“Are you inviting me to sleep in your bed?”
Trevor muttered something about summoning every last ounce of his willpower before throwing back the covers.
The simple gesture seemed to suddenly change the atmosphere in the room from uncertainty to anticipation. Though she had entered the room because of her fear, Meredith realized far more could result from her staying the night in her husband’s bed.
Her gaze dropped from his handsome face to his bare chest. She smiled seductively, as though at last acknowledging he was naked. Meredith slowly, sensuously slid over the bed, allowing her nightgown to ride up her thigh all the way to her hip.
The marquess’s eyebrows slowly rose as awareness flared in his eyes. Meredith could barely breathe. He leaned close and took her hands in his. He felt warm and strong, she thought, momentarily distracted by his touch.
“I prefer the left side of the bed,” he said solemnly. “I hope you don’t object.”
Meredith lifted her chin. “Not at all. Though I will warn you I am a restless sleeper who tends to spread herself all over the mattress. I will probably kick you mercilessly.”
He shrugged and gestured broadly. She lifted herself up and climbed in beside him. The motion caused a cascade of golden hair to fall over her shoulder.
“Your hair is exquisite.”
Meredith paused in the act of tucking the stray locks behind her ears. “Thank you. I have long thought of cutting it short, in the French style, but worry I might look like a boy.”
“Not with those curves.”
Meredith ducked her head in embarrassment, yet she was secretly thrilled he had noticed her womanly curves. She settled herself stiffly on her back, careful to keep to her side of the mattress. Stifling a giggle of nerves, she waited with eager anticipation for her handsome husband to turn to her with desire.
The minutes dragged, and nothing happened. Finally, Meredith turned to him in disappointment and frustration. “Are we truly going to sleep?” she whispered.
She felt his entire body tense at her question. He said nothing, but his thrashing legs and restless movements seemed to suggest he was fighting some inner battle. At last he groaned and turned toward her. He moved closer, nipped her ear, and whispered, “We shall sleep later, dearest. Much later.”
He reached out and angled her chin with one hand while the other moved to the back of her head, urging her forward. Then his mouth descended on hers, invading with a possessive claim she found thrilling. His kiss was slow and sensual, his lips brushing back and forth over hers, coaxing them to open for him.
Her hands slid up his hard chest, curving over his shoulders and around his neck. He lifted his mouth a fraction from hers and in a voice thick with desire asked, “Are you still frightened?”
For her answer Meredith kissed him back with all the love and desperation in her heart. Her tongue traced the shape of his mouth, then gently sucked on his lower lip. His response was overwhelming. His mouth became insistent and hungry: his hands wandered possessively over her back and the sides of her breasts.
Meredith shuddered as her body began to respond, began to come alive. For him. She spread her hand over the solid wall of his chest, sliding her fingers through the short, golden matting of hair. His skin felt hot, his nipples hard and tight as she lightly grazed them with her palm.
But it was his kisses that tantalized her so completely. The way he tasted drove her wild. Meredith stretched her neck willingly, offering herself to him. Trevor eagerly complied, pressing sweet wet kisses to her jaw and throat and behind her ear.
Meredith’s hand raised and smoothed through his hair. She could feel his warm breath on her neck and upper chest, could feel the heat pouring from his hard body. A shiver coursed through her. She leaned into his strength, savoring his warmth and the excitement it brought to her entire essence.
He shifted, pulling her closer to him. One of his hands slipped down her neck and shoulder, sliding along her side and over her breast. Meredith arched herself encouragingly toward him, eager to leap beyond the languid pace Trevor had set for their lovemaking.
His palms were hot against her cloth-covered skin as they stroked her breasts. She craved his touch with a fierce longing, an almost desperate need. Meredith thrust her chest forward, and her silent pleas did not go unnoticed. Trevor brushed his thumbs over her nipples, teasing those sensitive points until they hardened into tight buds.
Meredith’s eyes closed, and a sound emerged from her throat. She fidgeted against the mattress, anticipation building deep within her body. At last Trevor’s hands traveled beneath her nightgown and she lifted herself up, encouraging his explorations.
He grasped a bare nipple between his thumb and index finger and applied exactly the degree of pressure she craved. Meredith tipped her head back and inhaled deeply, allowing herself to experience the sexual need.
She tightened her grip around his shoulders and tilted her head for a kiss. Meredith’s tongue tangled with Trevor’s in a torrid dance, thrusting back and forth in a mating ritual as old as time.
Suddenly Trevor broke the kiss, bent his head, and took one of her nipples in his mouth. Meredith nearly screamed. She shivered with pleasure and shook violently as the tension coiled down through her body, settling between her thighs. She felt the dampness, the surge of fluid that would make her body ready to receive him.
He moved his mouth to her other breast, and she clutched his head, curling her fingers through his hair as he laved that sensitive peak to hardness. It was a peculiar, almost frightening sensation, for it fed a hunger for something even greater.
Trevor’s hand slid down her lower body. He pulled her nightgown up to her waist, baring her, then tenderly stroked her hips, flanks, and upper thighs. Next his questing fingers feathered lightly across her stomach, making the muscles jump in eager anticipation. Meredith gasped loudly when he cupped her moist womanhood with his palm, tangling his fingers in the springy curls between her thighs.
He stroked her softly, intimately, until she became damp and swollen, circling that one special spot that made her entire body shudder.
“Lord, you are so beautiful,” he murmured. “And so ready. But first, first I must have a taste.”
