“Did I not make myself clear?You two concern me.”Pere waved them off and nodded toward the exit.
“We’ll take our leave to go and find her,” Henley answered his sister.
He tenderly guided Anna through the people, nodding to the gentlemen as they offered one-word felicitations.Anna could see Lady Devon, giving directions to a servant as she stood beside the exit to the ballroom.
“Mother.”Henley bowed in greeting.
“Lady Devon.”Anna followed and watched as Henley’s mother regarded both of them with a humility not often present in her expression.
“I… am very happy to have you as family, Anna.And, Henley, to express my affection to you and your new wife, I bid you good day.”She arched a brow and waited.
Henley frowned, looked to Anna and then back to his mother.
Anna’s lips grew into a wide grin as understanding dawned.“Thank you.”Anna curtsied and tugged on Henley’s hand, arching a brow as he looked at her, then his mother, a slow grin spreading from his lips to his expression before he gave his mother a very heartfelt thank-you.
Lady Devon gave a rare smile and started back into the ballroom.“Shall we?”Henley asked, his words warm, welcoming, sounding like home.
She wanted to say something—anything to mark the moment—but no words came.Only the wild thrum of her heart, and the certainty blooming in her chest that this man, this love, was worth everything it took to get here.
Anna didn’t reply, merely kissed him quickly on the mouth, and squeezed his hand as they made their escape.Now, at last, the rest of the day belonged to them.
And oh, how she planned to make the most of it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As they steppedout from the shade of the house and into the welcome sunshine of the June afternoon, Henley could only focus on one thing: Anna.Her hand, so perfectly formed for his, tucked around his arm, holding him tight as she nearly raced him to the waiting carriage.His mother must have already called for it earlier, bless her.She had indeed given them a gift, and he’d have to thank her later.Much, much later.
He turned to Anna as he paused before the carriage door, her golden hair reflecting the sunshine and her eyes alight with joy he knew was echoed in his own expression.For once, he didn’t want to rush, rather he wanted the next moments to stretch on forever.Each touch, each breath he would savor, commit to memory, and hold dear.
He held out his hand.“Lady Allendale?”He loved the sound of his title attached to her name, a smoldering fire burning in his chest as she took his hand and stepped into the carriage.
Her expression communicated what words would be insufficient to express.The door closed behind them with a soft click, final and freeing.Immediately, the coach rolled forward.
“I’ve never seen anything more lovely.”Henley grasped his wife’s hand, toyed with her glove then tugged on each fingertip till he could remove the soft leather from her fingers.
The sound of Anna’s breath catching was his undoing.He met her simmering gaze, then lifted her other hand, kissing each finger, watching her eyes darken with need as he tugged on each finger, slowly, then removed the second glove.Let it begin now, the sweet anticipation, the slow unwrapping of the final gift they had to unwrap—each other.
“I never considered how far away my once-bachelor lodgings were from my family’s house, and I’ve decided it is both entirely too close and too far, all at once.”He tugged her closer with her bare hand and nipped at her ear.
“You…” Anna swallowed, her pulse racing against his lips, and he bit back a grin at her passionate reaction, enjoying the slow seduction of his wife.“You know that makes no sense.”
“I find I don’t care,” he whispered, rubbing his lips along her pulse, then under her jawline, kissing a trail that led to her lips.
He teased the corner of her mouth with a gentle nip of his teeth as he pulled her onto his lap.Anna’s hands grasped his face, tilted his chin, and she captured his lips with abandon, her hands weaving through his air as she arched into him.A groan escaped his lips as he breathed in her scent, every part of his world centering on her, her breathing, her heartbeat, her taste.
The carriage came to a halt, and Anna released his lips, her fingers caressing his bottom lip, before smiling unrepentantly.
He’d never seen anything more glorious.
“This is… familiar,” Anna teased.
Henley took a lock of hair that had fallen loose and rubbed it between his fingers, marveling at the soft texture.A vision of her hair all unbound surrounding him flashed through his mind and heated his body with a fever he’d never experienced before.Taking a deep breath, he forced a calm.It wasn’t if he’d see her in such a state, it was simply awhen, and for that reward, he could practice the slow torture of patience, the buildup that would burn them both in the most delicious way.
“Henley?”Anna asked, brushing her hand along his cheek, her lips swollen from his kiss, her cheeks rosy from the flush of desire.
“Shall we?”he asked, his voice hoarse with suppressed need.
“Unless you wish to continue in the carriage?”Anna lowered a hand from his face and traced down his chest, slowly, seductively.
