He watched her expression alter as she digested his words. First, disbelief, then dismay, then, oddly, acceptance. “I see.”
A moment ago, she’d told him she needed to work, all but dismissing him. Only, now that he had her in his arms, he wasn’t inclined to let her go. And neither was a certain part of his anatomy.
The effect this woman had on him. The carnal craving she inspired. No, it was more than that. She appealed to him on every level. He wanted her time, her attention, her good opinion,her body, her mouth, her quim.
Keeping one arm locked around her waist, he drew his free hand to her nape to toy with the silky, chestnut tendrils that had thwarted her attempts to tame them.
“You…er…say you asked your mother for details about the earl?” For some reason, he felt more comfortable referring to him by his title, versusmy father.
She nodded, her gaze drifting to his mouth, where it remained, which caused him to smile.
As he watched, her mouth curved in an answering smile. She was so utterly delightful.
“You’re staring,” he murmured. So was he, but that was beside the point.
Her eyes lifted to his in a blink.
Grazing his knuckles over her cheek seemed the most naturalthing in the world to do. Her skin was so wonderfully soft. “I don’t mind, love. You wouldn’t, by any chance, want me to kiss you? It’s customary, I believe, after a couple argues, to—”
“Yes, please.” She practically bounced on her toes.
He didn’t bother to staunch his wicked chuckle at her eager response. But his humor faded quickly, as a near-reverent need to taste those luscious petals took hold of him.
Breath stuttering in his lungs, he lowered his head, slanting his mouth over hers, suckling the upper, then the lower of her lips between his. He nibbled, softly,softly, not enough to abrade the plump flesh—but certainly enough to turn the blood in his veins to liquid fire.Good Lord. He wanted her like he hadn’t had a woman in decades.
“Can I…shall we…” His words, plaintive, his thoughts, jumbled, tangled in his head in a mass of boundless yearning.
Georgina, as if perfectly attuned to his every whim, seemed to understand. “The sofa?” she suggested, her parted lips brushing his.
He scooped her into his arms. In three long strides he reached the sofa they’d vacated moments ago, lowering onto it to sprawl on his back, one leg bent, the other hanging over the side, Georgina cradled in his arms.
“Come here, wife,” he ordered, his voice gravelly.
She shimmied up his body, propping herself on her elbows to bring their faces level. Then she cupped his cheeks between damp palms. “Teddy?”
“Yes?” He slipped his hands between them, finding and untying the ribbon of her bodice.
“I hope you’ll forgive me. I never meant anything I said or did to hurt you.” Her eyes lowered. “Or to make things difficult for you.”
Hands shaking, he worked her gown down to reveal the glorious swell of her creamy breasts.Damned stays. He drew his face to her cleavage, feathering kisses over the upper mounds, dipping his tongue into the cleft.
“Did you hear me, my love?”
My love.The endearment sent a thrill of tenderness through him.
Never taking his mouth off her, he glanced up. Shaking off the fog of lust engulfing him, he met her eyes. Though heavy lidded with desire, intense sincerity and utter remorse shone in their silvery depths.
Well-deserved remorse, he told himself. And yet…
“Tell me again, why you did what you did,really,” he heard himself say, aware, by prodding her for another declaration, he was making a cake of himself. “Why you came for me. Why you waited for me. Why you married me.”
Her expression softened, and an indulgent smile curved her mouth. “I love you, Teddy Arlington. I’ve always loved you. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Immensely satisfied, but with no intention of answering her, he returned his attention to the magnificent swells spilling over her undergarment. He ran his teeth along the lacy edge while his hand wrestled with her fine muslin skirts and petticoat, seeking a way beneath them.
“What Iwantis you out of all of these clothes. But, I’ll settle for this,” he finally murmured, as he encountered, and squeezed, one enticingly rounded cheek. Swallowing a groan, he traced the curve down and around, not stopping ’til his fingertips grazed the silken petals at her apex.
“Oh,” she cried, hips arching upward in reflex and she pressed her face into his neck. Tiny tremors vibrating through her, she parted her thighs in silent invitation, and his cock, already rigid with desire, went painfully hard.
