or would ever do again. It was pure crazed lust that drove him until she was exploding with the same ecstasy that she had given him earlier.
His release wasn't any less frantic this time than last, but Daniel had the satisfaction of knowing he had carried Georgina with him. And as he rolled over to his side, momentarily sated, he had the satisfaction of knowing they would never be parted again.
He just hoped the tears she was weeping now were tears of joy.
* * *
"Get up you two lay-abeds! The train will be arriving any minute now. Daniel, move it!"
The all-too familiar male voice resounded outside the door in accompaniment with a violent knocking. Daniel closed his eyes tighter and groaned. There had been too many mornings in his youth when Tyler had roused him from a warm bed like that. He'd like to throw something at the door right now, but he had the uneasy feeling that he was forgetting something.
The wine caused a mild ache behind his eyes, but it didn't take long to rouse him to the feel of warm flesh beside him. She moved away, but memory was rapidly returning. Daniel turned and caught Georgina's waist and stared down into wide blue eyes as the noise continued outside.
"Shut up, Monteigne. We're up and awake," he shouted at the door, but his gaze was busy taking in the dawn-flushed sight beneath him. "Lord, but you're beautiful," Daniel whispered with a certain amount of amazement as his hands curled in thick strands of silver-shot hair and his gaze traveled over the fullness of upthrust breasts to the curve of a tiny waist.
"Shouldn't we be getting up?" she whispered back, lying still and slightly frightened beneath him.
Frightened. Of him. Daniel sucked in his breath and smoothed her hair back. What in hell had he done last night to make her fear him?
He had a vague recollection of a truly violent lovemaking session, of an uncontrollable passion that he had never released before, and he winced, closing his eyes and touching his forehead to hers. He had taken her with less care than he had given experienced whores.
It had to have been the wine. He would never touch a drop again. Taking a deep breath, he touched her cheek and murmured, "I'm sorry," before rolling off her and out of the bed.
Georgina watched him go with trepidation. She didn't know why he apologized. She was terrified of the needs he had aroused in her. She was lying here now trying to deny them but wishing he would come back to bed and show her more. She was starved for more, and she was terrified he would discover how she felt. She was quite certain ladies didn't feel like this. She'd heard enough conversations between her mother and women like Loyolla Banks to know she ought to be grateful that he was getting dressed now. She should be hoping he wouldn't want to do that again until next week. But she lay here like a wanton whore hoping he would change his mind.
This wouldn't do at all. She had promised to learn to be a wife, and wives didn't behave like whores. Pulling the sheets up around her, Georgina looked for a washbowl and wished for a convenience.
As if sensing her desires, Daniel yanked on his wrinkled shirt and trousers and started for the door. "I'll send someone up with warm water."
He was gone before she could say anything.
The room seemed hollow without him. With the sheet wrapped around her, Georgina wandered to the window, but it overlooked the street. She assumed Daniel would be heading out back to the privy.
Daniel, her husband, until death did them part.
She closed her eyes and offered a fervent prayer. They would be sharing toilets and washbowls for the rest of their lives. She would have to learn to live with these terrifying desires coiled up and rattling inside of her. She would have to pretend she was a perfectly normal person going about her everyday chores when all she wanted was to be back in that bed with her husband.
She was out of her mind.
She forced herself into the prosaic chores of preparing herself for the day. She was sore between her legs, she discovered as she washed with the water the maid brought up. She had bled, and a hasty glance to the bedsheets showed the stain. She blushed and cursed herself for blushing. She was a married woman now. She was expected