“I wondered if you’d changed your mind.”
“You needn’t have worried.” She smiled then, and he couldn’t pull his eyes from her. At last, here she stood, beside his bed, with nothing between them but silk and linen. That thought alone ignited fire in his blood and the randy urgency to get on with it.
“Why?” He threw the latch on the door and locked the past on the other side. He stared a moment at the closed panel, unsure if he wished to read the emotion on her face were she to say something he’d rather not hear.
“Because I love you.”
He didn’t move at first. Then he turned to find her crystal-blue eyes stricken with honest emotion.
“What did you say?” He’d heard her. His whole body had heard her.
“I love you, Jeremy.” She caught his arm, her fingers trailing down the linen until she captured his hand within hers.
She’d professed her love. The echo of her admittance thrummed in his veins, feeding all pathways to his heart.
He drew her closer, until her head rested on his chest over his heart. “Then I believe we have a bit of unfinished business, wife.” He captured her below the knees and lifted her. With three strides, he deposited her atop the mattress. Before she could object, not that he expected she would, he untied the belt of his banyan and shed the garment.
Charlotte watched with avid interest, her color high.
“Are you going to strip down completely?” Her voice was a hushed whisper in the dark shadow of the bed-curtains.
“Yes.” He wouldn’t mince words. He intended to love his wife thoroughly.
“Should I remove my wrapper?”
“Not yet.” He sat beside her on the mattress, pulling her into his lap with one easy swoop, his gaze focused on her mouth.
* * *
Charlotte swallowed any further questions, suddenly perched atop her husband’s lap, the rigid length of his erection pressed hard against her bottom. It was happening at last. No secrets or misunderstandings. No misplaced feelings. Tonight, they would be together as one.
Her eyes searched his face until they anxiously fell to his mouth, a mouth that tempted and reminded her she was a woman, one who was passionate and eager to explore the man she loved. A trickle of unease skittered up her spine. Would he be disappointed with her lack of experience? Would their joining be pleasurable? There was only one way to discover the answer. Without a word, she skimmed her fingers over his bare shoulder. His muscles twitched, the flesh quivering against her touch. His arm tightened around her waist. His eyes flared with her flirtatious perusal.
“I’ve waited for this a very long time.” Her words were soft-spoken, though she meant them sincerely.
“Have you, now?” There was no mistaking the note of male pride in his husky tenor.
“Yes.” She traced her fingertips over the fresh growth of beard along his jaw. The texture enthralled and tickled with the knowledge his body was hers to discover. “I want to be your wife in every sense.”
“Charlotte, love.” She dropped her hand as he drew her in for a kiss. “You are a delightful surprise.”
His mouth descended to hers, but he paused when a question tumbled from her lips.
“Would you like me to lie down?” She was inexperienced, and yet she knew enough that intercourse occurred when a man lay atop a woman.
“No.” He caught her bottom lip between his teeth and took a nibble.
She moved slightly, the rigid length of his thick erection an insistent reminder they remained in the wrong position.
“Now should I remove my wrapper?” Clearly, she had too much clothing on. Beneath her robe and night rail, a trickle of perspiration traced the curve of her spine.
“No.” His voice was a muffled groan against her neck, where he trailed hot kisses.
“But—”
With something that sounded like a chuckle, he shifted her position so she straddled his lap, the motion pulling her silk wrapper tight, though the belt held, her breasts and sex outlined in fine white silk.
“Can we . . .” She struggled to express the idea, her body sensitized and tingling from his every touch. “Like this?”
A grin broke across his face, glorious and devastatingly handsome.
“And so many other ways as well.” He inhaled a long breath and his smile dropped away. With a sudden tenderness, he eased her down to the mattress. “Let me teach you the pleasure we’ll share for the rest of our lives.” He whispered the last words against her lips as he aligned with her body and captured her mouth.
Any thoughts of being ravished, plundered and overcome dissolved in the heat of his kiss. This kiss, his kiss, lingered long, to seep into her bones and settle into the marrow . . . to etch its message upon her heart. This kiss said I love you.
And somehow, they both knew they did, at last, and always.
He withdrew slightly, far enough so her vision was clear. When she opened her eyes, his gaze, intense and enigmatic, was filled with unguarded emotion.
She waited for him to say the words she longed to hear.
“I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
Her expression must have shown her surprise, these three words not the ones she anticipated, though he continued.
“I’m sorry for interfering and changing the course of your life, for altering the hopes you had for the future.”
It wasn’t what she’d expected, but it proved equally important. “Don’t apologize, Jeremy. I would never have known you had you not interfered. And if I hadn’t met you and accepted your proposal, I would never have fallen in love with you.”
Everything fell away, leaving only truth.
“I love you, Charlotte.” It was the most honest thing he’d ever said. He exhaled and leaned in to savor another openmouthed kiss. “More than the air I breathe. As much as the human heart can hold the emotion.”
There wasn’t anything left to say after that. In the glow of lanternlight, first her wrapper, then her night rail, met their disposal. He stared at her with such intensity, her skin flushed. He rose and turned to the side while he unbuttoned the placket of his trousers, adding each piece of clothing in an untidy heap on the floor, until he stood in nothing but his smalls. She watched with fascination, his muscles at work with simple domestic movements, though she sat mesmerized in silence.
He returned to the bed and again found her mouth, leaving kisses along her jaw, to her neck and shoulders. “So lovely,” he murmured, low and dark, his deep tenor full of forbidden promises. “So very lovely and so very mine.”
“Always yours.”
“I intend to be gentle and loving and careful, but at the same time, my desire for you has consumed me for so long . . .”
“I am yours, dear husband. I give myself to you with love in my heart.”
He climbed atop the mattress and brought her to his side. His eyes swept over her bare body, and her skin flushed from the fervent look on his face. She reached forward and stroked her fingers across his cheek, and from there any remaining words were abandoned.
He angled above her, swept her beneath him and into a deep kiss that caused her senses to reel and her heart to pound harder. Each stroke of his tongue seemed to beckon her further under a passionate spell, and all reservations became lost in the search for pleasure. Everywhere she touched, he was hard, smooth and hot. The muscles at his shoulders bunched and relaxed beneath her fingertips. The solid tenseness of his biceps where he held his arms and braced above her caused her to ache with want, a wish to explore his body as he did hers.
He swept his tongue across her collarbone and down to find her nipples ruched and sensitive. The slight scruff of his chin chafed with a pleasurable burn that hinted at their differences, man and woman, soft and hard. He teased and suckled at her breasts while sensations shot through her like a shower of embers from the hearth; as soon as one extinguished, another burst forth.
The weight of his thighs on either side of hers reminded her of his strength, while every
kiss, caress and fondle was tender and reverent. The stiff press of his erection brushed against her and she shivered with anticipation, a coil of desire tight in her belly. Lower, where she grew wet and anxious.
She slanted her hips, encouraging him to cease his fragile treatment. When he didn’t immediately respond, she wound one leg around his and opened herself to him, the position of their bodies all at once connected at the core. She heard his groan on a rushed exhalation beside her ear, and then he entered her with a groan of immense satisfaction. She embraced the fleeting spark of pain, the hard fullness of his arousal thrust deep within her sex. Tears threatened from emotion, no other cause, but she blinked them away and watched as he opened his eyes, their gaze locked as tightly as their bodies. They stayed that way a long minute, joined, body to body, heart to heart. And then, with no other goal than to increase their gratification, his movements became a steady rhythm to stoke their passion.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dearing held tight to the last vestige of control. He’d wanted Charlotte for so long and now, with not a thing between them but body heat, they at last found bliss. Nothing had ever felt so right. Nothing ever would until he bedded her again. His shy, beautiful wife was a passionate, eager lover, and he reveled in the future before them, shimmering with unending happiness.
He buried himself in the lush friction of her warmth, her body soft and accepting, her muscles quick to tighten around him. His heart threatened to burst from its ferocious pounding. His breathing sprinted. Every muscle, every cell of his being, raced toward one outcome. To bring her pleasure. To at last be joined as one. To consummate their marriage as it was always meant to be.
He tempered his thrusts, wanting the first time to be glorious and yet at a loss to control his body’s yearning. Her scent permeated the room, floral, light and seductive. Her skin smoother than the finest silk, urged that he savor every moment. He gazed at her face, flushed pink and lost in sensation.
She was close. He could tell from her soft, panting breaths and the tense quivering of her legs beneath him. He angled a little higher and rubbed against her sensitive core until her thighs trembled against his and she hummed out a gasp of utter pleasure. Still he stroked and withdrew, determined to increase her climax. She pressed her hands to his biceps, gripped his arms as the muscles bunched, until she fell silent all of a sudden.
Tempted to close his eyes and lose himself in the tremendous pleasure of each stroke, he forced his eyes to hers, and what he saw urged his release. Charlotte with her lids closed, aflutter to every movement, her satiny bottom lip bitten in a display of withheld passion. He’d never imagined a more sensual vision.
“Let it out, my love.” He thrust in deep and she gasped, her eyes wide open now. “Feel me inside you as you’ve lived in my heart since that first moment.” He couldn’t last a second longer and braced himself so his weight didn’t crush her as his body seized with a burst of immeasurable gratification.
* * *
Charlotte snuggled against her husband, wrapped in his arms, the musky scent of his skin a precious reminder of their shared intimacy. No wonder women whispered of such things. Were there any words to truthfully describe the intense joy or steadfast bond formed by their joining? Her body simmered with satisfaction and excitement while her mind imagined all the nights she would spend this way, nestled in her husband’s embrace, spent from lovemaking.
As if he read her thoughts, his palm skimmed over her abdomen, up to one of her breasts, where he cupped her and teased the tip.
“We have all night.” Her face heated with the blatant suggestion, anxious to bring him pleasure yet shy with their intimacy.
“That’s true.” He pulled her closer still and his husky reply caused goose bumps to dot her skin. “And at the same time I’ve wasted weeks, months and have so much to make up for . . .”
His answer transformed into a throaty chuckle as he nipped her bare shoulder, quick to kiss the same spot right after.
“We both do.” She shifted so she could match his gaze. “But everything that happened brought us to this place, and now we have forever in each other’s arms.”
“Forever, yes.”
He looked deeply into her eyes and she saw only honesty and devotion.
“You are my today, Charlotte, and all my tomorrows.”
He dipped down to steal a kiss, and a lock of hair fell over his brow. She reached up and threaded her fingers through the thick waves, reveling in the gesture as she pushed it back into place.
“I know.” She inched closer and leaned into his heat to press a kiss to his jaw. “So much has happened in so short a time and yet we still mourn the loss of what might have been. But I don’t wish to dwell on the past. We’ve come through stronger for our struggle. Nothing else matters now except the future we build with each other.”
“Agreed.” He caught her mouth in another lingering kiss and they fell back to the sheets.
Nothing would ever feel this right. No matter what crossed their path or attempted to separate them, this was how it was meant to be. She was here, in Jeremy’s embrace.
“I can’t wait to get you back to Dearing House.”
He seemed to hesitate, though he stroked his fingers down the curve of her back in a tender caress. She had trouble comprehending his words. “Mm-hmm.” Her answer sounded more like a purr of pleasure.
“We should leave as soon as we’ve breakfasted and expressed our gratitude to the duke and duchess.”
He cupped her bottom with his palm and gracefully swept her beneath him without so much as rustling the sheets.
“Are you trying to distract me with conversation?” She laughed softly against his shoulder, content to feel his weight bear down on her. “You needn’t bother. I come to you willing and anxious.”
“Thank God for that.”
* * *
The morning meal proved fast and cheerful, expediated by the unspoken communication between Charlotte and Amelia. Scarsdale seemed equally amused at their hurry to be gone. Not less than two hours later, Charlotte and Dearing were in their carriage and headed toward home, much to her anticipation and pleasure.
“The weather is fair and the roads clear.” He took her gloved hand in his and gave it a slight squeeze. “We should be returned within an hour’s travel.”
“I don’t mind sharing conversation with you.” She almost giggled, carefree relief and exhilaration lending her words a joyous note.
“We should celebrate this evening. Mrs. Hubbles will prepare us a feast.”
This time she allowed her laughter to bubble over. “That’s not necessary. I rather like the idea of swift dining. It will have us retired to bed faster.”
His chuckle combined with hers. “Indeed. I adore your manner of thinking.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, but she could feel the mood change although she could only see his profile.
“What is it?”
“I almost forgot.” He reposed against the banquette, though he didn’t release her hand. “A troubling situation occurred hours before I left to come find you. Faxman was knocked unconscious—”
Her gasp gave him pause.
“He’s all right. There’s no need for concern. Although I suspect Lord Mallory caused the injury and then helped himself to something in my study. Something that doesn’t belong to him.”
“I don’t understand.” Unbidden, the reminder of Lord Mallory’s insinuation that he would spread rumors concerning Dearing and her marriage or worse, arrange for an improper episode, invaded the interior of the carriage and caused her to shiver.
“It shouldn’t be your concern.” Jeremy gathered her closer to his side. “What did he want when he visited? I’ve never found the man to be one I’d keep in company, never mind allow to speak to my wife without me present.”
A thrilling realization, that Dearing loved her deeply and would protect her without question chased away the unsettled emotion conjured by Mallory’s mention.
“I don
’t care for him either.” She huffed a little breath. “He said he wanted to meet with you but would change the course of conversation if I was the only one present. Although I didn’t find the conversation to my liking.”
It must have been the note in her voice, or perhaps she’d stiffened the tiniest degree, because Jeremy quickly shifted position and clasped her chin to turn her eyes upward. He then dropped his palms to her shoulders in concern. “What did he say to you? I’ll call him out if he’s insulted you in the least way.” A harsh gleam flashed in his eyes. “He didn’t touch you, did he?” He punctuated this question with a slight tightening of his hold.
“No.” She shook her head, then answered with more certainty. “No. You’re becoming angry and there may be a logical explanation for his visit.”
“I don’t think so. At least not one I’d accept as satisfactory.” He loosened his grip and hauled her closer to his side. “Mallory is orchestrating something. I don’t know what it is, though I’m sure it’s nothing pleasant.”
“He said he would spread unseemly rumors about our marriage, or worse.” Her voice held a note of worry.
“And he might, but why? I’m not sure of his goal.” Dearing’s sigh whisked over her temple. “Lindsey will know. The earl is aware of everything that happens at White’s, right down to how frequently the footmen sneeze. As soon as we’re home and settled, I’ll seek him out.” A beat of silence followed before he spoke again. “Was there anything else troubling you?”
“He’s a detestable man and I dislike speaking of him, that’s all.”
She considered the stock certificate she’d discarded in the hearth and her father’s trickery but thought better than to complicate the situation further. One had nothing to do with the other, and she could easily read the depth of concern etched in her husband’s expression.
Regardless, she bit into her lower lip, uncomfortable with her decision to remain silent. This wasn’t a secret. She wasn’t purposely harboring the news and would tell Jeremy as soon as he resolved the problem with Lord Mallory. Why add to his distress when the subject of her father’s manipulation would require further discussion?
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