“Then take me inside after we’ve waved them off,” Papa said. “Must you order me about as if I were a child?”
“I’ll order you about as much as I like if it’s for your benefit, Dickie darling,” Lady Betty said. She grasped the back of the bath chair and wheeled him toward the guests. “Darlings!” she cried. “The bride and groom are leaving.”
Peregrine took Lavinia’s hand and led her to the carriage at the front of the cottage, and the guests followed. Lavinia kissed each guest in turn, then paused when she reached Papa and Lady Betty at the end of the line.
“Be happy, darlings,” Lady Betty said. “And don’t worry about Dickie. I’ll make sure he takes care of himself.”
Lavinia gave her father one last hug, then climbed into the carriage. Her new husband followed, then he closed the door and they set off.
As soon as the cottage was out of sight, Peregrine reached for her and claimed her lips. Her body responded, and she devoured him in turn, thrusting her tongue into his mouth. Her desire, which had simmered throughout the wedding ceremony, now swelled thickly inside her, magnified by the rocking sensation of the carriage, and she shifted against him to seek the release she craved.
He fumbled with the fastenings of his breeches, then lifted her skirts and placed his hand on her knee. Need fizzed through her, and she parted her thighs in offering.
“Oh, my sweet wife,” he growled. “Are we to enjoy our wedding feast in the carriage?”
“Break my fast, husband, for I am starving,” she panted.
As he slipped inside her, she let out a mewl of pleasure and wrapped her legs around him to pull him deeper inside. He withdrew a little, then plunged inside her once more, and her body burst with ecstasy. Together, they rode the ripples of pleasure until their climax subsided and they clung to each other, him still inside her, as their breathing eased, their hearts beating in unison.
“Oh, husband,” she whispered. “We have acted most inappropriately, debauching ourselves in a carriage moments after exchanging our vows.”
He shifted inside her and let out a low chuckle as she sighed with pleasure.
“My darling,” he murmured, “when you’re in love with the best of women, where’s the sense in waiting?”
