Married to the Rogue (Season of Scandal #3) - Mary Lancaster Page 0,68

that I will make us both wait…and for what? Carpe diem. Seize the day. Seize what could be the only chance before…

“Christopher.” Her hoarse voice interrupted her own, racing thoughts.

He paused but did not turn. “You tempt me too much. I can sleep on the sofa.”

She swallowed, her heart thundering, her body aching. “Let me tempt you again.”

He turned, very slowly, and she had to lick her dry lips. She had never understood before how beautiful a man could be. For a moment, she read uncertainty in his face and found it utterly endearing.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I am a coward. I am afraid to feel.”

He began to walk back toward her and set the candle back down on the nightstand. “No, you are not,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “You’re afraid of being hurt. It’s not the same thing at all. Come here.”

She sat up and wriggled toward him. Greatly daring, she raised her hands and placed them on his shoulders. Then she lifted her face and kissed his lips.

They parted under hers. She felt the touch of his tongue, the quickening of his breath, but he accepted the kiss as hers. Only when she drew back did he take hold of the hem of her chemise and pull it up from under her and over her head in one shocking, thrilling movement.

Then he took her in his arms and laid her on the bed beneath him. From the first touch, she received him eagerly, trembling from need.

With gentleness and tenderness, he taught her passion. And with increasingly wild abandon, he led her to joy.

Chapter Sixteen

Christopher woke to daylight and a feeling of massive contentment. He remembered why and was already smiling when he opened his eyes to find his wife watching him.

He had never seen anything so beautiful. But there was something both sweet and momentous about waking next to her. He had known many women and found something to value in each, but nothing and no one compared to this. Love had come quickly to him, in the end, but he knew in his heart it was no less lasting for that.

When her smile answered his, it was curiously shy, tentative, and uncertain. He could not allow that to spoil what they had found, and so he reached for her, kissing her tenderly, but with enough passion to show her he was not abandoning her. Ever.

He loved the way she melted into his arms, his lips. Only concern for her wellbeing prevented him from taking her again before they rose.

“Do you wish to travel in the chaise with Marvin or ride with me?” he asked.

“The chaise has already gone,” she replied. “You were sleeping so peacefully, and I didn’t wake you.”

“Then we have a whole day together,” he said, enchanted at the prospect.

“Will you come down for breakfast? Or shall we have it here?”

“We had better go down,” he said reluctantly. “Otherwise, I don’t know how long I can keep my hands off you.”

She blushed adorably, tempting him all over again. He rose determinedly, loving the way her eyes followed him as he washed and dressed. It was a simple intimacy that had never been important before.

She is my wife…

He found profound new pleasure in helping her fasten her gown, brush, and pin her luxurious blond hair, which last night he had wound around his fingers in passion. Even breakfast in the busy coffee room was agreeable with her by his side. He was proud and happy in her company, bursting with energy and emotion because of last night’s love.

The journey home was delightful, too. They talked and laughed, and he learned more about her life and her thoughts. She was a perceptive and observant person and yet, as she had just shown, subject to reckless impulses.

Once, he asked, “Why did you not come to me when you thought Georgianna had gone off with Rupert? Willingly or not.”

“I suppose I was hoping I could sort it all out before anyone knew she had gone. And then I could not waste time to go back.”

“And you didn’t know if I would take Rupert’s side or Dudley’s?”

She considered it. “I don’t believe I thought about that at all.”

“Do you trust me, Deborah?”

“Yes,” she replied as though surprised by the question, which made him smile.

“Then don’t keep things from me. I think we can do better in alliance.”

She smiled, a full, brilliant smile that transformed her face to heart-stopping beauty, and he felt compelled to lean across the