Page 42 of The Matchmaker Meets her Duke
"Not all the way," she answered her maid. "I made a new friend." Pandora caught herself smiling at the thought.
"Well, good friends will come through for us," said Jemima encouragingly.
"They certainly will." And Henrietta certainly had.
Jemima excused herself, and Pandora took off her robe.
She lowered her hand first into the tub of warm water, then her entire body as she gathered her hair to her back so that it swept down over the edge. With a sigh of pleasure, she settled the rest of her body into the welcoming arms of the tub, the candles throwing golden specks of light over the velvet of the curtains. The only sound in the chamber was the gentle splash of water and the sound of her own slow breathing as she savored the sweet calm of the night.
Until the sound of the heavy door pushing open.
"Pandora?" Emmett's voice, calling for her.
Pandora's breath caught in her throat. She had not imagined that he would want to spend the night in her chambers. She had thought he would be too tired to… want to continue where they had left off in the gardens. Pandora raised her hands to her bare breasts shyly, protectively, the only part of her that rose above the waters, the only part of her body that wasn't wet yet, submerged in the tub.
She felt shy about Emmett seeing her like this. They had never been with each other this way. Completely naked. The glow of the candles somehow made it seem more forbidden, more intimate than she could have imagined it to be.
Pandora gathered her curls, and in a shy, feeble attempt to cover as much of her very naked body as possible, she swept them over her breasts. They barely did the job. Just barely.
She cleared her throat. "In here," she answered.
A moment later Emmett stood to the door of the bathing room, his eyes turned up in pleasant surprise as he took her in. His mouth curved around a small, well-formedo,and Pandora could almost swear she could hear the sound of his ragged breathing as he took sure, measured steps to her. She arranged her curls over her nipples, which felt almost painfully tight from the cold as well as from the heated look in Emmett's gazing eyes. She lifted her hands to the rest of her breasts.
Emmett knelt on the rug and cupped her face in his hands when he reached her. She sighed from the touch, leaning into him without even thinking about it. He took her ready, open mouth, gathering her wet, bare breasts against his chest. Pandora melted as his tongue stroked her bottom lip, the sensation so overwhelming she shivered in his arms. He kissed her until wild fire roared in her veins, until desire trickled like raging liquid through her limbs.
"Emmett–" she whispered.
"Sweet Pandora," he murmured, pulling back. "I’ll join you."
He rose to his full height. He was too beautiful standing before her, a finely sculpted man glorious in the golden light of the candles. Pandora's chest swelled with a foreign emotion, and she wondered not for the first time how she had gone from warning the entiretonto keep far away from the devastating Duke of Willcrow's company, to being immersed in water before him, naked under his appraising eyes.
He did exactly as he'd said. He made to join her in the iron tub, and right in front of her eyes! Pandora tried to control her gaze. She shut her eyes, then averted her gaze to anywhere but at her husband as he undid his buttons one by one with those long, strong beautiful fingers, as he unfastened his shirt and peeled off all of his clothing until he was standing there in nothing but his smalls. Pandora's mouth fell open. She turned away at the sight ofthatpart of him jutting from the stretched fabric of his smalls.
A small smile played on the corner of Emmett's lips, and Pandora would have liked to wipe it right off if she wasn't so tongue-tied. Or flushed with heat from watching her husband undress. In one swift movement, he took off his smalls too. She gasped asthatpart of him remained upright, the sight of it large and smooth, gleaming skin and rippling muscle, nothing like she had possibly imagined.
Emmett lowered himself into the tub. Legs first, then his arms. Pandora watched him, mesmerized, at a loss for words. She had never seen him fully naked before. She admired the planes and contours of his chest, his arms, and shoulders. He had a sleek, powerful build, and thoughts of that body splayed naked over her in the dark, covering every nook and inch of her body flashed in her head. Pandora shook the thoughts from her mind. More heat spread across her cheeks, bright and hot for her husband to see and know what was going through her mind.
"What are you thinking about?'' Emmett asked. He looked easy and relaxed as he sat across from her, totally at ease in the water. Pandora did not feel easy, and she certainly was the furthest thing from comfortable. She struggled with the urge to put a hand over herself, to shield her bare body from his eyes glittering in the firelight, the world dimmed around the edges. She wanted to hold his gaze, but she tried and failed to. His eyes were the darkest she had ever seen them, covered with an emotion that looked familiar to her although she could not name it.
"Nothing," answered Pandora as she cleared her throat. Emmett nodded with a look on his face that was intended for her to know indeed that he did not believe her.
She cleared her throat some more. "I mean, Rose."
He quirked a brow as he reached for the soap. "Rose?"
"Yes, Rose," she said and fumbled for more words. She couldn't think of more, not with the proximity of her body to his. And so she concluded, rather blandly, "Poor Rose."
Emmett sighed. "Yes. But I suppose she's had it coming for a while."
"Really?" she said, and Emmett smiled softly. "Yes. I think everybody but Rose could see the way Ashton looked at her."
"How did he look at her?" Her gaze followed the sleek lines of his arms as he washed his limbs with the floral-scented soap. His own gaze flicked to her cleavage, and she blinked, her eyes heavily laden, hot with desire as he answered, "Like a sister."
"Oh," Pandora said. She couldn't think what else to say.
He gave the soap to her, and wordlessly Pandora took it from him. It was such a simple gesture, sharing a soap with a man who was her husband, but it was a precious thing too and a thrill zapped down her spine at the intimacy of it.
Emmett gave her body a bold, sweeping gaze as she ran the soap down her front. He heaved his elbows off the edge of the tub, sending the waters rippling. Then he inched closer and gathered her in his arms.
