Page 175 of Rogue of My Heart

Albina’s stomach quivered, as she slowly opened her eyes. She had always thought of him as Chael, had even referred to him as such to her friend Lydia, but she hadn’t called him that in person in years. It had seemed too… intimate when their relationship had been on rough ground.

“Why shouldn’t I call you that?” she said quietly. “It’s your name.”

“No,” he returned softly, his hand trailing back up the side of her ribcage. “Michael is my name. Chael is the nickname you gave me when we were courting.” He leaned his head down to whisper near her ear. “It sounds so good to hear you say it again. But I have to wonder why now?”

“I don’t…” She stumbled over her words when his thumb brushed the underside of her breast. “…know what you mean.”

“Don’t you, my sweet Alby?” He nearly purred, speaking his own nickname for her. “Because I think you do. I think this entire evening was meant to entice me back to your bed.” She nearly moaned as his other hand joined the first, both of them just inches from cupping her breasts.

“What is it you want from me, Alby?”

After five long years of waiting and yearning, she finally dared to say,

“Touch me.”

He replied by slowly moving his hands over her breasts, kneading them gently through her gown. “Anything else?” he whispered near her ear, his breath hot and enticing.

She watched in the glass as he pleasured her, the sight of those large, muscular hands upon her body causing more words to spill forth. “Make love to me, Chael.”

* * *

At that, he gently turned her to face him. “As my lady commands.”

His mouth descended upon hers, and Albina thought for sure she would lose the ability to stand. She had denied herself of his pleasure for so long, too long. So many nights she’d yearned for these same arms around her, this same mouth on hers. Now that it was happening, she wasn’t sure what to do, or how to react. It had always been a fantasy on those nights she’d been alone, when books had been the only happiness that filled that hollow void inside of her. At least in between the pages of someone else’s story, she might forget what she’d lost for a brief time.

He pulled away only long enough to extend a hand to her. His eyes sparkled, as tempting as warm chocolate. The slight lines around his mouth, as well as the silver at his temples only added to his appeal. “Come upstairs with me,” he whispered.

Albina placed her hand in his, those warm fingers enveloping her like a caress. Now that Chael had been returned to her, she was going to hold on to his affection for as long as it dared to remain. Once they reignited the spark of the bedchamber, surely the rest would fall into place.

Eight

A lady must submit to her husband in the marriage bed…

Lady A’s Advice Column

* * *

Albina wanted to rip the buttons right off of her husband’s waistcoat the moment they entered his bedchamber and locked the door. Her heart was pounding; she had never been so impatient to be with him as she was at that moment.

“You’re rather enthusiastic, my lady. I don’t know whether to feel flattered, or a little bit scared.”

Albina smiled, for she could hear the amusement in her husband’s voice. “You haven’t seen enthusiasm yet, my lord,” she said, right before she acted on her impulse and brazenly sent buttons scattering all over the hardwood floor.

They were still pinging, rolling under furniture, when he said, “Oh, dear. I fear my valet will be rather cross with you.”

“Then I’m afraid he’s really going to be mad about this…” With that, she split his silk waistcoat down the back, rending it entirely in two. It fell away from his white, cambric shirt in two discarded flutters.

He glanced down at the ruined material at his feet, and then turned to her with heat in his gaze hot enough to singe. “He may never forgive you.”

Looking her up and down, he reached out and gently ran a finger along her neckline, the tip of it brushing the tops of her aching breasts.

With a grin that held the promise of pure wickedness, he said, “My turn.”

Spinning her away from him, he started to slowly unlace her gown.

He kissed the side of her neck. “I should hate to tear such a lovely gown…” She shivered at his words, as her dress fell to the floor in a whisper of silk. But when he bent down and removed a knife from inside his boot, she couldn’t hold back a gasp. With one smooth cut, her stays dropped from her body.

“Now that contraption, on the other hand, I could always do without.”