Veiled in Blue (22 page)

He thrust his tongue into her mouth, claiming her with unmistakable imitation of what was to come, in and out. She sucked and tried to retain his tongue, but he finished the kiss after one deep plunge and continued to her throat. “This is mine,” he said as he kissed her neck and the pulse throbbing at its base. “And this, and this.”

Kisses as light as caresses joined deeper, claiming ones as he moved farther down her body. When he sucked a nipple hard, biting her softly, she moaned aloud, the threat of a sting of pain adding to the tingles rioting through her.

Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she stroked him, claiming him in her turn. She pushed her fingers through his close-cropped fair hair and to his neck, where his tendons flexed easily as he tugged on her sensitive flesh with his mouth.

She wanted to belong to him, for him to claim her in every way possible, but she needed something else in return. “Are you mine?”

“Every part of me.” He muttered her name between kisses.

She slid her feet against the sheets, lifting her knees, unashamed of the display. The aroma of arousal filled her nostrils, intimate and mildly embarrassing, enough to add spice to the emotions rioting within her.

Eve no longer doubted they belonged to each other. They had tonight and as many nights as they wanted in their future. Questions rioted through her head, only for his caress to take them away. Eve stared at him as he kissed and explored her body. She sensed a desperation, or maybe that came from her. When he dipped his tongue into her navel, she flinched and cried his name, immediately clapping her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

Reaching up, he pulled her hand away. “I told you before. I want to hear every whisper and every scream. I want you to let me know what I’m doing to you pleases you. If there is a need for quiet, I will deal with it. Trust me.”

The last two words were barely above a whisper, but they seared their way through her. She would trust him. He would take care of her. Then she could do the same to him.

“Yes.”

Their gazes met in a look as intimate as any of his caresses.

Julius kissed her, working his way inexorably to the heart of her, where he paused. “So lovely.” His breath swept over her thighs and the part between, and finally, he bent his head and kissed the knot of flesh at the front of her cleft. It throbbed for him.

Shock leaped through her. He would do such a thing, but then, as his tongue worked its magic, thrills chased each other, starting where he was concentrating and encompassing her body. With each deep suck he drew her farther into his orbit. She clamped her thighs either side of his head, pressing against his mouth. Even the sounds he made did not force modesty on her. Modesty had no place in this room.

The thrills fused together to become one huge surge of sensation. Eve lost her mind, screaming his name, when he thrust two fingers inside her and did something that forced her up higher.

He did not relent until he had drained her of all feeling. Then she could only lie back and gaze at him as he lifted his head and prowled up the bed to her. Glancing down gave her the image of a predator, powerfully male, his hard throbbing member red and engorged, once more wet with his arousal. His mouth hung slightly open, revealing sharp white teeth, his lips still wet from the intimate kiss he’d given her. Kiss? He had torn out her heart with his teeth.

He kissed each of her breasts, drawing her nipples deep, licking the sensitized tips, before he resumed his predatory prowling.

Opening her arms, she let him in. “Everything I am is yours. Everything.”

“This is our time,” he said as he brought their bodies together and filled her with hard masculine need.

His cock forged its way into her. Following instinct, Eve wrapped her legs around him, lifting them so her heels rested on his buttocks. When he powered deep, his muscles clenched and then released when he had found his home.

“I am so glad you’re not a virgin,” he murmured and then he kissed her.

She sucked on his tongue. Vestiges of her intimate flavor remained with him and she took that too, the taste lifting her arousal. A moment ago she had thought she was done, that he had only to take his pleasure now, but she was wrong.

Her eyes shot open as she recognized the signs of arousal deep within her.

At first he took his time, thrusting deep and then sliding out in a sure, steady rhythm, accustoming her body to his loving invasion. Then she understood his words. If she was still an innocent, he’d have had to take more care with her, would not have been able to drive inside her without pain. She felt no pain tonight, only unutterable joy.

Pleasure rippled through her as her body prepared itself for another peak of sensation.

He lifted away from the kiss, gazed at her as he worked his erection in and out of her, studying her. A faint smile curved his lips, warmly encouraging, and he murmured her name. “Eve,” had never sounded so seductive, so perfect as it did in his distinctive tones. Even in bed he had the edge of refinement, as if innate, born with him instead of bred into him. “Is this good?”

“So good!” she rasped, her throat slightly sore. Only then did Eve realize how loud her screams must have been. But she had no time to speculate on who had heard her, if she had embarrassed anyone, before Julius took her on another journey.

She went with him. She always would.

He built her arousal, driving hard into her, until he had quickened his thrusts to hammer-blows of sensation. Every part of his shaft connected with her inner walls, sending fresh thrills rippling through her. She kept her gaze on his as he worked her. His pupils expanded so the brilliant blue became a rim around the fathomless depths within.

Caught in the whirlwind, she gasped, “I can’t bear it!” as the sensations built to a peak. She could sense the place where they merged, but as wildly as she grasped for it, she could not get there.

“Then don’t bear it.” His voice had a rough edge, one she only heard in this circumstance. “Let go, darling. Don’t fight it. Don’t work for it. Just let it happen.” He spoke in staccato pants. A sheen of sweat covered his body. Even his hair had darkened.

Gazing at him, paying attention only to Julius, she did as he demanded. She let go.

And tipped over the edge.

Sensation engulfed her, swallowed her whole. His mouth landed on hers, and he took another kiss, one she gave gladly but could do nothing to reciprocate.

Then he broke away and gave one harsh, sharp cry, like a wild bird descending on its prey. His shaft throbbed, and wetness anointed her cleft, her thighs, and the sheet beneath them.

Julius slumped, but as he did so he twisted, so they were lying on their sides and she was not bearing his full weight. He eased her leg down, so it curled around his calf, and then turned them so he could perform the office on her other side.

He was still embedded deep within her. His eyes alight with passion and unholy amusement, he thrust again. He was still hard.

“How is that possible?” she demanded, brought back to where they were and what they were doing.

“I have no idea, but I intend to make the most of it. You’re a fever in me. I knew it would be like this between us. That loving would encompass us completely. I have missed you over the last days. I never want that to happen again.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then let us pledge now. Every night and every moment of the day we can spend together, we will. We will never let the sun fall on a quarrel, never let anything outside our bed destroy what we have here.” He punctuated his words with a series of shallow thrusts that felt different than before because they were lying in a different position.

She gave her pledge gladly. How could matters lie any different between them? “I promise.”

“So do I.” The kiss he gave her then was more than carnal. It drew her spirit from her into him, but he gave it back, intact, when he opened his eyes and gazed at her with the look of love.

* * * *

Julius held his wife close as she slept. Her soft, pliant body delighted him, and his love of all things beautiful rejoiced at the sight of her naked. Much though he enjoyed seeing a beautiful woman well dressed, he preferred Eve naked. If society allowed it, he’d keep her exactly like this.

Devil take it, he had fallen for her hook, line, and sinker. That had not been his intention when he embarked on this course. He needed a wife, someone who could provide him with heirs and help him care for little Caro. To that end, he had been prepared to take one of the women his mother had lined up for his perusal, much though the process had gone against the grain to fall in with her plans. After his first bout of fury, he had thought about it. Then he had come across Eve, and manna had fallen into his lap. He had wanted her from the first, but physical attraction was not the same as this encompassing need to make her happy.

She had told him she loved him, but he had balked at saying the words back to her. He was deathly afraid of that happening because of the consequences of the first attempt, but he was willing to let her in so far. After, no. He would retain a part of himself, keep it apart so he never, ever went through the experience again. He had tried so hard with Caroline, but nothing he did made any difference. She’d still died.

He tightened his arm around Eve, so much she moaned. Perhaps he should have told her his identity before the wedding, but he had longed for this night, untrammeled by anything. If he had told her, she might have balked or treated him differently, and he could not have borne that. The frustrating weeks apart had done nothing to ameliorate the desire he felt for her. If anything, as the days passed his desire had increased. He missed her, to hold, to love, to talk to. And to look at, of course.

Surely his identity would not make that much difference to the way they felt about each other. If anything, she would be glad that he had ample means to provide for her and her mother and to protect her from the forces ranked against her.

He would not allow himself to put off the unpleasant task any longer. Today, when the vicar had announced his full name, Julius Caesar Vernon, he had held his breath, but she had not noticed. He had squeezed her hand at that point and smiled into her eyes. Perhaps that had distracted her enough. If she heard his full name she might realize who he was. He was damned fortunate she had not noticed this far. He’d picked a wife who did not spend her life with her nose stuck into gossip sheets. If she had demanded it of him, he would have told her.

Tomorrow he’d tell her for sure.

* * * *

They had no time the next day to make love before they had to get up and leave. Eve regretted that she’d slept so late. Julius was already up before she had awoken. When she glanced at her father’s old pocket watch, which she had commandeered after his death for her own use, the faded dial told her eight o’ clock was nearly upon them. Curled in his arms, she had felt safe and wanted and lulled into sleep.

Grimacing, Eve climbed out of bed as the door to the powder room opened and her husband came in. He was in his shirtsleeves, and his waistcoat still hung open. Eve was naked.

His eyes darkened, and he stepped towards her. In instinctive reaction, Eve reddened and cast wildly about for her robe, but he got there first. Gently, he wrapped it around her and helped her thrust her arms through the sleeves. He kissed her neck, and slid his arms around her waist from behind.

“Never hide yourself from me. I love to look at you. Don’t you want to give your husband pleasure?”

Eve hung her head, letting her tangled hair cover her face. “I will try.”

“No trying. I would have kept you in bed all day, but we need to get on the road. If you are able, I would like to travel until nightfall.” He urged her to turn around to face him, and he kissed her. “I’ll send your maid to you. Would you like me to order some food sent up?”

Nobody had ever done that for her before. At home, food was for the parlor, dining room, and kitchen only, for fear vermin would invade the house if it were spread around. But there were servants here aplenty to ensure the mouse population was kept down.

“No,” she said softly. “I’ll be down directly. I won’t take long, especially with my new maid.”

“If you wish it, just tell me.” He touched her chin. “I will make it happen for you.”

An hour later they were ready. After blowing her mother a farewell kiss, Eve accepted her husband’s hand and climbed into the carriage Alex was lending them for the journey.

Once in the coach and bowling along the road, Julius drew Eve into his arms, so she rested her head on his shoulder. “Rest, sweetheart. At the first staging post, we’ll change to my carriage and send this one back to Alex.”

“You had your own carriage brought to Somerset?”

He smiled at her, brows lifted as if he were surprised she asked. “Yes, of course. We have to travel in comfort. I cannot arrive at…the house in a borrowed carriage. Besides, Alex may need it.”

Forestalling any further questions, he kissed her. He was doing a lot of that. Eve wanted him to carry on doing it.

Did lovemaking usually make a person so soporific?

Now she could relax. Now only the two of them existed. Once she woke from her nap, he kissed her and helped her tidy herself up as they approached the first stage on the road. They stopped in the early afternoon, drew up in the yard of a large coaching-inn, but she did not catch the name of the town. They would pass through many on their way to his parents’ house. Meeting them was something Eve preferred not to think about. She would worry about that confrontation nearer the time. Tomorrow she would ask Julius about his parents and how she could help ease the meeting. Eve did not shy from confrontation, but she preferred to make such matters as easy as possible. She felt a new air about Julius this morning. He seemed more self-assured, less concerned with others around him, except for her. The attitude put them in a bubble of their own, made her feel she was sharing a place with him he normally inhabited alone.

Today was the day after her wedding, and she determined to enjoy it.