She was wearing that same pink silk negligee, this time without even a robe to cover her, her blonde curls tumbling over her shoulder. The fact she was bold and barefoot and limping told Kenneth she was ready for bed, and baring all of herself to him.
The brandy glass dropped onto the table without him even glancing away from the vision before him.
“Barbara,” he whispered, stepping toward her.
Christ, he’d never get enough of her bold smile as she lifted her arms and pretended to stretch, while ensuring he got an eyeful of her curves pressed against that silk.
“Good evening, husband,” she all but crooned, and Kenneth’s cock throbbed in response to her throaty wickedness.
When he reached her, he found himself hesitating, thoughts tangled on how to touch her, how to hold her. Everywhere she was just pink and rosy and delicious-looking, and he couldn’t decide which part to touch first.
Luckily she was the perfect match for him. With a throaty chuckle, she threw her arms around his neck. “I am not going to melt, Kenneth, you can touch me. You saw me only a short while ago.”
This was true; she’d needed his help to unbutton the gown—pink of course—she’d worn for their wedding. But the reminder only served to make him wince.
“I’m sorry ye dinnae have a maid yet, love. Gage will start next week?—”
She interrupted him with a slow and languid kiss, and when she pulled back she was grinning. “Surely I have proven I do not need constant help? My foot may be lamed, but I am perfectly capable of dressing myself.”
“Aye, that ye are.” His hands slid down the small of her back. “And undressing yerself. Still, Miss Gage will be a help, and she’ll needyerhelp training her on what she needs to ken afore the time we leave, aye?”
Whenever Kenneth became rueful that his wife was living in hired lodgings—it was hardly their dream house—he reminded himself it was only temporary. By the end of the summer, the two of them—and the female Foreign Office agent who would be posing as Barbara’s lady’s maid—would be on a steamer headed for the Mediterranean and ultimately, Egypt. He wasn’t sure how long their posting would last, but knew Barbara was ecstaticabout the opportunity to see the antiquities she loved in situ—and the two of them could do some real good for their country.
And when they returned, they’d move into the townhouse near her family, hire all the servants she wanted, and perhaps think about a few children.
But that was the future, one they’d spoken about at length in the last few weeks as her mother planned their wedding. For now, he had plenty to focus his attention on…
His new wife beamed up at him. “I still cannot believe I will have this opportunity.”
“Och, lass, dinnae think it’s merely a pleasure trip.” He forced a stern tone and expression, even as his hands slid to cup her arse. “This will be work—yer country is counting on ye to use that clever brain of yers, eh?”
With a grin, she wriggled against him, silk doing little to hide her curves or the pebbling of her nipples.
“And I suppose, when we are abroad, you will count as my manager—my superior when it comes to matters of State? I will need to do exactly as you say?”
Since that last part was accompanied by her rocking her hot little cunny against his hard cock, Kenneth groaned in agreement. “Aye, lass,” he rasped, cupping her arse and pulling her flush against him. “Exactlywhat I say, and when I say it.”
“So if you were to, for example, order me to my knees so you could use my mouth, I would have no choice but to obey?”
Christ Almighty, how did he get so lucky?
With another groan, Kenneth claimed that wicked little mouth in a kiss, loving the way she met him head on.
During the last decade, he’d always assumed that settling down and yoking himself to merely one woman meant he’d be bored for the rest of his life. It had taken falling in love with someone like Barbara—someone brilliant and witty andcompletely embracing her sexuality—to prove how very wrong he was.
“Well?” his wife murmured against his ear as his kisses dropped to her throat and her fingers played with the hair at the back of his neck. “Are you going to give me that command?”
“On my wedding night?” His hand cupped her tit through the silk of the negligee, lifting the perfect globe so he could drag his tongue across her nipple. “I would be better served ordering ye to spread yerself across a chaise.”
Gasping at his touch, she arched into his hold. “You do not have a chaise, husband.”
“Put it on the list for Barbara and Kenneth’s dream house.” With a small grunt, Kenneth bent and scooped her into his arms. “For now, we’ll have to make do with the bed.”
Grinning, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Whatever you say, husband.”
Barbara’s breath hitched as Kenneth carried her into the bedchamber—their bedchamber—and set her gently on her feet beside the bed. The anticipation thrumming through her body made her skin feel too tight, too sensitive—and when his fingers traced the thin strap of her negligee, she shivered.
“Let me see ye properly, wife,” he murmured, the topaz in his eyes flaring with desire.
