Simply Voracious (17 page)

She was already heading for the bed, so he followed her over. “Are you sure, Lucky?”

She looked steadily back at him. “I’m sure that I want you to consummate this marriage, yes.”

He couldn’t quite determine her mood, but he couldn’t deny the interest she aroused in him. This new, grown-up version of Lucky intrigued him far more than any of the women in the pleasure house. If she wanted him, he would be delighted to oblige her. He climbed in beside her and lay on his side facing her. He reached out and cupped her chin. “Thank you for today. You were magnificent and are far more than I deserve.”

A faint blush rose on her cheeks. “I was just relieved that everything went off so well.”

“Were you worried that your discarded suitor would turn up and ruin the day?”

She shivered. “Yes.”

“Well, he can’t hurt you now. I will keep you safe, I swear it.” He leaned in and kissed her soft, trembling mouth. She sighed his name, and he slid his hand around to the nape of her neck and kissed her until she started to respond, her body softening against his, her arms coming up to hold him.

“I want you, Lucky. Do you want me?”

He waited for her to speak, his emotions embarrassingly close to the surface, and his need for her surprising him. She wasn’t just a woman he could give pleasure to; Gabriel had been right: that could indeed be learned. Lucky was his wife, his best friend, and his most loyal supporter.

“Yes, please, Paul.”

He let out his breath, slowly rolled her on to her back, and looked down at her. Despite her calm expression, she was still quite nervous.

“I’ll make this the best wedding night you could ever have dreamed of. I promise.”

Her smile warmed him with its sweetness. “You forget, you always were my dream.”

He kissed her nose and then her chin, his fingers working at the ribbon at her neck to open her nightgown. Her hand came up around his neck and held him tightly. Even though they’d been intimate before, he was still careful, still determined not to scare her in any way.

She brought his mouth back to hers and he succumbed to the need in her kiss, his hands wandering over her body, pushing her nightgown out of the way as he rediscovered her soft curves and hollows. He shaped her hip and thigh, his fingers drifting closer to her mound and the delights that awaited him between her thighs. Deepening the kiss, he slid his hand between her legs and cupped her sex.

She pushed against him and his fingers sunk deeper until he was able to slide them back and forth. His thumb centered over her bud as he brought her to a shuddering climax that made his cock ache and throb with need.

“Let me inside you, Lucky.”

She sighed his name against his mouth, and he came down over her, his hips aligned with hers, his cock pressing against her most tender, welcoming flesh. He slowly filled her, watching her face, the way her eyes widened as he rocked against her.

He wanted to tell her not to be afraid, but instinct took over and he started to thrust, sliding one hand under her buttocks to bring her closer and open her wider to him. Her hands tightened around his neck, and she shoved his dressing gown aside until it slid off his shoulders. Her nails dug into his skin, but he paid no heed to the tiny irritation; all his focus was on pleasing her, on making his cock last long enough to give her another climax.

She tensed under him, and he set his teeth as she started to tighten around his shaft. He kept thrusting even as his cock wanted to come, kept grinding against her swollen bud until she gave in to the pleasure and screamed it out. He climaxed then, in long, shuddering waves that made him collapse over her.

When he was able to breathe normally again, he rolled on to his back and brought her with him to nestle against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and she laid her palm flat on his chest over his heart.

“Are you all right, Lucky?” he whispered.

In answer, he received a tiny snore and found himself smiling into the darkness. For a man who’d never imagined having a wedding night, this one had turned out to be quite extraordinary after all.

Lucky retrieved her dressing gown, got out of bed, her finger to her lips, and approached Milly, who had just slipped into the room.

“Thank you, Milly. Leave the hot water, and bring up some tea and coffee, will you?” she whispered. “I’ll ring when I want you to come back and help me dress.”

“Yes, my lady,” Milly hissed back. “I have your tray right outside the door.”

Lucky wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and waited until Milly poured her a cup of tea and departed. She glanced back at the bed, where Paul still lay sleeping. He was on his front, the covers down at his waist. One hand draped gracefully over the edge of the bed and trailed on the floor. His blond hair caught the strands of sunlight filtering through the curtains and he looked positively angelic.

She couldn’t quite believe he was her husband. The mere sight of him made her body throb in already sensitive places. He’d been so careful with her that she’d almost wanted to weep. The intense pleasure had surprised her; the feel of him inside her had been nothing like Jeremy’s rough invasion, despite the fact that Paul had felt . . . bigger.

But he was hers now, legally and completely, and she wanted him to be happy more than anything else in the world. She swallowed down an unexpected swell of emotion. It was a shame she hadn’t seen Paul with Gabriel Swanfield before she had rushed him into marriage.

Lucky had a quick wash and then curled up on the couch to drink her tea. Paul’s gentle lovemaking had only reinforced her decision to do the right thing for both of them. All she had to do was find a way to tell him her thoughts without him growing too angry with her. And he would be angry; she had no doubt of that.

She finished her tea and got up to pour herself another cup. When she turned back, she saw that Paul was awake and regarding her through half-closed eyes.

“I hope you have coffee there as well as some food. I’m famished.”

“You are always hungry.” She picked up the other silver pot. “I do have some coffee for you. I’ll ring for breakfast in a moment.”

He sat up, the covers falling away from him, and shoved a hand through his untidy hair. “Why are you up so early, Lucky? I believe you are supposed to languish in bed after your wedding night.”

She blushed as she handed him the cup of coffee and resumed her place on the sofa. Sometimes it was uncanny how well he knew her. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Something more important than food?” His smile died and his brown eyes narrowed. “Out with it, Lucky.”

She took a deep breath. “First, I want you to swear that our marriage is now completely legal and completely consummated.”

“Yes, it is—unless you have the power and the funds to seek a divorce. It is extremely unlikely that will happen unless you become the mistress of one of the king’s sons.”

“I don’t want a divorce.”

“Then for all intents and purposes, we are married until death do us part.”

“That is good.”

“I’m glad you feel like that. Now what’s the matter?”

Lucky took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to force yourself to make love to me anymore.”

“What?” The shock on his face made Lucky feel as if she’d struck him. He got out of bed and came toward her. “Did I hurt you, frighten you? For God’s sake, Lucky, tell me what I did wrong. I swear I’ll make it right for you.”

“It’s not that. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He sank down in front of her and looked up. “Then what? What has happened?”

“Madame Helene suggested we didn’t need to have a conventional marriage, and I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. And then I saw you with Gabriel Swanfield, and I realized that I had been incredibly selfish.”

He took her hand. “But I don’t want him anymore. I promised I would remain faithful to you.”

She looked into his brown eyes. “But it isn’t
fair,
Paul.”

His grip tightened. “I thought we decided it was
completely
fair right before we were married.”

“When I talked to Gabriel, I insisted that you had the capacity to love more than one person, and he agreed with me.”

He held her gaze, his brown eyes steady. “I do not love Gabriel Swanfield in the way you imagine. He is nothing more than a good friend to me now. I swear it.” He hesitated. “In fact, he offered me the opportunity to join him and his wife in bed occasionally, and I decided against it.”

“Why?”

“Because I decided I deserved better. I wanted to be loved wholeheartedly.”

“And, instead of finding that person, you married me. Now I feel even worse.”

“But you shouldn’t.” Paul smiled. “You were right about one thing. I do have the capacity to love more than one person, and I love you.”

“So what right do I have to stop you from loving where you please?”

“The right of a wife?”

He stood up and walked away from her, presenting her with a fine view of his muscled buttocks. He bent down to retrieve his dressing gown and tied the sash with a savage jerk of his wrist. “I don’t understand you, Lucky. I thought we had sorted this out.” He raised his head to stare at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to get out of this marriage?”

“Of course I’m sure. Why do you think I waited until we had consummated it to set you free?”

He groaned and sank down on to the side of the bed. “But I don’t want to be free. I entered this marriage in good faith, and I don’t intend to stray.”

“I’m not saying that you ‘have’ to stray. I’m saying that if you find you need another person in your bed, I would quite understand.”

He held her gaze, his expression serious. “Lucky, saying it and actually meaning it are two very different things.”

“Are you suggesting I’m lying?” She sat forward. “I’m trying to be honest with you. We said we would always do that!”

“I know, and I don’t think you are lying. You don’t have enough experience of physical relationships to understand how it feels when someone you love makes love to someone else.”

She raised her chin at him. “Actually, I do. I saw the way you looked at Gabriel Swanfield.” She pressed her hand to her breast. “I know how much that hurts.” She waited, her heart thumping so loudly she was certain he would hear it. “And don’t you dare tell me I don’t know how I feel.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He picked up his coffee cup and sipped slowly and she wanted to scream. “Perhaps we should leave it like this.” He inclined his head a formal inch. “Thank you for your generous offer, but I have no intention of actually breaking my word to you.”

“Then I have achieved nothing, have I?”

He stood up and put his cup back on the silver tray. “I don’t know, Lucky, have you? If you don’t want me in your bed, all you had to do was say so.”

He bowed and headed for the door that connected their two suites, shutting it gently behind him. Lucky remained on the sofa for a long moment and slowly let out her breath. So much for honesty. All she’d done was make him suspect she didn’t want him anymore, that he hadn’t been good enough for her after all.

She thought about chasing after him and making him see sense, but knew him well enough to realize he wouldn’t be in any mood to listen to her. Beneath that sweet exterior was a very stubborn man. She would simply have to think of another way of putting the matter to him and hope that this time she would achieve success.

14

P
aul contemplated his well-dressed reflection in the mirror and mentally thanked his father-in-law for footing the bill for his new wardrobe. The duke had insisted that if Paul was to squire Lucky around town, he needed more than one decent coat and three rather tatty army uniforms. Somehow the new clothes helped Paul fit into his new life; sometimes they made him feel like a complete fraud.

In truth, he felt like a fraud anyway. He’d kept away from Lucky’s bed for the past four nights and out of her sight. He wasn’t proud of his behavior, but needed to calm down and think carefully about what she’d said. At first he assumed she regretted her decision to marry him and that his lovemaking had been inadequate in some way. That hurt more than he had anticipated and made him doubt himself all over again.

But they were married for life, and he couldn’t run away from her forever, nor would he want to. There had to be a way to convince her that he’d meant what he said
and
find a way to keep her happy in bed and out of it.

In pursuit of that return to marital harmony, he was taking Lucky to the theater, where they would enjoy the privacy of the duke’s box and watch some opera the duchess had insisted Lucky would enjoy. He shoved a jet pin at random into his cravat, and his new valet uttered an audible groan.

“Let me, sir, please.” He repositioned the pin and fussed around the intricate folds of the cravat. “There. That’s much better.”

“Thank you, Jordan.” Paul couldn’t deny that he needed help, but it still felt strange to have a man completely devoted to making him look properly turned out. “Will you inform my wife’s maid that I’ll meet her ladyship downstairs when she is ready to leave?”

“Of course, sir.”

Jordan bowed and silently withdrew, leaving Paul still staring at his reflection like some dandy. He imagined all his army friends laughing at him and that was enough to send him down the stairs to await Lucky in the drawing room.

“So you’ve decided to speak to me again, have you?” his wife inquired with such great sweetness that Paul winced. They were sitting in the ducal carriage on their way to the theater and unless he fancied throwing himself out and under the horses’ feet, he was trapped.

“I know. I’ve been a cowardly fool. Please don’t remind me.”

She fixed him with her usual clear gaze. “I do know you, Paul. I also knew you’d come around eventually.”

“To your point of view?”

She opened her eyes wide at him. “Naturally. I am always right.”

He smiled at her. “I forgot that.” He hesitated. “I still don’t know what to say to you.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I obviously misjudged you.”