His eyes never left hers as he reached for her and pulled her closer. “Three or four days. Similar to the land journey and hopefully less taxing.”
“Where will we go after the wedding?” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
His lips brushed her temple. “To my country estate in Norfolk, though I haven’t been there in some time. It may be a bit…rustic at first. It will have to be staffed and—”
“I’m sure it will be fine.” Nerves gripped at her belly. “We can return to London if you’d prefer. I—” But the idea of returning to London made her heart beat wildly.
“No, my love,” he whispered close to her ear. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly. The fear that had been building was replaced with an emotion of another kind entirely…desire. She recognized it now. “We will spend some time just the two of us. Build trust,” he murmured as his lips brushed her cheek. “Which leads me to my next point. It will be difficult, since we are sharing a room, but I want to wait to be intimate until after we are married.”
Her stomach near dropped to the floor as her head reared back. “What?”
He gave a low chuckle. “It sounds awful, I know. But this is a fresh start for me and I want to do it correctly.”
She gave him a sideways glance, a small smile playing at her lips. He was protecting her, giving her the very best of himself and she appreciated it more than she could possibly say. But her fear was gone, and in its wake, was a rising need to be close to him. “Am I the only woman you won’t practice your roguish charm on?”
It was his turn to look stunned. Then, with a flurry of ribbons and fabric, her cloak was off and the buttons of her dress undone. “Just because I won’t take your maidenhead, does not mean I can’t act like a rogue.”
As her dress slipped off her shoulders, his lips followed a trail behind them. When he reached the top of her chemise, his fingers came to the ties of her corset and in moments, the boned piece fell away. Dimly, she thought her personal maid would be jealous of the dexterity with which he removed the pieces.
But all thought left her as his hands came to her breasts, cupping them, his thumb brushing her nipples. “Oh,” she gasped as his mouth dropped to suck on the flesh still covered by the chemise.
The chemise sailed over her head and he made quick work of the rest of her clothing. She wasn’t even aware they were moving until her legs brushed the back of the bed. Shrugging off his own jacket and shirt, he lay her down. His lips once again kissing a trail across her body that left her blazing with heat. She whimpered and writhed, her body wanting more of him touching her, more contact within, deeper and stronger.
His fingers grasped her hips and then one of them floated to her inner thigh, reaching up and brushing her folds. Her hips bucked as his mouth continued to kiss lower.
Digging her fingers into his broad hard shoulders, she tried to think, attempted to reason out why they might not be as intimate as they could possibly be when his lips kissed between the juncture of her legs. A moan escaped her and her fingers dug into his hair as he brought her pleasure higher, until she could barely stand another moment and then it broke. She cried his name, her body twisting against him.
One of his hands still held her hip and he pressed kisses along her thigh. His voice was hoarse as he muttered. “Is that better, my love?”
“Mmmh,” she murmured. Her eyes drifting closed. The sun was just beginning to rise and she stroked his hair. “So good.”
He kissed his way back up her body as he chuckled. She sank into the mattress, a vision of being tucked into his side as they slept together. “I’m glad.”
As he moved to pepper her chest with kisses, she felt the hard press of his manhood against her leg. That was when she realized, she had found release but he hadn’t. He wasn’t denying her pleasure, only himself. Why? Was he afraid? Worried his feelings would change once they had been intimate?
But she didn’t ask. Talking was for later.
His lips had reached the sensitive flesh of her ear and as he suckled it, he slid his body off to the side, taking her with him as he rolled, pressing her against him.
“I’ve dreamed of sleeping next to you,” he whispered.
Her hand came to his bare chest, and then it drifted lower. “You did?” She kissed one of the hard ridges along his abdomen. She pushed those feeling of inadequacy away. She wouldn’t do this out of fear, only love. She wanted to be close to him, to show him how she felt.
Then, ever so gently, she slipped her hand into his breeches. She didn’t have to search far before velvety flesh met her fingertips.
His breath sucked in. “Tabbie,” he hissed.
“Pleasure isn’t just for me.” She loved him. She wanted to give him everything that he had given to her.
“I can wait. I’ve spent my life indulging. Now is the time for me to prove that I can give and not receive. I want that for you, Tabbie. I want to be the type of man who deserves your love.”
Her heart swelled with those words. “Love is best shared.” She wrapped her hand around his member because she was curious, but his sudden intake of breath told her he liked it too. “Now show me how to share with you.”
She watched his eyes narrow and dilate as he undid the laces of his breeches and pulled them down over his hips. His hand grasped hers and began a rhythmic movement that had them both panting with desire as their eyes locked. “Yes,” he groaned as she moved up and down his smooth skin, her hand barely fitting around his member. She wasn’t sure why, but the size of it excited her, left her more breathless, and before she thought about it, she slid down to place a kiss on its tip.
A moan ripped from his mouth, as his hand tangled in her hair. Sucking him deeper into her mouth, she relished the taste of him, the smell. The closeness it brought to pleasure him in this way.
His movements grew erratic as his breath heaved. And then he exploded, his seed filling her mouth. She wasn’t sure what she had expected but as she licked and sucked, nothing had ever felt more right.
She would have continued to worship him but his hand suddenly grasped her under the arms and hauled her up his body. “What was that?”
She gave him a grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I didn’t know it would be like that, but it was glorious. Will it be like that when we’re married?”
She felt him relax under her body and he tucked his head against her shoulder. “It will be even better.”
The journey to Gretna Green passed in languid bliss. They held each other, talked of the future, and of the past. Tabbie tried not to think of her family or what she left behind. Despite a strained relationship with her parents, she would miss them if they chose to cut her out of their lives. And her siblings? She loved them fiercely. Would they forgive her for leaving them?
She hadn’t had a choice. Well, actually she did have a choice, and she had made it. She wouldn’t look back now, but some of her old doubts continued creeping into her thoughts. The ones that worried Luke wouldn’t remain interested or faithful. And then where would she be without a family or a real husband?
But she pushed these doubts aside as she made her way down the plank, or at least she tried to. It was too late to change anything. She’d made her choice.
Besides, even if it were possible to change it, she wasn’t sure she could. She was hopelessly in love.
Luke found a hackney who took them directly to the nearest church. Though the ceremony could have been performed by a blacksmith, they’d decided to seek a church first. Somehow, Tabbie couldn’t break from that tradition.
Her stomach flitted with butterflies as they stepped into the sun. “We’re actually going to do this.” Her voice shook more than she had intended.
Luke eyed her. “Nervous?” He reached his hand for hers and gave it a squeeze.
“Isn’t every bride?” she gave him a bright smile, her lips stretched tight with the effort. “How are you?” Her voice was more genuine as she asked the question—concer
n for him not something she needed to hide, unlike her worries.
He stopped walking and gave her a gentle smile. “I am thrilled to be here, Tabbie. And you will share in my enthusiasm as soon as the ceremony is over. Let’s find an inn where we can stay for tonight.”
“And tomorrow?” She swallowed.
“We begin the journey to our new home.”
Our home. The words warmed her. Strengthened her. She had been tempted to ask about the provision he’d said he would make for her future but it seemed as though she didn’t trust him if she asked.
Staring out the window of the hackney, she knew the silence was building, but she couldn’t bring herself to end it. Luke gave her a few glances but didn’t break the silence either.
At some point these feelings would have to be addressed but their wedding day didn’t seem the time. Or perhaps it was the most important time but everything would change once she did.
“Tell me about our home. You said it’s in Norfolk?” She finally turned to him.
Luke breathed a sigh of relief. She heard it audibly rattle out of his chest. “Is that what you’re concerned about?” He gave a little laugh and relaxed back into his seat. “The house is built in the curve of a river that leads out to the ocean. The gardens are stunning. Creeves has been the gardener there for thirty years. My father hired him before he took the title of marquess.”
“What else?” She smiled a little. Hearing him speak helped to calm her nerves.
“We’ll likely have to renovate. It’s been years since anything has been updated. It will keep us busy for some time.”
“Together?” she perked up.
“Of course. I couldn’t do it without you. We may have to make a few trips to London to purchase materials, but we’ll put it off for as long as we can.”
“London…” Her voice trailed off, but the dread crept into it. The fears she didn’t want to name had a place. London.
He heard it too. “We don’t have to go. But I won’t travel without you. If we do go, we’ll do it together.”
Tabbie closed her eyes. She wasn’t being fair. He’d done nothing but reassure her and all she could do was allow doubts to creep in. “I’d like that.” She gave him another, more genuine smile and scooted closer to him.
“Tabbie, tell me what is bothering you.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight against his body.
“It isn’t worth repeating,” she replied softly.
“Repeating?” He raised an eyebrow and she softened at his charming expression.
“I’ve left my family.” She swallowed hard. “My father isn’t a forgiving man, which means I may never see them again.”
Luke squeezed her close. “We’ll have each other, my love. I won’t leave you alone, I swear it.”
A lump formed in Luke’s throat as he stared at his bride, the words of the priest washing over him. He’d spent the last few days watching her become increasingly quiet but he’d been unsure what to do about it.
“Marriage is a promise to love, honor, and cherish…” The priest’s lilting voice carried throughout the church despite the pews being empty.
Luke wondered if he was already failing at his promise. Because the pews should be filled with her family. And his. But he hadn’t wanted to take a chance that her father might rule in another man’s favor and so he’d stolen her away. Like the rogue that he was.
“I do,” Tabbie murmured.
With their hands tied together, Luke looked into her eyes. She didn’t fully trust her heart to him yet, but she would in time. And he could help earn that trust by doing right by her, now. Not acting the part of rake but being an honorable man.
“You may kiss your bride,” the priest said.
Luke pulled her close and captured her lips with his own. “I love you, Tabbie,” he said as he kissed her again. He hadn’t known before how to help her but now he knew what to do.
Her eyes shined back at him. “I love you, too.”
Luke signed all the necessary documents and then grabbed a spare piece of parchment and penned a quick note. Once he was done, he returned to Tabbie and hand in hand, they walked back to the hired hack. He handed her in and then, stepping to the front, he handed the driver a note. “Once you’ve dropped us off at the inn, would you please deliver this to The Destiny.”
“Aye, sir.” The driver gave him a pleasant smile and then Luke joined his bride in the carriage intent upon telling her his plan.
The evening light was fading to dusk, decorating the interior of the hackney in a pink light. Her skin glowed and her smile was free and easy. He couldn’t help himself. As he stepped in, he leaned over to kiss her.
Her lips were soft and so inviting beneath his. One kiss blended into another then a third until the hack jolted to a stop in front of the inn.
Sweeping her out of the carriage, they hurried to their room. His hand near trembled as he made to light a single candle. His moon goddess moved to the window. “Our wedding night,” she murmured, her skin radiant in the semi-darkness of the room.
“Yes it is, my little moon goddess.” A growl rumbled deep from in his chest. He felt predatory looking at her like that. The closeness without being inside her had been a delicious torture, but now it was about to come to an end.
He dropped his shirt from his shoulders before he even reached her and as his lips crashed down on hers, his hands expertly plucked the clothing from her body.
Once she was naked, he trailed his lips over her body. She tasted as sweet as she looked. It was strange, he’d never found a woman so pleasing to all of his senses. “I could taste you forever,” he whispered against her belly.
Wrapping his fingers around her thigh, he pressed lightly between her legs. He heard her gasp then moan and he smiled as her legs started to give, unable to support her. Nudging her back till she rested against the wall, he let his mouth drift lower till he was spreading her legs, nudging her thigh onto his shoulder.
She loved the feel of his tongue, he knew she did, and he’d never grow tired of giving her what she loved. As her moans grew needier, he increased the pressure, sliding a finger inside of her.
She crashed around him and then wilted against the wall. “I thought tonight you made me your wife in full,” she gasped as he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
“I intend to, my love.” He kissed her even as he held her with one arm and removed his breeches with the other.
“Can women only enjoy a man’s mouth?” she asked. He could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. She was embarrassed by the question but he loved her innocence nearly as much as her enthusiasm for their bed sport.
“No, my love, they enjoy the act as well. Most of them, at least.” He lay her down, taking in the sight of her naked, perfect round breasts accentuated by her tiny waist and flat belly and the flare of her hips. A patch of red hair pointed him exactly where he needed to be.
“Then why did we just do that?” Even in the dark he could see her blush as he climbed on top of her.
“It will soften you for the first time,” he whispered. “I would not hurt you for anything.”
“I trust you.” She held her arms up to him and his chest swelled with love and pride to have earned this woman’s trust.
Spreading her legs, he positioned himself at the opening. “Slow or quick?” he asked wanting to know how she’d prefer this be done.
“Do it quickly,” she gasped and he could see her tense.
Leaning down, he placed his mouth over hers, kissing till she responded, softening in his arms and then he pushed himself inside of her.
Crying out, her arms grasped his biceps and he stilled, allowing her time to adjust. “Are you all right?” he pushed out through gritted teeth.
She looked up at him and her face relaxed. “I’m wonderful. How are you?”
He had to stop himself from shaking his head. Only Tabbie would be worried about him. “Perfect.”
Slowly, he beg
an moving inside her. Her arms laced around his neck, fingers twined in his hair. As he moved, she whispered words of encouragement, affection, and then desire. Never had a woman wrapped him in a web such as this.
He was spinning toward the end, crashing into love. His love was deepening and strengthening as they spiraled toward bliss. His lips found hers and kissed her between words, wanting to touch every place on her body that he could.
Never had it been like this. This was not a physical act, but an emotional one. If he thought himself bound to Tabbie before, making love to her sealed his fate. He could never be without her. He was hers, forever.
That thought pushed him over the edge, he lost what little control he maintained just as she cried out his name, her body spasming around his.
Rolling to the side, he pulled her against himself. He kissed her hair, her cheeks, her neck. His hands traced every curve, as though he was imprinting this memory forever.
“I might never want to leave this bed,” she murmured, tucking her face into the crook of his neck.
He gave a little laugh, tracing his fingers down her spine. “I am in complete agreement. But we’ll be boarding a ship in the morning.”
He felt her still, tense really. “I thought we were travelling on land to Norfolk.”
He squeezed her closer. He’d meant to tell her this before they’d been intimate. He didn’t want any confusion on the matter. “I want to stop in London first.”
She tried to pull away but he held her. She pushed harder but he refused to let go and then she began slapping at his chest and his face, but still he held on.
He did nothing to protect himself, his face would recover from any damage she did, but he had to keep her by his side or else, something deep in his chest feared he would lose her forever.
Finally, her onslaught slowed. His hand relaxed slightly around her back and that was when she slumped against him. “Will you return to your town house?” He heard her breath catch on the words as though she were trying not to cry.
“I thought we might return to our town house for the short time we were in London.” He dared to remove one of his hands from her back to cup her face so that he might lift it and look her in the eyes.
Earl of Sussex Page 7