The soft swish of the bindings being untied sounded loud in the room, but she forgot all about it as the stays came apart and he pulled them from her body. Cool air rushed over her skin, but she did not feel cold.
‘Beautiful,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘You are divinely beautiful.’
His thumb traced over her hip, the curve of her stomach, the dip of her waist, the underside of her breast. Her knees buckled assensation swept through her. His arm tightened around her, holding her steady. ‘I have you,’ he said.
His hands moved over her, gently at first but more demanding as she moulded into his touch; the murmurs she made, the ones that made no sense, seemed to urge him on. His mouth covered hers and their kisses became frantic, desperate things. Her petticoat went the way of her stays, his secure arm around her waist the only thing keeping her upright as she became pliant in his arms.
She had no idea how long they stood there, their hands learning each other, no thoughts in her head as he slowly sent her out of her mind. Her fingers were splayed against the skin of his stomach when the soft brush of his fingers against her centre had her jolting in surprise. His hand went away immediately.
‘Do you want… I stop?’ His voice was slurred, like he’d been drinking.
‘No.’ She already missed the touch, strange though it had been. ‘More.’ She couldn’t speak properly either.
She felt his laugh against her chest, but his mouth was already back on hers, his hand moving over her, teasing her flesh, making her cry out against him. Her hands pressed into his skin, searching for something to hold on to. Nothing had prepared her for this, the absolute pleasure Christopher could give her with his mouth and his clever fingers moving over her. The rest of the room became a blur, falling away until it was only him and the way he was making her body sing. His touch was building towards something, becoming ever more intense with every pass of his fingers, until she was clinging to him, crying out against his mouth as everything splintered into a thousand pieces.
When she came back to herself, he was still kissing her gently, holding her lightly against him.
‘Oh,’ she whispered against his lips.
She sensed his mouth curve into a smile.
‘That was…’ There were absolutely no words to describe what had happened. She felt powerful, wonderful, more beautiful than ever before.
‘That was married life,’ he said, a hint of longing in his voice.
‘Is there…? Can I make you feel like that?’ In everything that she had learned of the marriage bed, she had not understood that it would feel anything like that, that it could be that joyous. She hadn’t even made it to a bed at all.
‘After we are wed, yes, and more probably.’
‘Should we have the wedding tomorrow?’ She was desperate to give him the same pleasure in return.
His laughter burst out of him, stopping his lips from skimming over her forehead. ‘Should I have done this two weeks ago?’
‘It would have made me a lot less sceptical about our marriage being a good idea or not.’ Some sense of herself was coming back to her, even though she still did not want to let go of him.
‘If only I had known,’ he murmured. ‘I would have saved myself a great deal of torture. Although… now that I know about the bows, it might be worse. I shall forever know what one or two tugs on the end of the ribbons will reveal. I shall not be fit for polite society ever again.’
It was good to have laughter between them once more. She hadn’t realised how much she had missed their flirtatious teasing until it was back between them.
He helped her back into her stays and petticoat, but there was little point in putting the dress back on; she intended to wear something else for dinner anyway. It was strange to think she would have to sit down to a formal meal after what had just happened. She did not know if she would be able to look anyone in the eye, although shesupposed she could keep her gaze on Christopher alone. No one would question that.
‘Christopher,’ she said, as he made to leave.
‘Yes?’
‘I think you are right. I do not think this marriage is going to be boring after all.’
His answering grin set her heart alight.
Chapter Thirty-one
Are you not even slightly nervous?’Edward asked Christopher, straightening his ward’s cravat for the thousandth time. Peter, who did not enjoy neat clothes, scowled through the attention, suffering it only because Edward was almost godlike to the young boy. To Christopher though, he was a menace. Although in this instance, Edward was not winding him up, despite his best attempts.
‘I am not,’ he said, staring at the church door, willing Sophia to appear, even though she was not due to arrive for at least twenty minutes.
‘Are you sure? Marriage is a life-changing commitment.’
‘Stop trying to upset him,’ said his wife.
