They’d lain together three times now, and yet this act felt brand new.
Lord Granborough kissed her, dragging his panting mouth across her jaw to nibble her neck. He suckled her earlobe while palming her breasts, all the while thrusting into her with slow, deliberate strokes.
Louisa felt hot desire pool between their bodies, every sensation focused on that one, needy place she’d brought to light. She snaked her hand over her breasts, and then drifted down her belly to massage between her legs where she and Lord Granborough joined.
His Lordship dipped his head to watch her fingers play. When he returned his focus to her face, his cheeks were flushed with ardor.
“You do like to be touched,” he said.
“Yes.” She arched into him, desperate for further connection. Hadn’t she told him so many times, in so many ways? “I want your hands on me—everywhere.”
Louisa guided his hand to that pleasure point, and together they discovered all the delicate little touches that brought her to bliss.
Fingers roved and lips met. Tongues tangled in hungry kisses. Lord Granborough was an eager pupil and a good lover, adding his own finesse to their coupling. He did astonishing things with his hips and his hands, and Louisa gripped his shoulders to hug him close. She couldn’t get enough of him!
“Oh, Giles… Oh, Giles…” she chanted, feeling that rising tide build within. She was lost to all thought, all reason, as firm flesh and fantasy roiled together. His Lordship was her husband and her lover, her partner and fellow pleasure-seeker. She marveled at the sight of his masculine form rocking atop her, and thrilled at his fingertips working below.
Louisa offered herself to him, and he gave and gave until rapture overtook her. When she came, she cried his name, for there was pleasure and there washim, and tonight the two sensations were the same.
“Je jois! Je jois, Giles!”
Awestruck, he slipped from her. He collapsed onto the sofa cushions and guided her to ride in his lap. Face to face, with nothing but their warm breaths between them, it only took a moment for His Lordship to find release.
When he climaxed, he pointedly whispered“Louisa”into her ear.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Louisa awoke to an empty bed. She sat up, searching for her husband. The stateroom was a mess, her hair was tangled beyond redemption, and her peach velvet dinner frock had been trampled on.
She barely remembered crawling to bed, jelly-legged and sated, but she felt swollen and sticky, and achy where he’d pleasured her.
Blinking, she found His Lordship lounging on the sofa.
“I sat on this last night,” he called, holding up the French erotic novel. “Where did you get it?”
She wasn’t embarrassed to possess the book. “Madame de Roubernon.”
“I ought to have guessed.” He stood, naked, and stalked toward her. “Why did she give it to you? Why would you want it?”
Louisa couldn’t answer. She didn’t wish to hurt his feelings. It wasn’t as if she wanted more than he could give her—she needed him to want more, to be more, for her.
She only shrugged.
Lord Granborough wasn’t angry, merely teasing. He playfully tossed the tome onto the mattress beside her, saying, “It’s filthy. Is that where you learned your naughty French?”
“Yes.” She’d learned a great deal more than that, for the book had taught her the joys of pleasure, the power of agency, and emboldened her to share this newfound knowledge with a partner she trusted.
His Lordship placed his hands on her hips, bunching the bedcovers up around her. “Rebellious, bookish, and now, enlightened.”
She laughed. “Would you rather I stuck with detective novels?”
“Not a chance.” He kissed her forehead.
He pulled the covers up over her, though he did not attempt to hide his nudity. Why should he? He was masterfully formed, all taut lines and pale flesh. Long inches of him that had never been kissed by sunlight had been offered upto her.
They ordered breakfast. Only then did he bother to don his dressing gown. They sat cross-legged on the bed, sharing a tray of coffee and cream, toast and marmalade.
Lord Granborough smiled. “This feels very like a nursery tea.”
