'Betsy is gone. You look as though you are up to mischief.'
'I feel as though I am,' he chuckled as he discarded the dressing gown and climbed into bed beside her.
She gulped as she discovered he wore no nightgown. Ought she to have refused one too? But then Betsy would have been startled. Within minutes it did not matter, Kenelm swiftly undid the laces and removed it. Joanna tried to ignore the thought that he was too knowledgeable and gave herself up to undreamed of pleasure as his gentle hands caressed her until she was filled with sensations never before experienced.
When he lifted himself above her she instinctively opened to receive him, and gasped as yet more, almost unbearable magical emotions overwhelmed her until they collapsed together in a tangle of arms and legs.
She slept for a while in his arms, then they made love again, and spent a while telling one another just when their feelings for each other had changed, and how silly they had been to try and conceal them, believing the other did not reciprocate. Once more they slept and woke as gleams of daylight crept through the gaps in the curtains.
For a third time, as if to make up for the months of denial, Joanna said, they made love, and then Kenelm found her discarded nightgown and helped her put it back on.
'Though I seem to be more of a hindrance than a help,' he murmured as he bent to kiss her breasts.
He found his dressing gown, and went towards the dressing room. That door closed softly as Betsy entered.
'Here's your chocolate, my lady,' she said, placing the tray on the table and going to open the curtains. She turned, and shook her head. 'Did you not sleep well?' she asked. 'The covers are all tangled, as though you've been twisting and turning all night.'
Joanna tried not to laugh, and was sure she was blushing. She turned over to hide her face from Betsy, and pretended to yawn.
'It must have been the excitement,' she murmured, trying to make herself sound sleepy when she wanted to leap out of bed and dance a mad jig of joy. 'You have heard the news?'
'It's wonderful, my lady. And Potts arrived back half an hour ago, he says Mr Matthew is slightly wounded, but a mere scratch. He's alive! We'll all be celebrating.'
And so will I, Joanna thought.
###
THE END
Marina Oliver has written over 75 novels, all are available as ebooks.
For the latest information please see Marina's web site:
http://www.marina-oliver.net.
More Regency novels by Marina:
Lord Clifford's Dilemma
Lord Clifford meets Elizabeth when his ward Annamarie announces she means to marry her brother Sir Henry. Not only is Henry under age, Elizabeth controls his fortune.
And sixteen-year-old Annamarie has been falling in love with unsuitable men for several years.
Until he can resolve this complication he cannot turn his attention to courting Elizabeth.
She is wary of love after being cruelly jilted when she was just seventeen.
*
1Eugenie and the Earl
Eugenie, orphaned in Switzerland, is working her way through revolutionary France in 1812 as she returns to England and a home with her uncle. She is helped by the stranger Hugues.
Enjoying London Society, she is worried by the behaviour of her cousin George.
Then the Earl of Lyndhurst comes to the rescue.
*
The Irish Bride
Brigid is happy working as a companion to Sophia, but knows she will soon have to look for a new position as governess or companion.
What she will not accept is marriage to Matthew, Sophia's brother, for she is penniless.
Another possibility is suggested when she meets her unknown uncle and aunt and they offer her a home.
Can she accept, or would it be a trap from which she cannot escape?
*
3 Regency Lords
Marina's first 3 Book set.
3 full length Regency novels in one:
Three Regency Lords: one cannot court Elizabeth while his ward is infatuated with her young brother; one, missing after Waterloo, leaves a devastated fiancée and a cousin with his importunate family; the third, exiled for years, is dead in India and impersonated by his bastard half-brother hoping to gain his fortune and an heiress bride. Will they obtain their just rewards?
***
The Chaperone Bride Page 22