Chapter Twenty-Two
Six weeks later . . .
Matthew chased Verina around the bedchamber, leaping onto the bed and jumping to the other side, catching her. He pulled her into his arms for a long, delicious kiss.
How had he ever lived without this woman in his life?
They had been wed for six weeks now, and his appetite for his wife was still insatiable. As he framed her face and kissed her, his cock stirred. Desire rushed through him, his tongue teasing her mouth open, plunging inside to drink from her sweet nectar.
His hands slid to her shoulders, drawing her against his naked body. She was tall, her frame willowy, her breasts just the perfect size for his hands and mouth. His hands moved down her back now, cupping her buttocks, and he heard the pleased noises coming from her.
She broke the kiss. “We should be getting ready for our ball.”
He seized her mouth again, their tongues mating as he kneaded her buttocks. Her hand slid down his chest, seizing his cock, her fingers encircling it as she stroked its head with her thumb.
Now, he was the one moaning.
She kept her hand firm about it, dragging its tip across her belly.
His blood quickened, and he deepened the kiss, fighting her for control of it.
But his young wife had learned her lessons well, and she continued to dominate him.
Bloody hell, he could barely think with her stroking him, teasing him as she brushed the head of his cock against her belly.
“Enough!” he cried, spinning her around. They fell onto the mattress, her legs encircling him as she locked them at her ankles, pressing against his back.
He fondled her breasts as he continued to kiss her, something she liked. It had been a world of sensual exploration, discovering what pleased one another, and they continued to learn each day—and night—new things which made their marriage not only a partnership, but an adventure.
Knowing how she liked to take control, Matthew rolled, his back landing flat against the mattress, Verina now atop him. She broke the kiss, smiling down at him.
“Oh, I shall have my wicked way with you, Your Grace.”
“Is that a threat—or a promise?” he asked lazily as she slowly took him inside her.
She sat atop him now and started to undulate, as if she were a wave and he the shore.
She eased from him and then took him in again, moving, swaying, practically purring.
Then she rode him, hard and fast, both of them crying out as they reached their peak.
Verina collapsed, her breasts pressing against his bare chest, and he greedily took her mouth with his, making every kiss count.
He finally broke the kiss, pressing her head to his shoulder, liking her close to him, feeling her heart beat as he knew she could feel his. Matthew pressed a kiss to her temple.
“I suppose we should dress. After all, your brother is being kind enough to host a ball in our honor. The least we can do is actually show up for it.”
Verina lifted her head, smiling at him, stealing another kiss. “We shall be late. Thanks to you. I will let Tray know it was your fault and not mine.”
“If you do, I will never hear the end of it from him.”
“Good,” she replied saucily, making him want to make love to her all over again.
She eased from him and then the bed, slipping into her dressing gown. As she left, she rang the cord for Barrow.
“You know he will be waiting outside the door,” Matthew told her as she scurried from the room, going through the door that lead to their bathing chamber.
Her rooms were on the other side of it, and he knew Sarie would be tapping her foot and would chastise her mistress for waiting until the last minute to be dressed.
“Ah, to be in love,” he said, springing from the bed, walking across the room and opening the door.
Barrow raced in. “You are cutting it close, Your Grace.” The valet paused. “Then again, you look most happy. Like a cat who has lapped up all the cream accidentally left out. I fear you will set the tongues of the ton wagging.”
“Let them talk all they wish about us,” Matthew said cheerfully. “It is about time they gossiped about two people who are madly in love instead of which wife is cuckolding her husband, or what couple has to wed because they were caught kissing.”
“You ought to be glad I have learned to quickly shave and dress you, Your Grace. Else you would be late to everything now that you are wed.”
He sighed, contentment filling him. “I wonder if I will always be this happy, Barrow.”
The servant paused a moment, studying him. “I’d say you are one of those couples who are happy—and will stay happy, Your Grace.”
Matthew smiled. “I think so, too.”
Twenty minutes later, he sailed through the door to his wife’s bedchamber, which now served as her dressing room.
She was dressed in a gown of dark blue silk, which made the blue of her eyes seem even bluer.
The gown was cut low, showing a good amount of her delectable breasts, and he couldn’t help but stare at them.
They seemed to be slightly larger than usual, and it struck him.
She might be with child.
So far, she had not experienced any of the nausea.
Then again, they had only been wed a short while.
He thought back and realized that she had not had her monthly courses since they had become man and wife.
That caused him to smile. Verina would be an excellent mother, and he was already learning from the unusual men in her extended family just how a father could behave.
Most men of Polite Society had little to do with their children, but these cousins seemed to be enthralled with their little ones.
And Matthew knew he would be exactly the same.
Taking Verina’s hands in his, he told Sarie, “Her Grace looks her usual self. Beautiful. Radiant. Fashionable. Thank you, Sarie. You may go.”
The maid bit back a smile. “Yes, Your Grace,” and she left the room.
“You look wonderful in this gown,” he said. “And I cannot wait to strip it off you in a few hours.”
“A few hours? Why, the midnight buffet will not even be over by then. We cannot leave a ball being held in our honor—”
She did not finish simply because he took her mouth, kissing her soundly.
When he broke the kiss, his wife said, “Well, perhaps we might leave a tad early.”
Matthew kissed her again, and she said, “Or perhaps we will not go at all.”
“No, your mama and Ariadne have gone to too much trouble for us not to make our appearance. Come, Duchess. Our carriage awaits.”
Once inside, he slipped his hand into his coat’s inner pocket. “Hmm. What have we here?” he asked, slowly pulling out a sapphire necklace.
“Oh! It is beautiful, Matthew.”
“Turn so that I might fasten it about your neck.”
She angled away from him, and he lifted it over her head, fastening the clasp and then brushing his lips along her nape.
Facing him again, Verina said, “Thank you so much. It is a lovely piece. I will wear it with pride.”
He reached into another pocket. “How about a bracelet to go with your necklace?”
Verina laughed in delight, holding up her wrist so that he might fasten it. Then she peered, asking, “Any more surprises? Jewels up your sleeves?”
Laughing, he pulled out the final gift of the set, earrings which matched the necklace and bracelet.
“Oh, dear. I shall be the best garbed and bejeweled duchess present this evening.”
“Do not let Val hear that.”
She grinned mischievously. “Perhaps I should. Then Eden might get a new surprise from her duke.”
They laughed and kissed again, lightly, because he did not want to muss her before they greeted all their guests.
Tray had told them to park their carriage in the mews around back, and they actually cut through the kitchens, surprising servants as they raced through and went up the back staircase to avoid the receiving line which must be forming even now.
They came down the corridor and joined Verina’s family, who stood at the top of the stairs.
“I thought you were not going to make it,” Tray said, laughing. “To your own ball.”
“I bet him a guinea you would—but that you would be late,” Justina said. She looked to her brother. “I will collect tomorrow.”
Mama shook her head. “Oh, you two.”
The countess took Verina’s face in her hands and kissed her daughter soundly, and then she did the same to Matthew.
While he had always felt loved by his own mother, Lady Traywick had embraced him as she would any son, and he loved her for it.
Justina, too, was now as a sister to him.
All of his wife’s cousins and their spouses were such a part of his life now.
He could not wait for them to add their own children to the family and watch them grow, making friends with their cousins.
“Your jewelry is lovely,” Mama said. “Something new?”
“A gift from my husband,” Verina said, smiling at him. “He seems to shower me with gifts.”
Little did his wife know she was carrying the greatest gift of all. Since she had no symptoms of increasing, she might not have realized she was with child. She would, soon enough. Her breasts would swell. Her back would ache. Her belly would grow to an enormous size.
And he would love every bit of her, now—and always.
“Shall we begin greeting your guests?” Mama asked.
Lady Traywick knew everyone in Polite Society, having come to the Season for over twenty-five years.
As the countess introduced them to so many, Matthew thought how gracious and graceful Verina’s mother was.
She was also the favorite aunt of all the cousins.
Verina had told him she would model herself on her remarkable mother.
Hopefully, twenty-odd years from now, they would be hosting a ball for their own child and their new spouse.
The thought caused his eyes to mist with tears.
Verina looked up at him. “Is everything all right, my love?”
Smiling down at his duchess, he said, “Everything is absolutely perfect.”