Page 47 of Miss Hawthorne’s Unlikely Husband (The Troublemakers Trilogy #3)

Her second hand touched his face, drifting down his neck to his shoulder then over his chest. His mouth crashed down on hers, startling a moan from her as her hand moved to his waist. Then he began to move in earnest, rolling his hips and thrusting deep.

He could have pounded himself into oblivion at that moment but she felt so small in his arms. He couldn’t bear to hurt her.

Her legs came up around him and the mental image had his breath catching in his throat.

He buried his face in her hair, listening to her gasp and moans sound in his ear.

He squeezed his eyes tight, fighting against the encroaching orgasm with every fiber of his being.

Then he felt her kissing his neck down to his shoulder, her mouth sucking at his skin.

The grasp on his self-control slipped and his hips snapped against hers with more force than he intended.

She cried out and he froze in alarm before lifting his head to check her.

Her face was frozen in a mask of rapture, her eyes shut tight, her mouth still forming around the cry. All his experience told him she was fine, everything was fine, but still the fear lingered.

“Ellie?” he called her name roughly, and her eyes drifted open. “Baby, are you alright?”

She nodded weakly, her hand shifting to caress his back. “Don’t stop.”

She was going to be the death of him. He thrust again, deep and hard, allowing himself to let go more than he had before.

Her eyes fell shut with a moan, her fingertips digging into his back, encouraging him to go deeper, to take more.

He hiked her right leg up higher on his hip and buried his face in her neck, tasting her damp sensitive skin.

Her scent was clouding his senses, her voice ringing in his ears, her breath flowing over his skin.

He could feel her tightening greedily around him, her cries growing louder.

He wanted to see it, the moment she gave over to the pleasure he gave her.

He lifted his head to watch her eyes fly open and widen in surprise, her mouth falling open in a wordless cry until the tension in her body shattered, clutching him close with her arms and legs, her entire body shaking with tremors beneath his.

He’d wanted to see it again, wanted to spend the rest of the night driving her up that peak again and again.

But then everything caught up to him, the joy of loving her, the relief of no longer being alone and the bone splintering pleasure tearing the breath from his lungs.

He cried out, pressing his forehead to hers, closing his stinging eyes as rapture ravaged his body.

Her hands brushed his cheeks, holding his face between her palms with the same tender care with which she carried his heart.

*

Elodia woke the next morning feeling thoroughly cuddled and sore.

The source of the cuddling was obvious and wonderfully novel.

Her face was pressed to Richard’s bare chest and his arms and leg were wrapped around her.

As far as ways to wake up, she had to admit, this wasn’t unpleasant.

She ran her hand up and down his back, taking the time to appreciate the firm muscles under his warm smooth skin.

Last night had been everything she could have hoped for, and she had spent years hoping and imagining.

He hadn’t forced her into removing her nightgown as she’d feared.

He hadn’t seemed to mind at all. The things she’d done to her, the feel of him inside her for the first time, the way he’d looked at her the entire time like a hungry wolf would stay in her mind forever.

She didn’t think she’d ever be comfortable being naked with him, but she had to admit she enjoyed feeling his bare skin.

Did he always sleep naked, she wondered, or was it only for last night?

If he showed up in nightclothes, she would be disappointed.

Perhaps he wouldn’t mind if she made a small request. He shifted and let out a sigh before adjusting his hold and kissing her hair.

Goodness, her hair must be a sight. She hadn’t wrapped it the night before as she normally did.

“Good morning,” he grumbled, and she smiled.

“Good morning husband.”

“How long have you been awake for?”

“Sometime. Did you sleep well?”

“Like the dead. You?”

“Mmm,” she squeezed his waist and kissed the skin under her cheek. “I think I like being held all night.”

“That’s convenient,” he replied. “Where should we go for our honeymoon?”

“Hmmm, Provence? I haven’t been there in so long.”

“France.” His brow furrowed again, his mouth twisting in thought.

“Is that a problem?”

He certainly didn’t look enthused about the idea. “No. I’ll make arrangements.”

“If possible, could we wait until my father is married? I don’t like his choice of wife but I wouldn’t want to miss his wedding.”

He smiled at her. “Of course, àirén, whatever you like.”

“What shall we do today?”

“I didn’t plan on doing much else,” he replied, rolling to face her, shifting her head to his arm.

“We can’t just stay here.”

“Why not?”

Why not indeed? “We’ll need food for one thing.”

“We have fruits thanks to your planning.”

She fought past an onslaught of giggles as he dropped soft kisses on her face and neck. “I’ll need more than that to keep up with you.”

“Are you implying that I’m demanding?” He pulled back and peered down at her.

“I’m not implying anything,” she replied, sliding her leg between his, feeling his manhood heavy against her thigh. He lifted one eyebrow, then in one smooth movement, he rolled her over, pinning her to the bed on her back. Was it normal to enjoy the weight of him pressing her into the mattress?

“Why do I get the impression that you aren’t exactly complaining?” he murmured against her neck.

“Because I have no complaints at the moment,” she replied, giddy delight rising in her chest as she took in his lustful eyes and silken dark hair, “but you are going to have to feed me at some point.”

“Fair enough,” he murmured before capturing her mouth in a searing kiss.

She had been hungry moments ago for breakfast. She was certain of it.

And no doubt when he finished driving her wild, she would be even more so.

But in this moment, all she could focus on was him.

His tongue stroking into her mouth, his hand in her hair, that wonderfully strong lithe body of his and the length hardening against her.

He pulled away and she whimpered, chasing his mouth. “àirén, are you alright for this?”

“What?”

“Are you sore?”

She hesitated too long before opening her mouth to reply. He shook his head and kissed her once more before rolling onto his back. “I’m going to have to keep an eye on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are too greedy for your own good.”

“Well, if I am, it’s your fault,” she complained, curling into his side. “You were the one who made the act so…” Enticing? Incredible?

“So?”

She made a face at him. “Who’s the greedy one now?”

“Me,” he replied, kissing her temple and cuddling her closer. “I’m very, very greedy.”

She grinned, looking away from the bold intent in his eyes. “Silly,”

“Greedy,” he corrected with a devilish gleam in his eyes. “Engrossed. Insatiable.”

She giggled and buried her burning face and aching cheeks into his chest.

Then a sobering thought occurred to her. What if Lady Tremaine was correct and his greed surpassed her ability to sate it? What if she never could sate him and he was left unsatisfied for the rest of their marriage? What if he needed more than she could give?

“Ellie,” he asked after they’d lain there quietly for a moment.

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t you want me to see your body?” he asked, his hand running over her hip.

“I told you before, it’s ugly.”

“Why do you think it’s ugly?”

“Because… I have virtually no bosom, my hips are too narrow. My bottom and my legs are too large.”

“Who told you that?” His voice was deceptively even.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters if you’ve been made to feel like you are unsightly when you are anything but.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“It wasn’t anyone in particular. My nanny in Trinidad said it was a good thing my face was pretty but my body wasn’t too distracting. She said it would protect me from unwanted attention.”

“Did she?”

“She meant well. When Papa and I left Trinidad, we stopped in France for a new wardrobe. I heard the modiste talking. She called me La centauresse .”

“The centaur,” he translated the word.

Yes. It had been shocking to hear herself described that way, embarrassing, but by that time, she’d already been aware of how unattractive she was.

It had been a fact of her life for years, but in his arms, with his sympathy so apparent, the memory stung more than usual.

“They laughed. I don’t know if she knew I understood her. ”

“That is disgusting behavior.”

“It was unkind, perhaps, but I do look like a centaur.” She shrugged. “A male one anyway.”

His hand stilled. “I beg to differ.” His tone brooked no argument.

She really didn’t want to discuss it any further. “You know what I mean, though, I’m not curvy or womanly like Regina, or Ada.”

“Would it shock you to know that I haven’t seen either of them in their undergarments?”

“That’s not true. Ada said she used to sneak into your room when she was younger.”

“Firstly, if we must discuss my sister, she was in her night clothes, not her undergarments. Secondly, the last time Ada did that, she was maybe fourteen years old and even then I was almost always barely half awake. Sometimes I didn’t wake up at all when she’d scamper in.

I’d roll over in the morning to the sight of this adorable little interloper. ”

Elodia laughed and shook her head. “She is such a strange thing. Half strategist, half coward.”

He chuckled. “When she was a baby, it was shadows on the wall. Then it was nightmares whenever our parents were gone. They weren’t always traveling for long periods of time but if they went to China, she was always in my bed come morning.”

“You didn’t look happy to go to Provence. Would you prefer to go somewhere else?”

“I don’t like the sea,”

She stared at him. “You live on an island.”

“I’m aware. It’s why I don’t usually stay at our property in Brighton. Do you know my parents died at sea?”

“I think I did.”

“I’d traveled ahead of them. I was home with Ada. They had sent the goods from my grandmother ahead of them. Lotus seeds, persimmons, soap, spices, silks, wine, ink, paper and new brushes. Two months later, I got notice that their ship had gone down.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“After that, I kept wondering when and how it had happened. I’d done that journey.

I kept thinking of what it would have been like to be there.

I had nightmares about a ship sinking and leaving Ada alone in the world.

After a while, I just hated it, hated the way it made me feel, hated that it reminded me of their deaths. ”

“We don’t have to go to France.”

“I’m not afraid of it, Ellie, I just don’t like it. If there was a way to get there without involving the ocean, I’d take it. But there isn’t, so we shall sail.”

“Are you certain?”

“It’s not even a day of sailing. I’ll manage.” He frowned at her. “I know you distracted me by the way.”

“Do you?” she blinked up at him with wide eyes as she pressed her lips together against a smile.

“Alright, I’ll leave it for now.”

“While we are on less palatable subjects, what are you going to do with your uncle?”

“I’m going to repay him in kind.”

“You won’t have him arrested?”

“I don’t actually have anything to arrest him for. He put his hands on you, which is unforgivable, but he hasn’t actually committed a crime. Not a crime I have evidence for anyway.”

“I thought Leo was—”

“He was. The trail never fully connected to Uncle Simon. The connection would have been Trent himself. When he died, it was over.”

“So what can you do?”

“His finances are under my control.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean,”

“He put me in a debtor’s prison two years ago. I will return the favor.”

That would be almost diabolical. To allow his uncle to die in poverty, knowing he had the means to save him. Could he do that? “How long will that take?”

“Not long. He already has debts I’m meant to settle. They will take him.”

“What about his family?”

“That will depend on them.”

“When will you go?”

“Within a day or two.” He looked at her and flipped her onto her back, nuzzling her neck as she squealed in delight. “I have some important business to see to first.”