Pausing outside her chamber, he quietly opened the door and found her standing across the room and staring out the back window. Had she been watching for him? Anxiously waiting? The hours since they had parted felt like an eternity, though it was only two.
Tonight, she would finally be his.
He set his boots aside, shrugged out of his suitcoat, undid his cravat then removed his waistcoat, leaving a path of clothing as he crossed the chamber.
Octavia glanced over her shoulder, eyes widening. “I did not hear you come in.”
He came up from behind, wrapped his arms about her, pulling her back against his chest and then kissed her bare shoulder.
Octavia shivered.
“I was watching for you,” she whispered.
“You did not see me cross the back lawn?” he asked before nipping at her earlobe.
“No.”
Her tone was nearly breathless, and he’d done little.
“I have been eager for an hour.”
“As have I.”
His hand slid up her midriff until he cradled a perfect breast in the palm of his hand. Already her nipples were tight.
Octavia groaned and arched.
“There is one matter we need to discuss.” He kissed her neck again.
“What?”
“Do you use a vinegar-soaked sponge, or would you prefer I use a sheath, or I can withdraw.”
Octavia straightened and turned toward him.
“Why?”
Perhaps she had no experience in practices currently used to prevent pregnancy since she had been married to a lord in need of an heir.
“So that there are no children.”
She frowned at him with surprise. “I thought you were aware that I am barren.”
He had not known. He knew that she’d not given her husband a son, but that did not mean that there were not daughters that had been left in the country with a governess.
“Are you certain? Has a doctor confirmed this?”
“Ten years of marriage and no children is confirmation.”
“That does not mean it is you, or perhaps you did not…”
She placed a finger against his lips. “My husband visited my bed once a week for the single purpose of getting me with child. My womb never quickened. Coupled with the fact that he has three bastard sons, all born during our marriage and from three different mothers, it is clear that I cannot conceive.”
“Did a doctor also tell you this?”
“There were examinations, and he noted my courses and all manner of personal things, including intimacy with my husband and came to the same conclusion.”
“I am sorry, Octavia.”
