She clung to him, working her mouth in tandem with his. When he dipped his tongue to taste her, Louisa drew on it until he moaned.
He pulled back, marveling at her. Two shrewd, blue eyes searched hers. “You’re sweet,” said he, softly.
She smiled. “Cake and ice cream have their merits, my lord.”
“Then consider me ravenous.” He cupped one hand behind her head to ease her back onto the pillowed arm of the sofa. He stretched on the cushions beside her, tracing his palm over her bare knees. He angled his hips between her parted thighs and clutched her tightly against him.
Louisa’s heart leaped in her chest. She glanced down to watch His Lordship’s hand disappear beneath her velvet skirts, fingertips toying with the lace edge of her drawers. She saw pale flesh brush dark wool as their legs twined.
“God, Louisa,” he groaned into her panting, open mouth.
They were sticky and sweet, flushed and breathless—and married! The promise of a five-day honeymoon emboldened Louisa to her husband’s touch. She welcomed each kiss, every nudge and rub, and the curious friction that built between their bodies.
There was so much she did not know, yet she trusted Lord Granborough to teach her.
His fingers laced in her hair. His erection pressed into her pelvis, and she gasped at the sensation that steely ridge sent racing to the very heart of her.
Ifthiswas kissing, she couldn’t wait to discover what lovemaking held in store.
She looked into his eyes, uncertain of how to ask for what must come next.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.
Louisa groaned at the interruption. When Lord Granborough moved to rise, she pulled him back. “No, don’t answer.”
His mouth slanted into a grim line of annoyance. “I fear it might be important.”
“On our wedding night?” She balked. “What could be more important than this?”
He nuzzled her nose. Cradled in her arms, His Lordship seemed disinclined to leave, yet the knock sounded again, insistently.
“You wouldn’t want to miss a lifeboat drill, would you, dear?”
Louisa’s eyes went wide. “A lifeboat drill?”
The thought of leaving their comfortable suite to face the icy North Atlantic made her shiver, but he was only teasing.
“You’re as safe as a lamb.” Her husband pressed a kiss to her ear and whispered, “We had better make ourselves decent.”
Lord Granborough carefully extricated himself from her between her legs. The sofa creaked as he stood and turned his back to her, putting his clothes to rights.
He gave her one last longing glance before reaching for the doorknob, sensing that whomever awaited on the other side would alter the course of their marriage from this moment forward.
Don’t open it!she wanted to say, but could think of no good reason to stop him.
It was only a door, after all. A mere intrusion to be easily dealt with. Whatever it was, they could face it together.
Her husband flung open the stateroom door and frowned into the passageway beyond. “Yes, what is it?”
CHAPTER SIX
A purser’s assistant stood in the passage, clutching a bundle of envelopes. “Good evening, sir. Sorry to disturb, but these were left for you at the desk.”
Giles took them from the fellow, and then closed the door at his back.
Louisa had lowered her skirts, returning to the respectable Fifth Avenue princess he’d courted. The only clues to her lapse in propriety were the kiss-swollen lips from which she asked, “What’s all that?”
“Cards mostly,” he said, flipping through the post. “Letters of congratulations, no doubt.”
