“Yes, I suppose. Graham has never seen it loose.”
“Your hair is glorious, so many lovely shades and so thick. Then your nightgown, he will indeed swoon.”
Cam felt a bolt of alarm, then calmed again.
Cilly said, “He still has no memories at all of King’s Head? His father? His sister?”
“If he has, he hasn’t told me. Imagine, I also have another new family. Mr. Sherbrooke, his wife and all his Beloved Ones, you remember, the children Mr. Sherbrooke finds abandoned or abused and takes to his home between Lower Slaughter and Mortimer Combe in the Cotswolds. The house has a name, but alas, I can’t remember it.
“And Graham’s adopted uncle and aunt the Earl and Countess of Northcliffe—such incredible red hair she has with only the occasional white showing through. The earl—I believed he was the perfect autocrat and then he smiled at me, changed him utterly. So tall and fit he is, and a full head of stark white hair. As for their twin sons and grandchildren, I’m sure we’ll all meet soon enough.” She stopped, realized she was prattling on and on. And on. She shut her mouth, sent a fast look toward Graham’s dressing room. Would he come in soon?
Don’t be a clabberhead. You’re a half of the whole.She looked again at the shimmering peach silk-satin.
Oh dear.
CHAPTER 45
Asingle branch of candles atop the mantel gave off a warm, soft glow, not reaching the corners of the large bedchamber, leaving them in deep shadow. A fire burned sluggishly, the glowing embers adding to the intimacy. There was the occasional exploding orange spark to break the silence. Rain had begun to fall but the sound was muted by the thick golden velvet draperies covering the windows.
A perfect night. His wedding night.
Please grant me fortitude.
Was fortitude what he really needed? Graham didn’t know. He walked to his bride who looked ready to bolt, understood perfectly, smiled at her. “Hello, Wife. I didn’t tell you my brother-in-law, Donner, whispered to me that your lovely smile warmed his innards.”
“You made that up. Your bathrobe looks very soft. Your feet are bare.”
She’d taken in the whole of him in under a half second, amazing. Well, he supposed he’d done the same. He tried not to stare at her glorious hair, all loose and wavy, a thick tress over her shoulder, falling over her breast. And that nightgown. He swallowed, got hold of himself. “Oh no, I believeDonner is smitten with you. My father is close to smitten, but not yet quite there yet. I will give you one week when we settle in at King’s Head to have him so charmed he’ll offer you his crisp bacon. As for Eugenie, she is nice enough to me, but I do wonder what she really thinks. Sometimes I see her staring at me when she doesn’t think I noticed. As for you, she’ll have to love you, you’ll give her no choice at all.”
Cam still looked ready to bolt. He didn’t move, said easily, “We’ll explore King’s Head, a new adventure for both of us since I still have no memory of it. Thank you for the compliment, the bathrobe is a wedding gift. Do you also like my bare feet?”
“Yes.” She leaned closer, maybe six inches closer, more at ease now since he was speaking and not attacking her like that moron Teddy Jewel, or that fortune-hunting pork-brained Pilcher Gayson.
She said as she considered kissing his ear, “Papa said he would come visit us in a couple of months. We will return for Eliza’s wedding in October. Do you like her fiancée, Winstead?”
She nipped his earlobe, and he grinned down at her. “I like that. Now, Towbridge is a nice man. He told me about his father’s recent marriage to a widow with six young children. He told me he’d worried about his father’s health since his mother’s death and now this miracle—he said his father wrote to tell him he’s hale as a stoat. Winstead nearly bubbled over, so pleased he was rubbing his hands together. He said the children are loud and boisterous and the house is once again alive with noise and laughter. He knew Eliza would love the children, she was so giving and loving.”
Cam couldn’t hold it in, out spurted a laugh. “About Eliza loving all those children—it is something I would have to see for myself. As for her new mother-in-law, I doubt they’ll become best friends. With six children, though, I’ll wager her future mama-is-law is a strong, resolute woman.” She leanedup, bit his other earlobe. “Oh dear, I suppose I’m a small person.”
Cam was suddenly aware his hands were now on her waist, gently kneading her through her nightgown, pressing in. It felt quite nice, so long as they kept talking and his hands stayed where they were.
Even though Graham was in a bad way, he managed to say, “Perhaps marriage will make her kinder. Mayhap Winstead will make her glow and smile.”
“Perhaps so.” But she doubted it. So far his love hadn’t changed her at all. His hands were moving lower.
She held her breath, waiting, scared, excited.
Graham knew if he pulled her against him, like two books on a shelf, she’d feel every bit of him. Did she know how men were fashioned? Did she know what her closeness did to him? Her little nips on his ears? He thought of his first time with Maggie. He’d been fifteen and she an ancient twenty. She was the local blacksmith’s daughter, and she’d called him a stallion and kissed him all over. A stallion? He’d preened and strutted around all the children who had no idea what had happened, but Ryder always knew everything. Ryder had taken him into his study, closed and locked the door, and told him he was never again to be intimate with a local girl. Ever. And he’d explained the world to him and how it had to work to keep things in balance. And what did that mean? It meant, Ryder told him, that young men were idiots to assuage their lust on young women since pregnancy was always more than a possibility and then where would he be? Where would she be? Graham remembered he’d paled and continued pale until he was told she wasn’t pregnant.
When he was sixteen Ryder had taken him to London twice a month to visit a very discreet lady who had taught him everything he could possibly imagine.
Time to put Jayne’s lessons into practice.
Now things were different. He was married. Pregnancywas something devoutly wished for. He leaned down, not far at all, nuzzled her neck, lightly ran his tongue over her skin, whispered against her temple, “Let’s talk about how we’re going to approach the establishment of our theorem.”
She nodded. “I like talk, Graham, well, and I like to kiss you and feel your hands around my waist, except your hands are lower now and that concerns me.”
“Please don’t be concerned. I want only to give you pleasure and, Cam, there’s so much more. Can you trust me?”
