Page 49 of Earl, Enemy, Husband?

‘Husband,’ she gasped.

He rose up on one elbow. ‘Like that, do you?’

Honesty; they had promised honesty between them, but what if he should think her an incorrigible wanton? Would he regret their marriage?

‘It is well enough,’ she said calmly. As calmly as she could manage.

His teeth flashed white in the shadows of the canopy. ‘I shall have to do better, then.’

He leaned forward and nuzzled into her neck, sensations skittering through her body, heat rising upwards, shivers down her spine, pulses between her legs. He nipped at her ear. A cry caught in her throat at the sudden sweet pain.

He froze.

‘Did that hurt?’ His voice was a low, intense growl in her ear, his breath tickling and making her want to squirm closer, or further away. She wasn’t sure.

‘I…no. Maybe. A little.’ She scarcely knew what she was saying or feeling; her body was a bundle of sensations.

He drew back, his eyebrows drawn down in a frown, his lips a thin line. ‘Tell me the truth.’

‘It surprised me, that is all.’

‘A good surprise or bad?’

‘Good, I think.’

‘You think.’ He sounded less than pleased.

She leaned forward and kissed him, a quick, tentative taste of his mouth against her lips. ‘Good. Definitely good.’

‘Don’t say things just to make me happy if they are not true.’ He started to rise.

She clutched the front of his robe, holding him fast, though with the power of him, his broad shoulders, if he wanted to pull free he would have no difficulty breaking her grip.

He stilled. The power was in her hands, it seemed. She took a deep, steady breath. Now she had his attention, how to explain?

‘I…it…well, I have never felt quite this way before. It is hard to explain.’

He tilted his head. ‘You said you had lain with a man before.’

She flinched, yet his words were not harsh, not accusatory, merely factual. ‘It was not the same.’ She didn’t know how to explain. It had been hurried, furtive. And in all honesty, if she had not been hopelessly in love, she might not have repeated the experience after the first time. She had only done it to please Albert. To keep him happy, to keep him from looking elsewhere. What an idiot she had been.

He was silent for a long moment. Had she said something wrong? Was he disgusted by her admission?

‘I am sorry,’ he said, his voice pained.

Her heart stopped. Was he going to leave?

He rose up on one elbow, took her hand in his and stroked it gently. ‘Let us take this a whole lot slower. I over-estimated the depth of your experience. I apologise.’

She stared at him in shock. ‘I don’t see that you have any reason to apologise.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘I think you will. Later.’

He bent his head and kissed her. A gentle kiss, not one that crushed her lips as Albert’s had. His lips teased and caressed. Her insides felt loose and warm. Her heart picked up speed. She put a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him closer. She wanted to feel that big body against hers, his hard, muscled chest against her breasts.

He made a low sound in his throat. A groan of pleasure, she thought. Heady and dizzy with the sweetness of his kiss, she melted into him.

She was dimly aware of his fingers working at the tie of her dressing robe. In seconds, it came free, and his hand shifted to cup first one breast then the other, a gentle pressure that made her want to purr like a cat.