And he does, bringing me back inside before my teeth even have a chance to chatter. The small giggle stuck in my throat fades away when he kicks the door shut and slowly slides me down the front of his body. “Welcome home, wife. Let’s get you warmed up so I can show you around.”
The chill dusting my skin is no match for the heat that chases it away as my husband briskly rubs my arms. It’s nothing dazzling that he did, carrying me into the dim coziness of the parlor, but the simple act rips at the barrier guarding my heart. I’ve lived in lots of houses, but this…this is my first home.
And it’s all because of the wonderful man who found me and gently forced hope into my dying soul.
“Oh, Warren…” Unsure of how to handle the staggering rush of affection—and maybe something more—I throw my arms around his neck and clumsily kiss him, thanking him by giving him this part of me that no one else ever wanted before.
He pulls me closer with a deep groan and overwhelms my senses without even trying. The soft prickle of his stubble against my skin, the silkiness of his hair as my fingers explore the base of his neck, the power of his body contrasting with the softness of mine.
And, of course, the insistent hardness of his cock pressing into me. I wonder how he took care of himself earlier this afternoon. Did he think of me with every stroke of his roughened palm?
I believe I know the answer.
All too soon, Warren ends the kiss. “Well damn.” He clears the rasp from his throat, and his satisfied smilebrushes against my lips. “How’d you know that’s what I would’ve done next?”
Out of breath, I shakily laugh before tucking my head into his bare chest and inhaling the scent that’s become so soothing to me. “I didn’t, but apparently it was a good guess.”
“Mhm,” he murmurs, tipping my chin up. It takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they do, I sway within his embrace. The unhidden want staring down at me is so palpable it threatens to consume me. “Damn good guess.” Then he walks me back until the sofa presses into my legs. “Why don’t we have a sit down right here and do it again?”
Turning, he pulls me down onto his lap. The urge to tense is strong as his stiff shaft presses firmly against my hip, but I force myself to relax and lean into him. This is my husband, and he’s not going to hurt me in any way.
“How’s this, wife?” His voice is husky as his arm curves around my back for support. “You all right like this?”
“Yes.” The word is mostly air, but his slow smile tells me he heard it.
“Good.” His free hand plays with the buttons of my nightgown, and the nearness of his fingers to my nipples makes them tighten almost painfully. “Because we’re gonna be here a while.”
Warren slowly threads his fingers into my hair to hold me steady as he kisses me senseless again. Time ceases to exist, and how could it be otherwise in the wake of such perfection? He cherishes me with his embrace, and if I weren’t so lost to the maelstrom of feelings, I’d be humiliated by the needy sounds coming from me as his stubble burns my lips with every caress. When I can’t go anothermoment without a full breath, I break away with a shuddering gasp.
“Come back.” His voice is like gravel as he boldly steals another kiss. When he finally grants me reprieve, his breathing is just as affected. Sitting on him like this, there’s no denying how much he wants me.
Every racing beat of my heart pulses in my swollen lips as I press shaky fingers to them. “What would you do after this?” I whisper over the ticking of the clock. Only the smallest embers remain smoldering in the empty fireplace, but the air between us is ablaze with anticipation.
“I’d get to know your body a little bit better, kissing down your neck real gentle and easylike to keep a case of nerves from setting in. To get you used to me being close to you in places that’ve never been touched before.” A lone finger hovers above the neckline of my nightgown before tracing the scalloped edges with a teasing touch. Shadowy eyes lock with mine as that finger turns rogue and dares to venture an inch down. “Because I know it’s your first time. Mine, too.”
“Yours, too?” Tenderness weaves itself into the moment as he nods. Warren’s so sweet in his attempt to give me back my first time the way it should have happened, even pretending to be untouched himself. Unskilled as I am in the way of kissing, it’s clear that he’s had plenty of practice because I go boneless in his arms. The thought of him with another woman sours my stomach with jealousy before shame trickles in. He doesn’t judge me for my past, and I won’t judge him for his.
“Yep.” Warren burrows into the crook of my neck, and I moan something that might be his name when the sensitive skin is sucked in light little pulses that immediately harden my nipples into even stiffer peaks. Once his lips haveclaimed every inch of my throat and every inch of exposed skin above my collar, he leans back. “And once I had you feeling all relaxed and welcome, I’d show you around the rest of our home.”
A ragged sigh slips from me. Of all the things I’m feeling here in this intimate moment—aside from the obvious sign of his desire—relaxed isn’t one of them. But I don’t tell him that because I don’t want him to stop pretending with me.
“C’mon, Mrs. Shay.”
CHAPTER 15
MARA
Mrs. Shay.
The name belongs to him and marks me as his, but it’s also a promise of protection and love for me and Emmaline. A promise that winds itself through my ribs and around my heart as Warren introduces me to the house I’ve lived in now for close to three months.
From the parlor where he rocked me to sleep that terrible night of the storm, then into the kitchen where he cooks us breakfast every morning with a song. Rooms familiar and comforting to me now. So different from the overwhelming wariness from my first arrival.
The muted thuds of our footsteps follow us down the hallway, and sweat blooms on my palm the nearer the bedroom looms. This time, though, the tightening of my stomach is for an entirely different reason than from the first time I entered the foreboding doorway. A quick glance towards the corner where Emmaline lies bundled up in her cradle, all cozy and safe and warm, puts me slightly more at ease, especially when I catch Warren doing the same.
One corner of his mouth tips up in a slight smile, then his chin jerks toward the bed. “And this here’s our room.”
“It’s quite spacious.” The tousled sheets bring to mind flashes of the past, but the hand that deftly slides around my waist steals my attention.
