Grasso, Patricia (30 page)

But she never said stop.

Richard lay perfectly still for several long moments, letting her become accustomed to the feel of him inside her. He began moving seductively, enticing her to move with him.

Keely wrapped her legs around his waist as innocence vanished and primal instinct surfaced. She moved with him and met each of his powerful thrusts with her own.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a thousand suns exploded inside Keely. Wave after wave of volcanic sensation carried her to paradise and beyond.

Only then did Richard unleash his own powerful need. Clutching her tightly, he groaned and shuddered and poured his potent seed deep within her womb.

They lay still for long moments, their labored breathing the only sound in the chamber. Richard finally rolled to one side, pulling her with him, and planted a kiss on her forehead. He gazed with budding love at her wondrous expression.

With her heart shining in her eyes, Keely looked at her husband and said,
"Stop."

"Stop?" Richard cocked a copper brow at her as his emerald eyes lit with amused surprise.

He was unable to suppress the chuckle bubbling up. Within three seconds, his chuckle gave birth to a howl of hearty laughter, and his shoulders shook with uncontrollable mirth.

"You're shaking the bed," Keely said, and then dissolved into giggles.

Richard pulled her across his chest. One of his hands massaged the fragile nape of her neck while his lips claimed hers in what he intended to be a passionate kiss; but for the first time in his life, the worldly wise earl laughed into the mouth of the woman he was kissing. Surrendering to the inevitable, he pulled his wife down on top of him and stroked her back while he tried to tame his mirth.

Keely rested her head against the mat of dark copper curls that covered his chest. She heard the rhythmic beating of his heart and sighed with contentment.

Lifting the gleaming pendant from between her breasts, Richard asked, "Do you always wear the dragon?"

"I shall never willingly remove my mother's legacy," Keely answered.

"You loved her very much."

"I still do. Love lives for all of eternity. It cannot die with the loved one's passing."

Richard felt strangely comforted by that thought. " 'Tis time for sleeping," he said.

"I'm not tired." In fact, every nerve in Keely's body tingled in a wild riot, the natural by-product of her husband's lovemaking.

"I have a gift for you," he said.

"And I for you," she replied in a soft voice.

With no regard for modesty, Richard rose from the bed and walked across the chamber. Keely lingered there a moment longer and admired her husband's magnificent body with its broad shoulders, strong back, tapered waist, and firm buttocks.

Feeling her eyes upon him, Richard glanced over his shoulder and winked suggestively at her.

Keely blushed and leaped off the bed, then remembered her own nakedness. Grabbing her husband's discarded bedrobe, she quickly covered herself. Keely heard his husky chuckle and cast him a quelling look before heading across the chamber to her own belongings.

They rendezvoused at the bed. Refusing to relinquish her husband's bedrobe, Keely sat on top of the coverlet and tucked her legs beneath her. Richard sat with his back resting against the headboard and covered his more interesting features with the coverlet.

"Happy wedding day, dearest," Richard said, handing her the smaller of the two packages in front of him.

Keely opened the lid of the lacquered box and stared at its contents. On a bed of blue velvet lay the most beautiful brooch she'd ever seen. A gold flower basket filled with love-in-a-mist, the brooch's blossoms had been created in sapphires, amethysts, and diamonds.

Looking up at his expectant expression, Keely said in a voice no louder than a whisper, " 'Tis worthy of a queen."

Richard leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on her lips, saying, "You are
my
queen."

Keely stared at the brooch and valiantly blinked back the sudden tears that filled her eyes, but her bottom lip trembled with the effort. Once again she wondered what the earl would do when he realized he'd married the wrong woman. She could never fit into his world, nor would his world accept her for what she was. By God's holy stones, she didn't even know how to dance.

"Open the other," Richard said.

Keely shook her head. She pasted a bright smile onto her face and insisted, " 'Tis your turn, my lord." She offered him one of two packages and added apologetically, "I fear 'tis not so fine as what you've given me."

"I'll be the judge of that," Richard said, opening the box. A heavy band of gold with an immense red carnelian stone stared up at him.

"As you already know, the carnelian protects its owner," Keely told him.

Richard handed her the ring and then gestured for her to slip it onto the third finger of his left hand, saying, "Thank you, Keely. I will cherish it...
por tous jours."

"For always," Keely whispered, slipping the ring onto his finger. With irrepressible mischief shining in her eyes, she added, "I couldn't ask His Grace for money because

I wasn't speaking to him at the time. So Odo and Hew robbed a fancy lord along the Strand. I do hope the fact that the ring is stolen doesn't bother you."

"Your cousins stole—?"

Keely burst out laughing. "I'm teasing."

" 'Tis a magnificent gift, but not quite as magnificent as your amethyst eyes," Richard told her. "Did you know that the amethyst represents virtue?"

Keely shook her head. "What about emeralds?"
Like your eyes,
she thought.

"Emeralds signify constancy."

I hope so,
she thought but said nothing.

Richard offered her his second gift. "In view of your unusual beliefs, I thought you could use a bit of redemption," he teased.

Wearing a puzzled smile, Keely unwrapped the package. "A book?"

" 'Tis
Lives of the Saints."

Instead of laughing as he'd expected, Keely frowned at the book without really seeing it. She recalled the gibberish she'd seen that day in the study and worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Her husband knew she was a penniless bastard. What would he now think upon discovering she was also ill-educated?

"Is there a problem, dearest?"

Keely heard the concern in his voice. Too embarrassed to meet his gaze, she stared at his chest and confessed, "My lord, I am unable to read any language but English."

"I know," Richard said, his expression tender. "If you look closely at the book, sweetheart, you'll see that I've translated
Lives of the Saints
into English."

Keely smiled with relief and held the book in her arms almost reverently. "What a wonderful gift. I've never owned a book before."

"Will you read it?"

"Someday."

"Soon, I hope."

"In view of
your
lack of faith," Keely said, handing him her second gift, "I decided you could use a smidgeon of salvation."

Richard unwrapped the package. Puzzled, he stared at it for a long moment and then, realizing what it was, shouted with laughter. Richard unfolded the hooded white ceremonial robe and caressed his bride's handiwork, his initials
R
and
D
embroidered with golden threads.

"Will you wear it?" she asked.

His lips twitched. "Some night," he promised.

"Soon, I hope."

Richard pulled her down on the bed and stroked her back, saying, "You must be exhausted, sweetheart."

Keely shook her head but rested her cheek against his chest. "Your advice about forgiving my father was correct," she said. "I feel as if a tremendous weight has been lifted off my spirit."

"And so does he, my love."

He'd called her "my love," Keely thought. Did her husband harbor tender feelings for her? Or were his words a figure of speech, another English custom of which she was unaware?

"What are you thinking?" Richard asked, noting her troubled expression.

Keely reared up and faced the object of her thoughts. Nose to nose with him, she asked, "Would you have stopped if I'd asked you?"

His hand paused in its stroking. Richard gazed into her eyes and lied, "Yes, dearest. Your merest wish is my command."

Keely arched an ebony brow at him and then gifted him with a sweetly flirtatious smile. "What if I say
start?"

A devastatingly lazy smile spread across his handsome features. Richard gently flipped her onto her back and, with his sensuous lips, wiped the smile off her face. An hour later they dropped into a sated sleep.

Richard awakened during those hushed magical moments before dawn when the world still slept. Without bothering to open his eyes, he moved toward the middle of the bed in search of his wife's hot little body. It wasn't there. One emerald eye opened first, and then the other. Where the bloody hell had she gone? Richard rolled over and saw her.

Naked, with her ebony mane cascading to her waist, Keely stood in front of the window and gazed outside at the dawn. The palm of her hand rested against the window glass, and her lips moved in a silent chant.

The hint of a smile touched Richard's lips. His wife was greeting the sunrise, as she'd said she did each morning of her life.

Richard arose and padded on bare feet across the chamber. Holding the veil of her ebony mane aside, he brushed his lips along the nape of her neck and sensed every fiber of her being smile a good morning greeting to him.

Without shame or modesty, Keely leaned back against the hard muscular planes of his body. His strong arms encircled her and cupped the perfect globes of her breasts, his thumbs flicking seductively across her sensitive nipples.

Feeling her sharp intake of breath, Richard smiled inwardly and asked, "What do you see?"

"Beyond the horizon." Her voice sounded soft and dreamy.

"What lies beyond the horizon, my love?"

Keely turned within the circle of his embrace. She entwined her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips, then answered, "Our daughter Blythe has begun her long journey to us."

Richard gave her a puzzled smile. What she said made no sense at all, but by now he'd known her long enough to realize that any explanation she offered would only confuse him more. So he nodded once, accepting her words without question.

"What would you like to do on this first full day of our married life?" he asked.

"Our marriage needs a propitious beginning," she answered gravely. "Duty requires that we return to Devereux House. Oh, and we'll need a barge large enough to carry Merlin. She must accompany us."

"Why?" Richard asked, already regretting the need for an explanation.

" 'Tis an ancient Welsh custom," Keely explained. "When a bride walks her horse through her husband's home, good luck follows."

Laughter lurked in his voice when he asked, "You think to march Merlin through Devereux House?"

Keely nodded.

"She'll conduct her business on my floor," Richard argued.

"Merlin is a well-mannered lady and would never even consider so foul an action," Keely assured him. "Besides, 'tis important for the well-being of our marriage."

Richard absolutely refused to allow a damned horse into his house. Nor did he intend to pass the day arguing with his wife about it.

"Cheshire and your father will be wed this afternoon," he reminded her. "We haven't the time to journey to Devereux House. Will this venerable custom await our homecoming at a later date?"

"I suppose so," she answered with an uncertain frown.

Richard stepped back a pace and held his hand out in invitation, saying, "Come to bed."

Keely dropped her gaze from his emerald eyes to his hand and then his manroot, lying flaccid at his groin. She reached out slowly and said, "My lord, you carry a beauty mark on the top of—oh!" Beneath the light touch of her fingertip, his manhood stiffened, surprising her. "Why, it has a life of its own."

"This randy fellow makes no move without my knowledge and approval," Richard said. "What you see is a freckle, clearest. Ladies have beauty marks, and gentlemen have handsome freckles."

Richard scooped her into his arms and carried her across the chamber. He tossed her unceremoniously onto the bed and, with an exaggerated growl of lust, fell on top of her.

Keely and Richard passed the whole of the morning and part of the afternoon basking in the sun's warmth and sighing at the gentle summer's breeze.
All within the kingdom of their bed.

Chapter
13

"Are you ready?" Richard asked, entering their bedchamber. " 'Tis late."

At the sound of her husband's voice, Keely turned away from the window and stood motionless while he stared at her. His awed expression pleased her immensely.

With a smile playing upon his handsome face, her husband stood five feet inside the room and looked her up and down appreciatively. His emerald gaze drifted downward from her lovely face, lingered on the exposed cleavage of her creamy breasts, and then traveled the remaining distance to the tips of her dainty slippered feet.

His smoldering gaze made Keely feel like a princess in a gown of violet velvet that exactly matched her eyes. Her only adornments were the dragon pendant that hung on the gold chain around her neck, the love-in-a-mist brooch, and the rings he'd given her.

"What do you think?" Keely asked, twirling in a circle for his perusal, her eyes sparkling as brightly as the amethysts in her love-in-a-mist brooch.

Richard closed the distance between them and, in courtly manner, bowed low over her hand. "I think you are the most beautiful woman in all of Christendom," he said.

As they left the chamber, Keely flicked a glance at his somber apparel. "Why do you always wear black, my lord?" she asked. " 'Tis the color of mourning."

"Never reveal this to another soul," Richard confided as if confessing a dark secret. "Black is the only color that I'm certain matches both my red hair and my green eyes."