Page 158 of Ironvine

Shivers raced over her skin as he licked his lips, taking in the thin, wet camisole stuck to her breasts, revealing her curves through the thin cotton. He ripped that off and went straight for the breeches she wore. “I must admit,” he said against her lips as he jerked the buttons off one by one. “’Tis odd, but I like it.”

“Discovering new things you like in this marriage every day, are you, my lord?” She let out a soft laugh as he tugged the wet trousers off her. Relief washed through her to be finally rid of the wet clothes, to be here safe at home with Charles, his warm hands on her body.

He led her to the tub, where she carefully climbed in and sank slowly in the hot scented water. “Divine.”

Ripping his clothes off, Charles got in the tub with her. Water sloshed and splashed everywhere, neither of them caring.

He took hold of the soap in the nearby dish, made a lather with a cloth, and washed her neck and arms, his jaw tight, his gaze shuttered.

“You don’t have to wash me—”

“I do.” He brushed her flesh with the cloth, the water clouding with the soap. “Never do that to me again, Georgie. Never leave in the middle of the night without letting me know where exactly…”

“I’m sorry. You are right I should have left you a note and told Jerrold what I was up to. I didn’t expect to be out longer than you, nor had I planned on going inside the ruins. It’s just that, the moonlight was so bright, and I desperately wanted to find that painted garland that you’d seen as a boy in the old house.”

“Georgie—”

“I found it, Charles. I found what you saw as a boy that terrible night.”

“The garland?”

“It is a grapevine, and I saw it.” She told him all she’d found.

“So it wasn’t my overwrought childish imagination?”

“No. It’s real and it’s magnificent. Although I deeply regret doing such a reckless thing and putting you and Joss in danger—”

“You put yourself in danger.”

“But now you know that it was real, that Ironvine’s history, your Montclare past, your inheritance is good. Damn everyone who mocks the tale of Brother Laurent.” She stroked the sides of his face with her wet, soapy hands. “That darkness you grew up with is not who you are. You are not tainted, my Earl of Ryvves.”

Charles took her hand and brought it around his cock, and she let out a satisfied gasp at his firmness. She stroked him, and his jaw slackened, his head fell back on a groan. “Take me, Georgie. Take me.”

Positioning herself, she sank down on him, his hand guiding his cock inside her. His thick length filled her slowly and she let out a long moan, rocking over him. Wrapping his arms around her middle, he brought her breasts to his mouth. Greedily he nipped and suckled each one as she drove down on him, water sloshing from the tub as their thrusts became more urgent.

“Never leave me again, Georgie. Never. Promise me.”

“I promise. I promise. Now fill me, Charles. Fill me.”

He cuffed her neck, his other hand at her hip as he met her thrusts, the water sloshing violently over the tub, splattering on the floor. She didn’t care. She wanted all of him. His heart, his soul, his body. Her back arched as the pleasure burst inside her. His fingers dug painfully into her hips as he furiously thrust, finding his release.

Wiping the water from his face, she kissed his cheek, his chin, his lips. “I want to please you and feel that pleasure with you. You gave me that, Charles. With you, I burn. I burn, and yet it is a freedom at the very same time. You’ve given me that freedom, Charles, that courage.”

“I want to give it all to you, Georgie.” He rubbed a nipple between his fingers, pinching it tightly.

Wincing, she let out a whimper, her back arching. “Now you’re being merciless.” She turned in his hold and sank back against him, sliding his hand between her legs.

With his dark chuckle tickling her flesh, he stroked her quim, and her hips rocked against his hand. “You are also insatiable.” He twisted her other nipple as his fingers teased and stroked her nub.

The biting sting coupled with the pressure between her legs had her pleasure mounting again, searing her. “I am insatiable. For you.”

“And I for you.” His teeth bit into her shoulder as he palmed her breasts roughly. Georgina cried out her release.

They realized the water had cooled considerably, and he helped her from the tub and dried her and dried himself. Donning the dressing gowns that had been laid out for them, they drank brandy on the cushioned divan in Charles’s bedchamber. He took her feet in his lap and rubbed them.

“You spoil me, my lord.”

“I enjoy it.”

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