Page 61 of The Baron Takes a Wife

Elena bit her lip to keep from smiling. “I do, too, Husband. But I would still like to learn to play.”

“I think I have a solution. What if, when I successfully teach you a song, we reward ourselves with a distraction?”

“So if I can play one song, then we will reward ourselves?”

He nodded, his lips curving into a wicked grin.

“But what about Goliath?”

David leaned back to look at the dog. “He’s quite the prude. He’ll give us our privacy.”

She shook her head, but the anticipation of both of their previous distractions and the excitement of learning a song coursed through her, and she felt young and free in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.

As he started to put his hands on the keys, she put a hand on his arm. His small shiver only increased the heat in her own blood. “I want to try it on my own this time. Not with my hands on top of yours. Not that I don’t enjoy my hands on yours,” she added, “but Irene says that is not the best way to learn.”

“She is correct. That’s the way I learned, but it was very informal. A proper teacher would not have you do that. But I happen to be very improper. And I wanted an excuse to touch you.” He ran a finger down her arm, and she tried to ignore the gooseflesh erupting along her skin.

“Husband, remember, our reward.”

“Right, right, yes.” He took a deep breath, then cracked his neck from side to side, flexing his fingers. “I’m going to teach you a song my mother made up when I was a child. First, I’m going to play it on the lower notes. I will show you where to put your hands, but I want you to copy my movements. Again, this may not be proper, but unlike Irene, I never learned from a teacher other than my mother.”

He played a series of notes several times through, making sure Elena was familiar with the melody, which was short and airy. He then positioned her hands on the keys and had her imitate his movements on higher notes. It was difficult at first, and she made many mistakes. When she first began, Goliath seemed so indignant at the affront to his ears, which, in fairness, were large and upright, that he left the room. However, David was a patient and encouraging teacher, and soon, Elena was able to master the simple melody.

“I am going to play a different part on the lower notes. Try to keep playing what you learned, and don’t focus too much on what I am doing. It will make sense eventually.”

She kept playing, and she noticed him playing something different than her. At first, it threw her off, and she was afraid she would make a mistake, but she pushed through, and all of a sudden, what she was playing felt entwined and supported by his notes. She recognized with a burst of delight that they were making music. And then that delight morphed into a deeper realization: they were building something together based on trust, passion, and something more. They played the song several times through, then simultaneously, their hands stopped, both of them panting. They turned to look at each other, and Elena was struck as she always was by how their scarring was a strange mirror of the other as they each reached up at the same time to caress the other’s scarred skin. Then, somehow, both of their arms went around each other, and they came together in a frenzy of joy and eagerness.

After some time, David rose and adjusted the latch on the French doors adjoining the drawing room. Then, she found him kneeling in front of her as she sat on the bench, her skirts pushed up and his hand roving up her legs, peeling down her stockings and kissing each inch of revealed flesh. Elena reclined on her elbows, hitting the keys, which clanked loudly. He pulled the tapes of her drawers and eased them down her legs, again kissing all the skin newly exposed to the light and air. She shuddered as she felt him kiss his way up her thigh and began to arch her body in anticipation. He reached her sex and took a deep, luxurious lick, then looked up at her. As she felt a pulse of sensation throughout her body, she gave him a small nod, dipping her head back to enjoy his dedicated ministrations as she continued to rest on the keys. Her elbows began to ache, but the pain was worth it for this beautiful pleasure. She had never done this before that first night together. She wondered if she ought to feel ashamed, but instead, as all that energy that had welled up inside her body centered at the apex of her thighs, she just felt release. He licked longer and deeper, finding a steady rhythm, and she felt herself closer and closer to a peak as a wave of feeling and intensity crashed over her entire body. In her mind, she thought, crescendo, and cried out, though she tried to cover her mouth with her hand.

As she recovered herself, David pulled her to the nearby settee and looked questioningly at her as he unbuttoned the placket of his trousers.

“Yes?”

“Yes, darling.”

He entered her with great force, rocking into her, and she met him, this time chasing that climax, that crescendo, moving her body in harmony with his. They joined together until they both cried out, and he quickly left her, covering himself with his hand. She felt his absence but understood why he did what he did. Once more he was trying to respect her wishes, her future. After he had wiped his hand with a handkerchief and sat next to her, he adjusted her skirts and petticoats to cover her thighs, but she sat so that her legs below her knee were still bare, dangling off the side of the settee.

“That was the most pleasant distraction I have ever had in a music room,” he said, sounding a bit breathless.

“Likewise.” Was all she had the power to say. She was trying to catch her breath when a thought struck her. “Husband?”

“Wife?”

“Do you have a music room at your estate?”

“With Irene as my sister? She would disown me if I did not have a music room.”

“With a piano?”

“Naturally.”

She let out a breath. She was looking forward to going to the country, but she felt a small seed of fear and doubt in her heart that she couldn’t quite extinguish. Knowing there was a piano eased some of that fear.

“Good. Then I can learn more songs.”

“And we can reward ourselves with future distractions.”

She gave him a long, slow smile.