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“Choppy waters indeed,” she agreed with a nod.
“But I mean them,” he said softly.
“As do I.” She leaned up toward him again. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”
“I was thinking of teasing you for a little longer–”
“Antony!”
“As you wish,” he laughed before leaning down and kissing her softly on the lips.
It was a gentle touch, reminding her of the way they had made love so tenderly that time. Now that was well over four weeks ago. Since then, they had had a couple of weeks grace when Officer Stenham and Phoebe courted, then the banns were read for three weeks. Time had passed rather quickly to Hermione’s mind, reminding her that she had something to tell Antony.
“What do you say to heading home rather fast?” he said with a deep whisper.
“What is the rush?” she asked. “Oh!” her startled gasp came as he moved his lips down to her neck.
“Well, what I want to do next I am fairly certain I cannot do in church, as much as I am tempted,” he whispered in her ear.
“Very well,” she said with a laugh. “Then we best be quick. Our siblings’ wedding breakfast starts soon, and Phoebe will not forgive me if we are late.”
“Then quick it is,” he said with a mischievous smile as he stood straight and jumped down away from the altar, pulling her quickly behind him. She laughed at how fast he walked, struggling to keep up with him.
As they stepped outside, they found there was still a crowd of guests around Officer Stenham and Phoebe.
“Where are you two off to?” Officer Stenham called, making Hermione and Antony hesitate in the gateway of the churchyard.
“We…erm…” Antony was struggling to come up with an excuse.
“We’re going to help your mother prepare the breakfast. See you soon,” Hermione said quickly then jabbed Antony in his side with an elbow, urging him to get a move on.
“Quick thinking,” he whispered to her as they hurried off, hand in hand down the road.
“Now all we have to do is avoid actually getting involved with the preparations!”
* * *
Antony was careful as they reached the house, being so cautious that they even walked in through the garden entrance rather that the front door. On the main staircase, the two of them were nearly caught, but fortunately Hermione managed to drag Antony up to the landing in time, just before his mother turned around at the bottom of the stairs to see them.
Struggling to stifle his laughter, Antony took over the lead and pulled Hermione all the way to his chamber. Once inside, he locked the door firmly and reached for her dress.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise. “You have ripped one dress already; do you intend to rip another?”
“Quite frankly, I’ll buy you as many dresses as you need from now on. Passion can run away with me a little at times.” He winked at her, loving it as she giggled and reached for his jacket, pushing it eagerly off his shoulders.
They were both undressed in what felt like seconds. Her gown was on the floor, his cravat and jacket were too. The waistcoat ended up flung over the back of a chair, her corset rolled away somewhere under an ottoman, and he was fairly certain he tossed her shift off so high that it ended up flung around the chandelier candelabra that hung from the ceiling.
Once they were bare, he took her to bed, not bothering to pull back the covers but lying over the top. She kissed him back with equal ferocity and passion, making his movements full of need as he pulled at her body, trying to get closer to her, caress her, love her.
“Wait, wait…” she said, just as he had lined himself up with her entrance.
“You want me to wait now?” he asked, straining his body back. The sweat was already beading down the center of his back, and his body was flushed with excitement. Looking down at Hermione who had her legs around his hips, he could see the same blush of heat across her skin, travelling up her chest and across her cheeks. “Is something wrong?” he asked with a note of panic.
“Nothing is wrong at all,” she said, reaching up to him. He lowered himself down, until he had his weight resting on his elbows either side of her head, with the two of them so close that it would be easy to kiss her. “I wanted to tell you something.”
“Now?” he asked with a smirk. “I think we’d both rather bedoingsomething thantalking.” She giggled and tapped him on the shoulder in reprimand. “Go on,” he urged.
“I think there is a chance that…”
