Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The wedding banns were read in the drawing room of the Southam estate, courtesy of the special license Elias acquired without any particular difficulty. It would take some getting used to for May to call this sprawling house her home. It already felt like one, though.
They shared their vows for one another, surrounded by a few most precious people.
Hannah—that is how she demanded May address her from now on—had laughed in delight at the news of their engagement.
Today, she was beaming with pride so fiercely one might have thought her the eldest sibling.
She’d gotten married first after all—a fact May had been absolutely delighted to discover—so she was well justified in her joy.
“You’ll come visit us, won’t you?” Hannah squeezed May in a tight embrace.
“I promise.”
A couple of months had passed since Christie’s: Elias was determined to do everything by the book without any undue haste, so that no one dared speak a word against her.
Besides, Lady Hannah’s wedding came first. It took Elias admitting his wrongs, begrudgingly accepting Lord Spencer into the family, as well as him telling Hannah they did not need to get married twice for his sake alone, only for her to insist they would do it anyway.
There was no use in wasting perfectly good arrangements, after all.
And so, peace was made, and Lord Spencer and Hannah married each other once again before departing as man and wife in the eyes of all good society.
They’d come down from Newcastle for Elias and May’s nuptials but would soon return up North, leaving the newlyweds to their honeymoon.
“How do you feel, dearest?” Elias’s hand had found her waist. He pulled her close as he pressed his lips to her temple.
“Never better, my love.”
“I do love a challenge.” His familiar smirk fueled the want low in her belly.
This man… she turned to butter in his hands, every single time. Around them, their family and friends enjoyed the wedding breakfast, but it was not food she hungered for.
May could not wait to be all alone with her husband.
“Can we ask them to leave yet?” It seemed the duke shared her feelings. They had not stayed away from each other on purpose, but the organizational chaos had kept them apart for longer than they liked or could withstand without becoming slightly unreasonable.
“We can make it through,” blustered May. “We’ve done it so far.”
“I thought the priest would never stop talking.”
“You’re the one who wanted things done prim and proper.”
“I’ll tell you what,” he growled low in her ear, “there’s one more thing I’d like to get done.”
“Elias!”
“Although I cannot promise to be prim, nor proper—ouch!”
May laughed as the duke mockingly rubbed his arm. Their embrace eased with reluctance. There was no escaping attention today, especially not from their dearest friends. Lady Justina appeared at May’s side, looking at her in the way only the best of confidants can.
“Seeing you happy like this makes me believe in fate.”
“You, of all people, need no convincing when it comes to fate.” The masquerade ball that started it all seemed to leave a mark on both of them.
It might have been done with May now, but she knew for a fact that Justina’s story was just beginning.
And she couldn’t wait to hear it. “I know none as romantic as you.”
“Oh, what use is romance when I will no longer see my best friend every day!”
“Nothing will change between us,” May declared. “We made it through finishing school, for heaven’s sake. I will be on your doorstep as often as you’d like… as long as you give me the honeymoon.”
“You lovely, enamored traitor.” Justina grinned. “I knew I couldn’t keep you forever. If this is how it happens, then I am very content. Besides, I get boasting rights for reuniting you two.”
Elias appeared at May’s side in an instant, as if summoned by the words. “I am very thankful indeed for your help. God knows, I might have gone crazy had she refused to see me.”
Justina smiled before retreating. “Well, she is all yours now.”
“You hear that, wife?” He was not above an actual wink. “You are all mine.”
That was the best threat May had ever heard.
The wedding bed was just the right firmness for its duty. May fell into it while Elias threw off his clothes as if they were rags unworthy of his person. They could be made of the finest silk, and May would not care: the flex of his muscles was not to be obscured.
His glasses were the next to go, and as May prepared to protest, Elias drove his finger to her lips, both shushing her and coaxing her mouth open.
May’s tongue darted out to meet his finger in a daring provocation.
She could hardly think straight; the day had gone on forever before they were allowed to retire.
All these hours, thinking about what was to come…
He tutted at her, not even attempting to hide his smirk. “Who is this vixen I married?”
“I just want you to see me,” she said, wild and unabashed.
“That won’t be necessary for what I have in mind…
for now.” The devious words sent delicious shudders through her.
His hand trailed from her mouth down to her half-open chemise, gliding over her chest and pressing May firmly into the pillows below.
“Why don’t you lean back, my duchess, and let your servant tend to you tonight? ”
Her husband hoisted her chemise up to her waist before lowering his head to her stomach.
May moaned as his lips traversed down her body, sinking to the triangle between her legs.
His warm hands traced the way down her thighs before pushing them wider apart, every stroke a titillation no amount of daydreaming could prepare her for.
His tongue found her nub with ease. Elias established a steady rhythm, lapping at her with every attention. May gulped for air as fierce heat seized her entirely. She’d never thought of that. Why, this was—
His mouth ventured lower to her entrance, priming her for the flicks of tongue as he plunged inside.
Her moans were a song, an ode to him. She buckled under him, but the ecstatic sensation was relentless.
The duke withdrew from her slit to return to her pulsating nub.
He let go of her thigh only to reach for her mouth, and she obliged him, suckling on his fingers as if it could shadow the mastery of his movements.
Once his fingers were slick and dripping, he withdrew his hand only too slowly, teasingly pushing one, then two, then three fingers inside her.
May swelled around him, head tossing against the pillow in agony.
His tongue grew more and more insistent until she could not hold back the tide.
She seized beneath him as he drove her to the brink.
“You…. are merciless,” she breathed out in a rush.
“It is good that you know that, wife.”
He took pride in unraveling her. Elias would learn her body like the most studious pupil, for his beautiful duchess deserved nothing less than utter bliss. He could not believe she was his, at last.
He would make sure she held no regrets.
He’d applied his best skills, but not even they could keep her hunger at bay for long. May’s hand found the swell of his pulsating cock and seized it with a commanding air. Yet it all came undone as soon as she spoke, her breathy syllables caressing his ears.
“Are you ready?”
“What for?”
“To… why, to consummate the marriage.”
Oh, the sweet hesitation. The gentle probing, the vulnerability in her. As May’s grip on him slackened, he seized her hand and tightened her grip back up until a moan rose to his lips.
“What do you think?” He did not allow her enough time to answer, pulling her into him, until he was seated at the edge of the bed and she’d straddled him properly.
Elias firmly cupped her plump buttocks before hoisting her up until their noses were level and she was primed right over his quivering member.
“Ready?” The want made his voice shake. She only nodded, hair falling over her exposed breasts, her arms looping around his neck. He lowered her slowly, thoroughly, taking pleasure in every inch as he plunged deeper and deeper into her body.
Sobs of pleasure erupted from her, then from him, and he could no longer distinguish growl from moan from plea—there was only the rhythm of him taking her deeply, endlessly, and the sweet taste of her mouth on his. They were one, just like it ought to be.
Down and up, again and again, until she was begging for release, and he could hold back no more. Elias spilled his seed without reservation, coming undone with her.
They remained entwined in an embrace. Her chin rested on his shoulder, his hands holding her like the treasure she was.
He laid them down just like that and dragged a blanket until she was all tucked in.
The warmth lulled them both to sleep but they resisted somehow, content with staring at each other.
Elias gazed at the woman nestled so perfectly in his arms. A warmth he had known only an increment of filled him at the sight of her soft eyes.
Elias had not had the sharpest vision, but he was close enough to count every freckle and eyelash, and he faithfully committed them to memory.
“Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three freckles…”
“What are you doing?”
“Hush, I shall know all there is to know about you, right now,” he insisted.
“Oh, no,” laughed his wife. “Not one day into the marriage and all the mystery has gone out already.”
“That’s all right. I’ll be the mysterious one this time,” said Elias, pressing a kiss to her lips. They’d had their share of secrets, but that time was past. Now came the opportunity to get to know each other and cherish the life they made together.
She grinned, content as a kitten. “I think I can live with that.”
Thank you for joining May and Elias on this wild ride!
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.