Chapter Two
“Don’t you need to see the client?” Natalie asked as Mark led
her into his bedroom.
He closed the door. At the moment, the butler
was taking her trunk to her bedroom, which was adjacent to his.
Which made his bedroom the one to go to so he could finally be
alone with her.
“I can get to the client later,” he said as
he brought her into his arms and kissed her.
She gently pushed him away and laughed. “But
you said you had to see him before the hour was up.”
Did he? He knew he had made up some excuse
about needing to rush out of the church to deal with a client, but
he couldn’t remember the details at the moment. Right now, all he
could focus on was Natalie.
She set the shawl, Bible, and lilac on his
dresser. “I don’t mind waiting. I should probably change into
another dress anyway. This was my mother’s wedding gown. I want to
make sure I tuck it away in my trunk so that our daughter can wear
it for her wedding someday. This dress brought my mother a lot of
luck, and I have no doubt it’ll do the same for me and for our
daughter.”
“You know, now that I think of it,” Mark
began as he approached her, “the client said he wanted to meet me
before noon. He didn’t say it had to be within this particular
hour. I got a little confused.” He took her hand in his and kissed
it. “You can’t blame me for that, can you? I love you. I’m the
luckiest man in the whole world because you’re my wife. In my
excitement, I forgot when I’m supposed to meet him.”
She blushed, and he took that as his cue to
kiss her.
He was hoping she would let the matter go,
and fortunately, she did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and
allowed him to deepen the kiss. He’d kissed a couple of young women
in the past, but he hadn’t loved any of them. He did, however, love
Natalie. Kissing her was much better than kissing any of them. It
only reaffirmed the fact that she belonged with him.
If it hadn’t been for Velma’s reluctance to
admit she was better off with his brother, he wouldn’t have had to
make up an elaborate scheme to get her to marry Tony so that he
could be with Natalie. While Tony had all the patience in the
world, he didn’t. Velma would have continued waiting for months, if
not years, to realize she was better off with Tony.
He had no doubt that Velma was currently
upset with him, which was why he had bolted out of the church with
Natalie as fast as possible. But she’d calm down soon enough, and
when she did, she’d be forced to give Tony a chance. The two shared
an obvious connection. Mark had noticed the way Velma blushed
whenever Tony was near her.
She might not be aware of her preference for
Tony, but Mark saw it. She would end up regretting it if she had
married him instead of Tony. Maybe not today. Maybe not even
tomorrow. But somewhere in the future, she would think of Tony and
wish she had given up the money in order to be with him. Because,
in the end, money was a poor substitute for love.
Natalie, however, loved him for who he was,
and he loved her in return. There would be no regrets in the far
off future about this marriage.
Still kissing her, he brought his hands to
the buttons on the front of her dress and undid them. He had to
force himself to slow down because the dress had belonged to her
mother, but it was hard to do when his hands were brushing her
breasts. They were softer than he had expected them to be. This was
going to be better than anything he imagined.
His mouth left hers, and he began kissing her
neck. She sighed and leaned into him, letting him know she wanted
him to continue. Good. She’d forgotten about the client he had made
up.
He slipped his hands through the opening of
her dress. The chemise underneath did little to dissuade him from
making a thorough examination of her body. Through the thin fabric,
he could make out her hardened nipples. He traced them with his
thumbs before cupping her breasts in his hands.
She moaned and tightened her hold on him, an
action which only strengthened his growing arousal. She was
exquisite. He couldn’t have asked for a better lover. Already, she
was showing great enthusiasm for what was to come.
His hands went to her shoulders, and he slid
the dress and chemise down to her waist and then moved them lower
until the items fell to the floor at her feet. She was still
wearing her bloomers and drawers, but he’d get to those in a
minute. Right now, he was still fascinated with her breasts.
He left a trail of kisses from her neck to
her right breast. It looked even better than he thought it would.
He cupped it in his palm and traced the nipple with his tongue.
Since she seemed to like it, he did it again, this time following
the action up by bringing the nipple into his mouth and lightly
sucking it.
She let out a sigh and ran her hands over his
shoulders, and, to his pleasure, she squeezed them to convey her
enjoyment over his actions. He continued exploring her breasts,
first going to one and then going to another, until the baser part
of him pressed him to get more intimate with her.
He straightened up and removed his clothes
and then the rest of hers. Afterwards, feeling a bit playful, he
said, “Wait here.”
He hurried over to the bed so he could pull
back the blanket and sheet. He’d already had another pillow added
to his bed as soon as he met her. He knew it’d only be a matter of
time before he would bring her here and make her his wife.
And he had every intention of sharing this
bed with her. Just because she had her own bed, it didn’t mean she
was ever going to use it. Everyone else who possessed enough wealth
had a bedroom for the husband and another one for the wife, so when
he had this house built, he’d done the same.
At the time, he thought he might end up
sleeping in a separate room from his wife since most marriages were
done for some advantage. Whether it was financial gain or social
advancement, he’d quickly learned that love didn’t always factor
into the equation. But as soon as he met Natalie, he knew she was
the one meant for him, and he knew he’d get to have the kind of
loving marriage his parents did.
He returned to Natalie and swept her up in
his arms. She let out a startled chuckle. Grinning, he gave her a
quick kiss then carried her to the bed.
Once he was settled beside her, he brought
his mouth back to hers and deepened the kiss while he continued his
intimate exploration of her body. He traced her breasts again then
let his hand go to the curve of her hip. She was wonderful.
Warm…soft…curvy… He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of the thrill
of sharing his bed with her. Bringing his hand even lower, he
finally felt the patch of dark blonde curls that marked her
entrance.
Since she moaned and parted her legs, he
figured that was an invitation for him to deepen his exploration
and slid a finger into her. This time, he moaned with her. Yes, she
was definitely wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that he couldn’t
imagine a time he’d felt anything more exquisite.
He slid another finger into her, doing his
best to memorize the heated wetness in her core. He stroked her,
his fingers moving in and out of her. The more he moved them, the
slicker she got. After some time, he established a rhythm, noting
that, in doing so, she was rocking her hips faster.
Soon, very soon, he would be inside her. Her
flesh would be wrapped around his penis, pulling him deeper into
her, just as it was now doing with his fingers. Without a doubt,
going inside her was going to be the best experience of his entire
life. What they were doing right now was only a foretaste of what
was to come, and that was amazing enough as it was.
Excited, he ended the kiss so he could get a
good look at her. She was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Her eyes
were closed, her lips parted, her moans getting louder than before,
her breasts jiggling ever so nicely as she continued rocking her
hips in rhythm to the thrusting of his fingers, and then there was
the very lovely way her legs were parted.
He glanced back at her face, and he noticed
that her expression was a mixture of pleasure and pain. She called
out for him to keep going. Unaware he’d stopped moving his fingers,
he quickly resumed his thrusting. She gasped and lifted her hips as
she gripped the sheet beneath her.
“Yes,” he whispered, excited about where this
was going. “Don’t stop, Natalie.”
More than anything, he wanted to give her
pleasure from this moment, and it seemed to him that she was on the
brink of getting there. His gaze swept down her body again. His
erection grew harder, and he had to practice surprising restraint
so he didn’t pull his fingers out of her and plunge into her. He
closed his eyes and focused on one of his business plans. He had
to. As much as he was relishing this moment, he was going to lose
control if he didn’t rein in his enthusiasm.
Letting out a cry, Natalie stilled. He opened
his eyes and saw that she had reached the peak of pleasure. Her
back was arched, and her flesh contracted around his fingers. She
was so beautiful. He didn’t think it was possible, but she was more
beautiful now than she’d been before.
When her body relaxed, he shifted so that he
was above her. He couldn’t hold off on entering her anymore. He
needed her, and he needed her now. Taking one more look at those
lovely parted legs, he guided himself into her, surprised by the
slight barrier he encountered. He pressed through it, and she
tensed.
He peered down at her. “Natalie, are you
alright?”
She waited for a moment, shifted her hips so
that he was deeper into her, and urged him to move inside her. He
hesitated. Not because he wanted to hesitate. Really, he didn’t.
She felt incredible. But he didn’t want to hurt her.
She wrapped her legs around his waist then
rocked her hips against him, a silent message for him to continue
making love to her. He slid partly out of her and then back in,
careful as he did so. When she let out a contented sigh, he relaxed
and repeated the movement. And soon, he was lost in the sheer bliss
of being with her.
Before long, he approached the climax. He got
in one more thrust then released his seed into her. This felt good.
So very good. Nothing he’d ever gone through had prepared him for
this moment, and all at once, he knew he could never have done this
with someone he didn’t love. It was much too intimate…much too
personal. Right now, he’d never felt closer to anyone than he did
with Natalie. And surprisingly, though he felt vulnerable, he also
felt safe. It seemed to be a contradiction, but with Natalie, he
really was safe in baring his entire heart and soul.
After the peak subsided, he collapsed on top
of her. “I love you so much,” he whispered.
Stroking his back, she murmured, “I love you,
too.”
He rolled onto his back and brought her into
his arms so that her head rested on his shoulder. He couldn’t
recall a time when he’d been more relaxed. He kissed the top of her
head and smiled. “This has been the perfect day, don’t you
think?”
She chuckled. “You should only say that if
your meeting with the client goes well.”
Meeting with the client? It took him a moment
to remember the excuse he’d given her in order to explain why he’d
whisked her out of the church right after they were officially
husband and wife. By now, everyone was probably talking about the
fiasco he’d created by making Velma think she was marrying him.
“We should check the time,” Natalie said. “I
don’t want you to be late for your meeting.”
He supposed he was committed to the lie. That
was one of the problems with lying. Once the lie was stated, he was
obligated to see it through.
So he had to leave. He just wasn’t sure where
he was going to go. Sighing, he decided he would take a stroll
through town. That way, he would be out, and if anyone he knew
happened to see him, he could say he was on his way to meet a
client. Then, no one would be the wiser.
He gave Natalie a lingering kiss then
whispered, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She smiled. “I hope your meeting goes
well.”
“I’m sure it will.” After he gave her one
more kiss, he slid out of bed so he could get dressed.