Becoming Countess Dumont Read Online Free PDF Page A

we’ve carried on with our lives. Bloody hell! What was I thinking? We should have spent more time with each other rather than with our lovers. Father will figure it out immediately.
    “Kiss me, wife,” I murmur to Edith.
    She turns to regard me with surprise. I can feel the eyes of Elisabeth and Jasper upon us.
    “What?” she asks.
    “Kiss me. The act begins now. We’ve had our time of holiday, but now, it’s time to work,” I inform her.
    Her eyes widen. The woman who agreed to this has gone and left the goddamned train, because the one before me seems terrified. Hell, I’m fucking terrified but it needs to be done.
    I slip a palm over her cheek and thumb it in a gentle manner. “Edith, it will be okay. Just close your eyes and go with it.”
    After a moment’s hesitation, she slams her eyes closed and parts her lips. The sun shines in, and a few strands of red sparkle in the sea of her mahogany hair. Her face is free of any color, and she is simply beautiful in her natural skin. I’ve never wanted to kiss her as badly as I do now—now, it’s all I can think about.
    Leaning forward, I graze her lips with mine and relish how soft they feel. Her breath smells of the sweet honey she added to her breakfast tea. I want to taste her.
    Knowing that her lip is injured, I press my lips more firmly to hers, careful not to hurt her, and kiss her deeply. Then her tongue darts out and meets mine. The moment they connect, I’m flooded with the taste of her. Honey. Cinnamon. Vanilla. And her.
    I want more of her.
    My hand slides into her hair, and I pull her to me. She lets loose a moan that I devour with my mouth as I kiss her. Suddenly, the metallic taste of blood warns me that I’ve kissed her too hard—that I’ve reopened her cut.
    When I wrench away to inspect her, I see the small trickle of blood, and once again, fury floods through me. That bastard did this to her. Then she opens her eyes and explores my face as if she’s trying to uncover why our kiss was so decadent.
    I know the answer.
    Edith.
    Leaning forward, I suck her bottom lip into my mouth and run my tongue over her cut. She whimpers but allows me to clean her with my mouth. There’s something carnal about the way I nurse her wound with my tongue.
    A clap startles me, and I jerk my head over and see Jasper grinning crookedly at me.
    “That. Keep doing that and you’ll convince him.” He shakes his head. “Hell, you convinced me.”

THE KISS. IT’S ALL I’VE been able to think about during the entire ride to Havering. Once we concluded our kiss, we had a lovely lunch with Jasper and Elisabeth. My sister and I remained quiet while the men laughed and told stories of their childhood. I even found myself smiling on more than one occasion.
    Alexander and Jasper are closer as unofficial brothers than Elisabeth and I are as flesh-and-blood sisters. Perhaps, one day, she can find the heart to forgive me and we can have the friendship our husbands have.
    Husbands.
    Each time I remember that Alexander is my husband, I want to chuckle. It has been a game for us, but now, we need to focus and become serious if we’re interested in making it seem real for his father’s sake.
    “We’re nearly there,” Alexander says tightly beside me.
    Jasper and Elisabeth recently retired to their cabin and left us alone. We remained in companionable silence until now.
    “Are you worried?” I ask, turning my head to look at him. He hasn’t left my side since he first came over to me earlier.
    His dark eyebrows furrow together, and I see it. This strong, confident man is intimidated by his father. The same motherly instinct to protect, much like I did for Elisabeth and Ella after Mother died, washes over me. I’ll see to it that his father has no doubts. I will throw everything I have into this relationship to make him believe.
    I tentatively touch the hair on his face. The coarseness of it scratches my palm, and I briefly remember the way it felt against my breast.