Page 50
At dinner, the duchess and Penelope excitedly shared information about the upcoming fundraiser. Siobhan listened intently before finally having to ask, “What are the proceeds used for?”
Penelope shrugged good-naturedly. “For the poor.”
“Where, specifically?” Siobhan asked, interested to know if perhaps some of the money could be distributed to the shelter.
The duchess replied to her question, “We have a list of places to give the funds, or provisions needed. There is a hospital for expectant mothers, a pair of orphanages, and several other charities where our funds pay for clothing, food and any repairs needed to the buildings.”
“I am sure they appreciate the help. I work and help at a shelter, near St. Sebastian,” she informed them. “There is a lot of need there. My friend Henriette and I also see about a sick widow named Susan. She has a trio of wee bairns and can barely get out of bed.”
The duchess gave Miles a stricken look before turning back to Siobhan. “You go there personally? What exactly do you do?”
“Whatever is needed. Usually Henriette and I bring food, cook a meal, bathe the children. There is a woman who we pay to clean the small apartment.”
“Now that you are titled, those tasks should be left to someone else. I am sure a pair of maids can be sent weekly.” The duchess began eating, expecting Siobhan would accept the decree.
If not for Miles giving her a warning look, she would have informed his mother she was to continue to do as before. Instead, she ate as Miles began a new conversation informing the family they were to go to live at the townhouse the following morning.
After the men drank their brandy in the sitting room, and the ladies read for a bit, Siobhan stood. “I am getting sleepy. Good night, everyone.”
Miles stood with her and bid everyone a good night as well. He walked with her up the stairs and instead of heading toward his bed chamber, he walked toward hers. Siobhan wasn’t sure what to say, so she waited for him to bid her good night at the door.
His heavily lashed eyes met hers. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
Something in her moved, her stomach tightened, and her pulse sped up. “Yes, of course.”
A part of her was glad that he wished to be with her, but another wondered who the real Miles was. The one who’d callously thrown her from his bedchamber, the angry man who’d dragged her away that morning, or this calmer, reasonable one. Perhaps he was all three.
They walked into the bedchamber, and she wondered if he’d want to join with her again. Although it wasn’t altogether unpleasant, and admittedly very intimate, she was nervous that it would hurt again.
Leena entered and helped her to undress, slipping a pale pink nightgown over her head. The silky fabric caressed her skin as Siobhan slid between the covers.
After sending his valet away, Miles came to the bed bereft of clothing and lay on his side facing her. “What are you thinking?”
“That you and I do need to be alone, to spend time like this together, I believe it is important for a married couple to sleep in the same bed.”
“Do your parents?” he asked.
Siobhan nodded. “Yes. Yours do not.”
“At times they did, but in the last years, Father has become restless at night and moved into another bedroom to keep from bothering my mother.”
When he pulled her against him, his lips seeking hers, Siobhan gave into the kiss, needing to feel a connection with Miles. Their lips lingered, discovering, until his tongue prodded past hers and into her mouth. The sensation was wonderful, she was delighted at how easily her body came to life when with him.
Somehow, he managed to reach under her nightgown, pulling the silken fabric up and up until managing to pull it off. “I wanted to tell Leena not to bother,” he murmured with a playful smirk, “but I did not wish to discomfit you.”
As he spoke his hands traveled over her body, sliding down her back to touch her in places that had never once been touched by any man. Every inch responded with vibrancy until she was almost breathless from it.
How was it possible for a mere touch to affect one so much? Siobhan’s eyes rolled back when his mouth took the tip of her breast, while his fingers circled around her upper thigh area.
“Oh,” she called out, not sure how else to respond. When his finger slid down the center of her sex, she gasped. Her being came to life, eagerly anticipating more.
Miles seemed to know exactly what to do as he splayed her open with his hand while one of his fingers caressed the very core of her.
Siobhan clutched his shoulders and pushed her head back into the pillows as the stimulation continued making heat travel outward from where he continued the delicious assault. Then to her utter delight, she shattered. Trembling in response, she cried out, lost as wave after wave of ecstasy washed over her.
Once again his mouth sought hers, this time with pure hunger; it was as if he wished to devour her entirely, and Siobhan would not have minded one bit.
Her body pulsed and she was glad when he began to enter her, pushing his hard staff in slowly. Emboldened, she reached for the orbs of his bottom and palmed them as he thrust in fully. There was no pain; instead the ebbing sensations she’d just experienced seemed to linger.
