A t long last, they were wed, the wedding breakfast was done, and they were winding their way through the London streets to Callum’s home next to St. James’s Park.
But he was not going to wait until they were there. Oh no! They had been waiting for this, the both of them, for long enough.
He took in his beautiful wife. Bloody hell, he’d had no idea he could become so emotional. He’d always loved life and lived to the fullest, drinking every drop of it, but here, with her, he understood that he’d been somehow missing something.
She was the missing piece of his life. He was sure of that.
“Come here, wife,” he teased with a playful command as he took her slender hand in his and pulled her across the coach.
A laugh burst past her lips at his enthusiasm, and as he cradled her atop his lap, his arms about her, he gazed down at her and said, “I am the luckiest man in the world.”
“We are both lucky,” she replied. “Now kiss me.”
“Anything to make you happy,” he replied.
“I am so glad to know you shall undertake such a hardship to gain my pleasure.”
He waggled his brows at her. “Oh, indeed. Herculean labors and all that.” But then he let his gaze soften. “Your kiss, Cymbeline, is the stuff of heaven.”
He kissed her then, no holding back, no determination to control himself. And the kiss burned through him. Before long, he felt utterly wild.
Her hands roved over his coat, tugging at him.
But before he could be a total fool and start to make love to her in a rolling coach in broad daylight, the coach stopped, and they quickly righted themselves.
But he didn’t wait for the coach door to open. No, he jumped down, turned back, and swept her up into his arms so that he might carry her over the threshold.
“It is quite impressive,” she breathed as she stared up at her new home with its Greek columns and large square.
“Does that mean you approve?”
“I approve of anything that is yours,” she returned.
He beamed down at her and all but vaulted up the steps, through the open door held by his butler.
Shepard stood waiting and called, “Everything is as you requested, Your Grace.”
“Good man, Shepard,” he returned.
His man and the line of servants awaiting them all looked pleased as punch.
“Should I stop to greet them?” she whispered, her cheeks flushing.
“Later, my dear. Later. I cannot wait another moment,” he growled as he made for the stairs.
Grateful that he was an exceptional specimen who couldn’t be brought down easily by illness, he bounded up the steps and strode towards his chambers.
The door was already open, and he swept her in, then he slammed it shut with a solid kick of his booted foot.
She gasped with delight.
There was wine, lemonade, strawberries, chocolates, and bread…
The bed linens were a beautiful pale blue and had already been pulled back.
A dressing gown of soft pink silk, embroidered with roses, awaited her.
He studied her face, eager to see her pleasure.
“It is wonderful,” she breathed. “Are you anticipating we shall never leave this room?”
Oh, he would. He had to. His life had not stopped because he had wed, but…
“This will be our sanctuary,” he rumbled. “Our place. And I shall join you every night. But now…”
He lowered her feet to the floor.
She bit her lower lip, then began to work at the ribbons of her gown.
“Allow me,” he said.
Much to his surprise, he was so full of passion for her that his fingers fumbled for a moment before he was able to work her free of her gown.
When she stood in nothing but silk stockings, ribbons, and shoes, he began to work at his own cravat.
It took him only moments before they stood before each other naked, as they were meant to be.
They touched palms, silent, drinking each other in.
Her cheeks were a bright pink and her lips were parted.
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
She nodded. “Are you?”
“I am,” he replied.
“Why?” she blurted.
“Because I want this to be perfect.”
“Because it is us, it will be perfect,” she replied.
Those words washed over him, and he closed the distance between them. She melded to his body, and the feel of her silken nakedness against him was nearly his undoing.
But he held strong, determined to show her what their life would be like.
Cymbeline could hardly believe that this moment had finally arrived. She had long known about what happened between a man and a woman. Her cousins and their spouses, and her aunts and uncles, all adored each other.
Heron House was full of kissing, cuddling couples. And she was eager to join that club.
So, when he guided her to the bed, laid her back, and gazed down at her as if she was the most beautiful thing in the whole world, tears stung her eyes.
For this was what she had been waiting for.
Slowly, he kissed her from the line of her throat, down to her breasts, letting his tongue taste the peaks. He kissed each of her ribs and the places between. He kissed the soft curve of her stomach, then feathered his way down to the V at her thighs.
She arched towards him, eager.
His gaze met hers, and he dipped his fingers into her sex.
Oh! How he knew what to do! Even now, she was growing wild for him. Hungry for more. Hungry for all of him.
As he kissed and nipped gently at her hips, he stroked her folds, then as he had before, he slipped another finger into her core, as if preparing her.
Just when she thought she could bear no more, he pulled back. “I want us to go together.”
“Together,” she breathed.
He braced his long, hard, perfect body over hers, and he stroked the head of his sex along her opening.
Her mouth parted with surprise, for this was so new.
Then, in one gentle go, he thrust forward, and he had so readied her that there was no pain, no resistance, despite the fact he was so large.
Callum took his time, allowing her to get used to his size, and it did feel like too much at first. But then, with each moment, it became better and better until she wanted more.
And when her breathing changed back from uncertainty to desire, he rocked his hard sex into her body over and over, creating a rhythm that built in pitch and tempo.
This was different than before. This was more! This! This was what she had always needed. Him, all of him.
And when they both raced to their desire and their souls intertwined, just as their bodies did, in bliss, she knew she was lost to him forever and ever.