Page 12 of The Matchmaker Meets her Duke
“Pandora!” said Emmett as he caught her arm, candlestick inches from his head.
“Your Grace! What on Earth are you doing, I could have hurt you!” said Pandora as she pulled from his grasp. Light from the full moon spilled through a gap in the curtain, just enough to illuminate the teasing smile on his face. He raised himself up on one elbow.
“It is our wedding night, is it not? I thought it terribly rude to leave you all alone.”
Pandora hefted the candlestick in her hand before replacing it on the bedside table. “What happened to a ‘marriage of convenience’? I thought we were meant to stay out of each other’s way.”
Emmett’s smile grew serious. “Yes, but there is still the matter of an heir.” He reached over and ran his fingers over her shoulder. “I promise, I will make it most pleasant for you.” Indeed, that small touch was enough to send confusing tingles from her shoulder down to her nipples, which tightened from more than the cold.
“I can’t,” said Pandora as she pulled the blankets up to her chin. “You should leave.”
Emmett laughed. “Can’t, or won’t?” He moved closer and pulled her to his chest. He wore nothing but his nightshirt, and the sudden realization made Pandora flush. She squirmed in his grip, but he held firm. With his spare hand, he explored the curve of her hip, until he looked into her face. He stopped.
“You don’t want me.” Emmett’s voice was confused, and panicked giggles rose from Pandora’s chest.
“No, I mean to say… I have no experience with this. I don’t, that is to say, I–”
“Are a virgin. As to be expected. But as I said, this needn’t be unpleasant.” When Pandora hesitated, Emmett reached up to stroke her hair. Pandora leaned into his touch, strangely comforted.
“What do you know of bed sport, Pandora?” She shivered. Had he said her Christian name before? It sounded good coming from his lips.
“I read a book once,” she started as she blushed deeper. “It had some stories in it of men and women. Couched in oblique terms, of course, but it was… educational.” The tips of Emmett’s fingers skimmed from her hair and down her shoulder, bringing gooseflesh to the surface of her skin.
“And what do you know of pleasure? Have you tasted it?”
It was a miracle the sheets didn’t ignite from the force of her blushing. “Some small experience. I am seldom alone, my maid had a habit of checking in on me at night if she woke.”
“Hm.” Emmett made a sound in the back of his throat, deep and purring, and traced his fingers down to her hip. “That must have been quite the sight.”
The small touches were hypnotic. Despite her trepidation, Pandora couldn’t help but be caught by his spell. She watched his face as his eyes roamed over her shoulders and the swell of her chest, just visible above the blankets. Was this what it was like for those couples she had helped? The sweet slowness, the cautious movements? She hadn’t expected such courtesy from Emmett.
“We needn’t spend the rest of our days chained to the same bed,” said Emmett in that deep, sleepy tone that made her heart beat faster. “I need an heir, and then you’ll be free of me.”
Some distant part of Pandora lurched. Free of these gentle touches? She was starting to enjoy them, and he did have a reputation as being a pleaser of women. Learning from him might not be a bad thing. But this was Emmett. The man who had seduced and ruined reputations, with no morals. How could she reconcile the man she was seeing before her now?
Emmett pushed the blankets down her body to reveal her breasts, nipples jutting through the fabric of her nightgown. She squirmed under the heat of his gaze as he devoured her with his eyes. Was she really so appetizing to him? Surely he had bedded more attractive women.
His hand trailed down her arm toward her breasts, and she gasped. He had touched them before, in the garden, but this was different. He wasn’t trying to vex her. No, this time he wanted her. Pandora’s throat squeezed as panic began to rise in her chest. The foreign sensations, the newness of having a man in her bed. It was too much. She needed space.
Emmett arced an eyebrow as she wiggled backward, near the edge of the bed. “Pandora, we can hardly hope for an heir if you won’t let me touch you.”
Pandora shook her head. “Go slowly with me Your Grace, I beg you.”
Emmett laughed. “My wife, thisisme going slowly. Believe me, when I see you here in nothing but a nightgown, face flushed and lips ready to be kissed, I am more than ready to move quickly.”
Pandora looked down at the gulf of bed that separated them. “This may be old hat for you, but for me? I’ve never done this before.”
“We needn’t rush. Just a kiss to start,” said Emmett in a suggestive purr.
Pandora hesitated even as her eyes traced over his lips, crooked up in a friendly smile.
“A kiss,” said Pandora.
Emmett pulled himself closer to her, movements slow and cautious.
“I’ve kissed you before, you recall.” Emmett’s eyes danced with amusement as he continued his slow progress toward her.
“You only did it to vex me.”
