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“I’m a bit shy about it, I know, but I do want you, Nash. I mean not just for my husband, but for the marriage bed.” Her cheeks flushed. She let go of his hands and glanced toward the shelf bed, where the cover had been turned down and someone had laid out her nightclothes. She quickly looked back, biting her lower lip.
He took off his tailcoat and hung it over the back of a chair. His waistcoat and cravat followed. Ailie had seen him wearing only his shirt when she had come to change Robbie’s bandage so he didn’t think it would startle her.
He joined her in front of the stove and drew her into his arms, kissing her forehead, breathing in her sweet smell of lily of the valley. “One of our friends has a sense of humor, I think.”
Her beautiful eyes met his. “What do you mean?”
“If I do this right, Ailie, you won’t be needing those nightclothes.”
“Oh.”
They had dined earlier and drunk their fill of champagne, yet perhaps she needed more time. “Would you like something to drink? To eat?”
She shook her head and pressed her lips together. He had to try and calm her fears.
“Remember the woods, Ailie, when I first kissed you?” She nodded. “And the night we shared the stars together and I kissed you again?” She nodded. “And the kiss I gave you at Dunnottar?” Again she nodded. “This is yet another time when I will kiss you, showing you my heart and, I hope, raising your passion. Only this time, we will become one.”
He kissed her then, a teasing kiss. He wanted her eager for more before they moved to the bed. Knowing the woman he had desired for weeks was finally his and that, tonight, they would join together made him impatient to begin but, for her sake and that of their marriage, he planned to go slowly.
He kissed her until her breath came faster and she reached her hands to his nape, exploring his mouth as he explored hers. His body responded, his groin swelling in anticipation of what was to follow. Did she realize the entwining of their tongues foreshadowed what would come next?
He slid his hand to one of her warm breasts, touching for the second time what he’d only imagined before. Slowly, he stroked the sensitive peak through the silk and the thin fabric beneath it. In his mind, he pictured her naked. It was impossible not to.
Wanting to taste her, he pulled down one of her sleeves and the shift underneath it, exposing one silken shoulder. Brushing his lips over her warm skin he kissed her from her shoulder to her neck, gently nibbling along the way until he felt her shiver.
Raising his head, he looked into her eyes. “Do you like how that makes you feel?”
“Aye, I like it.”
“Good. There is more to come. You can kiss me, too, Ailie, anywhere you like. I want you to touch me.” He loosened his shirt from his trousers and pulled it over his head until his chest was naked before her.
He let her look her fill. His chest was well-muscled from a combination of his work on ships and his sporting activities with Robbie in London.
With innocent fingers, she raised her hand and tentatively ran her fingers over the dark curls sprinkled over his chest and glided her fingers across his nipple, sending a shiver to his core. She raised her head to meet his fevered gaze. “You’re beautiful.”
He resisted the desire to fling her onto the bed and take her. “Not beautiful,” he said with a husky voice, as he opened his eyes, “but I’ll take that as meaning you like the body of the man you married.”
She smiled, then bit her bottom lip as if embarrassed. “I do.”
“You must know how much I enjoy your touch, Ailie. There is no shame between us in the marriage bed. God gave it to us to enjoy.” This time when he kissed her, he ended the kiss by taking her hand and leading her toward the bed. He removed her tartan sash and turned her around, unbuttoning her gown. It dropped to the floor and he laid it on the chest at the foot of the shelf bed. With her back to him, he kissed her neck and her shoulders, taking both her breasts in his hands. She bent her head to the side as he kissed her neck. “I think it’s time we dispensed with all pretense of clothing.” He unlaced her corset and let it drop, along with her shift.
She turned in his arms and no longer did he have to imagine what she looked like underneath the female frippery. His bride was everything he’d hoped for. And more. Intelligent, full of wonder and dreams and more beautiful than she knew. “You are perfect, Ailie.”
She covered her breasts with one arm and the fiery hair at the apex of her thighs with the other. “Nay.”
He pulled her hands away. “I say you are perfect. Your breasts like ripe fruit, your belly like a smooth sea and your legs. Ah, your legs are long and shapely and there’s fire where they join.” He lifted her onto the edge of the bed and removed her stockings, slowly rolling them down.
Even in the lantern light, he could see the blush rising from her chest to her face.
“Oh, Ailie, don’t you know I would love you if you were not so beautiful? But I say again, you are perfect.”
He held the cover for her so she could crawl beneath it. Then shedding the rest of his clothing, he joined her in the bed, pressing his body to hers. Heat seared his blood, so ready he was for the lovemaking that would follow. Forcing himself to go slow, he said. “I left the lantern to burn, so I can see you and you me.”
Her eyes spoke of the trust she placed in him. “All right.”
“And now, we begin.”
Ailie woke sometime later, hearing the sounds of the revelry that always accompanied Hogmanay. Nash had draped his arm possessively around her, his body turned into hers as it had been when he had fallen asleep. One of her legs was caught between his.
