Page 77 of How to Ruin a Rake

“It’s our wedding night.”

“Yes, but we both know that this whole thing is just a farce.” Allegra stopped speaking when he came closer.

“Do we?” He angled his head to look at her. “Did we not speak vows to each other in a church?”

“Yes, of course we did.”

“Are you saying you don’t intend to follow those vows?”

Allegra raised her chin. “I told you I would be a loyal wife to you.”

“Fine, then get into bed.”

She stalked over to the side of the bed, took off her robe, and got in, aware that he was watching her. He took the time to extinguish all the lights except the one by the bed before he climbed in beside her. Allegra lay on her back and held her breath as he looked down at her.

There was a seriousness in his gaze that she’d never seen before, and she didn’t know how to deal with it. He cupped her chin before trailing his fingers down her throat to her shoulder. She shivered at his touch, her rigorously repressed need for him sparking suddenly to life.

His long fingers curved under her breast, and she could no longer look away from him. His thumb found her nipple even through the linen of her nightgown, and she caught her breath as he teased it to a hard, needy point.

“Hmm …” he murmured. “That’s better.”

His other hand swept lower, tracing the line of her hip and around to her bottom, making her surge forward into his touch. He drew up her nightgown and cupped her buttock, bringing her even closer toward him.

“Take it off,” he ordered.

She couldn’t find a single reason to deny him. And then she was naked and he came over her, one knee planted in between her legs, his hands claiming new territory as she responded to his touch. This—this part when they didn’t need to talk but just be together—was so much easier than the rest of it. She reached for him, her hands pushing at the lapels of his dressing gown.

He ripped it off with a growl and then he was as naked as she was, and everything was equal between them. His knee pushed her legs wide, and he brought one hand down between her legs to cup her most intimate parts.

“You’re wet for me.”

Allegra didn’t bother to answer him, because she was too busy pushing against his questing fingers. He groaned against her throat and kissed her until she almost forgot how to breathe.

“You’re infuriating,” he said as he kissed his way down her neck to her breasts, his fingers plunging inside her.

“Yes,” Allegra gasped, as he planted his thumb firmly on her clit and rubbed in time to his mouth pulling on her nipple. “Don’t stop.”

His growl was all the answer she got as he replaced his fingers with the first thrust of his cock, and she breathed his name like a prayer. She’d missed him and this closeness where neither of them could hide from the other, skin to skin, breath to breath, desire matched by desire.

She climaxed before he was even fully inside her and dug her fingernails into his shoulders as she gave herself up to the pleasure. He increased his pace, drawing her foot up over his hip, so that he could rock against her most intimate flesh with greater intensity. She came again, and he swore under his breath, and came with her with a guttural groan that made everything female inside her rejoice.

After a few moments, he rolled away and lay on his back, his chest heaving. Allegra stayed where she was, her whole body throbbing with satisfaction. He reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers.

“Not bad for a first attempt.”

She turned her head to look at him. “There’s more?”

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s our wedding night. We’re supposed to indulge ourselves.”

“I wasn’t sure that you would even want to—”

He came up on one elbow and looked down at her. “Allegra, will you please stop this?”

“Stop what?”

“Spoiling everything.” He gestured at the bed and then at himself. “Can we not simply enjoy bedding each other?”

She considered him for a long moment. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t enjoy this particular part of our marriage.”