“When do we leave?” he asked.
“We could go tomorrow morning. Pack up everything.”
“You do not wish to know what happens with your husband’s trial?” Before he had even finished the question, she was shaking her head.
“I do not care about that.” She was firm. “I simply want to start our life together.”
“In which case, I can’t wait for the sun to rise tomorrow morning.” He closed his lips to hers another time, being more careful this time to keep his nose away from hers as he intensified the kiss.
He had no wish to leave her tonight, and from the way her hands were slipping beneath the shoulders of his frock coat, she didn’t want him to go either. She pulled off the coat, and he helped her with it, until it was tossed somewhere to the side of the room.
“We might have to be gentle with our kisses,” he said softly, pulling a giggle from him.
“I wasn’t thinking of being too gentle.” Her playful words pulled a growl from him, desiring her all the more. He knew exactly what she was referring to, and the fact she longed to be with him as he did her made his body ache for her with a need that was all encompassing. “But we can make the kisses gentle,” she said sweetly, reaching up and placing the softest of kisses to his lips.
That softness didn’t last long, mostly because he wanted more and didn’t care if they brushed his nose on occasion. He wanted her, now that they had promised to start a life together, living as husband and wife, he wanted to begin that life right way, showing her how much he loved and adored her.
His cravat and waistcoat were quickly gone, followed by his boots and trousers until he didn’t have a stitch left on him. When he reached for her, his hands were fast, practically tearing the gown from her body in his eagerness, along with the stays. Leaving her in her chemise and her stockings, he urged her back down onto the bed and began to pepper kisses along her body.
He started with her lips, before travelling along her neck and towards the neckline of the chemise where the curve of her breasts was just visible. Staying at all times outside of the chemise, he teased her, kissing her through the material as he travelled along her stomach and to the tops of her thighs. She writhed beneath him, begging him for more.
First, there was something he wished to show her again.
He slipped his fingers under the chemise and lifted the material slowly up her legs. She let out a breathy moan, with the material taunting her as it skimmed her hips. Once the linen was bundled around her hips, Owen placed himself between her legs, loving the way her eyes widened at his sudden movement and her head lifted off the bed.
As he kissed her centre, her moans erupted. He loved that sound. It made him kiss her more fiercely, pleasuring her centre. Her legs quivered around him, showing just what he was doing to her. Even by pleasuring her, he felt the thrill travelling through his body, knowing he could make her feel such things. His length was standing to attention, yearning to make love to her, but first, he wished to bring her to the edge once more.
It was fast, brought on by the brush of his fingers inside her as he continued to kiss her core. She quivered and moaned his name, clinging to the pillows above her head.
As he released her, moving himself up until he was level with her face, he could see how much her cheeks were blushing red from their pleasure. She reached up, placing her palms against his bare chest as she panted, coming down from the bliss.
“I love you,” he whispered to her.
“I love you too.” She smiled up at him as he reached for her chemise, pulling it up over her head. “Make love to me, Owen,” she pleaded with him. He never had been able to deny her anything, and he was most certainly not going to start now. He lowered himself down towards her, finding her lips with his and melding their bodies together. Her hips drew level with his, as his centre found hers, teasing them both with the promise of a thrill. It was perfect.
Almost.
There was something else in Owen’s head. He might never be able to stand up in church and declare his love for Diana, though they would live as husband and wife, yet he still wanted to make her those vows and promises that he should make before God.
It didn’t seem to matter that they were in a bedchamber, far away from God’s house. Diana was such a kind person, so loving, that Owen knew God would not mind their unorthodox decision. It was for the best.
He kissed her another time and lifted himself up a little, deciding there was something he had to say first.
***
“Owen, please.” Diana pleaded with him, needing to share herself with him completely once again.
They may not have the official marriage, but this was what they needed to share, this moment to make it as real as they could between them. A sort of consummation after their promise to one another.
“Wait, there is something I must say first.” Owen pulled himself up to kneeling before her. She groaned at the loss of contact, pulling a chuckle from him. He gently took her hands and raised her to her knees too, so they were facing one another, completely bare. “Maybe I cannot do this in a church, but I will do it here. With you. With the only person who really needs to hear it.”
“Do what?” she asked.
“I, Owen Arnold, take thee, Diana Dowding, to be my wife. Well, to live together as man and wife. From this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance and thereto, I plight thee my troth.” He declared the words so clearly and with so much meaning that Diana felt weak, even kneeling down before him.
“You memorized it.”
“Every man wants to say that to the woman he loves.”
