Her tone was teasing, far from the accusatory edge that used to echo in her voice. Adrian took in her rosy cheeks and her green eyes, which, while they held a hint of exhaustion, still sparkled with mirth.
It had been several weeks since he had taken her on their first outing as husband and wife, and in that time, he had watched her bloom into an entirely different person. The shadows of her past seemed to fade, and her reticence to be part of his family and society was mostly gone. And by night… by night, she now greeted him happily when he came in to satiate his ravenous appetite for her, even though they had not yet consummated the marriage.
“I am just admiring the beauty that is my wife,” he replied, raising a challenging brow. “Is that a problem?”
He loved the way her lips twitched toward a cheeky smile as she blushed.
“No. No problem,” she replied with a lilt in her voice.
“Did you enjoy the opera this evening?” he asked, moving to sit by her side in the carriage.
“It was lovely,” she agreed, shifting in her seat so she could face him.
“And the ballet last week?” he asked.
“I have never seen such beautifully coordinated dances,” she confessed. “Thank you so much for taking me.”
“It was my pleasure,” Adrian replied, slipping his hand under hers.
He watched her intently as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth, as if something was not quite right.
“What is it, Bridget?” he asked. “Are you still thinking that our marriage was a mistake?”
She did seem happier, yes, but Adrian could not shake the sense that part of her was still poised to flee at the first sign of pressure. That lingering fragility was precisely why he had not pushed for consummation, no matter how painfully the want for her had gnawed at him. Her eyes widened slightly at his question now, a flicker of surprise crossing her features, as though she had not expected him to notice at all.
“Oh, no,” she answered quickly. “Nothing like that.”
“But somethingiswrong,” Adrian prodded. “Are you unhappy?”
“No, no,” she said as her cheeks began to flush.
Adrian’s brow furrowed as he looked over her features, trying to determine what was wrong.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me, and I shall find a solution,” he insisted, and was surprised when she let out a tense laugh.
“I… no, it is not something you can fix,” she began to stammer. “Or rather, I suppose you would have to allow me to… to…”
Adrian looked at her with deepening confusion as her pink blush grew crimson.
“Katie told me something at her party a few weeks ago,” she confessed in a rush.
He felt her hand tighten around his.
“Something that I have very much wanted to try but have had trouble finding the right time to do so,” she explained.
Now he was more curious than ever.
“Well, whatever it is you want to try, my love, you have my permission,” he replied. “I would just prefer to know what precisely it is that you—”
Adrian lost his train of thought as several things happened at once. Bridget’s lips met his own, sealing over him in a passionate kiss as her hand slid over his inner thigh. Pleasure spiraled through him as her hand moved further up to his cock, which immediately bobbed and grew toward her touch the moment he felt it.
He captured her cheeks quickly with both hands, taking control of the kiss as her hand began to move slowly up and down the rigid flesh in his breeches. He spread his legs wider, giving her more access, and he had to break the kiss and groan when her fingers began to loosen the ties of his breeches.
“You have done so much to bring me pleasure,” Bridget rasped as she feathered kisses along his jaw. “You have been so very patient with me.”
Adrian’s eyelashes fluttered shut as she freed his aching cock from the confines of his breeches. He let his head loll back onto the carriage seat, at a loss for words as she wrapped her fingers around his girth and began to stroke him up and down.
“Oh, hell,” he moaned. Pleasure surged through the tip of his cock all the way to the tips of his toes and through his forehead, fueling his pent-up need.
