Page 35 of Entertaining the Earl (Vows in Vauxhall Gardens #2)

S usannah sat before the looking glass in the room they had taken at an inn on the outskirts of London, and took a deep, calming breath.

She was married. She was Lady Bourne—and her husband would soon be joining her in this bedchamber.

Every inch of her being thrummed with anticipation for the moment he would walk in the door. She knew a little of what to expect, from her reading, from a flustered conversation with her mother, and from that night in the library where things had progressed further than she had imagined…

Excitement overcame her nerves, and when he knocked gently on the door, she rushed to it and pulled it open.

He had two glasses of port, and he handed her one with a smile. “You look beautiful in that dress.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever look beautiful ,” she said, taking the glass and sipping the ruby liquid. “But thank you.”

He closed the door behind him and took a step closer, so she could almost feel the heat from his body, even through their clothing.

“You are beautiful,” he said, his eyes darkening, and desire pooled in her belly. “And I will show you just how beautiful, every night for the rest of her lives.”

Susannah felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she took another, much larger, sip of the port, which did not help the situation .

Her mind went blank, and she finished the port just to fill the simmering silence.

He drained his own glass, only briefly breaking eye contact, and then took both glasses and put them on the table by the door. Susannah’s nerves felt like elastic being stretched until it was close to snapping. He took her hand, and her breathing became shallow.

She had not removed her gloves, and so he began to do so for her, pulling at each finger and then gently sliding the satin from her skin.

She gasped as he pressed a kiss to the fluttering pulse at her wrist, before repeating the action with the other glove, another kiss, and a squeak of desire from Susannah that she could not control.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, before reaching up to her carefully pinned hair and pulling each pin gently from it, dropping them onto the carpet as he did so.

She could feel the blush spreading from her cheeks down to her décolletage at his focused attention, but she stood still as he removed every last one, and then allowed him to turn her around, so that she was facing the bed.

Her body shook with anticipation, and her eyes flickered closed as he pressed his lips to her neck. His fingers began to undo the shell buttons on the back of her bodice, and the dress became looser, until he could slide the sleeves from her shoulders and leave it in a pool around her feet.

And so there she stood, in only her chemise, shivering in spite of the fire roaring in the grate on the other side of the room.

His arms encircled her waist, pulling her backwards against him, and then one hand moved to cup her breast through the thin fabric.

“Beautiful,” he murmured against the delicate skin of her neck, and she was glad he had hold of her waist for she was sure her knees were about to give way.

The desire which raged within her felt as though it would burn her up at any moment, and when he turned her to kiss her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life.

*

Just as he had anticipated, she was deliciously responsive to his touch. He hated that she could not accept his compliment without disagreeing, and so he set out to show her just how beautiful he found her body.

When he kissed her, though, he lost sight of his aim to show her the beauty in every inch of her body, and instead found himself pulling at her chemise, separating their lips for a moment as he slipped it over her head, until she was naked before him, a goddess by the firelight.

“Beautiful,” he said again, but it was almost like she only just realized she was bare, and suddenly felt the need to cover herself with her arms.

He reached for her hands, pulling them away gently, and placed them on his own shirt. She seemed to understand, and pulled it over his head, as he worked on divesting himself of his britches, a task which was becoming more challenging by the second.

He had wanted her for weeks, and the thought of her finally being his, of being able to sate his desire for her without feeling any guilt, was intoxicating.

Seeing nervousness in her eyes, he kissed her again, slowly, as though they had all the time in the world, as though his body wasn’t a raging fire of desire.

They somehow made it to the bed without tripping over their combined clothing, and his fingers trailed up from her creamy thighs, until he reached her breasts and slid a thumb over one nipple, causing her to gasp and her hips to buck beneath his.

“Colin,” she groaned. “I need…”

“What, my love?”

“I need…you,” she said, and no words had ever been so welcome.

“Do you believe you’re beautiful?” he asked, unable to help himself.

“I— ”

Still she did not seem to be able to say the words. He lowered his mouth to her other nipple and grazed it with his lips, provoking another delicious groan from her mouth, and then pulled away.

“Do you believe it?”

“I…”

He swept his fingers over one breast, across her stomach, and halted just above the curls between her thighs.

“I believe you think I’m beautiful,” she said, the words forced from her lips in such a hurry that they seemed to meld together.

And he decided that would be enough, for now.

He moved his fingers lower, and her eyes pressed shut, and her breathing became heavier, as he showed her the pleasure he had wanted to show her since that night in the library.

Since before that, if he were honest.

*

If it was possible to die from pleasure, Susannah thought she might be about to do so. Her body needed him, and he seemed to know exactly what to do. The fire burning within her seemed to build until it was white hot, and impossible heat that she could not, did not want to, escape.

“Colin, please,” she said, even though she did not know what she was begging for, but it seemed he did. As she crashed over the edge of the delicious precipice, she pressed her eyes closed and clung to him, waves of ecstasy taking over her entire body.

And then he covered his body with hers and she pulled him closer, their lips colliding as their bodies joined as one, and her heart felt like it might explode with all the emotions coursing through her body. Joy, lust, love…