Page 74 of A Countess Never Tells

“Yes…yes, you have at last.” Panting, he patted her arm.

“Well, yes, I’ve done that now, but even better…” She gazed up at him proudly. “At last, I’ve been bedded by London’s most notorious rake.”

“Correction, love. By a reformed rake. Now a model husband.” Ash’s panting had lessened, and he hugged her to him. “So, what did you think of your first bedding? Was it what you hoped it would be? After so much anticipation, I’d hate to disappoint.”

Sighing happily, Kitty kissed his chin, the only part of him she could reach at this juncture. “You have never disappointed me, Ash. I think you never will.” She looked up at him, a saucy tilt to her head. “But as you said, it was only my first bedding. I have nothing to compare it to, do I?”

He laughed and found her mouth, sealing it with a kiss. “Does that mean you wish for a second bedding, my dear? And so soon? What a scandal you will be if word of your insatiable nature gets out.”

Kitty rolled on top of him, gazing lovingly down into the handsome face of her hard-won husband. “Don’t you remember, Ash? A countess never tells.”

****

The candles on the mantel and side table were guttering, giving the room a darker, more intimate feeling when Kitty opened her eyes a slit. She was tangled in the sheets and with Ash, who’d flung his arm over her chest, weighing her down as he slept the deep sleep of the innocent. Not that he was innocent in any way. Nor was she, now. Never had she been so happy to leave anything behind as she was her virginity, especially as she’d given it to Ash. That little pinch of pain had been worth every moment of the pleasures he’d happily initiated her into during the first part of the night.

Snuggling down next to her husband, Kitty smiled so widely her face hurt, thinking about all three of the beddings she’d now experienced with Ash. Each one had been different in some way, either in position or how she’d had her pleasure. Ash assured her there were hundreds of positions, and he intended to show her each one. And he’d encouraged her to invent her own if they ran out. Now she understood why rakes made the best husbands.

Her rake stretched his long legs under the sheets, moving his arm off her, and yawned. “Are you awake, love?” He pulled her to him, kissing her mouth and lingering just a moment before leaning back to look at her. “Do you wish to go back to sleep, or are you ready to begin bedding number four?”

“Umm, can we wait a while longer? I’m feeling more than a little sore.” If they kept up this pace, she might not be able to walk tomorrow. Then she’d have to stay in bed all day. Not the worst way she could think of to spend her first day of married life. Perhaps this was why married women had their breakfast in bed.

“Your every wish is my true desire, love.” He enfolded her in his arms, and Kitty’s happiness knew no bounds.

“I did want to ask you about something, Ash.” She traced the lines of his chest with her finger.

“I hope you intend to ask me a great many things in bed, my dear. I am always very willing to instruct you.”

“It is about that, actually. About the first time you bedded me. Afterward, you had an almost shocked look on your face. You said you’d tell me later.” She propped herself up on her hand and stared at him. “Now is later.”

“Nothing is going to escape you, wife, is it?” He turned to face her, cupping her cheek.

“No.” She shook her head, making him laugh.

“Very well, I will tell you that I was shocked because when I entered you, I actually felt it when I took your maidenhead.” He got that peculiar look on his face again, as though he was perplexed.

“But isn’t that the normal way of things?” Kitty had paid close attention when Judith explained everything to her, and she especially remembered the part about the pain when your maidenhead was broken. Then an even stranger thought occurred to her. “Did it hurt you, Ash?”

He burst out laughing and shook his head. “No, my dear. If it had hurt me, it would’ve been a very bad thing indeed. What was peculiar was that the two other times I bedded virgins, I didn’t feel that little tug. It was only a moment, but I was so intent on wanting to remember every moment of our first time, I do recall it distinctly.”

“So what does that mean?” Kitty traced away a worry line on his forehead, wanting to continue touching him forever.

“Given some of the things I heard whispered about the two young ladies in question, I must be ungallant and suggest that neither one was a true virgin when I lay with them.” He shook his head. “They played it as good as any actress in Drury Lane, wailing about the pain and the shame of it afterward. Of course, both of them were intent on marrying me. Once I disabused them and their fathers of my feelings regarding that matter, they protested less. Good thing too considering I most likely was not their first encounter.”

“But I was.” Kitty puffed out her chest, which immediately drew Ash’s attention. He began to trace his finger around her breast, causing her skin to prick up to attention.

“You most certainly were.” His attentions were causing her nipples to harden as well.

“So, in a sense, you were a virgin also.”

Ash stopped stroking her and turned his full attention on her. “I beg your pardon?”

“If what you say is true, then you had never bedded a virgin before. So you were a virgin at bedding virgins.”

Ash tilted his head and shook it, but finally nodded. “When you put it that way, my love, I suppose I was a virgin also before last night. Although if you were to tell anyone in London that Lord Ashwood was a virgin until just now, they would think you a lunatic and me a fool.”

“Have no fear, my love.” Kitty pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of him then kissed him so long and thoroughly he had to gasp for air. “As I told you earlier, I am now your countess and as a countess never tells, your secrets will always be safe with me.”

“A good thing too, my lady.” He grabbed her and Kitty shrieked as he rolled her underneath him. “Because all of my secrets will certainly involve you.”