Veiled in Blue (27 page)

“Would you let me go alone?”

Would he? If he was sure she was safe, he might have to. That would prove the bitterest pill of all to swallow, to know he could have had her but he’d thrown it away. “Have I lost you, then? Can you no longer trust me or even spend time in the same house as me?”

She bit her lip. One large tear tumbled from the corner of her left eye and trailed down the side of her face, creating a glistening path for others to follow. Desperate to prevent them from falling, he tried again.

“If you wish it, I will do even that. Nobody will trouble you. You may live with your mother as if I had never come into your life. Except I will make you financially stable. I will never abandon you, Eve.”

She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. When she opened them again, the depths were darker, the pupils wider. “No, I do not want that. I wanted to know how you would answer me. God help me, Julius, but I love you.”

She spoke as if the words were torn out of her.

Relief powered through him, lightened his heart while he stared at her. He did not deserve this. Still sore from recognizing his mistake, he would do anything for her, to make this right. Desperation chased the relief. “Then we will make this marriage a strong one. We have everything we need. I’ll make arrangements for us to leave as soon as possible.”

“What about your parents?”

“They will not have a say in our lives. We do not have to see them or this house ever again, should that be your desire.” He dared to move his hands, slide them farther about her waist. She pressed her breasts against his chest, the movement making them swell above her low-cut neckline.

Julius tried to keep his attention away from the luscious bounty spread before him. She did not move away or make any protest. A little more relief slid through him.

Eve lifted her hands from where they had hung limply from her side and curved them around his upper arms. She kept her attention on his face, watching him closely. “No, we cannot do that. Even tonight I saw what you were, what you could become. What you
should
become. How can I deprive people of that? You cannot waste your talents.”

“For intrigue and scheming, you mean?”

“No!” Her denial was vehement. She shook her head, and more curls came loose, the hairpins falling out from the relaxed style. She did not appear to notice, but Julius did. “You are a great man. You have power and influence and the ability to make people listen to you. Not once tonight did you raise your voice, but everyone paid attention when you spoke. Your ideas were taken into consideration, although you said nothing of me. By the end of the evening you almost had them reconciled to me.” She glanced down, as if fascinated by the buttons on his waistcoat. “Those women—your mother intended one for you, did she not?”

He smiled ruefully. “Yes, she did. When I met you, I was running away from this house party. I knew I would have to marry again, to make an heir or at least try to, but I did not wish to do so. The idea of marrying a woman of her choosing terrified me.”

Her attention returned to his face. “You, terrified?”

“Very much. She had backed me into a corner. I had no redress. Then I met you, and I knew in short order I wanted to be married more than anything else in the world. But only to you.”

Unable to prevent himself any longer, Julius lowered his head and kissed her. His lips touched hers and pressed until she opened her mouth under his, and he could give her his tongue. Not in passion, not yet, but in pure, heartfelt love. Eve responded eagerly, sucking his tongue and stroking her own against it. She lifted up on tiptoe and he slid one hand to her backside, bringing the other up to support her upper back, holding her securely while they exchanged caresses.

With that kiss he made her a silent promise. This woman was too precious to be a possession, whatever the law said. She was his equal, his partner, his wife. She would be a part of his life—the center of his life. He would never keep anything from her again.

Slowly the kiss grew in intensity, as their mouths opened wider, the better to explore and possess. The world tightened, shortened, and folded in around them, until nothing mattered but the woman in his arms. Julius would have kissed her forever, but other parts of his body were making themselves known. His erection rose, hardened, and trapped a fold of his underwear, so it rubbed uncomfortably, but anything against that organ would have irritated him, except the hot, wet heat of his wife’s body. Nothing else would do.

Julius would not call himself a roué, but he was certainly experienced. Eve made him feel like a lovesick schoolboy, clumsy, far too anxious to get her naked to concern himself with finesse and ensuring her comfort.

But she behaved the same way. She pulled at his shirt, even before he had his waistcoat undone, her jerky movements so fierce she threatened to tear the fabric. Not that he’d have cared.

He dragged off his coat, heedless of the fine material and gold buttons, and tossed it away, registering the thunk as it hit the floor but caring nothing for its condition. Then his waistcoat. Instead of unfastening the myriad buttons, he thrust his hand in the opening at the top and dragged it down. Some buttons slid through the holes. Others popped off and scattered over the floor. The waistcoat followed the coat.

Before she could harm herself, Julius drew away far enough to remove the long sapphire pin he’d thrust through his neckcloth. Before he could toss it aside, she took it and turned, laying it on the dressing table with shaking hands.

When she turned back, she stared at him, wide-eyed.

“I’ll die if you change your mind now.” Desperation filled him to the brim. That part of him that was not filled with desire. No, not desire, but pure, raw need.

He pulled her back against him, beginning to unfasten the front of her gown. The hooks parted easily, and unlike the way he dealt with his own clothes, he took care with hers. At present she did not have many, and they were precious to her. So he went about his task as gently as his excitement would allow, sliding the gown off her shoulders and away and starting on her petticoat. He dotted tiny kisses on her cheeks, her nose, and her mouth, feeling her smile under his lips. A happy kiss. The notion made Julius smile, too.

He had her clothes off in a few minutes. When she was naked, he held her, just held her so he could feel her heat, and then kissed her and lifted her before ripping the covers away from the bed and laying her on the smooth linen sheets.

Eve made no effort to hide herself. Instead, she lay on her side, propping her head on her hand, and watched him strip away his shirt, breeches, hose, and underwear. He’d already kicked off his shoes without undoing the buckles, leaving them where he’d stepped out of them.

Then he joined her. As he fit her naked body to his, he sighed in utter contentment. But they weren’t done. To his delight, she laid her fingers on his cock, claiming it for her own. As she should, because he was utterly hers, every part of him. “Mine,” she murmured, so softly he hardly heard her, but the silence inside his room was still, the air thrumming with anticipation.

“Yours,” he agreed. “Every part of me belongs to you. Do with me what you will.”

Her eyes widened, the center growing darker as her pupils opened, an unmistakable indication of her arousal. Her lips were red, plumped by desire and his kisses. He made sure they would stay that way by kissing her again, taking his time, caressing her tongue with his as he pressed against her incredibly soft skin.

Taking her hands in his, he lifted them and pressed them against the pillow as he rolled over her and positioned his shaft to slide against her adorably wet heat. When he broke the kiss, he paused and smiled at her. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” He stopped her scoffing with a kiss, and instead, she chuckled into his mouth.

He drew back in mock indignation. “You don’t believe me?”

Eve shook her head, her curls clinging to the pillow.

A slow smile took over his lips. “Then let me prove it to you, wife.”

She sighed when he released her to take his shaft in one hand and guide it home.

He joined them. Eve was ready for him, welcoming him in, her inner walls clinging to him as he slid in and out of her.

“I will never get enough of you. Never. I will arrive in your bedroom with eager anticipation every night. You will never be free of me, even during the day. I will look at you, and you’ll know I am saying, ‘Eve, come upstairs. Make love with me.’”

“And I will come.”

“Oh, yes, sweetheart. You will come.”

A sweet flush mantled her cheeks. He kissed each one and then her mouth, all the time moving in a slow, deliberate rhythm. He watched her, marking the rise of her arousal. He changed the angle of entry, keeping his movements gradual until, with one supple twist, she arched her back and pressed against him. She lifted her legs and wound them around his, her heels pressing on the mattress to aid her response to him. Her body clenched, gripped him as if she would never let go, and she sighed, her breath caressing his cheek when he bent to kiss her.

He took her mouth with the same fervor with which he was claiming her body, thrusting his tongue inside in time with the way his cock was delving inside her.

Nothing could ever equal this. He forged inside her as if his life depended on it. Which, in a way, it did. Because if he could not persuade her to stay with him, to be as close to him as she was now, part of him would truly die. This was what he was born for, and this was the woman he was born for.

At last.

His heart stopped as he gazed at her. Then, with one steady thump, it went back into action. A part of his life had died with that pause, but not a part he would ever mourn. He was freshly made because of this woman.

What he felt before—that had not been love. This was love, this all-encompassing joy, this need to care for her, to spend his life by her side.

Smiling at his own foolishness, he drew away so he could watch her face, her reaction when she came. Bringing all the finesse he had learned over the years to the fore, he stroked her, tried to tell her with his body what she meant to him.

Of course that was impossible, but in time he might find a way to do it properly. “I shall practice until I get it right.”

A crease appeared between her brows. “Until you get what right?”

“The best way to love you.” In case she hadn’t understood, he took her face between his hands and met her eyes. “I love you, Eve.”

“Oh.” The crease melted away. “You do that so well. Surely it’s my turn?”

Without warning, except for an extra sparkle in her eyes, she pushed on one side. Taken by surprise, he rolled over, but once he realized what she was at, he let her claim her position on top of him.

He smiled up at her, delighted she was taking the initiative. “You are utterly captivating.”

Now she’d won her ploy, she paused, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. “Will you tell me what I should do?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, no, not a chance. You started this, so you can carry on. Do what you want. Anything. Try something. If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.”

“I don’t know…”

“Nothing is wrong.” He slid his hands up her sides, caressing the swells of her breasts as they pressed against his chest. “We are the only people here. I won’t tell anybody. Will you?”

He laughed when she gasped. “Of course not!” she exclaimed.

“Then we’re safe. Do whatever you want to. Except for one thing.” He moved, enough to remind her he was filling her. “Don’t stop.”

“Oh!” her eyes went unfocussed for a minute, and then a wicked grin curled her full lips. Flattening her hands either side of him, she levered herself up and brought her legs under her and then either side of him.

Julius groaned. He had never seen such a beautiful sight. Her breasts swayed over him, and her face was animated, full of mischief. He wanted her like this all the time, happy, concentrated on him.

“Did I hurt you?”

He shook his head slightly. “No. I wouldn’t care if you did, but you are not. Nor will you, unless you stay there without moving for much longer.”

When she laughed, the vibrations travelled right to where he was still deeply embedded inside her.

Still shaken by the effects of her laughter, Julius nearly lost his mind when she rose and then lowered again. She took her lower lip between her teeth and moved again, keeping her attention on his face. He had to do something, or he’d come in an instant, just from taking delight at her initiative. It was true—the mind was the greatest aphrodisiac.

But when she moved, his reason froze. All he was capable of was to respond, to hold his body steady as she lifted and lowered. Julius thrust back, tried to do his part, but she had him helpless. And he loved it. Better than the most skillful courtesan who ever existed, her appeal more potent, her beauty more evident, Eve slid over him, and he gave himself up to her.

He had meant to claim her, but she had turned the tables. Did she know how helpless he was under her ministrations?

Julius grasped her waist, helped her move, but did not try to control her. He kept his eyes open, eager to learn and know what she wanted.

“Is this good?” she asked in a breathless whisper.

“Very good.” Telling her everything she did pleased him would not help or encourage her. Would not help her learn, as she evidently wished to do. Changing the angle of his entry, sinking his backside deeper into the mattress, he found her sweet spot. Eve stiffened and gasped, giving a little cry, but she didn’t stop moving.

She felt so good, her warmth flowing over him, the sweet and spicy aroma of their lovemaking surrounding them. The sight of her—he needed more. Releasing her waist with one hand, he curved it around the back of her neck and drew her down to taste her.

He didn’t linger. He’d yearned for her. Urging her back up, he opened his eyes and gently restored her to her upright position. She laughed when she resumed her actions, before she increased them, using her knees for traction so she raised her body and brought it down again, grinding her sweet rear against his thighs with every stroke. Her actions increased as her confidence grew, driving him further to his release.