Page 106 of The Quiet Wife
He nodded and cast her a sad look. “I had the wrong lady on my arm.”
Her heart clenched in her chest to know that he had felt it too. Felt the guilt, felt the regret… She swallowed and stared at him. This beautiful, funny, passionate man. This man who saw her and understood her.
The fire crackled in the grate, and she could hear the wind whistle outside.
“Would you like a drink?” Jemie offered. His gaze was warm. He looked at her with such tenderness, but as he ran his tongue over his lips, making them glisten, she realised he looked at her with something else, too. Something that, for a moment, she didn’t understand. But then she saw. In the flickering firelight, he looked at her with longing. A longing that found an echo in her own heart.
Something shifted inside her. Something that she simply could not, would not, ignore any longer. It had been growing and gathering for days, nay, weeks. Months. What was now crystal clear to her was the time they had left to them before the works were complete was infinitely precious.
She shook her head then held out a hand that trembled only slightly. “Come… to bed with me?”
CHAPTER 34
London – Kensington
Jemie took hold of Frances’ hand and pulled her to him. He clasped her tightly and laid his forehead against hers. “Oh, my love. Are you sure?”
“Very. And I don’t mean to sit on your lap, this time,” she added, for the avoidance of doubt. She hesitated. “Do you think me fast?”
“I think you are exceedingly fast, but I’m grateful for it,” he murmured as he framed her face with both hands, tilted his head, and kissed her with exquisite tenderness.
Frances sank into the warm strength of his body, wrapped her arms about his neck and kissed him back. Frances’ entire body thrummed with desire at the feel of his lips against hers and when she broke their embrace, he trembled in her arms.
“Come to my room,” she murmured against his mouth, feeling exquisitely bold. “Once my maid has left, will you come?”
He pressed a kiss to each eye, down her nose, and back to her lips.
“I will be there.”
***
Grace readied Frances for bed in the same way that she always did, but this time, as the door closed on her maid, she undid her hair and ran her fingers through it. She also, daringly in her mind, loosened the strings of her nightgown at the neck, letting it fall about her shoulders in what she hoped was a seductive fashion.
A fire crackled gently in the grate. She turned the gas lamps low, pinched her cheeks, shook out her hair again, took a deep breath, and waited.
When the door finally opened, her heart raced in her chest. She stood up as Jemie slipped in. He closed the door quietly and turned the key in the lock. She expected him to come to her. To take her in his arms, but he hesitated.
“Tell me you are sure about this,” he said softly. “I won’t be angry if you’ve changed your mind.”
She didn’t think she could love him more, but seeing the concern in his eyes, hearing him give her the chance to back away should she need to, solidified something inside her. Something precious. Something warm. Drawing a breath to steady her, she walked over to where he stood and placed a tender hand on his chest.
“I want this. With you. No-one else.”
He caressed her hand and kissed it, screwing his eyes tightly closed, pressing it against his face.
“I want you too,” he murmured against her hand, his breath hot. “So much. For so long.”
She stroked his hair. “You might have to be patient with me.”
“Take all the time you like. I want to please you. Show you all the beautiful things a body, your body, is capable of.”
He looked at her and she kissed him softly. Chastely.
“Your Galatea again?” she mused.
He shook his head. “No, I’m not making you. I told you. You are already there. I simply found you. Unearthed you. The you that no-one else sees.” He kissed her again.“That makes me the luckiest man alive.”
Her heart was so full at his words it was hard to breathe and for a moment she thought she might cry. She stroked his face and gazed into his eyes. “It works both ways. I see a Jemie that I don’t think other people see.”
