Faith had no idea if John noticed the care with which she’d dressed. He only gazed at her as if she were the answer to all his dreams, which she could not help considering a foolish notion. Not that she would castigate him for thinking so.
How could she, when she could hardly concentrate for the overwhelming joy that suffused her?
They had elected to wed at ten in the morning, before most of fashionable society was about. Their ploy worked, for nobody more than the family appeared in the small but fashionable church near their home.
Their home. She ruminated on that during the short ride back to the house, this time with her hand tucked into John’s. “I never imagined I’d think of Grosvenor Square as home.”
“Wait until you see Graywood. I want it to become our real home. It’s beautiful and peaceful.” He squeezed her hand as they arrived. “Do not expect to spend long in those fine garments, my lady. I intend to make you pay for the two nights I slept in the club, cock in hand, wanting you with every inch of it.”
“John!” She turned her head to conceal her blushed, but he touched her chin and turned her back to him.
“It’s the truth. I want nothing but honesty between us from today until the day we die.”
The thought that he would be here with her until she passed her last breath gave her comfort and a kind of wonder, that he would spend that time with her.
True to his word, he barely allowed her to taste her wedding breakfast before he declared she was too tired with the recent exertions of the ball and now the wedding. He courteously drew back her chair for her as she got to her feet and faced him, almost shyly. Despite her experience, and now being married for the second time in truth, she felt like a young maiden, unsure of what lay ahead.
On the other hand, the knowledge of what had passed between them already made her sex damp. It swelled, became more sensitive, so although she should care that the dowager gave her a knowing stare, she could not bring herself to do so.
They bypassed the bedroom Faith had used for the past two nights and went straight to the one John declared would be theirs henceforth. “Every night, come here. Don’t consider using any other place. This is ours, our room, our sanctum.” He lifted her hand to his lips, brushing the knuckles with a tender kiss, the soft pressure making her shiver with anticipation.
He pushed open the door, the last one lying between them and their total intimacy. “No more barriers. You are mine, and I intend to make you happy.”
“I want to do the same for you.”
“Why?” He closed the door behind them. “Guilt, a desire to please?” But he was smiling, his words a gentle tease.
“Because I love you. I need you to be happy.”
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again they held raw passion. For her. “My only love, come to me now.”
He cursed as he fumbled for the fastenings on her gown. He soon discovered the buttons at her neck and then down her back, concealed by a flat placket and pleats, and he undid every one.
“Why so many?”
“It makes the gown fit well. Turvey can undo them in half the time.”
He groaned. “I should have allowed her to do it for you. I want you Faith, but I want you to keep this gown. It’s a reminder of the first of our days together as man and wife.”
Finally the gown came loose and she let it fall from her shoulders, off her arms. When she lowered them, the garment slid down her body to the floor.
Why should John have all the fun? She shoved his coat off his shoulders. Because he did not wear his coats so tight it took two men to reverently ease it away from his body, he could shrug it off, allowing the finely tailored cloth to join her beautifully made gown on the floor. The floor covered with an exquisitely fashioned oriental carpet.
For all she cared they could be wearing coarse woollens and be in a country inn, or a makeshift tent. She only had eyes for the man before her, stripping off his finely embroidered waistcoat and lawn shirt, revealing his powerful chest, carved muscles inviting her touch. No need to resist. She smoothed her palms across his nipples, glorying in the sensation of the sharp points over solid muscle, reminding her of what a pure male felt like. She’d missed that touch so much that two nights had seemed endless. “I woke up several times last night and you weren’t there.”
He smiled down at her. “That will never happen again. Faith, my wife, come to bed. And say it.”
She frowned in confusion. “What should I say?” She’d already told him she loved him and she expected to say it many times tonight. Then she knew what he meant. “John, my husband.”
His broad and tender smile told her she’d discerned the truth.
“You think I didn’t notice you never called me that?”
“I couldn’t do it. Even in my mind. I meant to leave you and then, when I decided to stay, I still wasn’t your wife. I am now.”
He unfastened her petticoats, then her corset, turning her around to get at the laces. “That’s for sure. Why did you decide to stay?”
“Because it occurred to me you would be unhappy if I left.” It was that simple. Not because she loved him and wanted to stay more than she wanted her next breath, but because she’d leave him totally alone. “And I didn’t want you to touch anyone but me in this way. Look at anyone but me like this.”
“I never will.” The last of her garments disposed of, he took her in his arms and kissed her. Her breasts pressed against his chest, the heat they generated enough to set the day on fire. Sure she wouldn’t leave this room today, nor would he if she had anything to do with it. His tongue entered her mouth in carnal invitation and she returned the lavish, passionate kiss, sinking into him with wholehearted pleasure. He explored her as if he’d never kissed her before, taking her with every stroke. Reminding her of what they were about to do, his tongue imitating the action of his shaft. Faith drew away, panting. “I want you naked.” It was the honest truth.
She needed to reacquaint herself with the body of the man she’d been fortunate enough to ensnare in the net of love.
He still wore his pantaloons and his underwear but not for long.
After helping him dispose of his boots, she undid his fall for him.
Roughly, she dragged his clothes away before dropping to her knees and taking him into her mouth to claim the first drops of his desire.
The smooth head filled her mouth, and she ran her tongue around the flange underneath until he groaned and begged for mercy. “I want you now, Faith.” He sounded breathless, as if he’d run five miles or more. “Turn around. Hold on to the bed.”
Wide-eyed, but eager as he, she did as he bade her. She turned around, held on and spread her legs so he could see, smell and touch the evidence of her need for him.
He made a sound deep in his throat, half-groan, half-sigh, and touched her. He pushed a finger inside her, bringing it out and sliding it along her crease to touch the swollen nub at the front. Her cry might have raised the alarm, had not the household been aware of their activity. Sturdy doors lay between them and the rest of the world but the volume of the sound she made wouldn’t have been stopped by solid furnishings.
Not that she cared. Neither did he. “That’s the way, sweetheart.
Scream for me. Cry out, so everyone knows what we’re about, because I don’t intend to keep it a secret. London will know the Earl of Graywood is unfashionably in love with his wife and fucks her senseless every night. Then he makes love to her and soothes her with sighs and pretty words.” He kissed her shoulder, so tenderly she hardly felt the caress. “I want you every way, Faith. Fiercely and softly, facing each other and spooning close. Head to foot, you sitting on me, riding me to oblivion, me on top, driving into you so hard you won’t be able to close your legs for a week.”