The boys stood and stared at him. Mrs. Darnell said, “That’s the first time I have seen that miserable cat voluntarily reach out to a human being.” She sounded stunned.
Rose arrived, wearing a floating gown in a pale shade of pink. “I see Sir Ian is charming all the females again,” she said, her lustrous blue gaze momentarily resting on his face.
“One at least.” He glanced at Merry.
“I will have harsh words to say to her later,” Rose said as curtsied to him. With her tantalizing eyelashes lowered, he couldn’t read her expression.
When Andrew Darnell arrived, the conversation became general. Ian glanced at Rose a few times but her attention appeared elsewhere. Finally, the butler announced that dinner would be served in the main dining room. He saw the hint of a smile on Rose’s petal soft lips, since nothing could be less likely than the evening meal being served elsewhere. Having no other choice, he put the cat on a chair, and offered his arm to Rose.
Her eyes met his. His chest emptied as fast as his mind. She seemed about to speak, but blinked instead and settled her fingers lightly on his sleeve. Her parents, chatting cozily, led the way into the hall, followed by Ian and the woman he loved, and ranked by the boys. In front, the adult Darnells suddenly stopped, forcing Ian and Rose to pause behind. The boys reared up, flanking Ian’s retreat.
“The kissing bough,” young master Robert said, his smile smug, his forefinger pointing upward.
Ian glanced where he pointed, and then at Rose who frowned at Robert. The boys began to jostle. Ian stood trapped in a circle of Darnells beneath the kissing bough. Although the tinge of pink of Rose’s cheek clearly indicated she didn’t want Ian’s attentions, the whole Darnell family stood staring expectantly. He tried a casual smile and a shrug, but no one moved. With a rueful tilt of his eyebrows, he said to beautiful Rose, “May I have the honor of being kissed?”
Her splendid eyelashes fluttered. She glanced quickly at his face and away. “You may have the honor of being the kisser. If you please.”
His audience stilled. His heart took up the rhythm of a marching drum while he bent his head and let his lips touch Rose’s. Although he meant to step back immediately, she clutched his lapels, gazing deeply into his eyes. The boys and their parents left like wraiths in the night.
Deep within Ian’s chest a spark of hope began to kindle. Rose’s mouth softened and her enormous, pure blue eyes, asked an unspoken question. Astonished to have been given this opportunity, he moved his hands to the jut of her hips, resting his thumbs on the ridge, moving her into his body, while she slid her fingers to his collar. His lips met hers again with desperate need, which forced his breathing to speed up, and lasted until he realized that any more of this and his body would begin to embarrass him.
Although unwillingly, he managed to lift his mouth and rest his cheek against hers, while he gained control of his thoughts. “If you weren’t before, you are now utterly compromised,” he said in a breathy voice that stirred the tendrils of her hair.
Her fingers toyed with the buttons on his jacket, and she concentrated on his cravat. “A kiss is only a kiss, and everyone knows how many attentions I have suffered from my suitors.” She didn’t lift her gaze. “But you are not a suitor, are you? You never have been. Regardless, Ian.” She took a long breath, her lashes resting on her cheeks. She paused for so long that his chest grew tight. “I love you. I always have.”
For a moment he couldn’t credit what he heard. “Always have?” were the only words he could utter.
She nodded, raising her gaze, her smile wobbling. “Since the day I met you. But please don’t think you have to marry me because you have kissed me in front of my parents. It’s Christmas. Many kisses will be offered during the next few weeks.”
“I certainly hope so.” He stared straight into her eyes, drawing her right into his body. When she had circled her arms around his neck, and lifted her face, he whispered, “You are in my mind day and night, and you are the cause of every letter I haven’t written to my colleagues who want my opinion, and the reason why my servants are creeping around the house. Say you will marry me ... and I will be able to kiss you for the rest of our lives.”
“And finish your correspondence ... if I say yes, and you may be certain I will, I want much more than kisses,” she said in a deadly voice.
He widened his smile. “You can have everything you want after we are married.”
She shook her head, as if sadly disappointed in him. After taking a considering breath, she said, “In that case, we should we marry today, because I don’t want to wait any longer.”
He laughed. The wretch was impossibly forward. Perfect, in fact, for him, her contrast. “Not without a special license, my dearest tormentor. But with your parent’s permission to marry you, I shall travel back to town and obtain one.”
She beamed. Tucking her hand under his arm, she turned him in the direction of the dining room. “I think my parents have already shown their approval. The amazing part was my brothers’ cooperation. I wonder which of them set up this choreographed situation?”
“My guess would be your mother. She appears to have the skills of a brevet sergeant.”
Clearly agreeing with him, Rose said, “I think I should like to be married on Christmas day. Our families are already here and you will have time to leave and return.”
“In that case, I shall have to ask your parents for your hand before we eat, because the sooner we can legally share a bed, the better.”
Rose gave him a glance of incredulity. “Why on earth else do you think I want to marry you? For your sparkling conversation?”
“This particular conversation is heading in dangerous territory. I like to think that my utterances are riveting.”
She laughed. Tucking her hand under his arm, she leaned her face on the tip of shoulder. “Why do you think I fell in love with you?”
“Is this a serious question?”
“That’s exactly why. You understand me. You don’t ask me if I am joking because you already know the answer. You assume I am intelligent enough to banter with. Why did you fall in love with me?”
“Because you have a heart. Who else would pick up a stray and grumpy cat and take the time to make her happy?”
“What if I did that to make you think I had a heart?”
“You didn’t, but I have loved you since the day we met.” With that, he escorted her into the dining room, realizing his life would never be the same.
* * * *
While Rose’s trunks were unpacked and the bed warmed, Ian entertained his new wife with a glass of champagne in the capacious sitting room of his large country house, hoping to relax her for the night ahead.
Although he had expected his and Rose’s families to be at the Christmas wedding ceremony, he hadn’t expected her friends, too. The three of them, Della, Winsome, and Hebe came muffled to the eyebrows in furs and they tossed winter-blooming flowers in the path of the bride when he and she left the church.
Apparently, his new mother-in-law had decided she could put the out-of-town wedding guests up for a night or two and provide a reception combined with a Christmas meal for all. He enjoyed his intimate wedding, mainly because he disliked fuss. Not planning on taking a wedding trip, he had left his sister-in-law to ready his master suite for the new mistress of his house. Erica and Edward, et al, left straight after the wedding, giving the newlyweds time alone in lieu of a honeymoon.
Ian sat through the interminable Christmas meal with both the extended families, and then the wedding toasts, until finally his coach was brought around, decorated with holly. The trip home took all of fifteen minutes.
After he had introduced Rose to the upper servants, and the housekeeper had taken her on tour through the house, she finally sat beside him in front of the fire with Merry in her lap. She leaned back and smiled at him. “You don’t mind that I’m not a virgin?”
He spread his hands. “I wouldn’t, no, but you are.”
“How do you know that?” She lowered her eyebrows.
“Because I haven’t made love to you yet.”
“How is that logical?”
He shrugged. “It’s as logical as you telling me that you aren’t.”
Merry unfurled and rubbed her face against Rose’s. “I think I must be nervous. Thank you, Merry. That helps.” With that, Rose stood, and carrying the cat, walked over to Ian and settled on his lap. “Is it too early to retire for the night?”
“Many of the servants had the day off, being Christmas. Your bath water is heating and as soon as that’s done, we’ll go upstairs.”
With a contented sigh, she snuggled close into him. Today he had discovered emotions he didn’t know he had, like joy and hope. Finally, he received the nod from the butler that the servants had finished unpacking and that his rooms were now ready for his wedding night. Given enough food, his suite was large enough to live in for a few weeks, encompassing two bedrooms, separated by a large dressing room complete with a marble bath. Although he didn’t know why, she had decided that intimate relations were more important to her than to him.
She needed find out that loving her came before making love to her.
CHAPTER TEN
A rap sounded from the inside of the dressing room door as a signal that Ian had moved through to his own room. The day had been long. As yet, Rose knew neither the servants nor the normal routine of her new home. She had more to learn than simply running her own household. The maid who had been temporarily allotted to help Rose disrobe in her bedroom held the door open, smiling discreetly. “Your bath is ready for you, my lady.”
With a nod of approval, but not surprised, because Ian had promised her a relaxing soak, Rose stepped into the room lined with panels of ornately carved oak, behind which her gowns had been carefully stored. Her hats sat in a separate compartment, where long flat drawers stored her under garments and gloves. Having inspected these arrangements, she turned to a rack of thick towels standing beside the bath. The maid, Ally, discreetly left as Rose slipped out of her trousseau robe. Wafts of steam drifted from the petal-scattered water.
The man who thought he wasn’t romantic had ordered this adorable treat for her. Her mouth a curve of appreciation, she slid into the perfumed warmth. Although she looked forward to the delights of the bedroom, she was naturally apprehensive. She prayed that the breaking of her virginity seal wouldn’t hurt. After all, she had told Ian she had experience.
Just as she had begun to soap herself, Ian entered the dressing room. Her first instinct was to cross her arms over her breasts, but he smiled and took the soap from her. “Let me help,” he said, dropping to his knees and lathering his hands.
“Thank you,” she said in a hesitant voice. Her neck tensed, and her eyes fastened on the naked chest exposed by the gap in his exotically patterned, black silk banyan.
He smiled at her, slipping a hand down her spine and carefully soaping her, which was quite enjoyable, until his hands moved to her front and over and around her breasts, evading her pebbled nipples.
Her skin tightened but she loved watching his gentle hands sliding over her body. She leaned back while his palm moved lower and lower, over her belly and then between her legs. The soap dissolved and she closed her eyes, sucking in a shivery breath, hoping he would find her pleasure spot, but he leaned over to touch his mouth on hers, his expression languid as he lifted her out of the water. She helped him dry her, not breaking the silence with her nervous emptying of her lungs[KW10]. Anything she said would break the spell.
While he watched, she donned her loveliest nightgown, one that she wanted to wear at least once. When she had finished, he gathered into his arms again and carried her onto the bedroom. He lowered her onto the bed and then swung himself up beside her. If he shared her apprehension, she certainly saw nothing but tenderness on his face. “What do we do now?” she asked carefully.
“Whatever we want,” he said, with a casual [KW11]smile.
“Tonight will be a little awkward, I imagine.”
His eyebrows arched eloquently. “You haven’t been particularly shy with me so far. I recall the last night at the inn. You were quite forward, in fact. And now I can reciprocate. First I will remove that pretty scrap of a nightgown, because you have no use for it now. Sit up, my petal. I don’t want to rip the silk. The laundry-maid would take back her good opinion of me.”
She helped him undress her, discovering that the night air was cool, but Ian’s skin was toasty warm when he completely enveloped her in his arms. Fortunately, he was already naked. He didn’t bother to turn down the lamps. The man had confidence in his body, and rightly. She appreciated his fit and healthy, smoothly muscled shape.
He tucked her head beneath his chin, which helped a little, for she was still nervous, and her over-confident act could not possibly last when she was about to face the unknown. She tried breathing deeply but the flutters in her chest didn’t go away until he ran the flattened palm of his hand over her back in a soothing manner. Right then she knew he didn’t expect more from her than she could manage. If he loved her, and she believed he did, he would be patient.
However, his soothing brought a need in her to hold him closer. She wanted to touch all of him, beginning from the planes of his cheekbones, to his bristled jaw. She spread her seeking palm to the ridges of his strong shoulders, momentarily lingering over the smooth firmness of his muscles.
He reciprocated by splaying his fingers across her back in a possessive but tender way. That same warm hand slid to her buttocks and shaped her roundness, while his lips rested on the junction between her neck and her shoulders, finding a spot that made her shiver deliciously. He moved his kisses to her chin, her cheek, and then slid his mouth across to hers. Although she tried to keep him there, he kept moving from here to there and back again.
Finally she rose above him and placed a palm on each side of his face and began kissing him the way he had kissed her. He let her for a moment and then his mouth got in the way of hers. Before she knew what was happening, his lips took hers with a deep kiss that had her crawling all over him.
Her skin heated and her breaths grew shorter. When she stopped, he glanced at her face. His lashes half shaded his eyes and his mouth curved. The sensuality in his quick glance at her made her heart race. “You are not teasing me again, are you?” she asked in a mischievous whisper.
His mouth curved in a slumberous smile. “I’m teasing both of us. Our first time needn’t be hurried or uncomfortable.”
She settled her mouth across his again, taking nipping, stop-start kisses, until his mouth had to chase hers. She hoped for another proper kiss on her mouth, but he appeared to be content to breathe into her hair.
The man certainly didn’t intend to hurry her deflowering, which she appreciated. In fact, after his slow seduction, she doubted she would be able to stop wanting him inside her. She throbbed with need. Somehow, he sensed what she craved, for he parted her legs and rolled her over onto her back.
Having his weight on top of her was somehow more delightful than crawling all over his manly form. Now she was at his mercy, almost[KW12], for he possibly had more mercy than she. Although she experienced his enormous cock pressed into her belly, she made a slight movement that put him where her body wanted him. He huffed out a sound between a groan and a laugh.
Then the beautiful man lifted to his elbows so that his chest no longer touched hers and he slid down and began to lick her nipples. Within moments he had taken a bud between his lips, and he sucked. While he lay above, she shifted until she had him nestled between her legs. Her urge to touch him was irresistible, although he hadn’t let her do so in the inn. Tonight was the night she would reach down and do as she wished.
The hot hardness of him in her palm caused her heart to tumble inside her chest. While he teased her other nipple with his lips, she slid her hand up and down on him, knowing by his urgent withdraw and return that he appreciated her attention. Finally, when
she thought she would faint from the pleasure he was inflicting, he used his fingers on her.
The slip and the slide moved her wetness to the spot that made her twitch. He kept his fingers teasing her until she panted and huffed and said his name over and over in a breathless whisper. No amount of begging him to stop or start, pleased her. She seemed to be a needy wretch whose pleasures were out of her reach.
Finally, when she was so wet that his fingers sliding into her was not enough, he moved lower down her body. For a moment, he lifted his head and glanced at her. “Allow me,” he said, as he nestled his head between her legs.
She spread her fingers through his hair but [KW13]he lifted her knees slightly and carefully began to lick her. At first, she gasped and wriggled but he had no intention of stopping until he had well and truly pleasured her. Finally, her little bud wanted to flower and she began to squirm. Her breathing came faster, and she began to beg, herself or him, she didn’t know whom.
Her heels met together across his back and she arched hard into him. Finally, her body began to rock, and she gave an agonized cry. “You beast,” she said in a high voice. “What a shocking thing to do to me.” She slumped, breathing hard, unable to do anything but close her eyes.
He lifted himself back up the bed, lay beside her, and pulled up the quilt to cover them both. Tired and half asleep, she turned into him and settled again his wonderful body. “I have nothing more to say.”
“In that case, we shall have to do that often.”
She said, “Hm,” trying to sound disapproving, but a laugh formed inside her. Finding his enormous, silky smooth cock with her hand, she began to fondle him, but exhaustion overtook her.
Sometime during the night she awoke and found herself clasped in his arms. His cock was still hard and pressed against her belly. Soundlessly, she lifted her leg over his hip. He rolled her over and when she lay beneath him, he kissed her neck, her jaw, and then her lips. This had been the part she feared, knowing that the size of him was far larger than his fingers. She tensed, but he placated her by taking her mouth again. He took his time with his deep, passionate kisses, until she lifted her knees either side of his hips. Then he slid in her wetness. Frustration built inside her, but Ian appeared to be in no hurry until the tip of him began to expand her entrance. Using his fingers on her again, he slowly entered. She seemed to be full of ridges inside, but he withdrew and entered again and again until she had grown slick and smooth and was arching her back with need.
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