Chapter 14 #2
She walked over to the window and looked down at the meticulously laid-out garden below. There was no way to escape her fate now. She was married to Max, and she’d have to make the best of it for both of them.
There was a knock on the door, and her mother and sister arrived. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and went to greet them.
“Ah, there you are, darling. You carried it off absolutely splendidly.” Her mother kissed her. “I must say that I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. So many people who thought they’d never have to acknowledge me now having to be polite because my daughter will one day be a powerful duchess.”
Allegra hugged her mother. “I’m glad about that.”
Carenza turned her attention to Allegra’s veil. “Do you want to take that off before you eat? It’s terribly long.”
“Yes, please. All the pins keeping it in place are giving me a headache.” Allegra sat down at the dressing table and allowed Carenza to take off the tiara and the veil underneath it. “You’d better place the tiara in your reticule, Mama, because I’m not putting it on again.”
“Are you sure, darling?”
“Quite sure.” Allegra thanked the maid, who’d brought in some hot water. “I suppose I’d better hurry up. I don’t want to keep the duke waiting.”
The wedding breakfast passed in a blur. There were toasts to her and Max, short speeches, which everyone seemed to enjoy, and the food from the duke’s kitchen was excellent.
Even her brother Dorian, who hadn’t been speaking to her since the debacle with Postumus, cheered up, drank too much wine, and became far more human and relatable.
Max stayed by her side, taking her to meet people and introducing them to her.
She did her best to be polite and interested, which gained her a rare smile from the duke.
Max’s mother stayed long enough to toast the happy couple and then declared that she had a headache and retired to her suite.
No one appeared to miss her or be surprised by her conduct.
Eventually, the guests began to leave, and Allegra, who was staying the night in the duke’s house, retreated upstairs with her family to say her goodbyes. At one point, her mother drew her aside for a little talk.
“I’m sure you have acquainted yourself with the mechanics of bedding a man, my dear, but if you have any questions, I am more than willing to answer them.”
“I … think I’ll be fine, Mama, but thank you,” Allegra said.
Her mother persisted. “I know you have a practical turn of mind, Allegra, but the actual process can still seem quite shocking, and when it’s your first time—”
“It’s quite all right,” Allegra said. “Carenza told me all about it in the greatest of detail.”
“Oh, thank the Lord.” Her mother looked greatly relieved. “I’m so pleased to hear that.” She smiled. “I’m sure a man like Max Devereux will be an excellent teacher, my love, and that you’ll enjoy yourself immensely.”
Allegra was far too numb to even blush at her mother’s words. She already knew just how good a teacher Max could be, but whether he’d decide to continue her education was entirely out of her hands.
After her family left, Allegra allowed her maid to help her undress and put on her new nightgown and robe, which had been made, according to the duke, by nuns in the south of France. Why he knew that and how he had obtained such intimate garments with such speed had not been explained.
After her maid left, Allegra braided her hair over her shoulder and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what to do. Would Max put in an appearance? If he wished the world to believe their marriage was legitimate, surely he would turn up. …
After staring at the clock for quite a long while, Allegra began to wonder whether it was up to her to make her way into Max’s bedroom next door.
But what if he’d gone to sleep? How mortifying would that be?
She decided it was too big a risk and had just resumed her vigil beside the clock when the connecting door between their bedchambers opened and Max came in.
He wore a very nice, embroidered dressing gown, and his feet were bare. Allegra found herself staring at his feet.
“Allegra?”
She looked up and immediately wished that she hadn’t, because now she was trapped in Max’s blue gaze.
“You don’t have to stay,” she blurted out.
“It’s our wedding night.”
“Yes, but we both know that this whole thing is just a farce.” Allegra stopped speaking when he came closer.
“Do we?” He angled his head to look at her. “Did we not speak vows to each other in a church?”
“Yes, of course we did.”
“Are you saying you don’t intend to follow those vows?”
Allegra raised her chin. “I told you I would be a loyal wife to you.”
“Fine, then get into bed.”
She stalked over to the side of the bed, took off her robe, and got in, aware that he was watching her. He took the time to extinguish all the lights except the one by the bed before he climbed in beside her. Allegra lay on her back and held her breath as he looked down at her.
There was a seriousness in his gaze that she’d never seen before, and she didn’t know how to deal with it. He cupped her chin before trailing his fingers down her throat to her shoulder. She shivered at his touch, her rigorously repressed need for him sparking suddenly to life.
His long fingers curved under her breast, and she could no longer look away from him. His thumb found her nipple even through the linen of her nightgown, and she caught her breath as he teased it to a hard, needy point.
“Hmm …” he murmured. “That’s better.”
His other hand swept lower, tracing the line of her hip and around to her bottom, making her surge forward into his touch. He drew up her nightgown and cupped her buttock, bringing her even closer toward him.
“Take it off,” he ordered.
She couldn’t find a single reason to deny him.
And then she was naked and he came over her, one knee planted in between her legs, his hands claiming new territory as she responded to his touch.
This—this part when they didn’t need to talk but just be together—was so much easier than the rest of it.
She reached for him, her hands pushing at the lapels of his dressing gown.
He ripped it off with a growl and then he was as naked as she was, and everything was equal between them. His knee pushed her legs wide, and he brought one hand down between her legs to cup her most intimate parts.
“You’re wet for me.”
Allegra didn’t bother to answer him, because she was too busy pushing against his questing fingers. He groaned against her throat and kissed her until she almost forgot how to breathe.
“You’re infuriating,” he said as he kissed his way down her neck to her breasts, his fingers plunging inside her.
“Yes,” Allegra gasped, as he planted his thumb firmly on her clit and rubbed in time to his mouth pulling on her nipple. “Don’t stop.”
His growl was all the answer she got as he replaced his fingers with the first thrust of his cock, and she breathed his name like a prayer. She’d missed him and this closeness where neither of them could hide from the other, skin to skin, breath to breath, desire matched by desire.
She climaxed before he was even fully inside her and dug her fingernails into his shoulders as she gave herself up to the pleasure.
He increased his pace, drawing her foot up over his hip, so that he could rock against her most intimate flesh with greater intensity.
She came again, and he swore under his breath, and came with her with a guttural groan that made everything female inside her rejoice.
After a few moments, he rolled away and lay on his back, his chest heaving. Allegra stayed where she was, her whole body throbbing with satisfaction. He reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers.
“Not bad for a first attempt.”
She turned her head to look at him. “There’s more?”
He raised an eyebrow. “It’s our wedding night. We’re supposed to indulge ourselves.”
“I wasn’t sure that you would even want to—”
He came up on one elbow and looked down at her. “Allegra, will you please stop this?”
“Stop what?”
“Spoiling everything.” He gestured at the bed and then at himself. “Can we not simply enjoy bedding each other?”
She considered him for a long moment. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t enjoy this particular part of our marriage.”
“Thank God.” He lay back down again. “Now perhaps you might consider coming over here and using that lovely mouth of yours on my cock.”