Chapter Fifteen
“Why are we in the drawing room?” Caroline wanted to know as Felix softly closed the door behind them. She shivered, for her wet shift was cold now that she wasn’t in the sea any longer.
“For whatever reason, I like this room. It’s rather cozy and not as stuffy as the bedroom upstairs.
” Then he prowled toward her over the floor.
Crazy shadows flickered on the walls from the two candles that were lit.
The silence in the cottage was almost overwhelming, for the staff must have already gone home for the night.
“Do you know how much you have managed to amaze me over this past year?”
A tremble twisted down her spine while she deposited the bundle of her shed clothing onto a chair. One of the silken stockings fell to the floor. “How, though? I have been nothing except myself.”
“That is exactly why.” His eyes darkened to a deep coffee color in the dim illumination. “And now to know you carry my child? I’m still in shock.”
“Well, we were quite scandalous during our engagement period,” she said, but her voice held a breathless edge, for the wicked expression on his face sent heated stirrings in her lower belly.
Those secret couplings they’d indulged in, sometimes in the most unorthodox places, were memories she would always hold close to her heart.
“It’s no wonder I fell pregnant.” She slid her gaze to his as he halted before her.
“Are you disappointed about the babe? It will change our lives.”
“How could I be disappointed? It’s wonderful news.” With a soft chuckle, he curled an arm about her hip and pulled her close. “Oddly, though I’m still reeling from the surprise, I’m excited as well.”
“I must say I’m shocked.” Caroline shook her head. “I worried you would prove annoyed at the interruption a child will bring.”
“Yes, I’m a curmudgeon at heart, but that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of change.
You’ve seen to that already.” He brushed his lips against her, and another host of shivers went down her spine.
“I can’t think of myself as a father. I’ve barely had time to be a husband, and I’ve done a rubbish job of that. ”
A snort escaped her. “Don’t think that, but we will learn how to do all of this together.” When he was silent, she peered up at him. “You are happy about this, yes? It would hurt my heart if you were lying to me.”
“Ah, Caroline.” Felix briefly kissed her but pulled back before she could melt into him. “I’m trying to wrap my head around it but yes, I am wildly happy about it, and you are going to make a lovely mother.”
“That is good to know.” Drat her for still wanting confirmation.
She trembled while he yanked his wet shirt from his torso.
The longer he stared at her with that delicious intent in his eyes, the more her need for him ramped.
“Must we waste time in removing clothing?” It was insanity how much she wanted this man, but ever since she’d discovered she was increasing, the awareness and desire for him had grown stronger.
Odd, that. There was much she didn’t know about pregnancy.
“Yes, for I want you gloriously and unashamedly naked.”
“Whyever for?”
“Hmm…” When he sent her a grin that bordered on this side of naughty, butterflies took flight in her lower belly.
“Because I enjoy looking at my wife in that way. Especially now.” Then, taking her hand, he brought her over to a low sofa.
After falling onto it, he gave her a tug.
When she tumbled down, he hauled her into his lap so that she straddled his waist. Her shift bunched between them.
“How shall I have you tonight, Mrs. Kourier?”
“I rather think it doesn’t matter.” Already, she was highly aroused.
The hardened points of her nipples ached for his touch, for he was the sort of man who would never cease to look after the woman in his care.
Even if he was a man who didn’t show emotion, she knew in her heart that he would do anything for her. “I just want you.”
“Ah, sweeting.” His eyes darkened, and as he held her gaze, he took one of her hands, kissed it, and then slowly encouraged it behind her back.
With each movement, his citrus and cedar scent wafted to her nose to drive her desire.
Once he’d done the same to the other hand, she couldn’t help but shiver in anticipation, for he’d never restrained her in any way before.
It was rather interesting. “I love you so much.” He kissed her in the most tender of ways.
When she wriggled her hands, she knew he would immediately release her if she asked.
“Too much?” he whispered against her mouth.
“No, this is lovely.” She didn’t feel trapped or fearful. Instead, excitement and need twisted down her spine and her heartbeat quickened. “I adore this side of you and think you should pursue it more often.”
“Interesting. Apparently, I need control when things in my life seem out of that.”
“I understand completely.” In him, she’d found all that she needed in a man. Each time she was in his arms and under his care, her worries melted away. His willingness to consider her a partner in every aspect of their life never failed to make her feel cherished.
“Good.” Felix cupped her face in his hands, tilted her head back, and peered into her eyes.
For one of the first times since she’d met him, joy reflected in those brown depths, and it tugged at her heart.
“There is so much about you I still don’t know, but I look forward to spending the rest of my life in that discovery. ”
“Oh, Felix.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I feel the same about you, and with our little addition, I believe we will start seeing our dreams realized.”
“Perhaps, for the first time in my life, I’m actually looking forward to the future.” Then he kissed her with such wonderful tenderness that she shivered from the sensations crashing over her.
When a whimpering moan escaped her, it was apparently all the permission he needed.
One second, they were kissing each other with blind abandon, and in the next, he’d released her wrists in order to tug down the bodice of her shift to devour her breasts.
Pleasure streaked from the nipples he rolled and tweaked to her core as if connected by invisible gossamer thread.
Each pass of his fingers, every lick of his tongue or rasp of the whiskers on his cheeks and chin brought new feelings and heightened awareness until she shook from need.
She arched her back, which put her breasts further into his care, and as she gyrated her hips against his in the search for relief to the throbbing need, he hissed out a moan of his own.
“I rather think this coupling will go quickly. That’s how much I want you,” he whispered as he dragged his lips along the side of her throat.
“There is no shame in admitting that, and it is how most of our times together go.” Not that she minded. “We have our whole lives to perhaps go slowly and gently during love making.”
“Something to look forward to and cherish.” With a grin that smacked of wicked delights, he delved a hand beneath the hem of her damp shift. Seconds later, he thrummed his talented fingers over her sensitive flesh.
Caroline gasped from the unexpected tightening through her insides.
It was madness that a mere touch from him could make her feel thusly, but he’d always been the one to set her soul on fire.
When he encouraged the swollen button at the center of her pleasure out of hiding, a string of shudders racked her body from the varying degrees of friction he applied.
“Oh, heavens,” she said in a voice that held an edge of hysteria. Moving her hands to his bare shoulders, she dug her fingers into that warm flesh merely to remain upright on his lap.
“Not quite, love,” he whispered with a grin that caused her heart to skip a beat. “But perhaps soon.”
“Felix, please just send me over. I can’t bear the play right now.” Though she adored his attention to foreplay and teasing, at times a lady merely wanted to be undone without delay.
“Tell me what you want.” He dipped his head and closed his mouth over one taut nipple while manipulating that all-important nubbin. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you… my wife.”
Her breath came in panting gulps. Gooseflesh popped on her skin, for surely she would expire soon.
Passion and desire clouded her brain, preventing clear thoughts.
The longer he played, explored every inch of her exposed skin with his mouth, tongue, and teeth, the more she lost herself in the heated tide.
“Tell me how you want me tonight.” Authority rang in his voice, a heady mix of the investigator that he was and the man who held her heart in his hands. The reverberation of that timbre against the skin he’d just suckled sent pulses between her thighs.
“Does it matter when I only want to feel you moving inside me, showing me confirmation that all is well between us?” Desperation bled through into her tones. She squirmed on his lap, felt the evidence of his need for her rubbing at the sensitive point where his fingers still worked their magic.
“How do you want me?” Urgency rode that question, and he plucked at a nipple with his free hand.
The rhythm of rolling, gentle pinching, and then releasing sent shudders of pain-tipped decadence through her insides.
She clenched her thighs together to prolong the feelings.
Soon, she’d break, and though this teasing was glorious, she needed him inside her.
“Felix!” Her eyes drifted closed and she threw back her head as she shattered so hard it stole her breath.
Acute bliss caught her up in its tide and she shook from it, for he hadn’t ceased his torment on that swollen button.
Temporarily, she went boneless as her body reacted.
When she slumped against him, her head on his shoulder, her lips at the side of his neck. “How do you send me over so quickly?”