“They’ll say that the Duke of Thornborough loves his wife very much.” He smiled into her eyes with delicious wickedness. “And they’ll be right.”
Finis
Author’s Note
Thank you for taking the time to read Weddings of the Century. I hope you’ve enjoyed it—and if so, please consider helping other readers find it by leaving a review of the novel at your favorite online bookstore or reader website.
If you’d like to read more of my work, or if you want to see whether there are any books you’ve missed, the booklist which follows includes all of my titles which are currently available—and more are coming soon!
And if you’d like me to let you know when my upcoming books are published, you can join my newsletter here.
Happy reading!
—Mary Jo Putney
Also by Mary Jo Putney
The Fallen Angels Series
Thunder & Roses, #1
Dancing on the Wind, #2
Petals in the Storm, #3
Angel Rogue, #4
Shattered Rainbows, #5
River of Fire, #6
One Perfect Rose, #7
The Silk Trilogy
Silk and Shadows, #1
Silk and Secrets, #2
Veils of Silk, #3
The Bride Trilogy
The Wild Child, #1
The China Bride, #2
The Bartered Bride, #3
Regency Novels
The Bargain (Davenport #1)
The Diabolical Baron (Davenport #2)
The Rake (Davenport #3)
Carousel of Hearts
Lady of Fortune (forthcoming)
Stand-Alone Novels
Dearly Beloved (Regency)
Uncommon Vows (Medieval)
Rogues Redeemed Series
Once A Soldier
Once a Rebel (2017)
The Lost Lords Series
Loving A Lost Lord
Nowhere Near Respectable
No Longer A Gentleman
Sometimes A Rogue
Not Quite A Wife
Not Always a Saint
The Circle of Friends Trilogy
The Burning Point, #1
The Spiral Path, #2
An Imperfect Process, #3
A Holiday Fling (novella, also published in Christmas Revels)
Shorter Works
Weddings of the Century: A Pair of Novellas
Holiday Hearts (novella collections)
Christmas Revels (Holiday Hearts #1)
Christmas Candles (Holiday Hearts #2)
Mischief and Mistletoe (contributor)
The Last Chance Christmas Ball (contributor)
The Guardian Series (Georgian paranormal)
A Kiss of Fate
Stolen Magic
A Distant Magic
Standalone Regency Paranormal Novel
The Marriage Spell
The Dark Mirror YA Trilogy (written as M. J. Putney—Regency fantasy and time travel)
Dark Mirror
Dark Passage
Dark Destiny
Fallen From Grace (A Bonus Dark Mirror Short Story)
About the Author
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USAToday bestselling author, Mary Jo Putney is also a recipient of RWA’s Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. She was born in Upstate New York with a reading addiction, a condition for which there is no known cure. Her entire romance writing career is an accidental byproduct of buying a computer for other purposes.
Her novels are known for psychological depth and intensity and include historical and contemporary romance, fantasy, and young adult fantasy. Winner of numerous writing awards, including two RITAs and two Romantic Times Career Achievement awards, she’s had a number of her books listed as top romances of the year by Library Journal and Booklist, the magazine of the American Library Association.
Her favorite reading is great stories, but in a pinch she’ll settle for the backs of cereal boxes. She’s delighted that e-publishing can now make available books that have been out of print.
Visit MJP online:
MaryJoPutney.com/
Copyright
Claiming His Bride
Copyright © 1995 & 2017 by Mary Jo Putney.
The Wedding of the Century
Copyright © 1994 & 2017 by Mary Jo Putney.
All rights reserved.
Published by Pandamax Press, a division of Mary Jo Putney, Inc.
Cover by Kimberly Killion of The Killion Group.
Pandamax logo by Elizabeth Person.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The copying, reproduction, and distribution of this ebook via any means without permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and refuse to participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s intellectual property rights is greatly appreciated.
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