Bound To Bea

Chapter Twenty Six

Spite.

Noah was marrying a woman he knew nothing about, not for love, but for spite. It was his spite for Bea and her decision to make rubbish of his feelings for her; it was spite for Bea's love affair with the duke; it was spite for the sickening feeling of grief, betrayal, and frustration at the realization that the woman he cared about cared nothing for him.

After finding out about the love affair between Bea and the duke, Noah had staggered out of the duke's home that morning, heartbroken. Barely able to breathe, he had climbed into his carriage and driven home, where for many days, he had sought to drown his grief in alcohol.

But alcohol proved incapable of healing a broken heart; it neither healed nor numbed the pain. It did nothing but turn Noah into a fool. Here he sat, grieving over a woman who, at that moment, was likely in the arms of her lover, shamelessly partaking of his bed of sin!

He cursed, rising to his feet as he hurled the bottle of scotch into the fireplace. It was for nothing that he sat mourning the loss of a woman who cared nothing for him. Bea was not worth the trouble and Noah was done desiring her.

That evening, Noah prepared for a ball. He decided the chit-chatter might do him some good, and if it failed, then the alcohol and women would do nicely. Perhaps, he might find a woman to take home tonight—perhaps then he could forget Bea.

Shaking his head, he turned from the mirror. He didn't wish to think of Bea. He would rid his mind of her tonight, no matter the cost.

And indeed, the cost was pricey—the cost was marriage to a stranger.

Lady Penelope Hawkins was the first woman Noah danced with that evening at the ball, and when she failed to eradicate his mind of the pollution that was Bea, he turned to drastic measures; he crossed the room to where Lord Hawkins—Penelope's father—stood conversing with a few gentlemen, and without a thought for the implications of his actions, Noah blurted:

"I wish to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage!"

The eyelids of the older gentleman bulged in response, as did the eyelids of the other men around. It was the most unconventional proposal, for one didn't just walk up to a man in a crowded ball and demand his daughter's hand in marriage. But alcohol, rage and desperation intoxicated Noah, and they made for a lethal combination in his veins.

Silence stood between the two men for several seconds. Noah took the time to reconsider his request, and in that moment, he realized he could not turn back now. It was one thing to ask for one's daughter's hand in marriage in the privacy of one's drawing room, but it was another to do so in a crowded space.

Several seconds passed before the older gentleman swallowed and nodded gently.

"You shall come over to my house tomorrow evening and I shall have my lawyer draw up a marriage contract," Lord Hawkins said.

Nodding numbly, Noah said, "I shall."

Silently, Noah cursed Bea, for it was her fault he was marrying a woman he cared nothing about. Perhaps Lady Penelope was lovely to behold with fair skin, dark brown hair and lovely blue eyes, yet Lady Penelope was not Bea.

While Bea was bold and daring, Lady Penelope was painfully timid, barely even looking him in the eyes. While Bea was unafraid to speak her mind, Lady Penelope left Noah wondering what it was she was thinking. While Bea challenged him, Lady Penelope was agreeable to everything he said. Lady Penelope barely spoke and nodded often when he did.

Noah knew Lady Penelope would make a perfect wife for any man; the only problem with that was that Noah wasn't any man.

Noah wanted Bea; he wanted her sharp tongue and defiant raise of the chin; he wanted her pale, freckled skin; he wanted her mesmerizing blue and green eyes; he wanted to be set ablaze by the mere brushing of her fingertips against his skin; he wanted her lips that possessed the power to steal the air from his lungs! For the love of god, he wanted her!