“This is not the time for talk, Duchess. Whatever you have to talk about can wait until tomorrow…”
“But it can’t,” she blurted out before he could usher her way entirely, “I wanted to speak with you about our wedding night.”
It was rare for Simon to be caught off guard. There were only a few circumstances in which he ever was, but his wife was currently standing in front of him in the middle of his study in nothing but a thin silk nightgown, inquiring about their wedding night.
Heavens.A man could only possess so much restraint.
He pulled back slightly, not trusting himself to be so close to her or else his thoughts would spiral in a different direction entirely.
“Come inside.”
He hastily closed the door behind him. First, he would hate for any of the staff to see her in attire like this. He could not explain why, but it was less out of propriety and more out of a strange sense of possessiveness that had not left him since he had first seen her dressed as his bride.
Second, she had brought up a rather serious topic of discussion. Did she even know what she was talking about?
“Yes, I really wish to speak to you,” she said, sounding less angry now and more nervous.
“You wish to speak to me about our wedding night?” he repeated.
“It is our wedding night,” she repeated, as though she had not made herself clear the first time. “You didn’t come to me. Why?”
Her bluntness overwhelmed him. Simon stared at her, stunned for a moment at her audacity. But then, another creeping thought came to his mind that was much less innocent.
“Do you even know what you’re asking?” he whispered, moving closer to her now.
Rachel’s face turned red, but she didn’t back off. “Y-yes.”
The way that she answered was enough to let him know that she did not truly understand what she was talking about.
Ah.
Somehow, that made matters even more complicated for him.
“Youthinkyou know,” he corrected, fighting the urge to simply reach out andshowher. His gaze kept dropping to the exposed skin on her neck.
Whatdid she really expect him to do when she walked him on him dressed like that? His eyes darkened, along with his wanton thoughts.
”I know enough,” she declared. She was a stubborn one, that much was certain. He couldn’t help but wonder what would get her to stop being like that.
“You know enough, do you?” he whispered, his voice dropping as his hand extended and closed around her wrist, tugging her toward him.
“Yes, y-yes,” her words tumbled out.
Simon leaned, his lips against her ear’s shell as he whispered, “Do you have any concept at all what it is to wait for your husband on your wedding night? To stand here, clad only in that—” His other hand gestured toward her nightdress. “— and ask such a thing?”
She did not reply. And that told him all he wanted to know.
Innocent. She was much too innocent.
“No, in earnest, you have no idea.”
His restraint, which had been waning by the minute since she had stepped into his study, snapped entirely then.
Without thinking, he kissed her. It was passionate and sudden. But it felt satisfying to know that she kissed him back almost immediately, as though she had wanted this to happen, as well.
She was inexperienced, he could tell that much. But she was a fast learner, as well. She was mirroring his movements. When he threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss, she did the same. Her delicate hands were holding onto his shirt tightly.
He wanted nothing more than for her to take it off him.
