She inhaled sharply when he swept her into his arms and laid her across the bed, his taut frame pinning her to the mattress. Though she tried to control her shameful reactions, she moaned with pleasure when his mouth claimed her breast with arrantcarnality.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not lie still as he caressed and kissed and tasted her, the velvet stroke of his tongue driving her to madness. His masterful touch abraded away every layer of decorum until she no longer remembered, or cared, how a lady should act. In the shameless turmoil of intimacy, she was tinder to hisflame.
She was lovely beyond his dreams, and everything about her intoxicated him. The haunting lure of wild violets, her tangled sun-struck hair, the lush eroticism of removing layer after layer of clothing until finally her flawless body was revealed. Her lithe, feminine grace wrenched hisheart.
Yet side by side with tenderness, he found savage satisfaction in her choked whimpers of pleasure. His wife might be a duchess and a lady, but for tonight, at least, she was a woman, and shewashis.
This time there would be no need of lotion to ease their joining. She was hotly ready, and she writhed against his hand as he caressed the moist, delicate folds of female flesh. Her moan gave him a deep sense of masculine pride, dissolving the aching emptiness he had known in their inhibitedmarriagebed.
When he could no longer bear his separateness, he entered her. The voluptuous welcome of her body was exquisite, both torment and homecoming. Trembling with strain, he forced himself to move with slow deliberation. This time he would not let their union end tooquickly.
Vivid emotions rippled across her sweat-sheened face. But he wanted more; he wanted communion of the mind as well as the body. He wanted acknowledgment of the power he had over her. Hoarsely he asked, “Do youdesireme?”
“You... you are my husband.” She turned her head to the side, as if trying to evade his question. “It is my duty to comply with yourwishes.”
Mere obedience was not what he wanted from his wife. He repeated more intensely, “Do you desire me?” Slowly, by infinitesimal degrees, he began to withdraw. “If not, perhaps I shouldstopnow.”
“No!” she gasped, her eyes flying open for an instant and her body arching sharply upward. “Don’t leave me, please. I couldn’tbearit...”
It was what he had longed to hear. He responded to her admission by surrendering to the fiery need that bound them. No longer passive, she was his partner in passion, her nails slashing his back as they thrust against each other. She cried out with ecstasy as long, shuddering convulsions rocked them both, and in the culmination of desire he felt their soaring spiritsblend.
In the tremulous aftermath, he gathered her pliant body into his arms and tucked the covers around them. As they dozed off together, he knew they had truly become husbandandwife.
* * *
Justin was notsure how long he had slept. The ball must have ended, for he could no longer hear music and laughter, but the sky outside was still dark. He lay on his side with Sunny nestled along him, her face against hisshoulder.
Not wanting to wake her, he touched the luscious tangle of her hair with a gossamer caress. He had never known such happiness, or such peace. Not only was she the loveliest and sweetest of women, but she was blessed with an ardent nature. If he hadn’t been so blasted deferential, he would have discovered that much sooner. But now that they had found each other, their lives would bedifferent.
Her eyes opened and gazed into his. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other. He stroked the elegant curve of her back and prepared to make the declaration of love that he had never made to any otherwoman.
But she spoke first, saying in a thin, exhausted voice, “Whoareyou?”
A chill touched his heart as he wondered if she was out of her senses, but she seemed lucid. Warily he replied, “Your husband, ofcourse.”
She gave a tiny shake of her head. “You are more a stranger to me now than on the day wemarried.”
He looked away, unable to face the dazed bleakness in her aqua eyes. He had known that she had not yet been unfaithful; she not the sort of woman to engage lightly in an affair, and buried at Swindon she hadn’t even had an opportunity. Yet seeing her in Curzon’s arms had devastated Justin because it was a horrific preview of the possibility that he wouldloseher.
Despair had made him furiously determined to show her what fulfillment was. He had wanted to possess her, body and soul, to make her his own so profoundly that she would never look at another man. He realized that he had also hoped to win her love by demonstrating the depth of hispassion.
But the fact that he had been able to arouse her latent ardor did not mean that she suddenly, miraculously loved him. With sickening clarity, he saw that in his anger he had ruthlessly stripped away her dignity and modesty. Instead of liberating her passion, he had ravished her spirit, turning her into a broken shadow of the happy girl who had first captured hisheart.
His unspoken words of love witheredanddied.
Instead he said painfully, “I am no different now from what Iwasthen.”
He wanted to say more, to apologize and beg her forgiveness, but she turned away and buried her face in the pillows. Feeling that he would shatter if he moved too suddenly, he slid from the bed and numbly dragged on enough clothing to make his way the short distance tohisroom.
As he left, he wondered despairingly if he would ever be able to face his wifeagain.
Chapter9
Sunny awokethe next morning churning with tangled emotions. The only thing she knew for certain was that she could not bear to face a house full of avid-eyed, curious people. With a groan, she rolled over, buried her head under a pillow and did her best not tothink.
But her mind refused to cooperate. She could not stop herself from wondering where Justin was and what he thought of the events of the previous night She was mortified by memories of her wantonness, and angry with her husband for making her behave so badly. But though she tried to cling to anger over his disrespect, other things kept seeping into her mind. Memories of heartwarming closeness, and shatteringexcitement....
At that point in her thoughts, her throat always tightened. Justin had said he would treat her as a whore, and her response had confirmed his furiousaccusation.
