“Then kiss me,” he murmured roughly.
“And what will that do?”
“This poor, wretched fool will feel delighted and—”
Her mouth mashed against his, her efforts at best laughable. He smiled against her mouth, wondering at the profound tenderness wrenching through his heart. The hellion bit his bottom lip.
“Oh, I do so want to be wicked with you,” she murmured against his mouth, kissing him with hot, urgent nips. Her eager sensuality only enflamed his lust, and he deepened their kiss, sucking on her tongue with lazy carnality.
Their lips parted, and she whispered, “I like your kisses, and I have been imagining them everywhere on my body. I want everything you said… I want you to love me slowly…and then tup me.”
His wife reached for his hand and wedged it between her thighs, and he groaned feeling the heat of her quim through her drawers and petticoats.
“Especially here,” she whispered. “Ever since you placed your mouth here and teased me so mercilessly…I have been wanting you back there. But surely, I cannot be so reckless and wanton when we have yet to be married and will never be!”
He groaned. “Woman, we are married!”
She gasped, pushed away from his body, grabbed his arm, and tugged him. She had no strength to move him, but he followed her from the orchard and into the house. Georgianna marched them down the hallway and into the drawing room where Elizabeth, Sarah, and Annabelle rested by the fire, reading one of the books he brought home.
“I have told him everything,” she cried. “He is a duke!” His wife canted her head and frowned, another small hiccup bursting from her. “Oh, no, not a duke…a viscount or an earl! Yes, an earl, and we are not married in truth!”
She whirled, and he clasped her gently about the waist lest she fall, and she gave him a very smug nod. He glanced up at her sisters, who peered at her with rife concern.
“Is she foxed?” Lizzie asked, astonished.
“What is foxed?” Sarah asked.
Anna merely yawned and rubbed her eyes, evidently trying to stay awake.
“We have been drinking wine,” he murmured.
“Please do not take her words to heart,” Lizzie said, her eyes wide and imploring. “Georgie…had always felt that…she was not the type of lady a man of your…elegance would marry.”
“I am beginning to realize it,” he murmured, peering down into her lovely face.
“But youaremarried.”
“Lizzie!” his wife wailed. “I am trying to tell him the truth.”
Daniel placed his hands under her hips and back, lifting her into his arms. “It is time to get you to bed.”
Delight lit in her eyes, and she slipped her hands around his nape. “Are you about to ravish me, my husband? Perhaps lick—”
He captured her mouth with his, lest she say something far too wicked in front of her innocent sisters. Lizzie’s gasp echoed around them, and Sarah giggled. He lifted his head, walked away from the drawing room, and made his way down the hallway, then up the stairs. A soft snoring came from her, and Daniel glanced down.
His wife was sound asleep in his arms, her forehead resting on his chest with utmost trust.
He took Georgianna to her chamber, gently placing her in the center of the bed. She murmured something indecipherable and kicked at his hand when he tried to remove her boots.
“You are just as cantankerous as Hetty and Nellie,” he said, chuckling.
Daniel removed her boots and stockings, then, shifting her with ease, unbuttoned her dress. He allowed Georgianna her modesty by leaving on her shift. She rolled onto her belly, her lush arse tempting him to join her, even if only to sleep with her snuggled into his arms. He breathed out deeply, tucking the thick coverlet up to her chin, before going over to the fireplace and stoking the logs. Once he was assured of her comfort, he went through the connecting door and sat on the edge of his bed to remove his boots and clothes.
Naked, he reposed on the bed, lacing his fingers behind his head to stare thoughtfully at the ceiling.
“He is a duke…a viscount…an earl!”
Why was it that this assertion from his wife had not felt strange…but confoundingly right? A thump through the connecting door had him lurching up to investigate. He opened the door and paused to see his wife in the center of the room with the coverlet and pillows tossed about on the ground.
