Page 75 of The Pumpkin Bride

She shivered as he licked the delicate shell of her ear. “You lift me, then carry me to the bed.”

There was never an order in life he’d wanted to perform more. With an easy bend and scoop, he carried her to his generous bed. There, he knelt on the edge and laid her gently down upon it. The unabashed desire in her eyes momentarily stole his breath.

“And then?” He kissed her again.

“That’s the frustrating part.” She slapped the coverlet. “Barnaby normally wakes me before we go further.”

He trailed his finger against her neck. “What do you wish happened?”

“I wish . . .” She caught his hand and kissed the palm she’d healed. “I wish you’d untie my garters.”

To himself, he thought, It would be my everlasting pleasure.

Slowly, he slid his hands under her skirts. Up the smooth swell of her calf, then tugged at the thick ribbon holding her hose in place above the knee. The bow slipped cleanly free. He savored the slide of his skin against hers as he repeated the job on the other side. With great care, he peeled the hose from her, then dropped everything on the floor.

“Next?” he prompted.

“You take off your shirt.”

The linen joined her hose on the floor before she finished the sentence. Through the window, the setting sun beamed on him, giving her a chance to see him plainly. He stilled, silently offering her a chance to back away from this, from him.

She raised herself onto her elbows, then raked her gaze down his body, then back up to his eyes. “I thought yesterday, while you were chopping wood . . . or last night, when you were soaked . . . I thought you couldn’t be more beautiful, but I was wrong.”

Her admiration choked him. His highest hopes had been that she wouldn’t be frightened by him. But to find him beautiful . . . It didn’t resolve all that tightened his chest, but it was a good start.

Marigold swiveled her legs to the floor. “Help me from my kirtle?”

She caught his hands, then pulled them to the lacings that ran up the garment’s front. Blue like her eyes, this fashion offered tempting peeks of the tops of her breasts. Especially when she kneaded bread dough and they swelled against the fabric as she moved. One of the reasons he’d happily handed over that chore to her. With trembling hands, Bram slithered the silk ribbon free from the eyelets.

As the panels splayed open, the tight rosebuds of her breasts peaked the thin shift she wore underneath. He slipped his hands beneath her kirtle’s shoulders, then pushed. The blue wool pooled at her feet, and saints, now she wore naught but the shift. In fading gold daylight, the outline of her body was clear.

All that stood between him and glory was a thin shield of linen.

She reached behind her neck and unfastened the clasp of her locket. Gently, she laid the necklace on the bedside table, her fingers lingering briefly, then turned to him.

He kissed her forehead. “Are you sure?”

“More than I am of my own name.” She reached for his belt, then unfastened the buckle.

With a swiftness, his pants and braies fell to his ankles, soft as fresh fallen leaves. Bold and curious, Marigold reached under his braies. He gasped as she found and stroked his shaft.

“Seems you’re sure as well.”

He braced himself against the bedpost. “Saints, Marigold.”

“Leave the saints out of it. They’re busy elsewhere.” She raised herself onto her toes to find his mouth, then wrapped her free hand around his shoulder to steady herself as she worked him.

His busy hands mapped her body. The shape of her was fuller than it was in Thornwick, like she’d bloomed and was ripe for the plucking.

And oh, how he wanted to pluck her.

He bunched the fabric at her hips in his fists, then pulled the linen over her head. The movement caused her to stop her caresses, but that was for the best. Much more of her attention and he’d never last. Stepping out of his clothes, Bram walked her backward until the bed bent her knees.

As she lay back, she reached for him. “Be with me, Jask.”

The name stuck like a burr. But to tell her was to ruin her, so he left it uncorrected. He was still her Bram, and she wanted him. In that, he took comfort.

He braced his arms on either side of her head.