One hand moved around in front and he swirled his thumb, causing her to buck, pleasure coursing through her veins.
Still, she didn’t close her eyes.
His fingertips wet, Marcus raised them to her breast. He pinched and squeezed. Emily felt herself melting into a pool of satisfaction. She could barely hold herself up.
Still, she didn’t’ close her eyes.
He raised his fingertips farther and slid his thumb past her lips. She tasted herself on his skin. She licked and then sucked. Marcus thrust harder.
Was this a battle? A dance?
Words threatened to pour out of her, but she held back. She’d tell him everything with her eyes.I love this. I need this. Don’t leave me ever. I need you.
I love you.
Marcus’ pace turned frenzied and he seemed to reach for the very center of her being. She’d give all of herself to him. Whenever. Wherever.
He shuddered and released into her at the same time her own body seized its pleasure.
She couldn’t keep her eyes open a second longer. She rode out the sensations and then collapsed on top of him. Their hearts beat rapidly together, his haggard breathing hot against her forehead.
“Emily.” He finally said it. That’s all she’d been waiting for—something, anything to know that she was not just a body to him. That she was a person.
“Marcus.” She smiled against his chest.
She’d never think of carriage rides the same again.
Back to Reality
“Rhoda is gone!”
Sophia and Cecily swept Emily onto Sophia’s private drawing room as soon as she and Marcus arrived back at Eden’s Court. Emily was surprised at the empty feeling in the pit of her stomach she experienced when her new husband disappeared with the duke.
They’d been together so much over the past few days. She felt as though a part of her was missing as she sat in the drawing room catching up on all that had happened since their departure.
“When? Oh, no! Has her mother sent her packing to the country?” It was all Emily’s fault. She had stolen her friend’s prospective bridegroom.
“Just a few days ago.” Cecily took Emily’s hands in hers and held them comfortingly. “And she’s not gone back to the country. She’s engaged to Lord Carlisle!”
Rhoda and Carlisle? Her friends filled her in on what little details Rhoda had shared before leaving and then demanded to know all about Emily’s adventure with Lord Blakely. Since both Cecily and Sophia had been lucky enough to marry men that they loved—eventually—they seemed to expect no less for Emily.
What could she tell them? Although she experienced moments where she felt certain she loved Blakely, he’d made it quite clear that, although they found pleasure with one another, and although they were friends, the marriage itself was one of convenience.
And yet, she didn’t want to see pitying looks upon their faces. She’d see enough of that when Marcus eventually abandoned her to her own devices. She’d deal with it then.
“We are friends… who enjoy one another physically.”
Sophia and Cecily looked at one another and burst into fits of laughter.
“Oh, Emily!” Cecily wiped a tear from her eyes, trying to bring herself under control. “Only you would ever think to put it that way.”
Sophia was shaking her head. “Ever the practical one!” Except she leaned forward and embraced her impulsively. “I am just so very happy that you will have your own family and home. Mr. Nottingham has told Cecily it’s not far from their own estate. You’ll be able to see each other regularly.” She pouted then. “And I’m all alone up here. I’ll have to talk Dev into taking us to visit often.”
“You won’t have to go to Wales! You’ll never have to defer to your aunt’s every wish again.” Cecily knew this was most important.
“I’m just so happy for you!” Sophia exclaimed. “Perhaps our daughters can all be friends.”
Their excitement, their giddiness, pushed her too far.
