by Anne Herries
Together, they ran laughing to the carriage as they were showered with rose petals and rice. Once inside, Paul picked some petals from her bonnet, his eyes sparkling with love and laughter. He reached out to untie the strings of her very fetching bonnet, removing it so that he could kiss her thoroughly.
‘Just in case I haven’t told you, Mrs Ravenscar, I love you so much that I have no words to tell you what I feel.’
Lucy sighed with contentment and kissed him back.
* * *
They were staying one night at one of Paul’s smaller estates, before making a trip to Paris. It had been arranged that Jenny and Adam should stay with Lord Ravenscar while they were away on their wedding trip, though it was to be only of ten days’ duration.
‘You must go for as long as you wish,’ Lord Ravenscar had told Lucy when he kissed her goodbye after the reception. ‘I shall be perfectly all right with my nephew and Jenny—and I have my little granddaughter now to keep me company.’
‘She is a little darling and you can see something of Mark in her,’ Lucy had told him. ‘But if it pleases you, sir, I should like to make a start on refurbishing our apartments. It will give me great pleasure to choose materials and furniture.’
It was Lord Ravenscar’s gift to them. The west wing had some large and beautiful rooms, but the décor was in need of refreshment and the furniture heavy and outdated. Lucy had already planned her colours for their apartments and she thought they might purchase some fine French furniture while in Paris.
Now, as she sat before the dressing mirror brushing her long hair, having dismissed her maid for the night, she heard the door open behind her and turned to greet her husband with a smile.
‘Paul, my love,’ she said and stood up, holding out both hands to him. ‘This is a pretty house. Is it where you would have lived had you not become the heir to Ravenscar?’
‘Yes. My maternal grandfather left it to me,’ he said. ‘I usually stay here once or twice a year.’
‘Then we shall do so,’ Lucy told him as she lifted her face for his kiss. ‘I like it very well and should have been happy to make it my home had we not Ravenscar.’
‘I am glad,’ he said and bent his head to kiss her on the lips.
Light at first, his kiss deepened as her lips parted to allow the delicate intrusion of his tongue. She sighed and pressed herself closer, feeling the arousal of his desire though the thin silk of her night chemise and his dressing robe.
Sweeping her up in his arms, Paul carried her to their bed, which smelled of lavender and roses. He placed her carefully on the linen sheets and then removed his robe. He was naked beneath it and Lucy saw at once how urgent was his need.
He was so tall and strong, his limbs well formed and lean—all muscle and no fat was the thought that came to her mind—and she shivered in delight as he lay beside her, kissing her until she, too, raged with desire.
Her nightgown was removed as she lay without moving, because he wanted to look at her. So long did he gaze down at her that she wriggled and reached up to touch him.
‘Is something wrong?’
‘No. You are perfect. You always look lovely, Lucy, but I have wanted to see you this way for so long...’
And then he kissed her again, not stopping at her lips, but covering her face, throat and breasts with little feathery kisses that made her gasp and wriggle as she felt sensation sweep through her—heat and need, a tingling between her thighs.
Paul kissed all the way down her navel, to the soft curls that covered her mound of Venus, and then between her thighs, to her very toes. Lucy sighed and wriggled in the sheets, her body arching as if it begged—for what she hardly knew.
His hand was gently parting her legs, stroking her soft flesh before moving to the part of her that craved attention. His fingers stroked her there and she felt the moisture begin to trickle down her thigh and she moaned, arching her head back and her hips forward as he lavished attention on that part of her that had never been touched by a man before this night.
She was aflame with passion, panting, her body reaching out to his in urgent need as he slid his body up hers and she felt the heat of his pulsing manhood against her thigh. She whispered his name and he slid into her, her wetness welcoming him until his hardness pressed against her hymen and then he broke through. She stilled and whimpered a little, for it hurt her, but then his lips were on hers and he begged for forgiveness. She told him none was needed and pressed her body to his, begging him to continue what he had begun.
At first a little sore, she was swept on a tide of passion, panting, her body moving with his in perfect harmony until he gave a cry and emptied his seed inside her.
‘My darling...’ he murmured as he clasped her to him. ‘My perfect little love.’
Lucy lay within the circle of his arms. Although his loving had hurt her a little at first, she knew instinctively that it must always be so the first time. She had received so much pleasure from his gentle loving that she anticipated further happiness in the future and the tears that trickled down her cheeks were those of happiness.
‘Have I hurt you too much?’ Paul whispered. She shook her head, snuggling against his naked shoulder. ‘It should not hurt next time, my darling.’
‘I know,’ she said and kissed him. ‘I am happy, Paul. I have wondered what loving truly was and now I know. It is all I could have hoped and more...’
She burrowed into him like a little trusting kitten as he held her, and after a while they slept.
* * *
At some period in the night she became aware that he was awake, looking at her. She smiled and touched his cheek tentatively, wondering what he wanted of her.
When he knew that she was no longer sleeping, Paul kissed her again, making love to her slowly with his hands, his mouth and his tongue. He brought her gradually to such a climax that she screamed and clawed at his shoulder, her body shaking with the force of her pleasure as she was swept away on an avalanche of pleasure.
It was only afterwards that she realised he had not taken his own pleasure and shyly asked him why.
‘You would be too sore,’ he murmured against her ear. ‘But do not think I had no pleasure from yours—it gave me a wonderful feeling to see you so lost to everything but the pleasure of love, Lucy. You must always be the same, my darling. Never lose what we have together.’
‘How could I when all I want is to be with you like this?’ she said. ‘I love you, Paul. I love you so very much.’
‘And I love you,’ he said. ‘I have waited for you and I almost lost you...but nothing shall ever part us again for the rest of our lives.’
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460325247
DRAWN TO LORD RAVENSCAR
Copyright © 2014 by Anne Herries
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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