Page 54 of What A Rogue Wants (Lords Of Deception #1)
That was likely as close to an apology as Madelaine would ever receive. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I hope we can return such a generous offer someday.”
“There is no need.” The queen beamed. “Go and enjoy being young, healthy and in love. I took it upon myself to have all your belongings transferred into the bedchamber. So off with you both.” The queen waved them away.
“Slow down.” Madelaine giggled as Grey nearly ran with her down the aisle and scooped her up to deposit her into the carriage. He clambered in and gave a clipped order to go.
She looked out the window with a grin at the frowning guests filing out of the chapel with rice bags in hand, and then she turned her gaze to her husband. “That was unpardonably rude of us.”
He yanked off his cravat with one hand while he grasped her arm with his other and pulled her nearer to him.
His powerful thigh brushed her, and his masculine scent surrounded her.
He licked his lips, his eyes sparkling. “I’ll tell the coachman to turn around and head back to the chapel, if you wish it. ”
“Don’t you dare.” She pressed her hand against his chest then slid it down to rest on his leg near the top of his thigh.
His muscles jerked under her touch. “All I want,” she said, kissing his neck and then lower at his open collar where hair peeked from his shirt, “is to have you take me in your arms and love me forever.”
“Oh, I’ll take you,” he promised, nipping at her ear until she moaned. “And I’ll love you forever and beyond.”
Grey studied Madelaine’s face as they entered the bedchamber and she took in the rich red and gold silk of the heavy bedding with the mounds of soft inviting pillows. For him it invoked images of the two of them intertwined and naked. Was it the same for her? “What do you think?”
A smile curved the corners of her mouth, and her eyes grew slumberous. “It’s too wicked to say, so I shall say this—I think the king should use your aunt in future negotiations. She obviously has a talent for convincing people of things that would have never entered their mind.”
He chuckled as he slid his arms around Madelaine’s waist and closed the door with the toe of his shoe. “I would have liked to have seen how Helen persuaded the queen she’d been wrong while somehow managing not to rile the queen’s temper.”
“Me too.” Madelaine leaned her head back against his chest. “That particular talent would be helpful when it comes to you.”
He inhaled the scent of fresh flowers that wafted from her hair and tightened his grip around the soft curve of her waist. “I’ll tell you a secret.” He swept her hair off her neck and kissed the long, elegant slope. His blood went straight to his groin.
Her answer was a moan followed by a ragged, “What?”
He trailed his fingers over her collarbone, then slid them lower to rub gently over one hard nipple that strained against the material of her wedding dress before lavishing the same attention on the other.
She twisted to face him, her face flushed pink with desire.
When she licked her lips, his blood strummed in his ears to join the throbbing in his groin.
“What’s your secret?” Her husky question made him want to forget talking, rip off all her clothes, and show her how weak with need she made him just by simply being near.
He slid his hands around her back to the exquisite curve of her delectable bottom and squeezed the inviting flesh.
Her eyes rounded, but she did not lean away as he pulled her against his hard groin.
“If ever you want to convince me of something, just appear naked, and I vow my temper will not be roused, no matter the request.”
She cocked her head to the side, her pink tongue darting out to wet her lips once more. “That’s good to know, but that may spark some interesting talk among our household staff.”
“True.” He massaged her bottom while enjoying watching her pupils dilate.
The ache in his groin had grown painful, but he would take things slow with her tonight.
He’d promised himself tonight was about pleasing her, giving all to her.
“I suppose if you want to convince me of something without my temper coming to play then make sure to do it in the bedroom.”
“Or lock the door of the room we’re in.” She grinned wickedly. “I believe I would start like this.” Her hand slid down his chest, leaving gooseflesh in its wake, coming to rest on his shaft. She squeezed with slight pressure that tore a ragged groan from his throat.
“God, I crave you.” He swooped one arm beneath her legs and picked her up. A growl escaped his lips as her soft body pushed harder against his aching staff. When she touched his face with her fingertips, a shudder coursed through him.
She pressed a velvet kiss against his lips. “I crave you too.”
That was all the invitation he needed. His mouth came down upon hers, the fierceness of his need to be inside his wife stunning him.
She met each stroke of his tongue with her own as her hands slid up to his neck and delved into his hair.
When her nails raked over his scalp, desire shot from his head, down his body and propelled him toward the bed.
He set her on the edge and kneeled in front of her.
His hands shook with need as he attempted to undue the rows of buttons that fastened her dress.
“Damnation,” he swore, frustrated with all the fasteners.
“Let me.” Her strained voice revealed the urgency she felt.
Coming to her knees, she unhooked her dress, and as she worked, he kissed her neck, massaging the tender skin with his lips until she moaned low.
The shimmering material slid off her shoulders, down her arms and fell at her knees.
He laid her back gently and ran his fingers up the smooth skin of her legs before bringing his hands back down again and slipping the dress off her feet to deposit it in a heap on the floor.
With nothing covering her but her stays, which thrust her breasts upward, she lay before him. “Beautiful temptress.” He glided a finger down her taut belly, her sharp intake of breath music to fuel his desire. “You’re flawless. Amazing.”
“You’re rather amazing yourself, but entirely too clothed,” she said with breathiness.
“Let me remedy that immediately.” He shed his clothes and came down to trail kisses on her creamy flesh.
Her body strained toward his mouth, and when he pressed his lips to her chest her heart pounded against his lips.
“You’re mine,” he vowed, unlacing the stays, which bound her breasts.
When they thrust forward with the release of the garment, he brought his mouth over her inviting, rosy nipple and suckled for a moment before flicking his tongue back and forth.
Desire struck him like a merciless wave, but he refused to give in to his own need before he had brought her pleasure.
She moaned then clenched his hair in her fists.
He wanted nothing more than to part her milky thighs and thrust himself into her repeatedly, but he clenched his teeth and bent to slowly remove her silk stockings and ribbon garters.
He rolled the material of her stockings down her long legs then trailed his tongue over her skin. “You have the most beautiful legs.”
“And you have the most beautiful mouth.”
He slipped his hands onto her thighs, spread them wide, and lowered himself between them. “Let me show you exactly what I can do with my mouth.”
“Hmm?” was her dazed reply.
In answer, he touched his tongue to the most sensitive part of her body and licked, slowly and deliberately.
Madelaine’s eyes flew wide open, and even as jolts of unspeakable pleasure vibrated from her center to every part of her body, her hands tugged at Grey’s hair in a desperate attempt to get him to raise his head.
When he finally relented in his mind-numbing assault of her flesh, he rose up and met her gaze.
“This cannot be decent.” She attempted to scoot back from him, but his fingers under her bottom held her in place.
“Probably not.” He lowered his mouth to the soft flesh between her thighs again.
A thousand sparks arched her entire body as his tongue circled her flesh repeatedly.
Heat jolted through her. She no longer cared if it was decent.
All she cared about was drawing his mouth closer to her.
With that thought, she thrust her hips upward, toward his tongue which moved faster, circling relentlessly until a sharp yearning pulsated within her.
“Oh, my God,” she moaned and dug her nails into his back. “Please.”
His tongue flicked, and sucked, pulled and circled. She bucked, consumed by fiery heat and desire. Her belly clenched, then deep within her all her muscles clenched as she rode with the spasms and drowned in the waves of pleasure that followed.
Yet, even then, her desire was not sated. “Take me now,” she demanded, not caring how she sounded.
Grey didn’t hesitate. He rose and plunged deep within her, filling her, with his hard, throbbing shaft that promised to be the answer to her greatest need.
She wrapped her legs around his sides as he slid slowly in and out, his pace increasing while the tide within her built once again.
Her mind spun as he whispered, “Hold on to me.”