Inside, she was filled with bewildered frustration. On top of everything else she was trying to manage, now she had an annoyed husband to contend with… She forced down the sudden heat behind her eyes, turning instead to the task of cleaning the hearth. It was easier to face a dirty grate than her friends’ sympathetic faces.
“Are you certain?” Tessa asked doubtfully. “The duke looked, um, a bit perturbed.”
“He will get over it.” Emma started raking up the ashes to distract herself from her whirling hurt. “Shall we discuss the plans for this evening? I have a new parlor game planned…”
2
Later that afternoon,Wickham Murray cradled his infant daughter in his arms. “Is my poor little Clementia still hungry?”
She cooed at him, her wide lavender eyes as mesmerizing as her mama’s.
He stroked her downy cheek. “Unfortunately, I am useless for that.”
“I just finished nursing Tia. She cannot possibly want more,” his wife said from the bed.
Bea lounged against the pillows in the flannel robe she wore when nursing. Which meant…she was naked beneath. Being a considerate husband, Wick had planned to let his wife nap before supper but now amended his plan.
He slanted his wife a wicked look. “Tia is my daughter after all, and we Murrays are known for our prodigious appetites.”
Seeing the blush that rose on Bea’s beautiful face, Wick decided it was time to ring for the nurse. After the good woman obligingly collected her charge, he locked the door and headed toward the bed. He settled upon it, pulling Bea into his arms.
She snuggled against him, and he relished the tranquility of the moment. Outside the window, snow started to fall, dusting the woods and pond in the distance with sugar-like drifts.
He gazed at his wife. “What a beautiful sight.”
“It is a treat,” she agreed. “Emma says that it is a particularly severe winter, and even the pond has frozen over.”
“I’m not talking about the snow.” Winding a strand of his wife’s white-gold around his finger, he smiled at her. “But that is pretty too.”
Her lavender eyes sparkled. “You are a flirt, Mr. Murray.”
“Only with you, sweeting.”
He kissed her. He’d meant it to be a tender kiss, but when the minx parted her lips, he had to take a more thorough taste. He rolled her onto her back, pressing his tongue deep into her mouth and his stiffened member against her sleek thigh. She sighed, her robe parting and revealing her plump breasts. The swollen globes with their enlarged pink peaks were an erotic contrast to her willowy figure, and a primitive part of him responded to this new lushness which he’d had a hand in bringing about.
He lowered his head to her bounty, swiping his tongue over the areola. The sweet trace of milk brought a rush of lust to his veins. He suckled, grunting in pleasure as warm fluid squirted onto his tongue.
“Wick,” she said breathlessly. “That is wicked.”
“I know.” He lifted his head, flashing her a devilish grin. “If you don’t want me to deprive our babe of her meal, then I shall have to find something else to eat…”
He kissed his way down his wife’s belly, her gasps of pleasure filling his ears. After he feasted his fill, he tore off his clothes and joined his body with hers. Staring into her pleasure-dazed eyes, surrounded by her snug heat, he let the ripples of her climax wring him of his own.
Panting, he collapsed onto the bed, pulling her against him.
“I was going to let you nap before supper,” he murmured.
“Liar.” She circled his nipple with a delicate fingertip. “You planned to debauch me all along.”
He yawned. “Tupping can be a first-rate sedative.”
“Not for me,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You know that.”
He did. He’d always found Bea’s post-coital energy charming.
“Since you let me have my way with you, we can do whatever you want now,” he said magnanimously.
When her expression grew somber, he guessed what was on her mind. His ability to read his wife’s thoughts, and vice versa, had continued to grow over their year of marriage. It wouldn’t be long, he thought with wry humor, before they were finishing one another’s sentences.
