Free Claiming His Wife by Golden Angel Page A

a while. You could wear your hand out and still not
make a dent in her emotions.”
    “Plus, all you’d be teaching her is to
keep quiet about what she’s feeling, and it’s hard enough to tell
what a woman wants even when she’s talking to you.” Edwin said as
he walked around the table, looking for his next shot.
    “She’s certainly not doing much of
that,” he muttered, giving a small sigh. If only he should be so
lucky as to have Grace actually telling him what was going on in
that beautiful head of hers.
    “Give it time,” Wesley
said, with his usual rakish grin. “She’ll come around. Women like
to see us making an effort.” If anyone would know what a woman
wanted, it was certainly Wesley. Alex had been considered a rake as
well, but he’d never seen women flock to anyone the way they had to
Wesley. He was just different enough from the rest of the men in
the ton , with his
long, sun-bleached hair and tanned skin, for them to be fascinated
by him.
    “And be consistent,” Hugh
said. Something about his voice made it sound like he repeating a
rule he’d learned by rote. Which, of course, he had when his father
had been giving him lessons. “Don’t ever let her get away with
something, no matter how much she begs or pleads. Don’t get
distracted or allow her to seduce you. If you say that she’s going
to be punished for something, then she needs to be disciplined every time
she makes an infraction. Otherwise it’s just confusing for everyone
involved.”
    “Noted,” Alex murmured.
    A tension he hadn’t even
noticed was there seemed to be lifting from his shoulders as the
men all showed both approval and encouragement of his actions.
Since his father had never administered corporeal punishment to
Alex, it wasn’t something he was familiar with and he was reassured
by having others to converse on the subject with. Men who knew his
and Grace’s history and who were supportive of the reconciliation.
Before meeting Wesley, he hadn’t encouraged any relationships with
anyone, because most of the men of the ton were either vehemently
disapproving of Grace or wanted to seduce her. He’d found that he
had little patience with men who spoke disparagingly of his wife,
and none at all with the others.
    ******
    Alex had to admire Lady Hyde's acumen
when it came to seating arrangements.  She'd put him in
between herself and Cynthia, buffering him from Irene and giving
Grace the space she needed to relax.  Cynthia was next to
Hugh, which allowed Wesley to sit across from her and keep a
weather eye on her antics.  Although, so far, she'd been quite
pleasant, if a trifle overly familiar with all of the gentlemen.
 It was obvious that she didn't mean anything by it, it was
just in her nature to be both friendly and flirtatious.  Alex
was fairly certain that she didn't even realize the full extent of
her attractions - she seemed to save all of her calculated
flirtations for her husband.
    Although that didn't stop Wesley from
giving Hugh a dark look when Cynthia giggled at yet another of his
many quips.  Fortunately Irene didn't seem to be upset or
jealous over Hugh and Cynthia's conversation. 
    Tonight, Alex had realized just how
much he'd watched over Irene in the past, obviously to the
detriment of his own marriage.  His automatic response was
always to check on her, ensure that she was enjoying herself and
that she wasn't feeling left out or overwhelmed.  Now his
attention was more on Grace, but he still felt that old, familiar
tug on his senses, demanding that he protect the young woman he
considered his little sister.  
    Even with Hugh there, it was hard to
mentally hand off responsibility. 
    But he did his best,
listening to the conversation between Eleanor, Grace and Wesley,
very occasionally adding his own input.  At the head of the
table, Irene and Edwin were talking about Hugh's estates and life
in the country.  He was telling her about his parents, whom
the ton  knew
as eccentrics,