Now, however, with the final paragraphs, his interest was more stirred.
“‘You will be my wife, Felicity, he said fiercely, fixing her with the deep blue gaze that had made the pirates quail and now thrilled his beloved’s heart,’”Rose continued.“‘I am already your wife, Barnabas,’ answered Lady Felicity’s voice with complete certainty. ‘I knew it the moment I set eyes on you in Constantinople.’ Their lips met, the promise of their love was fulfilled and Lady Felicity knew that they would never be parted again.’”
With a somewhat less contented sigh now, Rose laid down the book.
“That is where these books always end,” she complained. “That is my sole criticism of Mrs. Cadwallader and others like her. They lead you on through the romance of the story and then stop at the altar, if not before, as though marriage itself were not the greatest part of the adventure.”
Dorian’s dark eyes twinkled with fun as he took up the book and glanced through its pages.
“You wish to read of their housekeeping arrangements and how often they visit one another’s relatives?” he inquired blithely. “Or do you want to know the fabric Lady Felicity chose for their drawing room sofa?”
Rose giggled and shook her head.
“When you put it like that, I suppose I don’t,” she answered although her expression remained thoughtful. “Still, I am leftwishing to hear more of Sir Barnabas and Lady Felicity after the story ends.”
“I think you want to know exactly how ‘the promise of their love was fulfilled,’” Dorian suggested with a raised eyebrow and curve of his shapely mouth. “Indeed, I think you want to hear of how Lady Felicity was filled full by Sir Barnabas, not merely fulfilled.”
Rose laughed again, her face now blushing with something more than the warmth of the room.
“Perhaps I do,” she admitted, welcoming the kiss Dorian bent to bestow on her lips. “That is what comes of reading so many of your naughty books in the library downstairs.”
“My books, Duchess Rose? They are half yours,” he told her with mock indignation and reveled in her further blushes and laughter.
He could not then resist tickling her and stealing further kisses when she was helpless. Rose halted him with a deep kiss of her own and a hand that stole down to his groin and took possession of his most intimate parts.
Dorian gave a groan of surprise and then pleasure as she pressed and rubbed him gently, causing an immediate surging of heat in his blood.
“I cannot resist you, Rose, any more than I think your Sir Barnabas could resist his Felicity,” he declared. “I believe he claimed her there and then in that boat, on top of the pile of sailcloth.”
“Really?” Rose mused, her blue eyes big and wondering and her lips softly brushing his as she spoke. “The pirates didn’t get very far from land before Sir Barnabas broke free, rescued Lady Felicity and sank their ship. They could have rowed back and found a priest first.”
“Back to civilization first?” Dorian laughed, shaking his head. “Out at sea, they are bound only by their own morals, not society’s. No, Sir Barnabas would not have waited and it seems to me that Lady Felicity’s blood was equally hot. They would have consummated their marriage first and found a priest later.”
“Well, then, maybe Sir Barnabas rowed them to an island and built a fire and put the sailcloth out on the sand,” suggested Rose. “Lady Felicity had never even kissed a man before Sir Barnabas, you know. He would have wanted to make her comfortable.”
Dorian nodded at this, tenderness in his eyes as he stroked Rose’s face. He glanced across at the rug in front of the fire and then back to Rose.
“Yes, he would. You are right. Remind me, what were they both wearing?” he asked her.
“At the end? Lady Felicity was dressed in the disguise of a Spanish gypsy woman. Sir Barnabas…I’m not sure but he was definitely shirtless by the time he fought the pirate captain, look.”
Rose flicked back through the pages of the book to one of the few sketched illustrations, its lines showing a square-jawed and strong shouldered man clashing swords with an earring-wearing pirate captain of evil expression. Tied to the mast of the ship, the buxom Lady Felicity looked on in horror.
Grinning, Dorian stood and unfastened his waistcoat and shirt, his jacket having already been abandoned earlier in the evening once the fire had warmed the room sufficiently. Pulling the shirt over his head, he stood bare-chested before Rose and extended a hand down to her.
“I have built us a fire for warmth, Lady Felicity, and found us a haven of perfect privacy on this beautiful island. Now, I must make you mine before the world comes to find us.”
As he had hoped, Rose immediately grasped and responded to his play-acting, clasping his hand and allowing herself to be drawn to her feet.
“Barnabas, I have wanted you for so long, but I am afraid,” she said in character. “You must show me what you mean.”
“My ring is already on your finger and my heart is in your keeping,” replied Dorian. “Put your body now in my hands and I will show you the greatest of joys.”
He ran his hands lightly over Rose’s curves, finding her breasts fuller and more delectable than ever. His wife’s breath caught in her throat as he began to kiss and gently bite at her neck while his fingers worked at the fastenings of her dress.
“Yes, oh yes, oh yes,” she sighed and then recollected herself slightly. “Ah, but Lady Felicity does not know yet what awaits her, does she? I ought to ask you what you are doing.”
“Preparing to strip you naked and feast my eyes on your naked charms, as is my right as your husband,” Dorian pronounced, speaking both for himself and for Sir Barnabas as the bodice of her dress gave to his ministrations and then the skirts and underskirts too, Rose’s little sighs and moans of pleasure music to his ears. “Then, I shall feast my hands and lips…”
