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Richard stopped to press a kiss to the curve of one hip along the way and Christiana sighed as the gentle caress caused a tingling to erupt there and spread outward. He then moved further up, pausing to press a kiss to her bel y that sent it jumping and rippling with growing excitement. He next took first one nipple into his mouth for a quick suckle and swirl with his tongue before turning his attention to the other to do the same. By this time Christiana was breathing heavily again, the relaxed satiation of moments ago forgotten and she curled her fingers in his dark, silky hair and tugged lightly. As delightful as what he was doing was, she suddenly wanted Richard's mouth on hers again. He answered the silent demand, shifting further up her body until his hips rested between her thighs and he could reach her mouth with his. She felt his hips shift and his hardness rub across her core as he claimed her lips in a kiss, and responded by groaning into his mouth and raising her knees again to tilt herself into the caress. Richard chuckled at her eager response, and then nipped her lower lip lightly as he rubbed against her again. Christiana sucked almost desperately at his tongue to keep him from withdrawing it again, however he did, easing it out, only to thrust it back in, this time plunging his manhood into her at the same time.
At least Christiana thought that was what he'd done. She was now ful to bursting, her body straining around something much larger than what had invaded her earlier and the only thing she could think was that the very large appendage that had fal en out of his breeches when she'd opened them was now planted firmly inside her.
While Christiana had been ignorant of what exactly the consummation was, she was smart enough to figure out this was it. And she wasn't at al sure she liked it.
However, while his tongue withdrew from her mouth, he stayed planted firmly inside her and merely lifted his head to get out in a choked gasp,
"You're a virgin. "
Christiana peered up at him blankly, wondering at his surprise since they definitely hadn't done this on their wedding night. But then she recal ed that he'd had a good deal to drink at the wedding celebrations and it suddenly occurred to her that he might not even be aware that he had never properly consummated the marriage.
Clearing her throat, she pointed out gently, "I was a virgin. "
Richard groaned and dropped his face into her neck.
Thinking he was feeling unmanned by the news that he had not consummated the wedding as he'd apparently thought, she patted his back soothingly.
"You were quite drunk on our wedding night. I am sure you would have consummated it otherwise. "
"I'm sorry," he muttered into her throat. "Had I known I would have gone more slowly, taken more time to better prepare you. "
Christiana wasn't sure what he meant by better prepare her, but didn't say so.
She simply lay there and patted him again. However, now that the excitement that had possessed her for the past several minutes was fading, she was having second thoughts about what she'd done. And what she was doing. Dear God, she was soothing the man who had made her life so miserable for the last year. Worse than that, she'd actual y consummated the marriage. It could not be annul ed. What had she been thinking? Unfortunately, she suspected she hadn't real y been thinking at al , at least not clearly. She wanted to blame it on the spirits she'd had to drink, but Christiana had felt pretty clearheaded when debating what to do while he was removing his breeches and suspected she hadn't been as affected by the drinks as she'd thought. She'd been more affected by his kisses and caresses. Of course, she hadn't known then that the end would be so disappointing. Real y the first part had been lovely, but this last bit rather spoiled the rest.
Sighing, she stopped patting his back, and tried to decide what to do now. Surely it was over? Should he not get off her and leave her to sleep? If she was able to sleep, Christiana thought with a grimace. Rather than sleep she would probably lie here fretting about what she was to say to Robert when next she saw him. Perhaps she could just leave out the bit about the marriage no longer being annul able, and simply say she had decided to uphold her vow, and yes, he has the birthmark. She had seen it. Wel , at least she'd managed a glimpse of a somewhat red spot on his behind anyway. It was probably the birthmark.
Christiana frowned, suddenly worried that it might not have been. It had been a brief glimpse and she couldn't say for sure it was a strawberry-shaped birthmark she'd seen. She supposed it could have been a red mark caused by his leaning on the windowsil as she'd disrobed him. That thought made her frown and she raised her head to try to peer along his back to see if she could see his behind, but of course she couldn't. Her wiggling about in an effort to do so, however, roused Richard. It also had the rather startling effect of resurrecting some of her own passion that she'd thought gone.
Christiana was trying to ignore that, but Richard just made it worse by shifting slightly against her as he raised his head to peer down into her face.
"I am sorry," he said solemnly. "You deserved so much better than what you've had this last year. "
Richard sounded incredibly sincere and Christiana looked into his eyes and did not see the cold emptiness she'd become used to. Instead, she again saw the warm concern and sympathy she'd seen in him at the bal . The combination brought the unexpected sting of tears to her eyes. She closed them quickly and turned her head away, swal owing a sudden lump in her throat as wel , and then Richard pressed a gentle kiss to each of her closed eyes, the tip of her nose and then final y to her closed lips.
Christiana remained stil for a moment under the caress, but then turned her face back and let her lips drift open, inviting him to deepen the kiss. She wanted to experience the passion again, she wanted to forget if only for tonight how miserable he had made her this last year and pretend for a few hours at least that she'd gained the happy ever after that she'd wanted.
Much to her relief, Richard did deepen the kiss, he also began to move, withdrawing from her and then easing back in. At first he was gentle, giving her body the chance to adjust, but then he slid a hand between them and began to caress her again, reinvigorating her already awakening passions until she was again the trembling mass of hunger she had been earlier. Once he'd achieved that, his gentleness gave way to a more vigorous tempo as they both strained for the release she'd just experienced moments ago. This time when Christiana found it, Richard joined her, and they shouted out their pleasure together.
Richard stared at the drapes over the bed, his mind replaying what had just happened. He had kissed Christiana, partial y to silence her, and partial y because he just couldn't resist doing it. He was only human after al and her unintentional caresses as she'd stripped off his clothes had been rather arousing. Once he'd kissed her, however, that hadn't been enough. He'd been like a house on fire, the flames raging through his body and ravaging his good sense. His only moment of clear thought had been when he'd set her on her feet and bent to finish removing the breeches she'd undone. He had almost put an end to things then and sent her back to her room. However, by then, Richard had wanted her with a passion he hadn't enjoyed even during his first experience as a cal ow youth. By the time he'd straightened, he'd concluded that if the only way to have her was to uphold the marriage George had initiated in his stead then so be it. It would protect al three women from scandal and he'd have a very passionate partner in his marriage bed. It was more than some men enjoyed.
Richard hadn't expected her to be a virgin, however. Bedding an experienced woman who thought she was your wife and whom you intended to al ow to continue to believe that was one thing, slightly inebriated or not. But her virginity had put a whole new slant on things. It meant she'd had a choice. The marriage could have been annul ed and probably with a minimum of scandal for her, since as the man he would be the one thought lacking for not bedding her this last year. But he'd taken that choice away with his actions.
Christiana murmured sleepily and shifted slightly where she lay snuggled half on his chest. It was where he'd put her after finding a cloth and water to clean them both after their exertions, an action that had seemed to embarrass and subdue her, which he found rather charming after what they'd just done. Richard peered down at her with a little sigh. He may not have thought her attractive on first sight, but once she'd got that bug-eyed horrified look off her face she'd been attractive enough, stil too thin for his taste, but passable. And when she'd smiled and laughed with Langley and the others as they danced, she'd been more than passable. But she'd been downright irresistible on her knees with his manhood waving in her face, he thought dryly and knew it was that very manhood that had thought so.
Stil , looking at her now, her face softened in sleep, Richard acknowledged that Christiana was an attractive woman, adorable even, and he was briefly tempted to rouse her with soft caresses and kisses and take her again. However, there was the little matter of a dead George in the carriage outside his townhouse.
The thought made him grimace and ease out from beneath the woman who would now definitely remain his wife. Christiana stirred and murmured sleepily, her hand drifting down to his hip as Richard shifted, and then sliding across his groin in an unconscious caress as he slid out of the bed. The touch was enough to bring his manhood back to life and he had to grit his teeth against the temptation to simply crawl back into bed and forget about George. But that just wouldn't be a smart thing.
His clothes were stil in the master bedroom and Richard made his way silently through the connecting door, grateful for the light cast by the dying fire to guide his way. He found the clothes by the window and started to draw them on, but paused as a glance out the window showed an empty street. Daniel's carriage was gone.
Shifting his feet, Richard frowned, wondering why the man hadn't come in search of him, or at least waited for him to meet him by the carriage. He then worried over what Daniel would do with the body and briefly considered fol owing in his own carriage to find out, but that would mean rousing the servants and waiting while a carriage was prepared, and real y he had no idea where Daniel would take his brother. He wasn't likely to take him to his own townhouse, which meant he would go somewhere else and Richard had no idea where. He could head to Daniel's townhouse and wait to find out, but depending on where Woodrow took the body, he could be waiting for hours. It just seemed better to let the matter go until the morrow. He would go see Daniel first thing and find what he'd done with George, Richard decided.
Satisfied that this was definitely the smartest course of action and that a naked soft and warm woman in the bed in the next room had nothing to do with the decision, Richard dropped his clothes and slid back through the connecting door to Christiana's room. He moved to the side of the bed and peered down at her briefly, noting the way the fire cast light and shadow across her face in slumber, and then she sighed sleepily and rol ed onto her back, the bed coverings sliding down off her breasts.
Richard stared at the pale globes briefly, unconsciously licking his lips, and then bent down to catch the edge of the bed coverings and draw them slowly down her body, revealing inch after pale inch of flesh. She was too thin and he would have to see about fattening her up, he decided, but she was stil mouthwatering and he found himself climbing onto the bed intent on tasting to see if she was as delicious as she looked. Christiana woke slowly, her body stretching and smal mewling moans slipping from her lips before she was even conscious of what was causing them. Al she was aware of at first was the pleasure coursing through her body, originating somewhere in her nether regions and sliding out to al points. Groaning aloud now as she came ful y awake, she found herself stretching again, her body arching on the bed and hands reaching blindly for Richard because surely he must be the source, for it was only with him she'd experienced this sweet torture before. It took her a moment to find him, however; the man was not directly atop her as expected and she had to open her eyes before she saw that he was further down her body. It took another moment for her mind to accept what he was doing. The man was not caressing her with his hands or his hardness as he had before, instead it was his head buried between her legs and while she wasn't quite sure what he was doing, it was delicious.
Stil , it was also rather embarrassing. The man had his face buried between her legs as if searching for treasure. No one had ever even seen that part of her let alone at such close proximity and it just didn't seem ladylike to recline there while a man examined her quite so thoroughly. Biting her lip, she reached for him, intending to urge him away, but her hands never made it to his head. Instead, they stopped and grabbed for the bedsheets to hang on as something, his tongue she thought, rasped over the center of her excitement. The shock of it had her hips bucking off the bed and a smal "ieeee" of startled pleasure slipping from her lips.
Richard chuckled softly at her reaction, the sound vibrating across her tender flesh and sending her scrabbling in an effort to escape the undignified and yet frighteningly exciting whatever it was he was doing. He didn't al ow her escape however, but merely caught her thighs in his strong hands, urged them further apart and redoubled his efforts.
"No - Rich - Oh - " The words came out broken and gaspy as Christiana col apsed back on the bed and twisted her head, her fingers pul ing at the sheets so violently she feared she would rip them. That fear wasn't enough to stop her tugging, however, as he did things to her Christiana had never even imagined.
Did al husbands do this? Was this what the marriage bed consisted of? Dear God, she'd been missing out on so much, Christiana thought dazedly, finding herself alternately grinding herself into his caress and stil struggling to escape it. The depth of passion he was pul ing from her was almost terrifying this time, perhaps because she didn't have him to hold on to in this position and as much as her body responded, her mind was looking for an anchor in the storm.
There was no anchor to be had, however, and when he slid a finger inside her to join his tongue's caresses, Christiana screeched and bucked like a wild thing, her body suddenly exploding as wave after hard wave of pleasure tried to pul her under. Much to her relief, Richard moved up her body after that, crawling to cover her.
Christiana immediately wrapped her arms around him, holding on for dear life as her body shivered and quaked beneath his. She groaned and held on even tighter when she felt him enter her, her legs instinctively wrapping around his hips, and her heels digging into his behind to urge him on as he began to build a new fire in her even before the last waves of the first had died. Spent as she was, al Christiana could manage at the start was to cling to him like seaweed, but as her excitement built anew, some of her energy returned and she began to move with him, shifting her hips to meet his thrusts, taking him as deep as she could manage.
While Christiana had been whol y uncertain she liked this part of the consummation when he'd entered her the first time, she now reveled in it, enjoying the way their bodies joined, how he fil ed her, how her body clung to him, trying to prevent his escape and then welcoming him back at each return. She thought they should do this al night and kept thinking that right up until they both found their release again, and even as she drifted off to sleep once more, satiated, spent and smiling.
