Page 39 of 10 Things I Hate About the Earl

She trusted him. Something he’d never thought to hear from her beautiful mouth. He needed to live up to that trust, not just today, but for the rest of their lives. “Thank you, my love. That means more to me than you know.”

The smile she sent him made his knees weak and his groin ache. “Shall we continue, then?” He stepped back and stripped off his jacket. “Would you like me to help you?”

But she was already removing her gloves, bonnet, and Spencer then reaching behind her, feeling for the laces. After a moment, during which he unwound his cravat, she shook her head. “Yes, I will need you to act as my lady’s maid. Sometimes, I can do it myself, but this gown laces higher than others.” She turned neatly, presenting her back to him. “Thank you, Marcus.”

So eager his hands shook, he unlaced the cornflower blue gown until the material sagged, revealing her chemise and stays. Marcus swallowed hard then set his lips against the soft nape of her neck.

A shudder rippled through her body, and gooseflesh rose on her tender flesh.

Excited by her response, he slowly drew the material off her shoulders, his lips straying downward as the garment fell away. He nuzzled her slender neck even as he unlaced her stays and drew them off. Slipping his arms around her, Marcus slid his hands up until he cupped her magnificent breasts, eliciting first a gasp then a moan from Kate.

“Oh, Marcus.” She leaned back against him, her breath coming faster as he teased her nipples through her chemise until they furled themselves into tight, hard peaks. Kate rolled her head from side to side across his chest. “That feels so good.”

“And there is better yet to come, my love,” he whispered in her ear. Turning her toward him, he gazed deeply into her passion-glazed eyes. “Let me shed my clothes as well.”

Dazedly, she nodded, not taking her eyes from him as he swiftly divested himself of everything save his shirt. They now faced one another, the soft crackling of the fire the only sound in the room. Marcus drew her toward him. “Moment of truth?”

“Moment of truth.” She smiled up at him then loosened the tie at her neckline, so her chemise fell further off her shoulders. Tugging the material lower, Kate managed to uncover her decolletage little by little until the fabric clung only to her nipples, a smidgeon away from exposing all her natural loveliness.

Marcus held his breath, his gaze riveted to the scrap of fabric.

Then it plunged to the floor, revealing the luscious form he’d imagined night after night in his most erotic dreams. Her abundant breasts, the rosy nipples round and dark, drew his attention first, as if begging for his touch once more. His gaze lowered to her trim waist, the skin pale and smooth, then finally dipped to the thatch of bright curls that covered her sex. A more beautiful woman he had never seen. And she was about to be his for all time.

Falling to his knees before her, Marcus pulled the slim body to him, burying his face between her breasts. “Oh, God, Kate. I’ve dreamed about this moment, but I never quite believed it would happen.”

She lifted his head until their eyes locked, and her lips curled into a small smile. “Believe, my love.”

****

How she’d summoned the courage to be so brazen, Kate had no idea, but standing here now, embraced by the man she loved, she thanked God for it. She was going to marry Marcus, and that was all that mattered right now. Waiting until after their wedding for him to make her his seemed a waste of time. Time they could spend enjoying the things Celinda had told her belonged to the marriage bed.

Marcus rose, scooping her up in his arms, his mouth on hers as he carried her toward the bed. He set her down on the edge of the mattress, broke the kiss, then swept his shirt up over his head in a single, liquid movement that revealed his magnificent body all at once.

Kate gasped. His was the first nude male body she’d ever seen—as startling as it was arousing. The sheer heat his closeness generated in her was astounding.

She’d known Marcus was a powerful man, but the muscles laid bare for her to see—from broad shoulders to his expansive chest to his firm abdomen tapering down toward his hips—caused a frenzied beating of her heart. When her gaze strayed further down to his male member, standing straight out, the sight of him started a strange ache between her legs. Suddenly everything Celinda had told her to expect flew out of her head.

“What…what do I do now?”

“Let me take care of you, love.” Marcus lifted her face to his then sank his mouth onto hers, his lips burning away any lingering doubt or fear. He strayed over to her ear, the rasp of his ragged breathing sending exquisite shivers throughout her body.

Kate arched her neck, inviting his next caress.

“Mmmm.” His lips descended slowly, trailing one hot kiss after another until he stopped, his mouth poised over one breast. “Never have I tasted anything as sweet as you, my love.”

Her own breath coming harder, Kate pulled his head toward her, needing him, urging him to continue. When his mouth engulfed her nipple, a streak of fire erupted within her, shooting down to the place that ached so badly. Each time his tongue licked or swirled around the crest—now tightly furled and with an ache of its own—she moaned and writhed with the strangely pleasurable sensations coursing through her.

“You like that, love?”

“Oh, yes.” Kate’s breathy voice had lowered.

“And now?” He skimmed his lips lower, across her stomach to her navel, where his tongue circled the small cavity.

“Yes.” The ache below became more insistent, and Kate clutched the bed covers, almost overcome by her growing need for…something more.

“What about this?” He dipped his tongue fleetingly into her navel, and she moaned deeply as another streak of heat shot straight to her core.

“Or this.” Marcus moved lower, his lips moving into the thicket of curls between her thighs.