“Are you sure I can’t…”
He kissed her again. “I’m sure.” His voice was so strained, that she gentled her hold on him. But he protested, wrapped his own hand around hers to show her what he liked. She kissed him this time as she began to stroke, feeling him growing even larger in her hand, throbbing, stiffening, until it seemed it would burst.It excited her so much, this mastery over him. He was setting her body alight again, but she was all but shattering his control.
And then, with a cry, he pulsed in her hand and spent on his belly, and she met his mouth again, lips and tongue and teeth, furious to meet him, to succumb to him, to triumph over him. He hadn’t even finished when he reached down and began to stroke her just as he’d done before, faster, lighter, tormenting her with the silk of his touch, his fingers just callused enough to rasp against her most sensitive flesh, bringing it back to shuddering, seething life. Bringing her back to her own ecstasy as she moaned into the kiss, as she writhed, as she wept with the perfect moment they shared.
14
She should have felt wonderful. Well, she did; her body feeling weightless and…she thought for a moment and wanted to smile. Glowing. It glowed. Or it should have. She had spent the night exchanging pleasure with her new husband, safe from pregnancy, and now lay in his arms, her ear resting against his chest where she could hear his heart and smell the scent that was curiously his.
His skin was so warm, his body so solid, as if she could rely on its protection always. As if she could lean on him, when she hadn’t been able to lean on anyone in her entire life.
But she knew better. And that was why, when she should have been safely asleep and sated, she lay in his arms, dreading the day to come. The week, the month. She should have been able to enjoy this interlude without qualm. But the fact was she would lose it, lose the chance of it, for how long? She would be weighed down with the responsibilities of his family, his estates, his title, while he gallivanted off to the Continent. And heaven only knew what she would still have to settle in her own family.
“You’re thinking too hard,” she heard and felt the rumble of that delicious voice all through her.
“It is unavoidable,” she countered, not moving. “We have already overslept, and we have two girls to rescue from the madness of my house.”
“Two girls I suspect are having the time of their lives.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, I hope so. At least if they have imaginations to feed. They can choose from a pirate ship or a magic wood with fairy houses or a circus.”
That ended his relaxation. “A circus?!”
She smiled. “Several small dogs who love doing tricks and being dressed up in funny outfits. Oh, and an elephant.”
That froze him. “You’re joking.”
She chuckled. “Perhaps. The problem is that we must finally climb from this comfortable bed if you want to find out.”
He began playing with her hair. “I’d rather leave the world outside.”
She closed her eyes against the delicious chills he was setting off. Chills she knew perfectly well she shouldn’t become used to. “As would I. But someone in this room managed to schedule a boat trip two days after his wedding. And he hasn’t even introduced his new wife to his staff yet.”
“They saw you.”
“A completely different matter, and you know it. If I stand a chance with them, I must establish my presence before you go. Not to mention with your solicitor and estate agent.”
For a moment there was just silence, the distant ticking of a clock somewhere. Then Georgie realized she could hear furtive rustling in the next room, more of it farther away. She had just run out of time.
Before he could challenge her, she lifted her head, dropped a kiss on his chest and rolled out of bed. “If I stay here any longer I will waste away from hunger,” she said. “And my poor maid will die of mortification from waiting for me in your room. Makecertain you have at least some semblances of clothing on before going through that door.”
She took a chance to look at him and almost faltered completely. He was impressive enough dressed and groomed and upright. It was nothing compared to him lounging in bed, his arm behind his head, his hair tousled and the sheet only covering his most pertinent equipment. She fought an intense desire to jump back in with him.
Instead, she shook her head. “Lord, I am tired of always being the responsible one. Get dressed, your lordship. We have places to be, and the staff is waiting to see us on our way.”
“You’re sure about that.”
She scowled and tied the dressing gown Minty had left for her. And then, she waited. And he smiled. Which did nothing to improve her mood.
“Please,” she said, feeling worse by the minute.
She wanted like mad to stay. To crawl back in and fill herself with the weight and size and smile of her husband. She wanted to pretend that everything else would simply disappear.
But she knew better.
Finally, his grin positively piratical, he climbed out of bed and stretched like a giant cat, knowing perfectly well that she couldn’t keep her eyes off his battle-hardened body, that tantalizing line of curls right down his abdomen, the taut leanness of his hips, his horseman’s thighs. Everything else. And then he just swooped her up and kissed her as if he’d just returned from a year away. And she realized her grandmama had been correct. His arms could hold her up when she felt that nothing else would. But before she could enjoy it, before she could even really take it in, he kissed the tip of her nose and strode perfectly naked through the door into his room.
Georgie certainly hoped poor Minta wasn’t in there.
