Chapter Six
After her husband had left, Catherine remained in the same place, standing in the midst of her room, her robe clutched in front of her like a shield, for an endless span of time.
It had been the perfect opportunity to ask him to stay with her.
Her body certainly wished for just that, but she didn’t feel it wise to do so when she was feeling this vulnerable.
All afternoon, she’d been pondering their arrangement and wondering if she should just lie with him and allow that part to be over with.
Her duty would be fulfilled and their marriage would be binding, and then he could retreat to London and take up a mistress while she remained here and tried to act like the perfect society wife who ignored her husband’s liaisons.
Unfortunately, Catherine had decided long ago that she would not be that biddable sort of wife.
It was one of the main reasons she hadn’t wanted to marry.
She didn’t want the disrespect of smelling another woman’s perfume on her husband’s clothes or finding evidence of undergarments that were not her own.
It was too horrific to imagine, and yet it had worked for her parents for years.
Or, at least, that was what they wanted the rest of the world to believe.
She could feel the discontent between them, the animosity lurking just beneath the surface.
So rather than add to the suffering of countless others, Catherine had tamped down her baser urges and began to plan how she might use her current situation to take down the reining matchmaking queen of London.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon had to be held accountable for the unions that did not work as she’d expected.
There had to be other couples who were miserable and unhappy.
Catherine refused to believe that every match was one filled with love and adoration.
It just wasn’t possible in the reality in which she lived.
And she intended to discover the truth.
Thus, the investigation had begun. She penned a few letters to some close acquaintances in town, ladies who had debuted with her and had begun households of their own.
Holding teas and salons, they would be privy to some of the latest gossip, good or bad.
They likely already knew of her vows, but she decided she would be polite and inform them, anyway, perhaps invite them to the estate.
She’d winced at that point and decided she would wait until it was modernized before she did so. The daughter of such an esteemed duke would be expected to have a lovely home to showcase to her fellow wives.
Now all she had to do was wait for the replies to start coming in, the proof that the Black Widow was not the incomparable that she made herself appear. She almost smiled at the image of the collapse of the Lyon’s Den and all the lies that went along with it.
At least plotting her vengeance kept her mind from the alluring man who slept just down the hall from her.
She allowed herself a moment to fantasize about him taking her into his arms and kissing her until her senses were positively scrambled.
She’d wondered if he was any good at the act, but something told her he hadn’t become a coldhearted scoundrel on nothing but his looks.
Actions spoke much louder and they were screaming at her to pay a visit to his chambers.
Tonight.
Now.
Catherine purposefully walked to the bed and got under the covers so that it might stop her from doing something foolish—like sleeping with her husband.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she told herself that nothing good could come of going to him when she was feeling this way. She could easily reveal too much of herself. Already, she had admitted the reason she’d been with David, to gain some sort of reaction from her parents.
It made her sound dreadfully desperate, a child so eager for any crumb of attention that she’d resorted to coming perilously close to ruining her reputation to gain that notice.
She would not become the same way toward Lord Fontaine.
Thus, as much as her body might be on fire for him, she would not give in to those demands. Not yet. Not until she felt she had full control over her senses and a coupling between them would mean nothing more than mutual pleasure.
Keeping her eyes shut, Catherine willed sleep to claim her, but it was still a long time before she finally drifted into slumber.
Down the hall, Benjamin awoke with a start.
He had found it difficult to sleep when his body was aching for his wife, but he had never been the type to force himself on any woman, even when he’d been the most deprived.
He would not start now because he had too much respect for Catherine to act in such a despicable manner toward her.
She would come to him in time. He just had to be patient and wait.
He strained his ears to listen, to find out the reason for his sudden disturbance. But the house seemed perfectly quiet and still.
Nevertheless, he got up and threw on his small clothes. He generally slept naked, but he didn’t want to traipse about the house in such a fashion and scare the servants should one of them be about.
He opened his door and inspected the darkness once his eyes had adjusted, but there was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. With a slight frown, he started to head for the stairs, intent on checking downstairs, when he stopped abruptly.
He wasn’t sure if his ears had picked up on the sound correctly, but then he heard it again. This time, there was no denying it.
A moan.
Coming from Catherine’s room.
Immediately, concern coursed through him and he opened the door to let himself into her chamber.
A slight shaft of moonlight illuminated the bed where she slept.
But then, he couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not.
Her neck was arched, as if in the throes of passion and her legs were moving restlessly beneath the coverlet.
They had moved down low enough where the upper part of her nightdress was revealed, including the sight of those adoring breasts with their dusky, taut nipples.
He licked his lips, eager to suckle the rosy tips, but he didn’t want to act on the impulse if she were in the midst of a nightmare.
Her eyes abruptly opened and she gasped upon seeing him there. She sat up in alarm, her blue eyes full of shock. “My lord…”
“Benjamin,” he managed to croak.
The hall clock downstairs chimed the hour and suddenly, the spell was broken. He moved toward her at the same moment she whispered his name. It was all the invitation that he required to gather her into his embrace and cover her mouth with his.
She tasted sweet, like sunshine and oranges. He wanted to devour her.
Forcing himself to take things slowly, he gently moved his lips over hers until she was shivering in anticipation of his next move. He lifted his hand and toyed with the tip of her breast, kneading and molding the flesh to his palm. They fit perfectly.
His mouth slid down her neck to the curve of her neck, where he nibbled and sucked the tender skin.
She trembled and he slowly moved one of his hands down between her thighs.
His cock stirred restlessly, pulsing with need as he discovered her wet and ready for him.
“God, Catherine. I want you. Please don’t turn me away. ”
She shook her head, her eyes almost fevered in their intensity. “I want you too.”
Sweeter words had never been spoken and he rewarded her by slipping two fingers into her hot channel. She immediately gave a slight whimper and strained to be closer to him. When he moved, she matched his every mock thrust with a lurch of her hips.
It was too much for Benjamin to take.
Moving long enough to remove his small clothes, he lifted her nightdress over her head until all her naked glory was revealed.
She was so lovely, so tantalizing, that his cock was throbbing almost painfully with the need to possess her, to claim her for his own.
She might have been carrying another man’s child, but she would forever be his now.
He positioned himself at her entrance and pushed inside with a single movement of his hips. She clawed at his back with her fingernails and he reveled in the pleasurable pain of it. Her lips were parted, her face flushed, proof that she was enjoying this as much as he was.
He didn’t take his eyes off of her as he pumped his cock in and out in a carnal rhythm that soon had his body tensing, preparing for a release that he knew would be like no other.
Beneath him, Catherine’s breathing was becoming more labored and he knew she was near her peak as well.
Slipping one hand between them, he paused his movements to press her delicate nub and that was all it took to send her careening over the edge of oblivion.
He watched her face as she crested the wave of ecstasy and he had to clench his jaw to keep from spilling himself right then and there as her core pulsed and quivered around his cock.
When she was sated, he pumped his hips once more, harder, faster, and it didn’t take long before he was groaning from the severity of his orgasm. Spots danced in his vision and it seemed as though he’d managed to die and come back to life in the same moment.
As Benjamin found his release, Catherine closed her eyes. The enormity of what they had just done would forever be burned upon her brain. She wanted to tell herself this coupling was meaningless, that it was just for mutual pleasure the likes of which she’d shared with David.
But it would have been a lie. A terrible, egregious lie.