Page 19 of Until I’m Safe in Your Arms

“Yes, please.” What else could she say? They were married after all. This was the natural order of things, although she still didn’t think it correct to do it in the daytime. Still, her body went from hot to cold by turns just from the way Alex looked at her. Once he began to touch her in earnest…

Her two-piece blue traveling gown buttoned down the front and Alex began on those, his large fingers uncannily nimble as he undressed her. The jacket came away, revealing her sheer white blouse and the corset beneath.

Alex sucked in air then emitted a groan. “Are you very attached to this blouse?”

“This blouse?” Emma looked up at him, uncomprehending. “Not really, n—”

Before she could get the word out, her husband grasped the fabric in both hands and tore the garment in two.

“Alex!”

He buried his face in the deep decolletage of her corset and Emma gasped as his tongue stroked the V in between her breasts. “Oh, Emma, you are so beautiful.”

Heat washed over her, her cheeks blazing like two furnaces. Inside, at her core, another fire sprang to life, like the one that had occurred on the swing with Alex. That had also transpired during the day, now that she thought of it. Perhaps the daytime was the right time for them to be together. Pushing her breasts together, Emma deepened the valley between them and thrust them toward her husband.

His groan became an outright moan as he kneaded her breasts together, pulling and kissing them as Emma’s core picked up the rhythm. She wrapped her arms around his head, unwilling to have him stop or move away. He worked some more with his hands, and suddenly, cool air touched her where it had been warm just a moment before. Glancing down, she was shocked to see her bare flesh exposed to her husband’s avid and approving gaze.

“Emma, my God, you’re magnificent.”

Her nipples had peaked, furled into tight little points, incredibly sensitive to the touch. And he was touching her. Running his hands over both her breasts, drawing his fingers downward until they cupped the hard tips. She shrugged and the corset slid off, leaving her half naked to his gaze.

All the wantonness from earlier in the week surfaced, making Emma bold. She reached around behind her and untied the tapes that kept her skirt, petticoat, and hoops secured. They fell to the floor with a plop, leaving Emma standing in her pantalettes, stockings, and shoes. A tug on the strings at the back of the drawers and they had pooled at her feet.

Her husband’s ragged breathing brought her up short. He stared at her, his gaze starting at her breasts, then traveling over her stomach to her hips, and finally coming to rest on the nest of dark curls at the apex of her thighs. He licked his lips, then his gaze sought her face once more. “Emma, I…I don’t know what to say. You are simply the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

The admiration in his eyes was real, of that she had no doubt. But he needed to move past that because her skin was beginning to pucker with the cold. And anticipation. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to encourage herself. “I’m sorry, Alex. It’s a little chilly now.”

“Are you cold, love? Here, let me warm you.” He scooped her up and deposited her on the covers. After the initial shock of the cold covers, her back and buttocks began to warm a bit. She stared, fascinated as her husband finished stripping himself so quickly he seemed to have four hands. Boots toppled to the floor, followed by stockings, and then his trousers, shucked off in record time. That left him wearing only his shirt, the tails of which could ill disguise his eager arousal.

Trembling, Emma lay on the cover, pushing herself backward until her head reached the pillows. She quickly pulled off her stockings—her shoes had fallen off when Alex scooped her up in his arms, then crawled under the sheets, not minding the cold at all now, just enthralled by the almost naked form of her husband stalking toward the bed with determined strides. Emma threw the coverlet back and patted the mattress beside her. “Come to bed, my dear.”

In one smooth movement, Alex pulled his shirt over his head, leaving him as naked to her gaze as she was to his. She had a fleeting glimpse of a broad chest, barren of hair, wide shoulders, and a waist that tapered to slim hips—where his massive member jutted out.

Alex slipped into bed and pulled the covers over him before Emma could get a good look at him. She wasn’t certain that was a good thing. Imagination could make anything better or worse. Her trembling increased.

He pulled her to his extremely warm chest, cradling her against him. “Is that better?”

She nodded, too overcome with the moment to speak.

“Did Lady Tilney tell you what will happen next?” His voice was gentle, but there was an urgency beneath it that couldn’t be denied.

Wouldn’t be denied, she suspected, even had she wanted to. Which she didn’t. Despite her trepidations, she wanted the full experience of marriage to Alex, even knowing what that entailed. “Not Lady Tilney, but yes, I know.”

“So you know it will hurt the first time?” He’d pulled her close enough that his breath was hot in her ear.

“Yes.” She’d been told that didn’t last long, though. “I’m ready.”

“As am I, sweetheart. So ready for you.” He pressed her back into the mattress, his mouth starting at her ear, then sliding down her throat to her breast. Every inch of her he touched smoldered, every stroke of his tongue produced a glowing red-hot ember until, when his lips closed around her nipple, she burst into flame all over.

“Oh, Alex.” His name came out a deep guttural groan even as her core ached for more. There was more, she knew it. How did she ask him—

He lay his hand on her bare knee and she flinched, caught off guard.

“Easy, sweet. Let me do something I think you’ll like.”

She nodded, completely aware of his fingers stroking her thigh upward, moving toward the place no one had ever—

Gracious! She jumped and gasped as his fingers brushed the thatch of curls at the top of her thighs. Even if she expected something of the sort, to have his hand there, his fingers swirling around that most intimate part of her seemed odd. Felt…good.