He must have known what she was thinking as he continued to rub slow circles around her nipples through her dress and chemise, before he lifted himself up to kiss her again.
“I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful woman,” he murmured against her lips as his hands began working the buttons on the back of her dress.
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” he said, seemingly indignant that she would think he was speaking of someone else.
“You didn’t even notice me at first!” she protested.
“I’m ashamed of that,” he admitted. “But once I saw you, I couldn’t look away.”
With some sort of magic, in a few moments, he had her dress off, and before she knew what was happening,shewas now the one lying down on the bed before him, in nothing but her thin chemise. She shivered, glad that she had worn one she particularly enjoyed, with beautiful lace edging around the sleeves and collar.
“Asher,” she whispered, hoping he understood what she didn’t know how to put into words — that she needed him.
His next actions told her that she had nothing to worry about.
His gaze roamed over her as he slowly slid the straps of the chemise over her shoulders, his eyes lighting up as they landed on her bare breasts. It was as if he were trying to take in every aspect of this coming together, to remember it for as long as he could.
“I tried to stay away, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he said huskily. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.”
Evelyn was as desperate to see him as he was to see her, and she sat up, tugging on his cravat, throwing it to the floor beside them. He watched her with dark, hungry eyes as she rose to her knees to unbutton his jacket, then his waistcoat, until shereached his shirt. Her hands slid over his skin as she loosened it from his breeches and pulled it up, over his head.
His shoulders were broad, the ridges of his abdomen and the outline of his chest showing off muscles as strong as hers were soft, and she lost her breath for a moment that a man this powerful, one that half the women in England would have given anything for, was hers – at least, for tonight.
And now, with her, he was on the edge of his control, under her power as much as she was under his.
He leaned forward and kissed her neck, right above her collarbone, before working his way up, his stubble lightly scratching her skin, her every nerve on edge.
As she reached for the fall of his breeches, one of his hands found her breast again, and he pinched the tip, causing her to arch toward him, while she fought with his fall, unable to concentrate.
He smirked before inching back off the bed and fluidly pulling his breeches off, standing proudly before her as she could only stare.
Her mouth was likely wide open in shock, but he didn’t seem to mind.
His entire body was a hard lattice of ridges and grooves, some of his chest hair swirling over his muscles. And the way his erection was straining toward her — she tried to swallow but found she was barely capable at the sight before her.
“Lost your words?” he said, arching a brow. “Now you know how I feel.”
He reached out and, in one smooth motion, pulled her chemise off the rest of her body until she was as naked as he was, and suddenly she realized that this was more than just satisfying the need they felt for one another. This coming together would be a true joining, a representation of their marriage, foretold as one of partnership, not of such passion.
The question dancing around her mind was whether it would be a passing moment or whether there could be a chance that they could hold onto this for longer.
She would worry about that later.
“Asher,” she whispered, almost in reverence, which only seemed to spur him on as he rejoined her on the bed, gently pushing her backward before hovering over her and brushing a kiss against her lips.
She wanted more and reached up, trying to find him, but he took her wrists between his hands, holding them over her head so that she was helpless before him.
And she loved it.
She ached for him in that place between her legs, and she shifted back and forth on the bed as she desperately waited for more.
He kissed her again, and then she felt him, hard and heavy, pressed up between her legs, and she sighed in satisfaction as she lifted her hips, seeking him.
He released her hands as he needed his own to play with her nipples again, and when he kissed her neck, she found herself winding up as she had the last time they were together.
Then his mouth found one breast, and she let out another cry that the entire household could likely hear.
