Page 46 of Lady Willa's Divinely Wicked Vicar
“You had better try instead to curry favor with your only love. Willa arrived finally,” she said.
He did not dare to blink an eye.
“Did you know she arrived?”
He stiffened. “That she’s here? Yes. That she does not care for me any longer? That too.”
“Who said?” she challenged him on a laugh.
“I do. Enough of me! What ails you, dear lady? Nerves about the wedding night? The vows of obedience? Or is it the family you take on?”
“You mean the duke?”
He nodded. The Duke of Brentford, Esme’s fiancé’s father, was an old libertine.
“I take him on not at all. In fact, I expect not to see him for years.”
“He may appear tomorrow. Then what will you do?”
“Offer my cheek?”
“Ah, yes. Your cheek—” He tapped his finger on his own. “Or your cheek?”
“Whatever gets me through the hour.” She downed another swig of her wine.
“And your larger problem? The wedding night? I assure you, love makes any night—or day—a pleasure.” He paused for a moment, the temptation of Wills stirring his wayward body. “Even the first for a virgin.”
She giggled.
He snorted. “You’ll become addicted to the joys of it.”
“You speak from experience with virgins, do you?”
“Yes. Once I was one.”
She threw back her head to chuckle.
He winked at her. “Oh, Esme. Northington cares for you and he will make it fun.”As I wish I could for Wills.
She picked at her skirts. “I always hoped so.”
“Well, then? Has your mother not taken you aside to explain the mechanics of the deed?” To be a true prude, he should not ask, he should not offer, he should not even think of the delicious ‘mechanics’ of that stirring act.
Esme’s cheeks turned bright red. “Oh yes. It sounded…terminally boring.”
“This piece fits there? A slight sting? A few kisses and we’re done? Babies come forth,viola!”
“Word for word. How did you know?”
“It must be a litany mothers share.” Every woman deserved to know the possibilities of joy. “My sister told me what Mama told her when she was to wed the Earl of Sudbury. Shall I finish the tale?”
“Yes. But all I want to know is, is your sister happy now?”
“Embarrassingly so.”I told her she should allow herself the glory of release.“She dotes on the man. He on her.”
Esme grinned. But then she frowned. “So…they have found pleasure?”
“Quite a bit of it. She doesn’t say, of course.”
