Violet (Suitors of Seattle Book 7) Read online

  Violet looked around the room. "I think that's everything."

  "Good." He took Violet's hand in his. "I know it's not the normal way to do things, but this house seems to be a bit overpopulated at the moment. How would you feel about taking a night or two in a hotel here in town so we can have a bit of privacy?"

  "That sounds wonderful!" She liked the idea of having some time completely alone with him.

  Edna clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, which hotel will we stay in?"

  Jonas looked at Edna and sighed. "Well, I was thinking everyone but Violet and I would stay here. I want to be alone with my wife." Why did he have to have a houseful of people when he had a new bride?

  Edna frowned. "Oh yes, of course. It's just...I've never stayed in a hotel."

  Jonas shook his head. "It's not happening. Not right now. I'm sure it will happen soon." He looked back at Violet. "Can you pack a bag for two nights? We'll stay in a hotel and just spend some time getting to know one another better."

  Edna snorted. "I'll say you'll get to know one another better."

  Jonas glared at Edna. "No one was speaking to you." Didn't she know when to keep her mouth shut?

  "Well, if you're speaking in the room that I'm in, then I should be part of the conversation, don't you think?"

  Jonas shook his head. "No, I don't think so." He looked back at Violet. "You can pack a bag?"

  Violet had her hand over her mouth trying her best not to giggle. She certainly understood Jonas's frustration with the older woman, but she couldn't help but laugh at his exasperation. "Yes, I can be ready. When will we leave?"

  "How long will it take you to pack a bag?"

  "Twenty minutes?" she guessed.

  "Then we'll leave in thirty. That will give us enough time to say goodbye to Nathan for the two nights as well."

  "Sounds good." Violet waited until he'd left the room before collapsing on the bed and laughing. "Oh, Edna. You really shouldn't bait him that way."

  Edna grinned. "That's Edna Petunia to you."

  *****

  "Do you promise you'll come back?" Nathan asked, wringing his little hands together nervously.

  Violet pulled the boy closer to her on the sofa where the three of them were sitting. "Of course, we'll come back. We love you. We need to have you with us."

  "I can stay with Hillary Lilac and Edna Petunia then." Nathan was the only one who could easily remember what the two women had chosen for their names.

  "They'll take good care of you. When I get home, I have a surprise for you."

  Nathan's eyes lit up. "You do?"

  "I do, but only if you're a good boy while we're gone." Violet smiled at the excitement on the little boy's face.

  "I'll be the best little boy in all of New York!"

  Jonas grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "I know you will." He embraced the boy tightly. "We'll see you in three days. Two sleeps."

  Nathan nodded. "I'll take care of all the women while you're gone, Unca Jonas."

  "I know you will." Jonas got to his feet, and took Violet's hand. Their things were already in the coach waiting to be taken to the hotel he'd chosen. "We'll miss you."

  Nathan sighed. "I'll miss you, too. I wish I could go."

  "It wouldn't be proper." Jonas waited for Violet to hug Nathan one last time.

  As they left, Violet looked at Jonas. "At least I won't have to read my mother's telegram about what a terrible daughter I am until we get back."

  "Why would this bother her so much?"

  Violet sighed. "She's angry that none of her daughters have given her time to plan a 'real' wedding. We're always in a hurry to get married once we get engaged. She actually wanted me to be fitted for a wedding dress before we left so she could plan our wedding while we were gone. You know, yours and mine. We'd never even kissed!" She shook her head in exasperation.

  Jonas laughed. "Yes, I think your mother is going to be angry with you."

  She sighed. "I know she is. Oh well. She got mad at all my sisters, too, but she'll be happy when we start giving her grandbabies. In our case, she'll be happy as soon as we get home. She'll be excited to get Nathan as a 'new grandchild.'"

  "Will she just accept him that fast?" He helped her into the coach and moved to sit beside her, his arm coming around her shoulders.

  "Oh, yes. My sister Jasmine has twin step-sons who are absolute hellions. They are Jasmine all over again. Mama opened her arms wide and called them her grandbabies the very day they married." Violet snuggled into him, wondering if he'd kiss her now that they were finally alone. She wanted nothing more than to be intimate with him. She hoped it wouldn't take long to get to the hotel.

  "Tell me about your sisters," he suggested, glancing out the window. It was a thirty minute drive to the hotel, and he wasn't going to start anything he couldn't finish in a coach. Well, he could finish it in a coach, but not her first time. He'd take her on a long drive someday, though.

  Violet smiled. She'd never in her life gone this long without seeing at least one of her sisters. "Well, Rose is the oldest. She's always been really...well, fashion conscious. When she was young, she had men falling all over themselves for her. She's married to Shawn Henry. He's a dentist. She's also the reason Aunt Harriett agreed to investigate all of our suitors."

  "Why does your aunt do it?" he asked. He had been surprised when her mother said her sister-in-law had investigated him when they'd been at the train station in Seattle. It wasn't a job that would usually be given to a woman.

  "Before she came to Seattle to marry my uncle, she was a matchmaker for mail order brides back in Massachusetts. Her butler, Higgins, did most of the legwork, but she taught him how she wanted it done. Higgins married after they moved to Seattle, and his step-son is married to Amaryllis."

  "Is Amaryllis the second sister?"

  Violet shook her head. "No, I'll help you with that before we get home. I always paint miniatures of all of us for new people in the family. With eight of us, it's difficult to keep up with who's who." She moved a little closer to him. "Lily is the second sister. She was always a tomboy. She ended up marrying Daniel, who works as a banker for my father."

  "Is she still a tomboy?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

  "Actually she is! She's a mother now, too, but she still runs around in breeches as much as possible. Amaryllis is the third sister. She's the one who married Higgins's step-son. She's a librarian."

  "Does she still work?" he asked.

  "She does! I never thought I'd find a man who would allow me to do it, though. Alex is one of a kind."

  "Alex is her husband?"

  "Yes, sorry. Rose is married to Shawn. Lily is married to Daniel, and Amaryllis is married to Alex. Daisy is the fourth sister, and she was always the quiet one. She's got the biggest heart you've ever seen, but she's shy. She didn't have any suitors and was sick of Mama pestering her to marry, so Aunt Harriett sent her to Montana to be a mail order bride."

  Jonas laughed. "I guess that showed her. Is she the one you told me your mother went with when she went to be a mail order bride?"

  "Oh yes. Mama and Jasmine both went with her. Anyway, Daisy married Eli, and they live in Montana together. Jasmine went out to help Daisy while she was carrying her oldest. While she was there, she met Lee Fields. He had these rambunctious, prank-playing twin boys. She married him, much to Mama's distress. She didn't want two of her daughters to be in Montana." Violet grinned. "Those boys are just like Jasmine was. She deserves to have kids like that!"

  "Jasmine played pranks on people?"

  "Jasmine was ridiculous. My sisters began to call her a 'demented nincompoop' all the time." She grinned. "She didn't play a lot of jokes on me, because I'm younger, but when the older girls were courting, it was just awful for them." She thought back to some of the things Jasmine had said to her sisters' suitors, and she knew she would have been horrifically embarrassed.

  "She sounds...lovely."

  "Oh, she is a lovely person...now." V
iolet shook her head. "Then there's Hyacinth. She always walked around in a dream world. I can't count the number of times I've seen her walk into walls. No one really knew her if you know what I mean. We all loved her, but we didn't understand her."

  "You do now?" he asked.

  "Oh, yes. She's a writer. She spent all her time wandering around that way, because she was thinking about what she was going to write next. She loves writing. She married Lawrence, who is also a writer. She's expecting her second baby now."

  "And she's how old?" He was having a hard time keeping them all straight.

  "She's twenty-two. She's the sister above me. We're all eighteen months apart."

  "So there's one younger than you?" he asked.

  "Yes, and I'm not certain she'll ever marry. Iris is at University right now. She's studying to be a doctor." She grinned as she thought of Iris. Her sister was willing to take on anything.

  Jonas looked at her with surprise. "A doctor? But...she'll change her mind and be a midwife soon, won't she?"

  "I really don't think she will. She's...well, she's a bit determined. She gets really angry if any of her professors even suggest midwifery to her. She's determined to be a doctor, and that's that."

  "Wow. I wish her luck. I wonder if anyone would ever go to a woman doctor."

  Violet shrugged. "I don't know. I hope so for Iris's sake. Anyway, Iris is the youngest."

  He looked out the window and sighed with relief. They were at the hotel. He was worried he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off her the entire way. "We're here."

  Chapter Nine

  Violet peered out the window at the hotel. She'd never stayed in a hotel, but she didn't want to admit that to Jonas. "It's beautiful. The Waldorf?" She'd never heard of it, but if that's where he wanted to stay, who was she to complain? They'd be alone finally, and that's what really mattered.

  He nodded. "It just opened its doors three years ago. It's the place to stay in the city." He climbed down the steps after the door was opened for them. Turning back, he held his hand up for her. "I haven't had the opportunity to stay here yet, but I've heard really good things about it."

  A young man in a strange hat walked up to Jonas. "May I get your bags, sir?"

  Jonas nodded to the coachman who helped the man with the bags while the two of them walked into the hotel. Violet looked around her with wide eyes. She'd grown up with luxury, and she'd thought she'd seen it all. The Waldorf surpassed anything she'd ever imagined. After a quick check in, Jonas took the key they were handed and led her to the elevator.

  Violet was nervous, never having been in an elevator before, but Jonas looked perfectly at ease. "Twelfth floor please," he requested.

  Once they reached their floor, he led her to their room. As soon as the door closed, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. They jumped apart at the knock on the door, and Jonas had the bellboy put their suitcases down, tipping him discreetly. "Thank you for your assistance."

  The bellboy nodded and closed the door behind him. As soon as he did, Jonas looked at Violet. "No more interruptions. It's just us for forty-eight hours. I don't plan to leave even to get food. This hotel has a wonderful little thing called 'room service,' and we're going to make the most of it."

  Violet looked at him, knowing he was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The only man she would ever accept into her body. The man who would be the father of her children. All at once she was overwhelmed by emotion. He'd chosen her out of all the women he'd ever met to be his bride. They weren't in Seattle any longer. He knew a wide variety of women, most of them more elegant than she was.

  She wanted to please him. She knew that in bed, they would please each other, but out of it...she needed to get to know him better. She was suddenly struck by how little she knew about this man. Dare she ask him questions?

  Jonas shrugged out of his jacket and carefully laid it across a small table. He sat down in a chair and removed his shoes and socks, his eyes never leaving her. His focus seemed to be entirely upon her and getting his clothes off.

  Violet looked toward the window. "It's daylight. Shouldn't we wait?"

  He grinned. "Don't worry. It'll happen after dark too." He stood and unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it out of his slacks and laying it onto his jacket. When he stood barefoot and nude from the waist up, he slowly walked toward her. "Aren't you feeling a bit overdressed?"

  She blushed. "Not particularly."

  He reached out and plucked the flower from her hair, holding it under his nose. "You were aptly named after the most beautiful of all flowers."

  "The rose is the most beautiful," she argued. She'd heard man after man say similar things to Rose when she was little. They all told her that the rose was the most beautiful flower.

  "No, the violet. And you, my Violet, are the most beautiful woman I've ever met." He sat down onto the bed, and caught her hand, pulling her toward him to stand between his spread legs. "There's no reason to be nervous. I'm not going to hurt you."

  Violet nodded slowly, more embarrassed than afraid. Why had she thought he would wait until after dark to consummate their union?

  He pulled her down to sit beside him on the bed, telling himself he needed to go slowly with her. He wanted to throw her clothes off and start making love to her, but she was too skittish for that. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had sneaked into his bed naked the night before. Maybe he should give her a bit of wine again...

  No, he wanted her to remember the night, and their first experience loving each other. He cupped her face in his hands and lowered his lips to hers, the first kiss barely a brush of their lips against each other. His fingers wound into her hair, carefully removing the pins that kept her hair atop her head.

  Violet hated that he'd stopped kissing her and leaned forward to capture his lips with hers, putting everything he'd taught her into the kiss. Her tongue thrust into his mouth to mate with his, while her hands stroked his shoulders and back.

  At her response his fingers went to the row of buttons down her back, carefully unbuttoning each one. He pushed the bodice of her dress off her shoulders until it pooled around her waist, his lips leaving hers to kiss a trail down her neck and across her shoulder. "Your skin is so soft."

  Violet liked his lips on her neck. She liked them too much. She felt as if her entire body was on fire with anticipation. She stood abruptly and pushed the skirt of her dress over her hips and turned to him so he could untie her corset for her.

  A smile played at the corner of Jonas's lips. Only Violet would go from nervous to ready to have her clothes off so quickly. How could he not love that about her?

  He untied her corset and pushed it down over her hips. Turning her to face him, she was wearing only her combination underwear. It was a lacy sleeveless chemise on the top and narrowed down to drawers on the bottom. He reached out and caught her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, toying with it through the thin fabric of her chemise. He leaned forward and caught her other nipple between his lips, suckling it through her undergarment.

  Violet let out a gasp, clasping his head between her hands and holding him steady. She didn't know if what he was doing was right, but after the talk Edna had with her earlier, she wasn't going to say anything, since he was bringing her pleasure, and according to Edna that was all that mattered at the moment.

  He pulled away and looked up at her, his brown eyes hooded with passion. "Do you like that?"

  She nodded. "I like it a lot. More than I should, I'm certain."

  "No, we're married. I want you to enjoy what we do in the bedroom or wherever else we happen to be doing it. You shouldn't allow me to do things to your body that you don't like. You should actively participate in everything, and let me know what you like and don't like." He stood, gathering her close to him. "I want you to enjoy my body, just as much as I'm going to enjoy yours."

  She tilted her head to one side and considered. "Does that mean if I want to take all your clot
hes off and look at you, I can?" She wasn't certain she'd want to, because that sounded terribly bold to her, but if she did, she'd like to be able to.

  "I'd like that a lot." His hands went to the waistband of his slacks. "I'll take them off right now if you want me to."

  "You would? Really?" She couldn't believe he was ready to strip for her right there and then.

  He raised an eyebrow at her before unbuttoning his slacks and pushing them to the floor. His drawers were next, and then he was naked in front of her. "Now what?" he asked.

  Violet's cheeks were flaming with embarrassment. "I didn't actually ask you to do it! I just wondered if you would."

  He chuckled. "I think I will."

  "I can see that."

  "You haven't seen anything. You won't even look at me!"

  She shook her head. "I've never seen a man naked before."

  Jonas sighed. "You know I'm going to be touching you everywhere, and you'll be touching me. Don't you think you should look?"

  "No. I'm good."

  He laughed. "I hope you know that I'm going to look." He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm going to take everything off you, and then I'm going to look until I can't stand it any longer. Then I'll touch you all over."

  She shivered. "That would be all right."

  He grinned, nipping her ear. "It had better be all right, wife."

  "Wife. I like the sound of that."

  "I do too." He pushed the straps of her chemise down over her shoulders and pushed the whole garment to the floor so she could step out of it.

  Her face was flaming as she watched his, hoping he wouldn't find her lacking. She couldn't make herself look at him below his waist, afraid of what she'd see. How could she not have realized how embarrassing this first time would be?

  He scooped her into his arms and laid her gently onto the bed, following her down. His lips toyed with hers while his hands traveled over her body, paying special attention to her breasts. When she'd relaxed finally, his hand settled between her thighs, and toyed with her moist folds.