CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Neither Audsley nor Emma spoke on their walk back to the house. They passed the worried Gladys, Deakins and the footman, and all Audsley did was nod and thank them for keeping Emma safe.
Audsley kept her arm in his on the short walk home, then immediately swept her up to their bedchamber as soon as they entered the house. Emma was glad to see a fire in the hearth, though she’d been warmed through and through by hearing her husband’s declaration of love.
She might never be cold again.
“Do you really love me?” she couldn’t help but ask him.
“Of course I do, Emma,” he said as he brought both her hands to his lips. “I should have told you before, but you’d already been forced into this marriage. I didn’t want to put more pressure on you by telling you my feelings and making you feel guilty about your own ambivalence.”
“But I am not ambivalent. I love you, Audsley. I have loved you for a very long time. If I must be completely honest, I’ve loved you since I fell out of that tree and you carried me home.”
There was such relief on his face, a softening of his worries, that it was as if Emma were seeing her wonderful, handsome husband for the first time.
“Given our age difference I cannot say I loved you this way back then, but I was falling in love with you even before we made love in the maze for the first time. It was only after being unforgivably rude that I realized with a heavy heart that I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. For seven long years since then I’ve watched you from afar, wanting to be close, but knowing I would never again have that chance because of one moment of colossal stupidity in the maze. I worried for your safety and longed to have you under my protection as something more than your landlord.
“I did not wish you to be lonely or sad, but I knew I would be unable to bear it when you married and had children. Then when you stayed in my London house – this very home we are in today – while Grace and Carter sorted their problems, I was in agony. I watched you wander these halls, wishing you could be the mistress of my home, the mother of my children and the keeper of my heart.
“Making love to you a second time was a gift I never thought I’d have again. And, dear Emma, while there are many reasons I love having you as my wife, our activities in the bedchamber deserve mention on their own. You are, my love, simply wonderful in my bed.”
Emma was so filled with love she could barely speak. “What about against the shelves in the library last week?”
Audsley smiled. “There, too.”
“In the carriage on the way to London?”
“It makes me want to take more journeys.”
“Are there any places you regret making love to me?”
“No, my love, and I cannot imagine there ever will be. May I suggest our bed right now?”
“Not quite yet, my love,” said Emma, as she kissed her husband. “There are a few things I wish to say to you. I let pride get in my way seven years ago when I should have stayed to ask for an explanation.”
“I understand why you left, after what my mother said to you. She will never get in our way again.”
“But you were very kind to Grace and me over the years and I should have let you know how much I appreciated it. I, too, worried you would marry. As for having a child, I cannot think of a better father of this babe than you. I love you, Audsley, now and forever.”
“Then perhaps it is time to demonstrate that love.”
She moved toward the bed, but then he gently tugged at her hand.
“Perhaps we can add another locale to our list,” he said, as he slowly undressed her. Once she was naked, he pulled up a chair and gently sat her down. He moved behind her and began rubbing her shoulders and neck with slow methodical strokes. He reached for a stoppered bottle, put a few drops of jasmine-scented oil on his hands, then resumed rubbing her neck. He then moved around and knelt in front of her, then pulled one of her legs toward him. He reached up to the top of her thigh – but not exactly to the spot where she most wanted him – then stroked down her leg, kneading the muscles as he went. When he reached her knee, he continued down her calf, rubbing every inch of her leg until he got to her foot. She tried to pull it back. “It’s swollen,” she said.
“I know. I understand that is one of the side effects of your condition. Since I am the one who got you this way, I believe I should be the one to make you feel better.”
With strong hands slickened just enough with oil, he massaged her foot. She couldn’t help but moan. “Oh, Audsley, while nothing can compare to how you make me feel when we make love, I must admit this is a good contender for the second-best thing you do to me in this room.”
When he’d finally finished with the first foot he repeated the process on the other, starting with the top of her thigh and moving downward. When he was done with the foot, he moved her to the edge of the chair, then spread her legs wide in front of him. Emma still had enough modesty to blush, but she anticipated the pleasure so much she couldn’t pull back.
Audsley smiled when he surveyed what was in front of him. “You are so beautiful,” he said, just before the first swipe of his tongue found her. He took his time with her, laving her and suckling. He brought her to climax once, then a second time and was well on his way to a third when he pulled back to remove his trousers, exposing his jutting erection. He sat back on his haunches. “My love,” he said, barely able to speak because he was on the edge of his own release. “Can you lower yourself onto me in this position?”
Emma was extremely willing to try anything new, so she straddled him then lowered herself down. They were face to face and the intimacy of being that close intensified her pleasure. They kissed slowly as long as they were able, but the passion soon made that impractical. With his strong arms around her, she rode as hard and as fast as they both craved.
“Emma, that’s right. You feel so good my love. I love you, I love you.”
There wasn’t anything else she needed to hear. She climaxed again on the power of the passion they unleashed and the love they were both now free to express. Moments later, he cried out and it was her turn to hold him close, as she felt him pulsing inside her.
Soon enough, as they caught their breath and the room began to feel cool, she moved off him, then he picked her up and carried her to their bed. As Emma lay on top of her husband, sated through and through, she heard the rumble of his voice in his chest. “There is something I must tell you.”
“If you’re about to suggest we name a baby girl after your mother, the answer is no,” she said, as she kissed his chest, then delighted when she heard his laugh.
“There is no chance of that. But I do have something serious to discuss, something I’ve been keeping from you.” He gently dislodged her so he could turn to face her. “I made some inquiries about your parents.”
“Oh?” Emma’s heart was in her throat. “Are they dead?” she asked, finally giving voice to the question she’d had for years. She was so thankful that he was near. She wouldn’t be able to hear this news without him.
“No,” he said quickly. “Forgive me, I should have started with that. They are in relatively good health, as far as I know. But, unfortunately, they have been unable to return home from France.”
“They’re not in France. They’re in the Orient.”
“Not any longer.” He told her what his man of business and Lord Embry had learned.
But only one fact stood out. “You’re bringing them home?”
He nodded. “Embry expects they’ll arrive within the month. That is why I made the stupid mistake of following Lady Embry. She said she had word on their condition.”
“Apparently, she wished to give you the latest news by communicating with her breasts.”
“My love, I am so sorry. I…”
She kissed him. “Now you are unable to tell when I am making a jest though, of course, the less said about Lady Embry the better off we will be. Do you really think they are coming home?”
“Embry has already paid their debts and I will reimburse him as soon as he tells me what I owe. It may be a slow journey, since it can be taxing on even young, healthy men.”
Emma nodded slowly. “And they are not in the best of health.”
“It is hard to say, love. I wish I could offer more assurances, but that’s all I know for now.”
Emma put her hand on his cheek, then he turned to kiss her palm. “Audsley, you have given me a beloved baby and now you are bringing my parents home. You have given me the world.”
“You are my world, Emma. I am a most fortunate man.”