Page 35 of A Countess Captured for the Captain
She was lying back on the silk sheets now, looking up at the canopy above, decorated in gold fleur-de-lis. That same sensation was rising in her again, and now Nox brought his body down to bear, so that his entire length was upon her, their bodies entwined, as she too arched her back and brought her body closer to his. His own pleasure was growing now, she could see it in his eyes, a growing desire, a need to possess her, as she desired him, too.
Now, Samantha put her arms around his neck, arching her back, and pushing him onto his side. For a moment, Nox seemed surprised by the force of her passion, but his own was eagerly aroused, and he rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him, as she let out a gasp. The sensation was now even more intense, as she placed her hands upon his chest, bucking her hips upon him, as he gazed up at her with wide eyes filled with ecstasy. Samantha felt only pleasure now, lost in the moment of their ecstasy, a sudden heat overwhelming her and causing her to cry out.
There was an intensity in his expression now, he too lost in the moment they shared. She brought her face down to his, their lips meeting, pressing herself further into him. As she bucked her hips, he gave a cry, his whole body tensing, but Samantha was enjoying herself too much to let it end. She slowed her movements for a moment, his breathing subsiding, a smile playing across his face as he looked up at her.
“So, you are teasing me?” he whispered, and she placed a finger on his lips.
“Only for a moment,” she replied, positioning herself over him once more, her movements becoming more rapid, as she desired the fullness of that sensation again.
He ran his hands up to her breasts, his own hips motioning against her, so that their bodies moved as one. The heat was building now, a shuddering erupting through her, and she let out a cry, flooded with ecstasy, entirely caught up in the moment. He too gave a cry, pulling her toward him, their lips meeting, a flood erupting, as together they collapsed breathless and panting upon the bed.
“That is what I have waited for,” he said, rolling her onto her side, his arms around her, their lips meeting once again.
Chapter Seventeen
Nox awoke with a start. He had been dreaming aboutThe Rosa Mysticaand the day on which he had come aboard all those years ago after the shipwreck. It was a dream he often had, one which always started in the fog. There were faces, vague and distant, shrouded from view, and voices, muffled and incoherent. The dream mirrored his memories, the fog clearing, Strap rescuing him, pulling him aboard. He would glance behind him, but see nothing, before turning to find his new life opening up before him.
“Curse it,” he cried, sitting bolt up in bed.
Samantha awoke too, looking up at him in surprise. It was morning, light coming in from the windows, the curtains around the bed sunlit, and Nox shook his head, looking down at her and smiling.
“Whatever is wrong?” she asked, sitting up with the blankets still wrapped around her.
She was very beautiful, and Nox’s thoughts returned immediately to the passion they had shared the night before.
“It is nothing, I have a dream, you see. One which reoccurs often. I am on a ship, though I see nothing of it, merely knowing that that is where I am. There is fog all around, a fog which gradually clears. The ship in sinking and I am pulled from the waters by Strap, as the fog clears, and my perception becomes truer. It is just like my memories. There is so much I want to recall but cannot, so much that I think I know but cannot grasp. I am sorry, but it frustrates me so,” he said, shaking his head.
He tried so desperately to remember, to cling to any detail that he had not yet noticed. But try as he might, he could not. Those moments before the shipwreck, the life he had once lived, it was shrouded in a fog, one which would not clear, as much as he wished it would do so.
Samantha took hold of his hand, bringing it to her breast, as he leaned down to kiss her. He tried to forget the dream, to enjoy instead this delightful moment of awakening with his new bride on the first morning of their marriage. The past was a hidden country, just like the future, but Nox had more confidence in the future than he had in the past. All he had was what his uncle and aunt had told him, and even that was fragmentary.
“Do we return to Knightsbridge today?” she asked, after they had lain a while in one another’s arms.
Nox sat up, pulling back the curtains and allowing the light to stream onto the bed. It was another beautiful day, and he had given strict orders to the servants that they were not to be disturbed. He turned to her and smiled, running his hand over the blankets, as she gave him a mischievous look.
“We could remain here all day if we wished,” he said, and again he kissed her, their lips lingering together.
Eventually they rose, breakfasting on tea and toast, served in the dining room, before walking across the garden arm in arm, delighting in one another’s company. Despite Nox’s frustration at the loss of his memories, he could not help but feel optimistic about the future. He had a beautiful wife, a great fortune was his, and a title which made him one of the most respected men in England. He wanted to put the past behind him, to forget his years pirating and pillaging on the high seas. If only he could remember more about his parents and regain those lost memories once more.
“Will we return to the Caribbean? I should like to see more of it, to see the islands thereabouts,” Samantha said, as they walked arm in arm around the garden.
“I have seen enough of it to last a lifetime,” Nox admitted.
It was true that his former life still held some attraction, and he was anxious to know what had become of Strap and the others, but the thought of returning to sea and leaving all that he had gained behind him held little attraction for him. All he wanted was there on his arm right now. He had found the one woman who had tamed him, the one woman he knew he wished to spend the rest of his life with. Samantha meant everything to him, and now Nox could not imagine being without her.
“Where then? Where shall we go? We have the whole world at our feet,” she said, smiling at him, “to the countryside, perhaps, to one of your family’s estates. To Scotland perhaps, or Derbyshire, it was Derbyshire that you spoke of, was it not?”
He nodded. The family had estates in half-a-dozen counties, though his uncle had told him that Derbyshire had been his mother’s favorite place.
“She used to sit and paint her watercolors by the fishing lake there, for the house is surrounded by the most excellent countryside,” his uncle had told him.
Nox wanted to see it for himself, wondering whether visiting places which his parents had known might help to bring to the fore his own memories and reveal the mystery which was the past.
“We shall go wherever you wish, my dearest one,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.
* * *
Later that day, Samantha and Nox returned to Knightsbridge. Samantha would gladly have remained at Brimsey Court, where she had delighted in the gardens and the endless maze of rooms. She liked to be alone with Nox, and she was not entirely taken with the idea of spending the first days of married life in the company of his uncle and aunt. Still, they were pleasant enough people, and the townhouse in Knightsbridge was certainly a more attractive proposition than that of Hampton Manor.
