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Chapter 10
Long after the household had settled into their beds for the night, Alex lay awake in her bed, watching the firelight from her small hearth create shadows on the baroque red satin- covered walls. The evening had turned chilly, and the house was hushed save for the occasional soft sound that echoed down the corridor. She listened to the house creak and shift as night wore on, and at last, she heard the sound she hoped for and yet dreaded. Light steps outside her door. The twist of the door handle…
She sat up and watched the door open as Ambrose slipped into her chamber. The sound of the door closing was quiet, but it seemed to echo through the room. For a long moment, he simply stood there, staring at her, his handsome features a mysterious mask. She could almost feel his gaze on her, the focus and intensity of his eyes, and it made her shiver.
Her heart pounded and she clutched her coverlet to her chest, strangely afraid, but not of him. She was going to take that last step to ruination tonight. She was going to let him come to her bed. It was usual to be a little frightened, wasn’t it? She knew what to expect; she’d had her mother explain the particulars of men and women coming together during her first season. Since then she’d heard enough of other ladies whispering, not to mention that encounter in the gardens today had been a thorough education.
“Alex,” he murmured, the firelight making his eyes glow, and her name was a quiet question.
It warmed her to know he wouldn’t push her, wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t wish. The hungry light in his eyes was tempered with gentleness, a preparedness to leave if she told him to. That made all the difference in the world, because she did want him, desperately, possibly even more than he wanted her.
“Lock the door behind you,” she whispered, her body suddenly tense. She was doing this, she was going to become a ruined woman, but no one would know what they’d do tonight. Just the two of them…in the quiet…in the dark. An excited shiver rippled through her.
He latched the door and walked over to the bed. He unbuttoned his vest slowly, and she watched his long, elegant fingers slipping buttons through their slits before he shrugged the finely embroidered waistcoat to the floor. She glanced down at it, studying the firelight making the gold threading that formed a pair of stags in the woods glow. It was beautiful, like him. Many men would have patterns sewn into their clothes, but he’d chosen a scene, two bucks facing each other across a stretch of woods completed in varying tones of silver and gold.
“I…” She slid to the edge of the bed, her nerves on edge and her stomach assailed with fluttering butterflies. She reached up to help him pull his shirt out of his buckskin trousers as he lifted it over his head, baring his chest. Her palms settled on his skin, tentative at first. He watched her, unspeaking, unmoving as she trailed her fingers over his body. It was fascinating to touch a man’s bare chest, feel the power of his muscles, and explore his dusky nipples. The hollow of his throat…and the dark line of hair that trailed from his navel down to below his trousers. She reached for the front of his pants.
“We don’t have to do this if you aren’t ready.” He laid his hands over hers against his trousers, stilling their trembling. She peeped up at him through her gold-brown lashes.
“That’s not what a rake is supposed to say to a woman’s he’s planning to deflower.”
Ambrose gazed down at her, no smile, no charm, just sincerity. “This isn’t about that. I don’t want it to be just…I don’t want to be just some rake to you. I just want it to be you and me here in this bed tonight. No games, no lies, no thoughts of tomorrow.” He seemed so serious, so earnest that she believed him.
“Just us?”
He nodded and lifted his hands to cup her face so he could lean down and kiss her. It was a wicked kiss with a slip of tongue. Yet he made it a kiss full of sweetness. He dropped his hands, still kissing her. She reached for the front of his trousers again. He shed his pants, and she scooted back on the bed as he climbed in with her. Her bed wasn’t small, but sharing it with someone—a very big, masculine someone—made it nice, cozy.
Ambrose leaned over her, smiling as he brushed her hair back from her face. He stared at her for a long moment, his gaze soft and his sensual mouth curved in a tender smile. Everything inside her stilled as she brushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled back at him. This was right—this felt wonderful. Just the two of them in her bed, the fire crackling and their quiet shared breaths as they were readying to embark on a journey that seemed written in their hearts long before they’d ever shared that first waltz.
Ambrose licked his lips. “Lord, you are beautiful. Truly beautiful.”
“Would you help me out of my nightgown?” she asked.
He grinned as he let her sit up a little, and they pulled her long white nightgown up and away. It floated to the floor in a heap of white lace. Alex held her breath as she sat completely bare before him. Her breasts rose and fell with her beating heart, and she tensed as he cupped one breast. His large hand was gentle as he lifted it and brushed the pad of his thumb over one peak. It felt exquisite, his hands exploring her.
“Lie back for me,” he encouraged as she slid down on the bed. “We must be quiet so as not to be overhead.”
He leaned over her again, kissing her lips, her chin, and her throat. His mouth moved lower, to her collarbone, and then he finally nuzzled one breast before he took her nipple between his lips, sucking gently. The erotic tug went straight to her womb, making her womb clench and her thighs quiver. She reacted instinctively, sliding her fingers through his hair, gripping his head as he teased her breast, and then he lifted his head, flashing her a grin as he slid farther down her body, parting her thighs. Alex tried to close her legs, but he used his hands to keep them braced apart. He placed more soft hot kisses to her lower belly, the top of her mound, and—
“Oh!” She inhaled sharply as he licked her slick folds. The rasping feel of his tongue in such a sensitive secret place was too much. Her body quivered with spasms, like an arrow unleashed from a tight bowstring. She let go, and a climax rolled through her. His mouth felt infinitely more sinful than his fingers had.
“Like that, do you?” he teased softly.
“Yes…very much.” She wriggled languidly as he settled into the cradle of her thighs.
“Good, I did as well. Your taste is exquisite.” He licked his lips again, and then he shifted his body, and she felt his hard shaft nudge her. Here it was—the moment that would change her life forever, and possibly his, she hoped. There could be no going back, and it was frightening, but her desire to be with him like this outweighed that fear. Their eyes sought each other’s, and she watched a rapid play of emotions she couldn’t quite recognize flit across his face.
Ambrose didn’t ask for her permission, but he waited, their gazes locked. She gave him a tiny nod. He kissed her greedily, his lips rough, while the rest of him was infinitely tender. He pushed into her, stretching her. There was a twist, a hard thrust, and a sharp inner pain. Alex whimpered and then bit his lip, but he didn’t stop kissing her. Long moments later, they began to move, their bodies sliding in the dark, the sheets falling to their hips as Ambrose made love to her.
Each time he entered her, the glorious fullness was overwhelming, but she hungered for it again and again. Her nails dug into his back and his shoulders as she clung to him. He rode her slowly at first, their bodies seeking a natural rhythm that she made quicker by using her hips to drag him deeper into her. Her breathing was shallow, and she felt her body racing faster, higher, toward some infinite height of true pleasure. Ambrose’s gaze was hungry and his lips ravenous as he kissed every inch of her upper body. His hips jerked harder, and she clenched down around him inside her.
When he growled low, the sound vibrated through her and it was too much, too good. He pounded faster. The sound of their slick bodies coming together and their ragged breaths made her fall off the edge. Another climax exploded through her, and her vision was spotted with white stars. He cried out, and she kissed him to silence the sound as he came apart above her. In that moment, she knew she loved him. How could she not? The vulnerable truth of his own emotions was shining in his eyes as he found his pleasure with her.
They lay together, bodies still joined, sharing breaths and secret smiles until the fire had died and the night was in full bloom. Alex felt exposed and vulnerable, yet she wasn’t alone—he was with her. His body was wrapped around hers, easing away all her fears.
“Stay with me,” Alex begged, stroking the arm around her waist. He was holding on to her from behind as they lay on their sides, bodies pressed together perfectly like a pair of spoons nestled in a drawer.
