Chapter 17 #2
Letting go of his hand, Alice took a step back.
She was trembling again, she realised, though not from fear or the cold now.
Anticipation thrummed beneath her skin. Wishing she was wearing something a little less sensible than the thick flannel nightgown, she tugged on the ribbon tie at her throat and caught hold of the voluminous fabric.
In one swift movement, she yanked it up over her head and threw it to the floor.
She stood there, goosebumps prickling over every inch of her skin as Aubrey’s gaze darkened, roaming over her body with a proprietary glint in his eyes that made her feel hot and cold all at once.
“Well, say something,” she urged him, beginning to feel a little foolish as she wrapped her arms about her middle. She was not the most feminine of specimens, after all.
Aubrey caught hold of her wrists, stopping the movement and tugging her close. Alice gasped, the silk of his waistcoat and its mother-of-pearl buttons cold against her skin.
“Give a poor fellow time, love. I’m no poet and presenting me with such a delectable feast for my eyes is bound to scatter my wits. Don’t be too hard on me.”
“Delectable feast,” she said with an unladylike snort. “A mouthful, possibly.”
He looked at her intently, his gaze curious.
Taking a step away from her, his gaze travelled down the length of her body.
“Perfection,” he murmured, sounding so sincere she could not help but believe him, especially when he looked up and she saw that hungry look in his eyes, the one that had promised, and delivered, such wickedness in the carriage.
His hand reached out and cupped her small breast, engulfing it in warmth.
She shivered harder and then gasped as he bent and took her other breast in his mouth, sucking gently.
Everything went away, just as she had wanted, just as she had needed.
The terror and horror of the night faded as his touch chased away any thought other than the feel of his mouth on her skin, his strong hands touching her so gently.
“Aubrey,” she whispered, her arms wrapping about his neck.
She tugged at him, bringing his mouth back to hers, and kissed him hard.
He responded in kind, his hands moving over her as he explored the unfamiliar landscape before him.
His hands drifted lower, cupping her behind and pulling her close.
Alice shivered again, desperately aware of the hard press of his arousal.
Something deep inside her responded to the pressure, liquid heat pooling low in her belly.
“Too many clothes,” she protested, tugging him to the bed.
He followed, attempting to undo buttons as he went.
Alice climbed onto the bed and pulled him after her, as he struggled awkwardly to free himself of his clothes.
He cast his coat aside in an untidy heap, and she slid her hands over the expensive fabric of his waistcoat.
Aubrey had exuberant tastes, she realised, smiling indulgently at the vibrant orange material as he dropped it to the floor.
Increasingly impatient, Alice tugged the shirt from his waistband, and they broke the kiss for long enough for him to yank it over his head and throw it to the floor.
“Hurry!” she demanded, reaching for the buttons on his trousers, but Aubrey pushed her hands away, laughing.
“You’re not helping!”
“Then go faster!” Alice demanded, getting to her knees in front of him.
“I’m going as fast as….” His words died on a groan as Alice grew tired of waiting and slid her hand beneath the fabric of his small clothes.
“You’ve stopped,” she observed, though her voice was breathless and not half so teasing as she’d meant to make it.
Her fingers curled around his arousal, the heat and silk of him stealing her breath.
She gave an experimental stroke and his breathing hitched.
Well, that was interesting. A sensation of power stole over her, that she could make him react so with just a touch of her hand.
She stroked again, sliding her hand up and down as he let out a ragged breath.
Fascinated now, she experimented, moving a little faster and giving a little twist of her hand as she reached the top.
He made a choked sound that made her grin with delight.
“Can’t— Can’t think,” he murmured thickly.
“Oh, sorry, am I distracting you? I’ll stop.” Alice removed her hand, grinning wickedly as his eyes flicked open again, the green piercing through his slitted eyelids.
“You are a rotten tease,” he grumbled, shedding clothes with such haste he almost lost his balance and fell off the bed.
Alice flopped back against the pillows, smothering her laughter as he righted himself and climbed over her.
“I hope you’re not laughing at your betrothed?” His voice was low, threatening retribution of some delicious variety if she was.
“As if I would do such a thing.” Alice's voice was choked as she opened her arms to him and he covered her with his body. She wrapped herself around him, revelling in the heat that seemed to blaze from him. His body was so powerful, the tantalising feel of heavy muscle under her palms making her want to test his strength, to see if she could come close to matching it, knowing he’d never push her too hard, never hurt her.
Aubrey’s lips quirked, a devilish glint lighting his eyes that made her heart skip with happiness and anticipation. “I think you’re capable of just about anything.”
“Is that right?” she whispered.
He snorted. “You terrify and delight me, love. I adore you, every part of you, even the bits that scare me.”
“I adore every part of you too,” Alice murmured as her hands slid down his back and grasped his behind. “This bit is rather splendid.”
Aubrey laughed and pushed closer, pressing himself between her legs. A spark of electricity seemed to dart from between her thighs, jolting through her. Alice gasped. Smiling, he did it again, bending to kiss her.
One hand coasted over her belly, her hips, down one thigh and back again, lingering to toy with the curls nestled in the valley between.
Alice closed her eyes and threaded her hands into his thick hair as soft kisses drifted down her neck, along her collarbone.
She sighed as he continued to kiss his way back to her breasts.
His teeth grazed her nipple, biting gently, first one breast and then the other as questing fingers continued to play with her, sifting through the curls in pursuit of the tender place that hid there.
She gasped as he found it, widening her thighs to allow him better access.
Aubrey murmured soft words she could not decipher, though they were lovely, nonetheless.
He kept his touch light, teasing, never quite enough, and Alice moved restlessly, lifting her hips to encourage him, wanting more, harder, and faster.
“Aubrey.”
There was an impatient note in the way she said his name that suggested he ought to stop playing with fire, but he ignored it. His touch was both tantalising and maddening. She shifted and fidgeted, increasingly restless beneath him.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked, all innocence.
Alice simply glared at him, well aware he was paying her back for teasing him earlier.
“What is it you want, Alice?”
“Stop it,” she said, a somewhat whiny quality to her demand that she was not pleased with.
Abruptly, he did just as she asked.
“I didn’t mean—” she began, only to huff with annoyance. “You are dreadful.”
He laughed, gazing down at her with such an adoring look that she could have forgiven him anything.
“I learned from the best. Relax and stop rushing. You may know how to pick a lock, but I know how to undo you. Let a fellow work, can’t you?”
Alice snorted, amused by his description. He was right too, he’d already proven that much. She supposed she ought to just trust him and do as he said.
He sent her a smug smile and moved down the bed, his tongue and mouth leaving a trail of heat across her skin.
Kissing a path down her breasts, he traversed her ribcage and belly, the jut of her slender hips, and nuzzled the tender skin on the inside of her thigh.
Alice’s breath hitched as she stared down at him, her fingers sinking into his hair, the deep auburn glinting like garnets in the firelight.
He glanced up then, his eyes dark with wanting, before he pressed his mouth against the soft patch of curls.
“Aubrey,” she whispered. “Please.”
He did not tease her this time, but gently parted the curls, exposing the delicate peak of her sex.
The touch of his tongue was enough to wipe her mind clean of any thought but him, of the way he touched her and the heat that surged from the place he lavished with such attention. Alice sighed, trusting in him and tumbling into pleasure with wanton abandon.
It was perfection. He was perfection, she realised, as the world and all the trauma and fear fell away and she sank into the velvety dark, the sensations he wrought from her unresisting body so unbearably good that she held her breath.
He was everything she had never allowed herself to want, even to dream of, yet Aubrey gave her love and trust and friendship, with the added spice of desire.
Her muscles tensed as she hovered on the edge, the delicious anticipation of pleasure still to come, holding her suspended.
Alice shattered with a cry that tore from her mouth without her ever thinking to stifle it. The sound was unrestrained, but in that moment, she didn’t care, and she knew Aubrey didn’t either.
Still dazed she had not time to make a sound before Aubrey moved, easing her thighs wider as he found his place between them.
“Alice?” he said, her name a question as he waited.
“Yes,” she said, laughing at the desperation in his voice until he pushed inside her.
In one hard thrust, he entered her. She gasped, grasping his shoulders and holding on tight as he groaned and took hold of her wrists, pressing them into the mattress over her head.
“All right?” he asked gruffly.
Alice felt her lips quirk into a smile. “Rather better than all right.”
“I thought I’d lose you tonight, and I knew my life was over. I love you, and I’m never letting you go. I hope you realise that. We’re joined now, in every way that counts.”
Something in her relaxed at the declaration, not only her muscles that had tensed at the sudden invasion of his body filling hers, but the part of her that feared she could never belong anywhere, to anyone. She was finally at home, loved, just the way she was. “Never let me go.”
He moved then, a slow slide and retreat that grew quicker and deeper as he moaned, a raw sound somewhere between pleasure and pain.
Alice closed her eyes, losing herself in the wonder of how exquisitely they fit together.
Time ceased to exist. Nothing existed outside of this room, this touch, this kiss.
Aubrey slid his hands into hers, lacing their fingers together.
Gazing up at him, finding him watching her, Alice discovered his face flushed with passion, and with such a look in his eyes that she wondered if she could die of happiness, from being loved so well.
But then he moved, hard and deep, tilting her hips in such a way that melted her brain, and the sensation overpowered everything else as he gasped, thrusting quicker, faster.
He took them higher, with Alice holding on for dear life, breathless and mindless as she followed where he led, on and on into this new, undiscovered territory. Her hands slid over skin, damp with exertion as his movements became increasingly erratic.
“Alice,” he said, her name a raw exclamation as his body jerked and he spilled his pleasure inside her.
Alice watched him. The sight of him in such a state of abandon was the most wonderful thing in the world. She followed him into bliss, their hands clasped tightly together. They lay together, a tangle of limbs, unable to speak as their hearts thundered in unison.
When his breath finally returned to something close to normal, Aubrey moved off her, collapsing onto his back. He reached for her, apparently unwilling to allow any distance for even a moment.
“Good Lord. I am going to enjoy being married to you, love.”
Alice laughed at the anticipation in his voice and snuggled closer, her head on his chest. His skin was blazing hot, his heart still pounding in his chest, and she smoothed her hand up and down his body, revelling in the rise and fall of the powerful muscles under her fingertips.
All at once, she could not keep her eyes open a moment longer. She had never felt so relaxed, so at peace. She smothered a yawn and heard Aubrey’s low chuckle. He shifted, easing them lower down the bed and pulling the covers up over her.
“Go to sleep, love. It’s been a hell of a day.”
She blinked at him, not wanting to be parted, even by sleep. “Will you stay?”
“I can’t,” he said, kissing her forehead tenderly. “Not tonight. We must endure at least seven days, depending on how long the licence takes to arrive. Seven days to ensure no gossip follows you to the altar, and then our nights will be our own, forever.”
Alice smiled hazily at him, a vague worry over where they might live nagging at the back of her mind, but not enough to keep her from falling into sleep.