Falling for the Marquess - Julianne MacLean Page 0,58

out on the night she met him in his coach.

Tonight, however, she would not go outside. He would come to her. For one hour, while everyone slept, he would share her bed.

It was risky and imprudent she knew, but she was overwhelmingly desperate to be alone with him again. And they were engaged. It wasn’t as if she was doing this with a stranger. Seger was going to marry her. Besides that, it was never too soon to start building upon the foundation that she hoped would grow into something more. That was perhaps her primary objective, why she couldn’t help but be accommodating to his needs, which at the moment were solely physical.

Consequently, she had given him detailed instructions on how to make his way through the house in the dark, and how to find her room. She told him she would leave her door ajar and light a candle. She explained which floorboards creaked, and which doors were routinely left open. Thankfully there were no dogs in Wentworth House to raise a ruckus, so Seger could be sure of reaching her room without incident.

Clara sat on her bed on top of the covers, her nightgown unbuttoned at the collar, her hair freshly combed, feeling as if she were waiting for a train to crash through her door and plow across her bed. Her heart was pounding, her senses humming as she listened for the slightest sound from outside her room. The nervous excitement coursing through her veins was enough to make her giddy.

The clock chimed three times in the entryway downstairs, then a few more minutes ticked by. Anxious about Seger’s safe and undetected arrival, Clara slipped off her bed and padded to the door to peer out into the hall.

He wouldn’t forget, would he? she wondered uneasily. Maybe he did this sort of thing all the time—snuck into ladies’ bedrooms in the middle of the night—and it was easy to disregard. He might have fallen asleep. He might be at a party somewhere and lost track of time.

But then suddenly, without warning, there he was. He appeared like a phantom out of the darkness, backed her into the room, and closed and locked the door quietly behind him. “Let’s hope your maid is a sound sleeper,” he said in a low, husky voice as he took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately.

The next thing she knew, Clara was being eased down upon the bed. Seger removed his jacket and waistcoat and lay down beside her, leaning over her while running his forefinger down her cheek and neck, causing her to shiver all over with thrilling anticipation.

“I thought you’d never get here,” she said.

“Well, I’m here now. Can I convince you to let me stay for two hours, not one?” he whispered with an appealing boyish grin.

“I suspect that in a few minutes, you’ll be able to convince me to do just about anything, so give me your word, while I still have control of my senses. One hour, then you must go. Promise.”

He nodded and unfastened another button at the collar of her nightgown, gazing flirtatiously into her eyes the whole time. “I’m always making promises where you are concerned. But yes, I promise.”

His mouth covered hers and she drank in the exquisite taste of him as he gathered her nightgown in his fist and slowly tugged it upwards.

For a while they kissed and pressed their bodies together on the bed, thrusting and heaving as he used his hands to stroke and pleasure her everywhere. Before long, Clara’s nightgown became too great of a hindrance, so she sat up and pulled it off over her head. Suddenly she was naked in the candlelight, without shyness, allowing Seger to gaze openly at her body. Sitting up on her heels, she realized she never knew couples did this sort of thing together. She’d imagined that everything would take place in pitch darkness, under the covers, with the lovers’ eyes closed.

“You are so lovely,” Seger whispered. Then he eased her onto the soft mattress again and swept his tongue over the rigid peaks of her breasts. Clara wriggled with rapture and had to fight not to let out an impassioned sigh that might wake others in the household. Soon, she was breathless with desire and twisted lasciviously as his mouth covered hers and he kissed her deeply.

It was enough to drive her mad into the beyond. She tore at his neckcloth, then sat up again to pull