Chapter Six
S ara stood inside Mairi’s bedchamber, watching Ian’s nightly bedtime ritual with his daughter. The Whethams had left to attend the opera with their friends, which left Sara and Ian alone for the evening. He’d ignored Sara during the evening meal and appeared preoccupied with troubled thoughts, so it surprised her when he asked her to join him. She thought he would prefer to partake in his usual evening pursuits and not concern himself with entertaining his wife.
However, Ian’s mood had shifted while tucking Mairi into bed. Her usual excuses not to fall asleep amused him, as they always did, and brought forth a smile she hadn’t seen throughout the meal. She didn’t understand what bothered him but hoped it wasn’t because of her. Perhaps she should apologize for her scandalous behavior in the park to ease his troubles.
“Now, young lady, no more stalling. You must fall asleep for another grand adventure tomorrow.” Ian kissed Mairi’s forehead.
“More snow?” Mairi asked.
Ian chuckled. “That might require more wishes. Since you can only make one wish a day, you must close your eyes for sleep now.”
Mairi’s face scrunched together as she squeezed her eyes tight. “Good night, Poppa and Momma.”
Sara stepped toward the bed and bent over to kiss Mairi’s cheek. “Sweet dreams, darling girl.”
Ian blew out the candle. However, he kept the door ajar for the hallway light to stream through. He wrapped his arm around Sara’s waist before she could put distance between them. She didn’t want him to feel as if he had to entertain her for the evening if he had other plans. But she stayed silent as he guided them to their bedchamber.
“I hope you do not mind, but I requested tea and dessert to be brought to our suite. I thought we could talk until bedtime. Unless you wish to read.”
A tea set and plates of cake sat on the table in front of the settee. He might not have requested a romantic atmosphere, but the servants had decided otherwise with the flowers and candles spread throughout the suite. His thoughtfulness kept surprising Sara with each of his acts of kindness. He understood the difficulty she struggled with to fit into his world and only wanted to ease her discomfort.
She squeezed his arm. “I would enjoy spending a quiet evening in our suite. Unless you have other plans you must attend to. I would understand if you need to leave.”
Ian tucked a stray curl behind Sara’s ear. “My only wish is to relax with my wife this evening.”
Sara offered him a timid smile as she pulled away from him to sit on the settee. She poured the tea and waited for him to join her. When she raised her gaze, she gulped as Ian tugged at his cravat until it came apart. He laid it atop his suit coat he had taken off. The top buttons of his shirt were undone and his vest discarded too. Sara had never seen a gentleman in this state of undress. Perhaps she had misinterpreted his evening of relaxation.
“Ah ... that is ... um ...” Sara couldn’t utter a coherent string of words to question the situation.
All she was aware of was how the butterflies in her stomach had taken flight again, and a warmth overcame her at her reaction to her husband’s intimate act of undressing in front of her. While he still wore most of his clothing, he aroused her imagination about how he might look if he were to finish undressing.
Sara held no clue how adorable she was, biting her bottom lip as she stared at him. Ian had never thought discarding the annoying articles of clothing he must wear outside his bedchamber would fluster his wife to the degree it had. He should continue his act of a proper gentleman who would never dare shock his wife with inappropriate behavior, but after their kiss today, he wanted to share with her the most intimate of acts. Even if it were only to lounge in their bedchamber without the stuffiness of a cravat, vest, and suit coat.
If he suggested for her to undo the top buttons on her dress, Sara would flee their bedchamber again. And tonight, he wanted her as close as she would allow. Not only because of the threat he’d received today but also because he desired her attention. Holding her in his arms brought happiness he never wanted to lose.
Instead of explaining himself, he joined her on the settee as if his undressing were an everyday occurrence between them. He smiled as she averted her gaze everywhere but him. He leaned back against the cushions, stretching his arm along the curve of the settee, and brushed his fingers across Sara’s shoulders. His eyes lowered as her body shivered at his touch. To restrain himself from taking her to his bed this evening would require the ultimate act of willpower he’d ever possessed.
“I must confess, I had an ulterior motive in asking you to spend our time alone in our suite.”
Ian’s bold confession brought forth the wickedest of Sara’s imagination. His gravelly tone only ignited the hunger for him to kiss her again. She didn’t know how the duke held the ability to make her want to discard her inhibitions and act on her wanton thoughts, but his touch alone sent her spiraling to express her hidden desires. Her willpower to resist the passion between them slipped from her grasp with each second spent in his company. How would she survive sharing a bedchamber with him this evening without throwing herself at him?
She took a deep breath before turning toward him. “And what might that be, Ian?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to call him Your Grace , but she didn’t dare provoke him to kiss her. Because if he so much as placed his lips upon hers, Grace wouldn’t be able to resist what she most desired.
Ian’s smile turned devious. “I believe hearing my name on your lips is just as pleasurable as you calling me Your Grace . Oh, dear Sara, we are in a quandary indeed.”
Not realizing her actions, Sara leaned closer to Ian. The pull of attraction between them was impossible to ignore. Nor did she want to. “Are we?”
Sara’s husky whisper would be his undoing to abandon his quest to give her a courtship before seducing her. The desire flaring in her aqua gaze changed from the calm waves of an ocean to the stormy sea of passionate need. Why deny them what they both desired? Ian had to remind himself that Sara was an innocent maiden who deserved more than what life had granted her before they wed. His need to spoil her with the affections of a husband who loved her far surpassed his baser urges. In time, he would worship her body with his loving touch, but for now, he would show her the affections of his heart. He refused to allow his selfish urges to rule his actions.
No matter how he rationalized his thoughts, he was powerless to resist Sara. He closed the space between them and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her against him. The sensation of her pert breasts pressing into his chest drove him to spear his hands through her hair, sending her hairpins scattering around them.
He captured her soft gasp between his lips as he coaxed her to open her mouth for him. Her gasp soon turned into a moan of pleasure as their tongues tangled in a dance of seduction. Each stroke only heightened the desire to claim her as his and damn his gentlemanly intentions. He had their whole marriage to court her and shower her with his love. Making love to Sara would only show her how devoted he was to her.
Pressed against Ian as he devoured her with one kiss after another felt like heaven. She wanted this moment to last forever. She didn’t believe seduction was his plan for the evening, but far be it for her to halt his attention. Especially when it sent tingles of awareness throughout her body.
She spread her fingers across his chest and up over his shoulders. From her touch, she imagined him carved from stone. Her exploration continued as she coasted her hands along his arms. Sara ached to caress his bare skin, to experience his sheer strength rippling beneath her fingertips. She dared to touch his chest where he had undone the buttons of his shirt. At his groan, she tore her hands away.
Sara stilled in his arm, unsure if she had been too forward by touching Ian in such an intimate manner. However, he entwined his fingers with hers and guided her hand back toward his chest.
“Please do not stop,” he murmured in between their kisses.
His encouragement only fueled her need to discover if his skin was as soft as hers. The texture was smooth underneath the sprinkling of hair, but also hard and firm. With each glide of her fingertips, Ian moaned with what Sara now understood to be pleasure.
Her touch inflamed his senses. He wanted nothing more than to rip off his shirt and let Sara explore to her heart’s desire, but his conscience warned him to slow down. His behavior was one of a scoundrel seducing an innocent miss to steal her virtue. Never mind that he was her husband and it was his right to bed his wife. But he never considered his wife giving herself to him his right but a gift. A testament to the love she held for him. He didn’t need Sara to declare her love to know she did. It reflected in her gaze whenever he stared into her eyes. As much as he wanted to worship Sara’s body, he needed to slow down.
His lips glided across her cheek to her ear. He groaned as her musky scent washed over him. He closed his eyes, fighting his urge to strip her bare and say to hell with his conscience. A few more kisses and he swore he would stop. He craved to kiss her delicate skin and listen to her sighs of pleasure echoing around them. When she tilted her head back as he kissed along her neck, encouraging him to continue, Ian realized he was a doomed man falling deeper under her spell.
Was it complete madness to lie entwined with her husband, who, only two days ago, was her employer? With each kiss and caress, her fantasies came to life. He rolled them over to where she lay beneath him and lifted his head to stare deep into her eyes. The passion flaring from his stare sent a rush of warmth flowing through her. His fingers hovered over the buttons on her dress. He never spoke a word but waited with his unspoken question for her permission to continue. When she slid her tongue across her lips, Ian groaned and closed his eyes as if he were in pain. But when he opened them again, they blazed with an explosive passion she never wanted to deny him.
As he did with her, she answered him by entwining her fingers with his and helping him undo the buttons of her dress. He traced a finger in a light tease across her skin above the lace of her chemise. She arched her back, aching for his touch to consume her. However, he continued to tease her by pressing kisses along the path his fingers traveled. The warmth soon turned into an all-consuming fire, with flames of need flickering inside her soul.
“Please,” she begged.
Ian raised his head, his eyelids lowered with desire. “You are a tempting package. I ache to unwrap every delicious inch of you.”
Sara moaned. “Ian.”
“I know, my darling. ‘Tis an intense yearning needing to be fulfilled. However, I fear we will spend a lifetime searching for relief we shall never find. Our bodies will only crave the next high, demanding more.”
Sara couldn’t respond even if she wanted to, because Ian overtook her senses when his mouth drew her nipple between his lips through her chemise. Her fingers sank into his hair, holding his head to her breasts. The ache between her thighs intensified, begging for relief. She held no clue what was happening with her body, only that she never wanted Ian to stop his seduction.
Sara clutched at him with a desperation only Ian could ease. His sweet and timid governess was a passionate woman. He found immense pleasure in teaching her how to unleash her inner goddess. He promised he would slow down, but watching her drop her inhibitions with each caress only sabotaged the best of his intentions. When she begged him, he wanted to rip her dress away and worship every inch of her. But he refused to seduce her for his own pleasure. However, he could ease the ache consuming her.
He finished releasing the buttons on her dress and drew the straps of her chemise off her shoulders. Her breasts glistened under the candlelight, and her nipples hardened under his stare. They were pale pink, begging for his lips to caress them. Ian placed a soft kiss across one nipple before moving to the next one. He licked his lips with eagerness to feast on them as he brought Sara to the pinnacle of her much-needed release. He trailed a path between her breasts, each act more intimate than the last. A lick across the tips to a gentle suck as he cupped them. They filled his palms to perfection.
He fell into a dangerous territory of being unable to stop as he suckled her luscious breasts. Sara was a divine confection, and he wanted to savor every inch of her until she appeased his cravings. But he feared he would never satisfy his lust for his wife. His hand inched lower to slide under the skirts of her dress. He ached to touch her sweetness between his fingers. Sara’s legs parted for him, and she arched off the settee as he brushed his thumb across her clit. Her eyes closed in ecstasy, and a moan escaped past her lips. When he sank his fingers into her wetness, she guided his head back to her breasts in a silent request for him to continue loving her.
He drew her bud into his mouth, sucking gently as his fingers glided across her pussy, relishing the desire she held for him. His lips softened as he slid a finger inside her. Her grip tensed in his hair but soon relaxed as his finger glided in deeper. She tightened around him before her juices coated his hand. He moved his head to draw her other nipple into his mouth, increasing the pressure as his finger moved in and out of her pussy with his thumb teasing her clit with gentle flicks back and forth. He ached to slide down between her thighs and devour her wetness with one stroke of his tongue after another.
Sara lost herself in the exquisite pleasure Ian devoted himself to. She would muse over her scandalous behavior later. For now, she hoped Ian never stopped with his attention. He eased the ache as if it were a mission of dire circumstances. She hovered on the verge of falling off a cliff as his touch intensified, drawing out her desires with each slide of his finger through her wetness. His pace increased, demanding for her to soar into his arms. However, she never wanted to leap from the passion consuming her. Her body ached to become one with Ian. For him to slake her needs along with his own.
She clung to the side of the cliff as amazing ripples of desire overcame her. But when his teeth scraped across her nipple and his thumb pressed against her clit with determination for her to succumb to his pleasure, she opened her arms wide and fell into the oblivion of Ian’s lair. She was a slave to his devotion. Her body floated into the abyss of his arms as he caught her to him, kissing her lips with a gentleness that bound her to him for an eternity.
“This was not my intention for the evening. However, I refuse to apologize for my actions. I would not trade this moment for anything.” Ian pressed a gentle kiss against Sara’s lips.
“What was your intention?” Sara asked, unable to meet his eyes.
Ian slid his knuckle under Sara’s chin to tip her head up. “To spend time with my wife and plan a future with her.” He gave her a wicked smile. “Maybe steal a kiss or two. Or perhaps more. I find I cannot curb my cravings for my wife’s sweet kisses.”
“You must think me wanton with my behavior,” Sara mumbled.
Ian cupped Sara’s cheek, brushing his thumb across her soft skin. “A natural act between a husband and wife as they explore their desires is anything but wanton. If so, I beg for you to behave with wanton intentions at every opportunity possible.”
Sara blushed at Ian’s teasing. “You are an incorrigible beast, Your Grace.”
“Only for you, my duchess.”
He bent his head to kiss Sara with a slow, mind-drugging kiss to show her how pleased he was that she shared his passion for them to be husband and wife in the most intimate of ways. She melted into his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. He rose off the settee and lifted Sara into his arms, carrying her to their bed. She would sleep wrapped in his embrace this evening and every evening for the rest of their lives. He promised she would never spend another day without feeling the love of a family.
Ian laid Sara on the bed and stripped her dress away, leaving her in her chemise. Then he moved about the suite, blowing out the candles before joining her in bed. When he pulled her into his arms, his shirt and pants brushed against her bare skin. While he seduced her on the settee with his kisses and magical touch, he’d had the most honorable of intentions with her. She wasn’t that innocent of a maiden not to realize that Ian put her needs before his. His desire pressed against her backside as he held her against him. However, he held back with patience to show her how much she meant to him.
She never thought it possible, but Sara fell deeper in love with her husband.