Page 19 of An Accidental Elopement

Her lips were crushed to his and she could not help but return the scorching kiss. The softness of his lips and the force of his kiss made her want to rub her bosom over his firm chest and grind her hips against his. It took all of her restraint to not do so. She did not even allow her arms to wrap around him and embrace him properly but simply held on to the sides of his waistcoat.

“Open your mouth,” Archie demanded, and she did even though part of her still protested, still shouted at her to deny him this.

When she tentatively opened her mouth, his tongue thrust into it, meeting hers. What was even more shocking was that she did not hesitate to make her own tongue meet his. Their tongues danced and explored back and forth between their mouths in a way that made her forget everything else around her.

Archie ran his hands down her back to cup her bottom and she pressed wantonly against him, not caring for anything but his touch. But all too quickly, he stopped and pulled away from her. Cecilia let out a frustrated sound deep in her throat and tried to haul him back to her. But he easily stepped out of her grasp, only pausing to make certain that she was able to stand on her own.

“Was that a good enough argument?” he asked and he was so smug and cocky that she wanted to hit him.

At the same time, she could not imagine never doing it again. Never knowing what it meant to be truly his. Even though her mind still protested that she would end up heartbroken, she felt her head nod. She was still too caught up in the kiss to even speak.

Nine

Cecilia looked out the window of her new bedroom in Farleigh Cottage two days later. It faced the garden she had seen as she had arrived during the last hours of sunlight and changed into an evening gown to prepare for dinner with Archie. Her husband. The stilted dinner was over now, and her maid had just left her alone, after helping her bathe and prepare for bed.

They had been married this morning at Great Farleigh Hall with their parents and the rest of the house party attending. The duke had apparently sent a missive to the Archbishop of Canterbury to ask for a special license for them as soon as he had found out that they had left.

If she was able to undo one thing in her life, it would be that she would have gone to her room to cry her eyes out instead of thinking that she should be anywhere else. And then at least she could have gone on her own.

But no do overs were given, and she would have to find a way to settle into her new life here. The cottage was more spacious than she had thought; it spanned three floors for the family and then there was a basement and an attic for the servant quarters. Archie had introduced her to the staff when they arrived and showed her the most important rooms: the drawing room, the dining room, his study, a parlor that she could have for her personal use and of course their adjoining bedrooms. Even though she had her own bedroom, he had told her in unmistakable terms that he expected her to sleep in his bed at night.

Cecilia pulled her light-yellow dressing gown tighter around her body. She could not deny that she was attracted to him, desired him even, but she was still nervous about sharing his bed. His kiss two days ago had been skilled and seductive.

At the time she had simply reveled in it and enjoyed it but later she had come to think how he had perceived it. It had to be clear to him that she had no experience in kissing in that way. And the same went for everything beyond that. Her mother had sat her down to have a talk last night about what was going to happen tonight. Cecilia had known all of it from her married sisters and Algernon. Even more in fact, since both her sisters and Algernon had hinted at great pleasure, whereas her mother had merely gone over the technicalities.

When her sisters and Algernon had spoken of it previously, she had gobbled it all up with a wide-eyed fascination, mouth agape, both shocked and excited. Now she was only nervous. She knew from her sisters that it did not take much skill to please a man, and from her mother she had gotten the impression that the only important matter was that she was present. Which should appease her some, but only made her heart drum faster in her chest.

The sound of her blood rushing in her ears made her press her forehead to the window to check whether it was storming outside. She found that the coldness of the glass soothed her somewhat and stayed in that position until Archie found her. She jumped with surprise when he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Cecilia,” he said gently.

She spun around from the window, clutching the dressing gown at her neck to not expose any skin.

“I thought you would knock,” she breathed and stepped away from him.

“I did several times. There was no answer,” he continued, speaking in the same mild voice.

Oh, well. She met his blue gaze for only a moment then looked away.

“Well, I think it’s quite windy tonight, I did not hear you,” she gestured towards the window behind her.

She stepped away from him, because his body clad in a dark blue banyan that he was not holding closed at his neck revealed much too large quantities of his naked chest for her liking. She went to the dressing table - her dressing table - and fingered her bottle of perfume that had been placed there. All the while she felt his eyes on her.

Her heart was pounding so loudly again that she was not certain whether he spoke, and her throat was so dry and constricted that she could not speak herself. She kept turning the glass stopper in the perfume bottle, not daring to look at him nor at her own reflection in the mirror. She was certain that she would see a white-faced, wide-eyed version of herself that looked more like a girl than a young woman and how would she ever be able to please him, to keep him satisfied if this was how she reacted to being with him?

The last two days, she had come to understand that the better she was able to satisfy him, the longer she could keep him to herself. Then he would not have to seek other women’s company and she just might be able to be married to him without turning into a hollow and empty shell.

“Cecilia?” Archie asked, quite close to her ear, his hands once again coming to rest on her shoulders. Cecilia startled; once more she had not heard him approach her. Her movement made her hand on the perfume bottle jerk, the bottle tipped, the stopper came off and her vanilla and cinnamon scented perfume flooded the table and then dripped to the floor.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she muttered and wrenched out from under his hands to find cloths in the tallboy by the wall. It was the cloths she used for her monthly courses, but she did not realize it until she was drying the table with them. She blushed fiercely at the thought of Archie seeing them and only hoped that he was not able to tell since her face was turned towards the table.

“Let someone else handle this,” he told her in a gentle voice. His hand came to rest on her arm for a moment. She ignored it and kept trying to soak the perfume from the floor. Behind her she heard Archie walk across the floor and pull the bellpull.

“Cecilia,” he said again as he came back to her side. She immediately crouched on the floor, trying to dap the perfume from the carpet.

“I hope I haven’t ruined it,” she muttered.

“Cecilia.” Archie crouched next to her. "I understand that you are nervous. It is a new experience for you. One that might hurt.”