Page 82 of She Tempts the Duke
“You shall be soon enough.” He cupped her jaw and tilted her face up to receive his kiss.
It was nothing at all like the kiss they shared in the garden. It lacked desperation. But it didn’t lack passion. It was a nibbling, a slow exploration. His tongue waltzed with hers. She slid her hands up over his shoulders, into his hair, holding him near. His low feral groan vibrated through his chest, resounded against hers and she pressed herself closer.
She’d spoken honestly. She’d not given Fitzwilliam a thought since he walked out on her, but she thought of him now and realized she would not have been comfortable with him at a moment such as this. She would have feared his judging her actions. With Sebastian she experienced no fear of judgment.
He had always liked who she was. She’d never had to pretend with him. She could touch where she pleased, knowing he would not find fault. She could thrust her tongue into his mouth, and welcome his taking the kiss deeper. For his sake, she schooled her fingers not to seek out the scars, not to trace them, not to do anything to make him self-conscious about them.
Never separating his mouth from hers, he lifted her into his arms, carried her the short distance to the bed and laid her down, only then breaking off the kiss. He pressed one to her forehead, her chin. Then he leaned back, studying her as though he thought to memorize every line and curve, every slope and valley.
“You’re going to douse the light, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
Sadness touched his features. “For tonight. A woman’s first time ... ugliness should not be a part of it.”
Tears clogged her throat, tears she refused to allow to rise to the surface. She could argue that he was not ugly, that she found everything about him beautiful, but she knew he was not of a mind to listen. It would build a strain between them, would dampen the joy they should find at this moment.
Lifting her hand, she cupped his unmarred side. “I’ll leave tonight to your superior experience, but rest assured I’m a fast learner and some night you will have to leave it to mine.”
“We shall see.”
He moved away and she watched as he prowled through the room dousing the lamps. Almost desperately she memorized what she could see of him: the long limbs, the broad shoulders, the strong back. She wished he walked about without clothing, but that would come in time as well. What a wanton miss she was.
Only one lamp still cast its glow. The one beside the bed. Before going to it, he released the ties holding back the curtains that surrounded the bed as though he had no wish for even a star to peer through the window and gaze on them. One by one the heavy velvety curtains flowed together until only one remained tied back.
He approached the last lamp, the last sash. She wondered which he would see to first. She thought of whispering, “No,” when he leaned over the lamp.
He took one last lingering look at her and blew it out.
Sebastian released the last sash, felt the air stir as the curtain fell into place. Even without the lamps providing light he could see shadows. He knew it was ludicrous to crave complete darkness for their first coming together, but he wanted to give her the illusion of having in her bed a man who was perfect in features if not perfect in heart.
He tossed aside his shirt and shed his trousers. He wanted tonight to be good for her. She tempted him to be better than he was. At least here, between the sheets, he could ensure that she was glad she married him. Finding the part in the curtains was more difficult than he’d expected but eventually he found it and slipped between them onto the bed. It dipped with his weight. He inhaled her scent, trapped within the cocoon he’d created, relishing the fragrance filling his nostrils.
“I thought perhaps you’d run off,” she whispered.
He supposed the darkness required soft voices, murmurings. “Silly goose.”
“I’m not silly.”
“Are you nervous?”
“Should I be?”
“No. Just trust me to handle this.”
“I do.”
Reaching out, he felt silk, but not the silk of her nightdress. Silk of her skin. Her thigh. He slid his hand up—
Her hip.
“Your nightdress.” His voice sounded rough, raw.
“I removed it.”
“I see.” Damned, but he wished she’d removed it before he doused the final flame.
