Chapter 26 #2
“Refresh my memory. Give me the naughty words, Evie. The ones you were thinking when you were watching me play chess with my father.”
The mention of the marquess heightened her discomfiture, yet James’s intense scrutiny demanded the truth.
“I was thinking about how good it felt.” She was faint with embarrassment. “When you told me to…to sit upon your face.”
Approval and arousal blazed in his gaze.
“Your pussy is my favorite treat,” he said huskily. “Did you like it when I licked you here, rubbed my tongue back and forth over your pearl?”
Since he was mimicking the motion with his touch, her reply was a strangled moan.
He covered her mouth with his, swallowing the sound and those that followed as he fingered her to a swift climax.
Pleasure spilled through her like sun-warmed honey, steaming up her lenses.
Her knees buckled, but he held her securely.
“Christ, that looked sweet.” His stare was fierce and ardent. “Do you want to know the fantasy I was entertaining?”
Dazed with bliss, she nodded.
“I was thinking how prim and adorable you look in spectacles. And how I wanted to make love to you whilst you were wearing them.”
She blinked. “Truly? You like my spectacles?”
In reply, he reached down to unfasten himself, releasing his rearing arousal.
“Truly,” he confirmed.
The knowledge that she had such power over her proper lord thrilled her.
She’d always thought that her spectacles were unattractive—something to be worn only out of necessity.
Although her practical side had prevailed over her vanity, she’d never felt confident wearing them.
Now she tried giving her husband a coquettish look through her lenses.
“Would you care to make your fantasy come true?” she said daringly.
“I thought you would never ask.”
His eyes a tempestuous blue, he notched himself to her entrance. He drove inside, a powerful thrust that thumped her back against the shelves. Stretched and impossibly full, she felt delight radiate from his incursion.
“Devil and damn.” Pleasure slurred his words. “You feel like a velvet fist around my cock.”
“You feel so hard. So big.”
It was the truth, and she could tell he liked it.
“I’m big and hard for you. And I am about to screw you senseless.”
While James was undoubtedly a man of his word, even he couldn’t stop the knock on the door. She jolted at the interruption, and he groaned.
“Be quiet,” he commanded, if a trifle desperately. “They’ll go away.”
The door clicked open.
“Lady Manderly?” The butler’s inquiring voice carried into the stacks. “Begging your pardon for the interruption, but a message arrived for you.”
Panicked, Evie called out, “I am, um, just locating a book. I shall be right there.”
With a quiet oath, James pulled out. Hastily, she swept her skirts into place and took off her spectacles, stuffing them into her pocket.
“Stay here,” she whispered.
He looked down at his glistening erection, which jutted from his open trousers.
“I am hardly going anywhere in this state, am I?”
His frustration nearly made her giggle. Blowing him a kiss, she exited the bookcase. Brunswick stood by the door, his expression impassive.
“For you, my lady. The messenger conveyed that it was a matter of some urgency.”
With a nod of thanks, she took the letter from the salver. She recognized the sender immediately, and as the door closed behind the butler, she tore into the envelope.
“Who is it from?” James came up behind her. “Did the blackmailer send another demand?”
“No.” Her pulse raced as she scanned the lines. “The letter is from the Botanical Society, forwarded from Grove Hall.”
“Oh. What do they want?”
Astonished, she reread the letter before looking up.
“My work, it seems. They are inviting me to present my paper on Cheiranthus cheiri, variety vespertinus at the next society meeting.”
“Congratulations, my dear,” he said sincerely. “The honor is richly deserved.”
“There’s more. At the meeting, members will choose the most compelling presentation for publication in the society journal.”
“Your victory is all but assured. When is this meeting?”
“That is the thing.” She gnawed on her lip. “I am being offered the spot because of a last-minute cancellation. They want me to present this weekend in London. In three days.”
“Well, now. That doesn’t leave much time to get ready…but needs must.”
She stared at him. “You think I should accept?”
“If you do not, you will regret turning down an opportunity you have worked diligently to achieve.”
How well he knew her. Still, there were other pressing considerations.
“What if the blackmailer issues a demand—”
“By the time we return from London, only a week will have passed since his last note, and his pattern has been to wait a fortnight. Moreover, you should go about your business as you’ve always done so that he believes nothing has changed.
He will think that he has kept you silenced with fear, and this will prompt him to contact you again. Then, we will seize the bounder.”
Comforted by James’s logic, she said hesitantly, “If you think it is all right—”
“Sweetheart, it is not about what I think. It is about what you want. Say the word, and I shall make the arrangements for London. In fact, while we are there, I will attend to some business of my own.”
Her heart swelled with all the love she felt for him.
“No matter how horrid my past was, it was worth it,” she said solemnly.
“The devil you say.” James scowled. “You deserved better, Evie. You should never—”
“I am not done. What I meant to say is that everything I endured, everything I survived…I would do it all over again if it brought me here. To you.”
Emotion swarmed his eyes.
“So, yes, I would like to go to London and present my work. Thank you for understanding me and being my greatest champion. For being everything I could ever want in a husband.”
“You are welcome.” He cupped her cheek. “Thank you for trusting me. For supporting me—with my family and my political ambitions. For being everything I want in a wife.”
She fiddled with his cravat. “I can think of more interesting ways to thank one another and take care of unfinished business.”
“Thank Christ. The unfinished business, as you so delicately put it, is about to burst its seams.”
He held out his hand.
Fingers linked, they raced, laughing, out of the library and up the stairs.