Page 51 of The Earl Takes All
Edward nodded, met each of their gazes, wanted to confirm the truth of his feelings. “I wish to God she’d had a boy. The title should go to Albert’s son, not his brother, but that little girl has stolen my heart.”
“She’s the image of her mother,” Locke offered.
“She is that. Albert would have been pleased.”
“We need to make a toast to the new Earl of Greyling,” Ashe said, lifting his glass. “Welcome to our ranks, my lord.”
They all raised their glasses before downing the contents that remained in each one. Edward poured them more.
“You’ll be a good earl,” Locke said.
“I shall at least try.” He chuckled. “I can’t believe Julia invited you here and kept it from me.”
“She feared you’d be melancholy.”
“But you two shall stop that from happening.”
“Absolutely. Whatever else are friends for?”
For holding secrets.
“Wereyou really pleased with your surprise?” Julia asked as Albert joined her in the sitting area of her bedchamber.
Dinner had been a smashing success, with more laughter and joviality than she’d heard in ages. It had lightened her heart to see her husband enjoying himself.
“You could not have given me anything better,” he said as he sat beside her on the sofa.
She had already changed into her nightdress, while he was still dressed for the evening. She might have suspected that he and the other gents were going to play billiards if it weren’t for the fact that their company had already retired for the night.
“I fear my gift to you will pale in comparison.”
“You’ve already given me the journal, although I decided not to read it until after the holidays. It seemed like peeking into the box otherwise.”
“You’re deserving of something much more than a journal.”
Before she could tell him that it was the very best present he could have given her, he slid a leather case out of his inside jacket pocket and set it on her lap. “Shouldn’t this be beneath the tree so that I can open it in the morning?”
“You might think Father Christmas brought it to you. I’d rather you open it now while it’s only the two of us.”
Removing the lid revealed a bracelet of linked pewter roses. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“Whenever I see roses, I think of you,” he said quietly.
She smiled at him. “They’re my favorite flower, my favorite fragrance.”
With one large hand, he cradled her cheek. “They became mine the first time I kissed you.”
He took her mouth with such tenderness, such gentleness, that she nearly wept. As she was still recovering from childbirth, he had been incredibly patient, marvelously solicitous, not pressuring her, not insisting on exercising his husbandly rights. Not that he would have to insist on anything. If she were completely healed, she would lead him to the bed at this very second.
With a groan, he shifted, his arms came around her, and she suddenly found herself sprawled across his lap as his tongue lapped at her neck, her collarbone, the dip between her breasts, before trailing over the upper swells. Heat swirled through her, moisture gathered between her thighs. She began fumbling with the buttons on her nightdress. She wanted his mouth over her entire breast, one then the other.
His hand closed around hers as he raised his head, held her gaze. “I won’t be able to stop.”
She sank against him. She was still bleeding, hardly a tempting vixen. Scraping her fingers up into his hair, she fought to calm her erratic heart. “I want you so badly. A few more weeks seem an eternity.” She slid her hand down, pressing her fingers just below his jaw where she could feel the thundering of his pulse. “At least let me make your Christmas merry.”
Slowly, he shook his head. “You know my gentleman’s rule. Besides, when we do finally come together, it will be better for having waited.”
His glorious mouth returned to hers, a little less gentle than before, with a little more hunger, a little more heat. His hands behaved, daring only to stroke her back, her hips, her spine. But his lips, his tongue, behaved with complete abandon, caressing every inch of her mouth, drawing moans and sighs from her, causing heat to ebb and flow through her until she was mad for him.
