Page 71 of The Devil and the Heiress
“Yes.” Her heart was in her eyes. “I wear it every day. Sometimes I take it off for balls, but I put it back on before going to bed.”
That would explain why he hadn’t seen her wear it in the weeks after their wedding. Her gowns for going out in the evenings all had lower-cut necklines. Groaning as a wave of affection crashed over him, he picked her up and stormed through the suite with her to his bed. There he unwrappedher, ravenous in his need. But so was she. As soon as she was divested of petticoats and chemise, she pulled him on top of her, her greedy hands at the waistband of his breeches.
“I can’t wait any longer,” she said.
He was inclined to agree. As he sat back to unfasten the breeches, he couldn’t take his eyes off her, afraid she might disappear because this was all a dream. She was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. A pink flush stained her pale skin as she laid back against the pillows, thighs spread for him. Her sex glistening with her need. This was his home. Her. This woman who had taught him so much about love and forgiveness. Blythkirk and all the rest be damned. None of it meant anything without her.
He crawled over her, his body trembling with need and emotion. She reached between them, guiding him to her where he felt only the slightest resistance before he filled her up. They both cried out at the sensation; for once there was no need to be quiet or discreet in their pleasure. The tight grip of her body was the closest to heaven he would ever come. He tried to savor it, to relish the feel of her, the smell of her, but it had been so long he knew he wouldn’t be able to prolong it. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she arched toward him, tightening herself along his length.
“I won’t be able to last.” His voice was more of a growl than anything else.
“Good,” she said, doing it again, her nails biting into his shoulders.
“Violet,” he groaned. “I love you.”
“Show me,” she sighed, as he moved within her.
He was lost. Winding her hair around his fists, he held her tight and thrust into her like a man who had been denied this pleasure for too long.
But apparently so had she. She rode him as he rode her, and when he came, her body shuddered with his as he lost everything within her.
•••
Violet didn’t want to close her eyes to blink, afraid that she would wake up and this would all be a fantastic dream. Her heartbeat was only now starting to return to normal as she lay beside him. Her husband. Taking his hand, she brought it to her lips, feeling his own kiss at her temple in response.
“I’m sorry I took so long. I think of all the time—”
“Shh... it was time you needed, time we both needed. I understand.” He touched her cheek, taking her mouth in a kiss that was only just starting to lose the tinge of desperation. Rising up on an elbow, he smiled down at her, his dimple making an appearance. His smile was so loving and accepting that it filled her heart with a warmth it could barely contain. “I love you, and we will never be apart again. That’s all that matters.”
“You’ll come home with me in the morning to Belgravia?” A part of her still expected him to refuse. The house must remind him of his father.
He surprised her by nodding as he rose, unlacing his boots to drop them off the side of his bed, followed by his breeches and drawers. “You’ve renovated it, I hear,” he said as he turned to her, taking first one shoe off and then the other.
“I have. It’s almost unrecognizable.” It wasn’t until that moment that she realized she had been so determined to change it completely for him. She watched as he kissed the arches of her feet, before reaching up to divest her of her stockings. Arrows of pleasure darted through her with each touch. Her body was a greedy thing, already wanting him inside her again. “We don’t have to live there, though, if it makes you uncomfortable.”
He gave her a wicked glance. “As long as I’m with you, I have everything I need.”
He trailed kisses up her legs to her thighs and the curlshiding her from him. Then he kissed her belly, pausing as he took in the slight swelling he had probably been too busy to observe before. She dared not breathe. He couldn’t suspect. It was hardly noticeable to her, but his gaze was filled with awe when he looked up at her.
“You’re with child,” he said.
“Yes,” she whispered.
His face transformed with joy as he looked back down to where their child grew. His hand swept over the slight bump in a tender caress. “That explains these.” He grinned wickedly and rose over her, his gaze on her breasts. “They’ve grown, and your nipples are darker.” His tongue licked around one before drawing it into his mouth. She gasped at the pleasure it sent pulsing through her. Releasing her, he lay beside her and gathered her into his arms. “There was a time I thought I would never have children,” he said, his lips brushing her cheek as he spoke. “But it seems only natural with you.”
“Then you’re not disappointed?” A part of her hadn’t been certain he would welcome fatherhood.
“No, never. From the moment I knew I wanted you as my wife, I imagined children in that future.” He was silent for a moment, then he asked, “Are you disappointed?”
“No. Why would I be?” She looked over at him to see that he seemed pensive.
“Because you must think that I’ll be a terrible parent.”
“No—”
“I promise that I will be a good father. I know that you must wonder—”
“I don’t wonder, Christian.” She smiled at him. “You are a good man and nothing like your father.” Something she knew with absolute certainty. Relief softened his features.
