“I have a few qu-questions,” she stammered.
“Of course you do,” he said with a laugh. “Anything.”
“I know very little about this. My mother says you must bear it, but when you touched me before it was wonderful. Will it be like that?”
He bit back a curse at her utter innocence. It was both alluring and terrifying. He would have to keep it at the top of his mind at all times now, so that he wouldn’t frighten or hurt her.
“It will be like that,” he promised. “And even better. But there will be a little pain when I first…penetrate you.”
She nodded. “That must be the bearing part she discussed. The pain.”
He smiled. “The pain only happens the first time, Emma. And if I’m doing my job right, there won’t be any bearing. There will only be wanting and pleasure for both of us.”
She seemed to ponder that a moment, then she dropped her hands to where his were, still tangled in the loops of her robe. She gently pushed them aside and unknotted the fabric before she shrugged out of it and let it fall to the floor.
Chapter Nineteen
Emma watched as James tracked her robe falling away and then stared at her in her flimsy night rail. No man had ever seen her so revealed, and she fought every instinct inside herself to cover up beneath his regard.
“What do I do?” she asked, voice shaking.
He lifted his gaze from her body to her face and shook his head. “Nothing. Tonight is about you. You lay back and let me pleasure you.”
Her entire body quivered at those words and the dark, seductive tone with which he said them. Suddenly she wanted more, she wanted everything he had to give. She wanted everything he had been holding back in their unconventional “courtship”.
He slid a hand across her shoulder, gliding his fingers beneath the strap of her shift. His hands were warm and slightly rough as he dragged the strap down her arm, and the left side of her nightgown dropped forward.
She shivered as the warm air in her chamber touched her skin. Only her face felt hot in that moment, like her cheeks were actually on fire.
James’s breath was ragged now as he stared at her. He lifted his hand, and she was shocked to find it trembled slightly as he covered her breast.
Sensation mobbed her, more powerful than anything she’d ever felt before, even when he’d made her shatter in the past. His bare skin against her bare skin was shocking and perfect, as if it was always meant to be like this. Like she’d been missing some piece of herself and now she’d found it in the gentle touch of his fingers.
“You are wonderful,” he promised as he slid the opposite strap of her gown down. The entire contraption pooled at her feet, and suddenly she was very naked before him.
She ducked her head, and this time she couldn’t stop herself from covering her breasts with one arm and the place between her legs with her opposite hand.
“You needn’t be shy,” he said, taking her hand and drawing it away so her breasts were bare again. “I will be your husband in a few days and you will grow accustomed to my…”
“Regard?” she asked when he didn’t finish the sentence.
“Obsession,” he said with a low chuckle. “Right now it feels more like obsession when I look at you.”
“How is that possible?” she squeaked out. “I am not the kind of woman who inspires such things in men. I never have been.”
His expression softened and he stepped toward her, sliding a hand across her jawline and into her hair. “Men were blind or sleeping. I’m glad they were. It left you there, waiting, when I finally woke up.”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. When he looked at her like he did right now, she could almost believe that he wanted her. That their ruse could somehow have truly transformed to something real for him as much as it had for her.
Even if that real thing was just the desire that now pulsed in the room. She would take it.
She lifted on her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck. Her breasts flattened against his jacket and the rough fabric abraded the sensitive nipples. She tipped her head back with a gasp at the unexpected sensations rushing through her body, and he let out a needy moan.
“You are incredibly responsive,” he said, almost in awe. “And I intend to use that to my benefit.”
Without another word, he swept his arm beneath her bare legs and carried her to her bed. He deposited her on top of the coverlet, and as she settled back on the pillows he shrugged out of his jacket and then went to work on the shirt beneath.
She sat up on her elbows to watch him, fascinated by the slow reveal of masculine flesh covering muscle and bone. When he tugged the item off his head, she caught her breath. He was…perfect. Utterly perfect, like the statues of Greek gods that dotted the gardens of country homes all over England.
