Kathryn Smith - [Friends 03] (25 page)

"Oh, God, Sophia," he groaned, his hands moving up to cup her breasts. "Do not stop."

Gasping as he squeezed her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, Sophia felt her tenuous grip on her control snap. Leaning forward, she braced most of her weight against his hands and his ribs, riding him furiously as the dam within her burst, releasing a torrent of pleasure like nothing she had ever felt before. It washed over her in waves of mindless ecstasy, driving her onward, even as she heard Julian cry out in his own release. He bucked beneath her, grinding his pelvis against hers and sending aftershocks of acute pleasure rippling through her.

Her body still firing sparks of sensation, Sophia collapsed onto Julian's chest, her hair tumbling them both into darkness. A few seconds later, his hands smoothed the mass back from her face and she was able to see him again.

He was smiling. "Are you all right?"

He had to ask? Good Lord! If she were any better she would need medical attention.

"More than all right," she replied. "You?"

He nodded.

Silence followed. Lowering herself to his side, Sophia was very much aware that he was watching her. When she again met his gaze, she was humbled by the tenderness she saw there. She had pleased him, and he hadn't had to tell her how to do it, as Edmund always seemed to. He hadn't instructed her on how to touch him or how to kiss, and he had set her body aflame with the simplest of caresses. How did he do it? Better yet, how did she?

She was going to fall in love with him. She knew it with such clarity that it was as if her heart were caught in a vice. Loving Julian would be wonderful, provided he loved her in return. If he didn't, her life would be even more miserable with him than it had been without.

"Was it worth waiting seven years for?" she inquired, wanting to put an end to her thoughts.

Chuckling, Julian wrapped his arms around her. "Yes. Only I hope you do not plan to make me wait another seven before we do it again."

Sophia laughed and kissed him. "My dear Lord Wolfram, I expect you to be ready in seven
minutes
."

He stared at her in mock horror. "I do not think that is possible."

But six and a half minutes later, a very happy Sophia and a very surprised Julian discovered that it was.

"T
ell me about your marriage to Aberley."

Sophia glanced at him over one soapy, wet shoulder. "What do you want to know?"

It was late in the evening and they were in Julian's dressing room, soaking in the large copper tub near the fire. Sophia sat nestled in the
V
of his legs as Julian reclined against the head of the tub, lazily washing the warm flesh of her back. The firelight danced over her wet skin, turning it various shades of golden perfection.

They had been married two days and he was still in awe of her.

Julian squeezed the cloth over her back, rinsing away the suds. "Why did you marry him?"

Her answer was a slight, noncommittal shrug. "Because I had too."

Julian stilled, his hand poised over her back. Water trickled down his arm. "You had too?"

"My parents were still trying to recover from the scandal. No one else would have me— " Julian winced. That was his fault. "— so when Aberley said he wanted me, my father was all too happy to oblige. He made it very clear that if I did not marry Aberley I would be tossed out with the morning's slop."

Her tone was so matter of fact, so devoid of bitterness, that Julian didn't know what to make of it. He rinsed the rest of the soap off her back. "Aberley was beyond proper. Why would he offer for a young woman who was— " he couldn't finish.

"Supposedly spoiled goods?" his wife supplied lightly. There was a trace of bitterness in her voice now, but instinct told Julian it wasn't directed at him.

"He wanted to make an example out of me. He wanted to mold me into a proper lady and then show me off to all of society as his creation so he could brag about 'taming' me. And he desired me." She turned her face away. "Aberley was not quite the proper gentleman behind closed doors."

Julian's fingers tightened on the washcloth. "He did not hurt you?"

Sophia shook her head. "No, but he broke me all the same. He turned me into someone I did not recognize."

He drew her backward so that her shoulder blades rested against his chest and slipped his arms around her. "You can be whomever you want now."

Her hands closed over his. "Thank you."

"I am sorry." How hard it was to say the words!

Tilting her head so she could look up at him, Sophia smiled kindly. "It was a long time ago and we are different people than we were back then."

God, what had he done to deserve her understanding? "If I had done the right thing you never would have had to marry Aberley."

Sophia shrugged, seemingly unaware of his regret. "At least my time with him was brief."

At that moment Julian sincerely hoped that Edmund Morelle was burning in hell.

"Was he that awful?" He didn't want to know. Truly he didn't, but a part of him wanted desperately to hear that Aberley was worse than
him.

She seemed to think about it for a moment. "No, I do not think so. He was never cruel, just…persuasive."

He should have known better than to ask. "Did you ever resent him for not being able to give you children?"

Sophia seemed surprised by the question. "I knew when I married him there would not be any. Besides, I was still a child myself in many ways. I had no desire to bear any."

Julian nodded. He was still thinking about what she had said about Aberley's reasons for marrying her. Aberley's little experiment to show off to the
ton
. Look how the Marquess of Aberley turned the little hoyden into a proper lady.

She pulled away, turning her body to face him more fully. "Why the sudden interest in my marriage? Were you perhaps also wondering how you compared to Edmund as a husband?"

Was he that transparent? "Perhaps."

She faced him, water sloshing over the sides of the tub as she moved between his bent knees. In the firelight her eyes were so black there was no distinction between iris and pupil. She slid her arms around his neck, pressing the warm, wet heaviness of her breasts against his chest.

"Forget about Edmund, Julian. He is in the past and you and I have enough problems without bringing him into it."

Slipping his arms around her waist, Julian pulled her closer so that her entire front lay flush against his. "I will do everything in my power to give you the future you deserve."

She didn't say anything. She just stared at him with those unreadable ebony eyes of hers, and for a moment Julian wondered if maybe he had said too much.

"How is it?" she asked, after what seemed like an eternity. "That you always seem to know exactly what to say to make me feel like the most incredible woman in all of England?"

Julian's heart swelled with an emotion he didn't dare try to name. "Because you are." In the world, in fact, but now wasn't the time to admit that, because then he'd have to examine it and he didn't want to. "You are like myth, nature and fantasy rolled into one— a sweeter garden than Eden ever dreamed."

"You said that on our wedding night," she reminded him, conjuring images of all the pleasureful things they had done that night. "What is that from?"

Dare he tell her? What if she laughed? What if she suspected how deep his feelings for her ran? He scarcely knew their depths himself.

"It is from a poem I am writing." He didn't have to say about whom.

Sophia didn't speak. She kissed him instead, and as her lips pressed against his, Julian's understood everything she didn't say.

The kiss seemed to last forever. Every last detail burned itself into Julian's mind with heart-wrenching clarity; the soft, supple rhythm of their lips, the gentle poke of Sophia's nipples against his chest, the delicate brush of her sex against the thickening length of his stirring erection.

"Take me to bed," she whispered against his mouth.

Julian did as he was bid. Rising to his feet in the tub, he drew the warm, wet curves of her body hard against his. He stepped out onto the rug, sweeping Sophia out of the bath with a splash and up into his arms. They dripped a trail of suds from the dressing room to his chamber.

He laid her on the bed, their slippery limbs entwining as he slid between her parted thighs. He kissed her— her mouth, her breasts, her belly, the hot, salty furrow between her legs. She writhed beneath him, every whisper fanning the flames of his desire.

"Tell me what you want," he demanded, as he hovered above her. He wanted to please her, wanted to give her everything that was in his power to give.

"You." Drowsy dark eyes shone up at him. "I just want you."

He gave himself to her. Filling her slowly, he groaned as he slid deeper and deeper into of her sultry tightness. Time stood still as her strong, round legs clamped around his hips. The muscles of his arms trembled with tension as he struggled to make this moment last.

It ended much sooner than he would have liked. Sophia's cries of release sent Julian spiraling unstoppably toward his own.

He fell forward on his arms, body shuddering as the spasms rocked him. Never before had lovemaking affected him so strongly. It felt as though his soul had exploded.

As his senses returned and the spots dancing before his eyes cleared away, Julian reluctantly withdrew himself from Sophia's softness and rolled onto his side next to her.

Silence descended as they lay there, staring into each other's eyes, smiling. Whoever would have thought that they could ever have this level of comfort between them? Never in a million years could he have guessed that it would feel so right to have Sophia in his life. It felt as though a door long shut had been opened, letting fresh air and sunlight into an otherwise dank and darkened room.

Julian's smile faded. Sophia was that fresh air and sunshine. His heart was that dank and darkened room.

"I promise I will never turn my back on you again."

Her expression softened. "Let us hope you never have reason to test that vow."

"As long as we do not keep secrets from each other I can see no reason for it to be tested."

Something flickered in the darkness of her eyes, something that jerked his heart against his ribs and made him want to ask what it was she was hiding, but that wasn't what trusting someone was all about, and he was determined to trust Sophia.

"Come," he commanded, sitting up. "We will get washed, put on our robes and sneak downstairs for a glass of wine in the library. If you are good I shall read to you."

"And if I am naughty?" Smiling seductively, Sophia also sat up and allowed him to help her to her feet.

Julian returned the smile. Lord, but she made him feel young and carefree!

"If you are naughty then you shall have to read to me."

An exaggerated pout pursed her lips. "That does not sound very enticing."

Walking behind her, Julian placed both hands on her full hips and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Yes, but you do not know what I plan to do to you while you are reading."

She shivered beneath his hands and he chuckled.

The water in the tub was beginning to cool and so they washed quickly, drying off with soft, warm towels before slipping into their robes and slippers.

Like two mischievous children, they crept quietly through the dark corridor and down the stairs. Once they were in the library, Julian locked the door and stoked the fire dying in the hearth. Within minutes he had a nice blaze going, bathing the room in flickering light and snug warmth.

Kicking off his slippers, Julian padded barefoot across the plush carpet to the liquor cabinet and retrieved two wineglasses. He filled each with a generous measure of rich, red wine.

"So, what book would you like?" he asked as he turned toward her, a glass in either hand. As soon as his gaze fell upon her, he froze in stunned and aroused amusement.

His wife— his very, very
naughty
wife— reclined on the chaise, her pale skin even paler against the dark blue velvet. She had taken her hair down and the thick, black curtain fell straight and heavy around her shoulders.

She was also stark naked.

"I shall read whatever you like, my lord."

Grinning, Julian closed the distance between them. "Oh, shall you?" He offered her a glass.

"Oh, yes." A seductive smile curved her lips. "I only ask one thing."

"And what is that?"

The smile grew. "Pick something
long
. I want you to keep me reading for a while."

Early the following afternoon, joined by Lilith in a shiny wine-colored carriage with the Angelwood crest on the door, Sophia realized that she had yet to give her husband a wedding gift. She wanted to give him something that might measure up to all he had given her, but how could she possibly match a poem?

"First we shop for us," Lilith informed her with a grin as the carriage rocked into motion. "Then we shall find something suitable for Julian."

They made small talk as the carriage bore them through the city toward Bond Street. Lilith's maid Luisa was with them, and while the maid spoke little English, her understanding of it was apparently much, much more advanced. It would not do to discuss private matters in front of her.

When they entered a fashionable dress shop some time later, Lilith wasted no time in putting as much distance between them and the maid as possible.

"So," she began, linking her arm through Sophia's. "Is that husband ever going to take you away for a proper honeymoon?"

Sophia smiled as they walked down an aisle laden with bolts of material on either side. "At the end of the season, after he is certain of Letitia's situation." Her smile faded a bit.

Julian was becoming increasingly anxious to see his sister wed, and Letitia was becoming increasingly secretive and withdrawn. Sophia was scared that her friend was going to do something foolish, but her vow prevented her from saying anything to Julian. She didn't like keeping secrets from him, especially after what he'd said yesterday about the two of them being honest with each other. Her concern that Letitia might be right about him forcing her to marry— Lord, she hated thinking he might prove to be like her father!— warred with her promise to Julian. She hoped Mr. Wesley proved himself worth all this secrecy.