Page 60 of Awakening a Lord's Desires
“I know, and for that, I am grateful.”
With a teasing glint in her eyes, she said, “I should like very much to sleep. Perhaps I ought to start now.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” he said as she laughed and hurried away to the inn door.
They raced up the stairs to the room until he caught her, and she laughed, allowing him to pull her close. “Do not toy with me, my love. I have waited all day for this.”
“All day?” she asked with a lifted brow, wrapping her arms about his neck.
“A lifetime.”
***
Caroline sank into his kiss with a fervor she had no idea she possessed. It was now done, and they were free. She no longer had to think about Penelope or Max or living a life with someone she did not love.
They spoke little as their clothes made their way to the floor. She was no longer afraid or embarrassed. She let him pick her up into his arms and lay her down on the bed, his warm, muscular body covering hers.
As he kissed down her soft skin, he whispered, “This will be quick, my love, for I have been thinking of it for so long. But then, I will take my time.”
She grinned as she felt his mouth around her nipple, licking and sucking, and she rose up to meet him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he settled between her thighs.
He rose up a little to look down at her. “I love you,” he said. “I still cannot believe that I have married a woman I love so dearly. It feels like a dream.”
Her fingers spread on his chest as she let the beautiful words sink into her heart. “That it does. And if it is a dream, then I never wish to wake up, my dear.”
She pulled his mouth down to hers, and he grasped her buttocks to angle her so that he could enter her quickly. Caroline gasped at the sudden fullness, but then the surprise passed, and she kissed him as his hips thrust deeply. He moved gently at first, but then he picked up his pace, his breathing hard in her ear as his hips ground furiously into her.
Her head fell back, and her fingers lost their hold on his shoulders as he stroked a place inside her he had not done touched before. When her pleasure came, it was quick and strong, and she cried out his name, her eyes shut tight, her body writhing with ecstasy as he continued to move.
After another deep thrust, he came, holding her tightly, his seed bathing her womb. This time, he did not remove himself, and it felt as though finally, at long last, they were whole. They stayed like that for a time until he moved to his side and held her close.
Kissing her temple, he whispered, “There is nothing to fear now, Lady Spencer.”
She’d almost forgotten what her new title was to become, and she chuckled tiredly at the surprise of it, loving the sound of it on Charles’ tongue.
“Yes. Nothing to fear, Lord Spencer.”
Epilogue
A few days later
Caroline’s mind was still in the clouds as she walked hand in hand with her husband from his country estate to her own old home. The last week had been a blissful thing, a little piece of heaven that she would remember forever.
“Are you ready?” Charles asked as they neared the door.
“Yes.” She was not exactly ready to see Penelope and Max again or to deal with the consequences of her actions, but she was ready to see her father.
Instead of knocking, she walked into the house, holding tight to Charles’ hand for comfort. She walked straight into the sitting room, where her father sat with his newspaper and a cup of tea, looking bright and cheerful. When he looked up, a smile creased his face, and he called out to her.
“Caroline! What good luck!” he stood, and she saw in amazement just how well he looked.
“Father, you look so healthy and hale!”
He grinned as he pulled her into a hug. “Yes, the doctor was right. I was to be right as rain, and it only happened a few days after you left.”
To her surprise, Caroline burst into tears, and her father comforted her with his soothing words.
“All is well, my dear. You have come back to me, and I think you have news to impart.”
