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t us walk down to the beach. I can tell that you are fairly itching to remove your sandals and stockings and wade in the water.”
“It is so warm, my lord,” she said in a demure voice. “Perhaps I could convince you to come swimming with me.”
“I suppose you have brought an extra shift for just that purpose.”
“Oh no. I think it would be far more interesting to wear nothing at all.”
At his threatening glance, she laughed aloud, picked up her skirts, and dashed away from him toward a path that led to the beach below them.
“Don’t break your neck,” she heard him shout after her.
Cassie gained the beach and turned, panting, to see him running down the rocky path toward her. The taut muscles in his thighs and belly flexed rhythmically as he neared her, and she wanted to touch him, to feel the lean hardness of him.
Edward clasped her shoulders in his hands and shook her lightly, his eyes alight with laughter. She did not respond in kind, but merely stared up at him, her lips slightly parted.
She realized dimly that they were standing motionless, in plain view; it was unlikely that she could even convince him to kiss her. She remembered a small cave, private and protected, some twenty yards up the beach, carved long ago by the crashing of the sea into the rocks. She pulled away from him and ran full speed up the beach, hoping she could reach the cave before he caught her.
Startled, Edward stared after her a moment. “Cassie, what the devil,” he shouted, but she did not stop. He shook his head and galloped after her. The beach curved sharply, and when he rounded the cliff, she was nowhere to be seen. “Cassie, if you don’t come here this instant, I am going to beat your bottom.”
He saw a flash of green from the corner of his eye and turned to see her standing in the mouth of a cave.
“You must catch me first, my lord,” she cried, and disappeared into the cave.
Edward’s eyes grew quickly accustomed to the dim interior, and he saw Cassie standing quietly some feet away from him.
“Alas, my lord,” she said in a breathless voice, “it appears that you have trapped me.”
“You deserve a good beating, my girl.”
“Yes, Edward,” she said, and bowed her head.
In an instant, she felt his hands grasp her shoulders and his breath warm upon her forehead. She raised her head and parted her lips in mute invitation.
He realized vaguely that she had tricked him, but she was standing on her tiptoes, her mouth close to his, and he felt rational scruples slip willingly from his mind. They were to be wed, after all, in but two days’ time.
“I love you so, Edward.” He felt her breasts pressing against his chest, and wrapped his arms tightly about her back.
“And I you, Cass.” He brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her, savoring the taste of her. He grew more demanding, and wrapped his hands in her hair that hung to her waist. He shuddered when she dug her fingers into his back. She was filled with passion, innocent passion, and it was driving him mad.
“Please, Edward, touch me the way you did on the beach, when you first saw me.”
He released her hair and his hands caressed her. He cupped her buttocks and lifted her to press her belly tightly against him.
“Damn your ridiculous skirt and petticoats.” He pulled away from her and shrugged quickly out of his coat. He spread it on the sand and eased himself down. “Come here, Cass,” he said, and held his hand out to her.
Cassie fell to her knees beside him and let him pull her into his arms. She fell onto his chest and let her hair swirl about his face. Edward circled her chin with his fingers, tilting her face to him so he could look into her eyes. They were huge and dark in the pale light, full of tenderness and excitement.
“Lie on your back, Cass,” he said softly.
He balanced himself on one elbow and smoothed her hair away from her face into a golden halo about her head. “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. His fingertips traced the straight line of her nose, and gently outlined her cheek.
“I feel so urgent, Edward,” she said, as his fingertips lightly touched her mouth. “My heart is pounding so, I can scarce breathe.”
He saw her eyes widen as he cupped her breast and pulled her to him, and felt a shudder pass the length of her body. “There is much, much more.”
“Please teach me, Edward. Let me become a woman.”
Although he had had much practice, Edward’s fingers trembled as they probed at the small buttons on her bodice. He wanted her as he had never before desired a woman. She lay passively, staring up at him as the material parted, and he pulled free the blue ribbons that held her chemise close over her breasts. When cool air touched her skin, she stiffened, for no man had ever before seen her naked.
