“Absolutely.” She leaned back against his hard chest and let herself sink into the strength of him. “Thank you for accepting my proposal, Lord Winchester.”
“Thank you for marrying me, Lady Winchester.” One by one, he popped the tiny jet buttons at the back of her gown from their holes. “I can honestly say this day has been one of the happiest of my life.” He urged the gaping scarlet silk off her shoulders and guided it down her arms and off her body until it pooled in a blood-red puddle at her feet.
The sound of the title sent a thrill down her spine as much as the satiny caress of his fingers along her bare arms. “I look forward to what our future holds.” Her heart beat out a frantic tattoo behind her ribcage as he worked to remove her stays and petticoat. When those garments joined her gown, she turned to face him. “Right now, I desperately want you.” Every thrum of her pulse called his name; every breath she took tasted of him.
“Then I have no choice but to oblige, for I never like to disappoint a lady.” He held her face between his big hands and gently kissed her lips. “You look radiant tonight,” he whispered when he pulled away to toe off his dress shoes and shed his evening jacket and embroidered waistcoat.
“You are even more handsome than the day I asked for your hand,” she murmured around the knot of unshed tears in her throat. Oh, she had feared he would decline her offer that day, but then everything had aligned, and fate had finally given her all she’d ever wanted.
“No tears.” Cornelius cupped her cheek and caught an escaped drop with the pad of his thumb. “It’s our wedding night. No more sadness.” He claimed her lips in a series of tender kisses that grew ever more urgent as time passed.
Amelia unknotted his cravat and encouraged it from around his neck. Once she dropped it, she helped him out of his fine lawn shirt. Never would she tire of seeing his broad chest and its mat of dark hair. “Mmm.” She ran splayed fingers through that hair and inhaled the clean, pine scent of him. “You make me feel giddy and naughty.” When she pressed her lips to a pectoral muscle, he groaned.
“And you elevate me to heights I never thought I could reach.” With a few tugs at the hem of her shift, he had the garment off her body. It joined the other discarded clothing like so much dropped cream. “Too bad you married such an old man.”
“You’re hardly ancient.” She sucked in a breath as the coolness of the room tightened her nipples. With a grin, she pulled him toward their bed. “I don’t see a paunchy belly or a stooped spine yet. That’s a good sign.” In fact, his body was as finely honed and fit as when their affair had played out thirteen years ago. Need lanced down her spine to lodge between her thighs with tingles that fed her hunger for him.
“Minx.” Quickly, he shucked out of his trousers and small pants before he joined her on the bed. “You, however, have only improved with age.” So saying, he set out to apparently worship at her curves, signaling an end to their verbal conversation.
With a shuddering sigh of pure contentment, Amelia gave herself over to his care. The first touch of his lips to a puckered nipple sent her into throes of delight. When he worried the other hardened bud with his fingers at the same time, she squirmed beneath him as fires caught in her blood. “More,” she whispered and held his hand and head to her breasts.
“Gladly.” The longer he suckled and rolled those sensitized tips, the more of a wanton she became. Heated urgency coiled and built within her body, searching for an outlet only he could give.
But this night wasn’t for a frantic joining as other times.
She’d chosen her lover—her husband—well, for he spent copious minutes caressing her body, exploring her every curve until she panted and moved restlessly with anticipation. “Cornelius, please.” Soon she’d fall over the edge into bliss, and that wasn’t fair, for she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to bring him to that shadowy brink.
“Please what, love?” He danced talented fingers down her torso, past her waist, over the soft swell of her stomach to furrow through the curls shrouding her sex. “Touch you here?” Her dratted husband guided his fingers downward, rubbed those digits along her folds slick with desire. He dipped one inside her channel, probing, stretching, teasing, and withdrew only to bedevil the hidden nubbin that set her whole world on fire.
A squeal mixed with a moan escaped her as he continued to worry that all-important button. Oh, he didn’t play fair... but then neither did she. Amelia reached between them to cup his equipage. The engorged length was hot against her palm, and when she gave his stones a firm squeeze, he retaliated by adding friction and speed to his endeavors.
She couldn’t help the stifled scream that left her throat. Over the edge she fell as pleasure broke over her in waves and her feminine walls contracted. “Cheeky.” The word came out on the heels of a pant, and she beat on his shoulders with her fists. “On your back, Winchester. This is war.”
“Ah, but war doesn’t end well.” However, he did as bid and reached for her, pulling her over his body until she straddled his waist.
“This one will. Tides have turned.” Amelia leaned over him. She covered his face, his neck, his chest with kisses as some of her tresses escaped their pins and tumbled over her shoulders. “You drive me insane with want.”
“Not as much as you’ve affected me.” Cornelius gripped her hips and guided her backward. His rampant length twitched against her bum. “I’m going to explode, darling. Take pity on a former spy.”
“We’ll go together.” She lifted onto her knees, took his shaft in hand, aligned herself to his tip and then she slammed down upon him, not stopping until he was fully seated inside her. Sharply sweet sensation swirled around her. Being joined with him felt too entirely right that her eyes briefly crossed.
“Always.” He ran his hands up and down her ribcage and left tingles in his wake. When he met her gaze, his gleamed with a love so pure she wanted nothing more than to drown in those stormy blue depths.
Amelia bounced up and down his length. She moaned as each pass brought her closer and closer to the edge once again. Then, suddenly needing to feel his mastery and dominance, she layered herself over his chest. “Love me,” she said and then kissed him with so much ardor she hoped he understood.
“I don’t believe I’ve stopped.” His body tensed beneath hers. Seconds later, he flipped them both over and peered into her eyes. “Never doubt my devotion to you.”
“As long as you never have cause to doubt mine.” Amelia wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles at the small of his back. When she looped her arms about the breadth of his shoulders and pulled him tightly to her, he began to move.
Over and over, his thrusts were tender works of art. They glided together in a dance as old as time, moving seamlessly as if they’d been together for years. Every stroke sent her higher, every push fanned the flames already burning in her blood.
Then the cadence and rhythm changed. She held him close so she could kiss whichever part of him came near. His pacing increased; he thrust deeper; his strokes became faster, shorter, more potent. When he took a nipple into the warm cavern of his mouth and nipped the sensitive flesh with his teeth, the added stimulation brought her hovering at the very brink of bliss.
His groans and labored breathing echoed in her ears as the sweetest affirmation. Then she gasped. The dam holding back the rush of pleasure broke. She screamed out his name as her body stiffened. “More,” she whispered, and the harsh sound rasped into the room. “Give me all of you.”
The marquess did as she asked, for with every frantic thrust he filled her being with his until they were well and truly joined into one, as the marriage vows said. With a guttural sound, Cornelius kissed her hard and deep as he stroked into her one last time. His member pulsed as he emptied his seed.
Amelia held onto him as tight as she could as if she’d climb into him and rest her heart against his. She fell over the edge, her world fracturing into shards of light as her ragged breathing mingled with his. He collapsed and
his weight pressed her into the mattress. The tactile sensations of his large frame shielding her smaller one made her feel protected and peaceful.
Finally, her mind quieted and she let go of all the old hurts, the fractured past, the enormous grief of her loss. In Cornelius, she had what she’d always wanted—an abatement from the storms inside. With him, she would work to remember the good and make new memories.
With a hiccupping sigh, Amelia relaxed her hold on him, and when he rolled off her, he took her with him, tucking her into his arms, her backside against his front.
“I’ve long waited for this day, Mia,” he murmured sleepily into her ear.
“To bed me? You could have had that all along,” she replied with a lazy smile.
“No, to know that you are finally mine and we can start our life together.” His sigh warmed her cheek. “A Phoenix rising from the ashes.”
She nestled into his embrace. Tears sprang to her eyes, but this time they were borne of happiness and contentment. “I look forward to everything that comes our way.”
“As do I.” He pulled her more tightly against him. “Give me a handful of hours and then I’ll show you again how much I adore you and will continue to do so until you cry mercy.”
“You might regret those words, husband, for my hunger for you will never know satisfaction.” Thank God for that. A yawn got the better of her and she closed her eyes.
“Then we are evenly matched. But be warned, until we decide where to go on our wedding trip, I mean to enjoy my wife anywhere I please: in the drawing room, in the parlor, in my London townhouse, on the floor in front of a fire, in the library, perhaps on the dining room table...”
A tremor of need twisted down her spine and heightened her awareness of him. “It sounds delicious.”
“Yes.” He placed a fleeting kiss to her temple. “Never have I anticipated anything more.”
For the first time, neither had she. It was a novel experience, this refusing to hide behind fear. And she couldn’t have broken free if it weren’t for him.
Sometimes the past was haunted, but if one was fortunate, it brought a second chance and laid the foundation for the future.
The End
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If you want to find out more about the other scandalous ladies in this series, purchase
Dressed in White (Colors of Scandal #1)
Draped in Green (Colors of Scandal #2)
Trimmed in Blue (Colors of Scandal #3)
Or preorder
Graced in Scarlet (Colors of Scandal #5)
Adorned in Violet (Colors of Scandal #6)
Embellished in Mauve (Colors of Scandal #7)
Regency-era stories by Sandra Sookoo
Scandal in Surrey series
Lady Parker’s Grand Affair
The Bride’s Gambit
Misfortune’s Lady
Miss Bennett’s Naughty Secret
Thieves of the Ton series
Captivated by an Adventurous Lady
Engaged to a Scandalous Earl
Married on a Wicked Morning
Intrigued by an Ancient Pedigree
Beguiled on a Christmas Morning
Caught with a Stolen Diamond
Tortured by a Horrible Secret
Delighted on a Summer’s Evening
Trapped in the British Museum
Charmed at a Yuletide Ball
One Silent Night
Redeeming a Tarnished Lord (coming April 2021)
Standalone Regency romances
A Fowl Christmastide
Lady Isabella’s Splendid Folly
Wagering on Christmas
Magic in Mayflowers
Act of Pardon
Angel’s Master
Storm Tossed Rogue
Once a Pirate
Scoundrel’s Trespass
On a Midnight Clear
Lords of Happenstance series
What the Stubborn Viscount Desires
What a Wayward Lord Needs
What the Dashing Duke Deserves
Lords of the Night series
Devil Take the Duke
Bitten by the Earl
Adrift with the Viscount
Treasured by the Earl
Transformed by a Christmas Star
Colors of Scandal series
Dressed in White
Draped in Green
Trimmed in Blue
Wrapped in Red
Graced in Scarlet (coming January 2021)
Adorned in Violet (coming February 2021)
Embellished in Mauve (coming March 2021)
Clad in Midnight (coming May 2021)
Storme Brothers series
The Soul of a Storme (coming June 2021)
The Heart of a Storme (coming August 2021)
The Look of a Storme (coming October 2021)
A Storme’s Christmas Legacy (coming November 2021)
Willful Winterbournes series
Romancing Miss Quill (coming November 2021)
Pursing Mr. Mattingly (coming February 2022)
Courting Lady Yeardly (coming May 2022)
Teasing Miss Atherby (coming 2022)
Author Bio
Sandra Sookoo is a USA Today bestselling author who firmly believes every person deserves acceptance and a happy ending. Most days you can find her creating scandal and mischief in the Regency-era, serendipity and happenstance in Victorian America or snarky, sweet humor in the contemporary world. Most recently she’s moved into infusing her books with mystery and intrigue. Reading is a lot like eating fine chocolates—you can’t just have one. Good thing books don’t have calories!
When she’s not wearing out computer keyboards, Sandra spends time with her real-life Prince Charming in central Indiana where she’s been known to goof off and make moments count because the key to life is laughter. A Disney fan since the age of ten, when her soul gets bogged down and her imagination flags, a trip to Walt Disney World is in order. Nothing fuels her dreams more than the land of eternal happy endings, hope and love stories.
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Wrapped in Red (Colors of Scandal, #4) Page 18