She smiled back, shyly. “Yes, of course.”
“I’m a lucky, undeserving fellow.” He kissed her, deepening the kiss until they both were breathless. “The only thing I can say in my defense is I needed time to wrestle with a few demons.”
“I know.”
He hesitated. “You know?”
“Love is glorious, but when one gives up one’s very soul to it, it can also be frightening.”
She loved him. Robert tenderly traced her lustrous lips and bent to kiss them again. “How did you come to be so wise?”
In the soft golden candlelight, he ran his hands over her body, from the jutting fullness of her pale breasts and down over the curve of her slender waist to the downy hair at the base of her stomach and her rounded thighs. He longed to part them and discover that delicious part of her.Mustn’t hurt her, he cautioned himself.Don’t behave like an oaf. Don’t spoil it.
His hand roamed over her delightful curves. His hand found the velvety soft skin of her inner thigh and climbed higher.
Kate murmured as he stroked her plump, damp softness, and he watched with delight as her eyes grew dazed and she made gasping little cries of pleasure. Moments later, she fell back on the pillow breathing hard. With a smile, she reached for his face, tracing a finger over his lips.
He caught her hand and kissed it. Her passionate response made his heart bang against his ribs. “Do you want me, Kate?” he asked hoarsely, almost afraid of the answer. It seemed as if his whole life depended on it.
Kate pulled him down. “Yes. Yes.”
She invited him to touch her, to taste her. Her lips parted under his, and he explored the sweet cavern of her mouth, his tongue dancing with hers, sending another crashing wave of need flooding through him.
Robert sat up and drew off his nightshirt. He settled between her legs, and she hugged him to her, pulling him close against her soft curves, her firm breasts and taut nipples rubbing against his chest. The blood surged through his body as she nibbled his ear and raked her fingers through his hair.
She might be an innocent, but you could never accuse Kate of being straight-laced or priggish, as he’d expected a virgin to be. He delighted in watching her gain in confidence since she’d come to London. And how in the bedchamber where she’d become an intoxicating mix of nymph and siren. What joy lay in the years ahead.
Her hands danced along his back and she murmured words of love. Desire roared in his ears as her words became incoherent. Her body was hot and slick with desire, and he thought he might explode with the exquisite pleasure of it. He entered her, met with resistance, and pushed, breaking though.
She cried out, and he faltered. “Have I hurt you? Shall I go on?”
“Don’t stop, please.” Her voice shook.
He moved slowly as her body sheathed him, drawing him into her hot center. The need to thrust into her and claim her as his own grew so strong it was hard to resist. But he held himself in check and knew he could not last long. “Next time,” he promised.
He cried her name as he came.
*
As the firstfragile rays of dawn crept through the crack in the curtains, Kate stirred. Robert slept with his face against the pillow, his naked body stretched out across the bed. She snuggled close as her heart swelled with love. Surely now, he was entirely hers. Yet, some uneasiness remained. Would she be enough for him? Would he be faithful, and more importantly, did he love her? Even in the throes of passion he had not said those words.
“Robert? It’s almost morning. I must return to my bedchamber.”
Kate ran her hand over his back and arms, enjoying the shape of muscles and sinews beneath his satiny skin. She marveled at his masculine strength, she boldly stroked his smooth rounded backside, so unlike a woman’s. Her body felt pleasantly sore, and she blushed at the memories of their night together.
Robert yawned. He raked his fingers through his hair, ruffling it and making her fingers twitch to smooth it. “We’re married, Kate. It’s perfectly all right for you to remain here.”
The servants would suffer no illusions wherever she woke up that morning. He lay smiling at her like a big satisfied cat. “And I’m not finished with you.” He gathered her into his arms and kissed her. “I will never be,” he said huskily.
Kate pushed slightly away from him, searching his eyes. “There’s something I have to tell you.” Her stomach tightened with anxiety even though Robert’s hands produced delightful sensations everywhere they touched. A pleasant ache spread through her nether regions, and the memory of last night’s tender lovemaking threatened to distract her from her purpose.
There must be nothing standing between them. She must tell him.
He propped his head on his hand. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Yesterday, I visited your mother.”
“You did what?” Robert rolled away from her and sat up. “Why?” His brows snapped together, looking thunderous, and she quaked.
