His lips curved. “Well. Perhaps one thing.”
He kissed her. Slow and deep, with all the tenderness and passion that had grown between them over these months. She melted into him, her fingers tangling in his hair, her heart so full it ached.
When they broke apart, both breathing harder, he swept her into his arms and carried her inside.
“Edward.” She laughed against his neck. “The servants?—”
“Know better than to disturb us.” He lay her on the bed and followed her down, his weight a welcome anchor. “We are newlyweds. This is expected.”
“We have been married for months.”
“Then we are enthusiastic newlyweds.” He kissed her jaw, her throat, the hollow beneath her ear. “I intend to be enthusiastic for the next fifty years at least.”
The gown loosened and slipped away. Her stays followed, then her shift, until she lay bare before him in the moonlight that spilled through the windows.
Edward went still.
His gaze traced the lines of her body, lingering on the subtle changes that pregnancy had wrought. The fullness of her breasts. The gentle swell of her belly was barely visible but unmistakably present. The soft glow of her skin in the silver light.
“You are so beautiful.” His voice emerged rough, reverent. “I look at you, and I cannot quite believe you are real. That you are mine. That you are carrying my child.”
Sophia reached for him, but he caught her hands and pressed them gently back to the pillows.
“Not yet.” He sank to his knees beside the bed. “Let me worship you first.”
He lifted her foot and pressed a kiss to the delicate arch. His lips traced upward, featherlight, over her ankle, along the curve of her calf. She shivered beneath his touch, her breath catching as his mouth climbed higher.
He kissed the inside of her knee. The sensitive skin of her thigh. His hands followed where his lips led, reverent and unhurried, mapping the territory of her body as though committing every inch to memory.
When he reached her belly, he paused. His palm spread across the gentle curve, warm and protective. He bent his head and pressed his lips there, a promise for the life growing within.
“You have given me everything.” He murmured against her skin. “A family. A home. A reason to believe that I could be more than what my father made me.” He looked up at her, his eyes bright with emotion. “I will spend the rest of my life being worthy of this. Of you.”
Sophia’s eyes stung with tears. She reached down and cupped his face in her hands, drawing him up to her.
“You already are.”
She pulled his mouth back to hers and let the world fall away. When he entered her, it was slow and languid. He nestled the tip of his length at her entrance and teased her until she begged for him.
“Edward, please,” Sophia gasped.
Edward emitted a low growl and slid the length of him inside her. Sophia rose up to meet him, grasping his buttocks. She writhed against him, urging him with her hips to go deeper.
Hot waves of pleasure washed over her just as he released, and their cries echoed together.
Afterward, they lay tangled in the sheets, the last light of sunset fading to dusk beyond the windows. Sophia traced patterns on Edward’s chest while he played with the ends of her hair.
“I have been thinking.” She murmured.
“Dangerous.” His voice was drowsy with contentment.
She swatted his chest. “About names. For the baby.”
Edward’s hand stilled in her hair. “And?”
“If it is a boy, I thought perhaps… Leonard.” She lifted her head to meet his eyes. “If you would like that.”
Something moved across his face. Grief and gratitude and love, all tangled together.
