To Bed or to Wed

by Sandra Sookoo

  She nodded. “I adore you, scars and all.” Her voice caught on the last word. “I guess what I’m saying is, I want you, my lord. Do I really need to put it in simpler terms?”

  “That is good news considering I anticipated your answer and had hoped it would align with my hope as well.” There was no more time to explain. The carriage door swung open. Nathan sprang from the equipage then reached out and helped Charlotte down.

  “This isn’t my house,” she stated as soon as she glanced at the façade.

  “No, it’s mine.”

  “You orchestrated spiriting me away from the club?” Faint amusement echoed in her voice.

  Nathan ushered her up the path and up the stairs to the door, which he then unlocked and pushed open. “When I informed your brother that I’d take full responsibility for whatever happened with you tonight, I wasn’t lying. He gave his permission with the caveat I be discreet. And that he expected a definitive answer and announcement by afternoon.”

  “Oh? You and Felix have come to an agreement?”

  Was that excitement in her tone?

  “Absolutely.” When she preceded him into the foyer, he followed, closing the door behind him. Darkness and shadows played over the floor and clung to the corners of the ceiling. “I want you too, Charlotte. I think I have since the day you kissed me in the evergreen maze and berated me in the same.”

  She spun to face him with a smile that spoke of wicked promise. “Then, by all means, let’s repeat that kiss and see if you are indeed serious. I want the assurance you’re a man who won’t wilt under the demands of marriage.”

  Nathan caught her in his arms as she launched herself at him. His lips had barely touched hers before hunger built in his body. He lost himself to the sweet taste and soft wonder of her mouth. As she threaded her fingers through the hair at his nape, he slid his hands down her body then gripped her bottom, pulling her flush against him. Too many blasted clothes kept him from exploring her as he wished. Once, twice, he teased her bottom lip with his tongue. On the third pass, she opened for him, invited him in and welcomed him with her own.

  His Charlotte was nothing if not adventurous. One of the many things he loved about her.

  Breaking the kiss, he held her at arm’s length. “My dear, I must ask, if ruination is your goal, we retire to my rooms.”

  “That sounds like an acceptable solution.” Her grin flashed white teeth in the gloom. “I’ve been wondering for days now if I should bed you or wed you first.”

  Nathan chuckled. He scooped her into his arms, carried her down a darkened hallway then up the marble staircase. “Tonight, that question will be settled.” After carrying her past a couple of doors, he paused at one, held her in one arm then turned the latch. “I’m wagering you’ll choose to bed me.”

  She nipped the underside of his jaw. The touch of her teeth on his skin had his arousal pressing against the front of his breeches. “I think I just might.”

  “I should have put it in the book at White’s, for I’d come out a winner.” With a foot he closed the door set her down, waiting as she steadied herself. The orange glow from the dying fire in the hearth cast flickering shadows through the room and over her face. “Instead, let me help you out of these clothes. You were never meant to be dressed as a man.”

  “I had to see you.” Charlotte shrugged out of the greatcoat. “I’m afraid I lose all reason where you’re concerned.” She fumbled with the buttons on her tail coat.

  “I sympathize with the complaint.” He brushed her hands away. Seconds later, he shoved the tailcoat from her shoulders and down her arms. “Although, I do have one disappointment.” Nathan made short work of her waist coat. Once it had joined the other garment on the floor, he tugged her shirt from her breeches that were rolled and bunched at the waist.

  “Please enlighten me.” Charlotte’s voice sounded breathless. Was she anxious or excited about what they were about to do?

  “I won’t be able to divest you of your pretty underthings. I spied your petticoat that first night we met when you were snagged in the shrubbery.” He urged the fine lawn shirt over her head. He pulled it from her arms then tossed it away. A chuckle escaped his throat. “You’re wearing a shift? Perhaps I’m not sad after all.” The outline of her erect nipples thrust against the cotton shift. Damnation, she looked marvelous in the breeches that showed her shape to perfection.

  “Is it so shocking? I am a lady and not quite as hopeless in decorum as you might think.” When she reached for his clothing, he waved her hands away.

  “Never hopeless but always refreshing. Instead, think of yourself as innovative and curiously brave.” He led her to the bed then urged her to sit upon it while he knelt at her feet. “I love every facet of your character. I cannot wait to discover more.” His chest constricted as he realized it was true. Discovering Charlotte’s secrets would be the greatest adventure he’d ever embarked upon.

  Charlotte shivered in the cool air. Though a fire had been lit, it had been some time ago for now it was nearly spent. Only the fact she was halfway undressed in his presence kept her as hot as if she walked the beaches of Brighton at the height of summer. “Nathan, do you truly wish to do this with me?” She wanted no regrets, and she refused to give into the fear that he’d cast her aside once this night was over.

  “Dearest, I don’t know what else I can do to show how earnest I am.” He sat back on his heels, struggling with his tail coat. Once he finally whipped it off, he did the same with his waistcoat then went on to loosen and finally tug off his cravat. “However, I do have one last trick that may ease your mind.” Now in his shirtsleeves, he resumed his kneeling position. “You must know how enamored I am of you. Why else would I risk all at the theater the other night?” He tugged off one of her boots only to run his fingers up and down her calf.

  Dear Lord. His touch was divine. Goose flesh raced along her exposed skin. Her nipples tightened into hard buds. Even the tiniest of movements scraped the shift over them. “Yes, I’m well aware.” She could hardly concentrate while he removed the other boot and treated that leg to the same torment.

  “When we argued yesterday morning, I wanted to call you back, tell you I’d acted like an arse, that I shouldn’t have let the other people in my life dictate my reactions, anything to make you stay.” Nathan slid his hands along the outsides of her legs. Since the breeches were loose around her waist, it took little more than a few tugs to have them down and off her limbs. She merely had to lift her hips and help him. “My pride prevented me from doing any of that.”

  She nodded while his words bounced around her brain. “How does any of this convince me now?” Goose flesh marched up her legs. Nothing except her thin shift shielded her body from his view.

  “Just so.” Nathan heaved to his feet and brought her off the bed to hers as well. “I very nearly declared myself in that opera box, but I didn’t. Why don’t I seal the deal now so you’ll know I’m completely in earnest?”

  Silence reigned between them while she held his gaze. The shadows of the room couldn’t disguise the need in his eyes. Yes, the hint about him and Felix coming to arrangement meant marriage, but she hadn’t wished to assume. “Do you mean to say…?” Do hush, Charlotte. Don’t ruin his moment.

  Nathan grinned. He urged the shift up and off her body. “Oh, sweeting, you are quite magnificent.” He swept his attention down her frame, pausing at her breasts then again at the apex of her thighs. When he’d once more captured her gaze, there was no mistaking the desire there and it made her shake from the sheer power of it. “You are correct. I do mean to say, or rather ask, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Her heartbeat rushed in his ears while her mouth went dry. “Good heavens, I never suspected such a question would carry so much weight or hope or excitement with it.”

  All teasing fell from his expression. “Does that mean you refuse?”

  “Oh no, I was merely pondering out loud.” Wanting to ease his mind an
d banish his doubts, she stepped closer and threw her arms around his neck. Her sensitive nipples scraped against his shirt. Shivers tripped along her spine and lodged between her legs. “How delicious.” She gasped as Nathan stroked his hands down her back. When he cupped her bottom, her skin heated. “I had no idea it would be like this.”

  A low growl tore from his throat and he tightened his hold, pressing her against him. Strange things happened to deep inside her core at the sound. It was much like a tickle but stronger and more… wonderful. It throbbed. “If you answer my question, woman, I’ll show you exactly how much more it can be.” His breath warmed her cheek. It steamed the shell of her ear, especially when he nipped her lobe.

  “Oh my.” She gave into the quivering sensations that swamped her insides. Charlotte gave rapt attention to his comment. Finally, a man worthy of her regard had asked for her hand. Flutters filled her stomach. Marriage to Nathan would be anything but dull. “Yes. What else should I do since I’m completely in love with you anyway?”

  He crushed his mouth to hers, obliterating the rest of her statement. Between heated embraces, Nathan stroked and petted her body. He peppered her neck and throat with hot kisses. At her collarbones, he licked her skin. “You have made me the happiest of men.” Another pass of his clever tongue tore a moan from her lips. “I had no inkling of what I was missing in life until I met you.”

  Once it seemed her knees wouldn’t hold her upright any longer, Charlotte pulled away and stumbled backward, falling onto the bed in an unladylike heap. What did one do with all of their nakedness when one’s partner was still clothed? “Is that all there is then? Once a man declares himself, he stares at his lady until she’s forced to scurry beneath the coverlet for warmth and modesty?” Not that she had any intention of doing such a thing, but she did wish he’d get on with things. Her curiosity would kill her before too long.

  “Oh, I’ll give you warmth, my darling. Afterward, you won’t think about modesty in the same way, I’ll wager.” Teasing and something much stronger graveled his voice. “I shall join you shortly.”

  Not knowing how a lady should display herself while nude, Charlotte lay on her side, her head propped on one hand, her other hand draped over her curls in an attempt to hide her sex. She amused herself by watching Nathan undress, and he made quick work of his toilette, much to her chagrin. There was no chance to witness the play of light and shadow over his flat stomach or abdomen, nor was there opportunity to adore how his muscles twitched and rippled with each movement.

  Instead, she fixed her gaze on his rampant member. So much hard length, jutting from a nest of dark curls. Warmth tickled her folds. “I must warn you. I am not experienced in the bedroom arts. I rather doubt I’ll be able to provide you the pleasure you’ll expect, though I do read about the joinings between men and women in some of my novels.” Doubts swept in to assail her. Would he regret his proposal? After all, she wasn’t a young miss, but an untried spinster.

  “My love, don’t worry.” Nathan joined her on the bed. He urged her onto her back while covering her body with his. “You will learn my body just as I’ll learn yours. Having you here, now, in my bed is the greatest pleasure I could hope for.”

  She sighed as he dropped feather-weighted kisses over her cheeks, chin and forehead. “You’re quite wonderful, you know. Will I be able to compete with your ego?” Charlotte drew her hands along his muscled shoulders then down his taut arms and back again. He felt warm and vital. Beneath her fingertips, the raised skin of scars became her guide. Soon she’d ask about each one of them and demand the stories behind them.

  “Of course, because you’ll boss me.” He kissed a path from her throat to a breast, and when he closed his mouth around one aching nipple, she arched her body against his.

  “Let’s start by doing that again.” When he did as requested, only with her other breast, she dug her fingernails into his shoulders. “I may require hours of teaching.” In his arms she felt alive and needed, beyond desire and well into love. Special. Adored. Cherished.

  “I’m happy to meet every one of your needs.” Nathan shifted his weight. He parted her legs with a knee. “For all of our life together.” He claimed her lips with a kiss so sweetly drugging, Charlotte swore she floated outside of her body.

  “As I will for you.” She slid a hand to his nape and encouraged him to kiss her again. After all the tears and turmoil, she’d finally reached the place in life she was always meant to be. She nibbled a path along his jaw. The rasp of his stubble against her tongue sent heightened sensations through every nerve ending. “Also, I apologize for slapping you.” Charlotte brushed his poor, abused cheek with her fingertips. “I won’t do that again.”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “I hope I don’t give you a reason to.” As he slid a hand down her body, he kept her lips busy with kisses.

  Charlotte wriggled beneath him. There was so much she didn’t understand of what occurred in a marriage bed, or in this case, the pre-marriage bed, that she couldn’t wait to get on with it. “Nathan, I… oh!” Her breath stalled as he put a hand between her thighs. When he glided a finger along her folds and through the moisture there, a surprised moan left her throat. But it wasn’t until he touched the swollen, throbbing piece of her womanhood that she bucked against his hand. “Dear heavens, that’s lovely.”

  “I agree.”

  She spread her legs wider, but he withdrew his hand. “Will you do that again?” There hadn’t been enough of that sort of play. His touch left her burning and an unexplained need building in her core.

  “Most certainly, but for now, I’m afraid I won’t last if we don’t speed things along.” He threaded his fingers with hers then pinned her hands to the mattress on either side of her head. “Please tell me you’re ready to receive me.” His voice was raw, urgent. The head of his engorged shaft bumped her opening.

  The brief contact made her veins hum. “Yes, oh yes. I want to experience…” She hissed as he flexed his hips and thrust into her. A sharp prick of pain speared through her, but the moment he withdrew and penetrated her again, it fled in the face of new, fluttering sensations. “…everything. I want you.”

  “Have I injured you?” His ragged whisper betrayed the control he exerted as did the tightening of his fingers on hers.

  “No.” Charlotte wriggled her hips which sent his length deeper, filling her completely. “Hurry.” Her cheeks warmed at her inexperience. But it’s not as if this sort of thing would be widely accepted as tea time conversation.

  “I adore you.” Nathan set a gentle rhythm, and when she puzzled out the pattern, she lifted her hips to meet each thrust. “With you, I’m perceived as a better man. For you, I will be that man.”

  “Not for me.” Charlotte panted as she struggled to keep up with his movements. “For you. Change or not, I just want you.” She clung to his fingers. They were the only things keeping her in the here and now as heat and bands of pressure threatened to tear her apart.

  He grunted a reply. Faster and faster his hips worked. Harder and harder he drove into her. “Charlotte, I cannot last.”

  “Oh dear heavens.” She hooked her heels around his thighs, not knowing why but feeling it was the right thing to do. “I need…” She had no idea what she needed, only that Nathan was the only person who could give it to her. When she tilted her hips and his hard shaft rubbed against a secret spot in her passage, the damn inside her broke. “Nathan!” Her body stiffened while the most exquisite sensations washed over her. Both heat and cold became her world, punctuated by thousands of tiny prickles of pleasure all working to push her channel to convulse around him.

  Moments later, the marquess gasped her name. The pulse and jerk of his length within her prolonged the bliss. Warmth filled her being. He collapsed on top of her then finally released her hands. “We’re going to have such a delightful time together.”

  She murmured her agreement as he nuzzled the crook of her shoulder. Her chest heaved. His weight pressing h
er into the bed gave her a feeling of safety and protection. She never wanted to move. “You won’t send me home straightaway, will you?” Now that she had him, she didn’t want to leave him.

  “No, dearest. Not until daylight at least.” He rolled off her but pulled her with him and tucked her against his chest.

  “Will we do this again before I go home?” Her eyelids were heavy and her body was sated. The scent of his shaving soap and sweat permeated her brain.

  “My darling, we will do this as many times as your heart desires, for I do not intend to be without you by my side for many years.” Nathan tightened his arms around her. “I love you, Charlotte. Meeting you in that maze was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.”

  She smiled then pressed a kiss to his chest. “No, that was the easy part. Falling in love was the lucky thing.” With a sigh of pure contentment, she settled into his embrace. “I cannot wait to begin our life together.”

  Won’t Mother will be surprised and shocked.

  Even that wasn’t daunting any longer. For the first time in her life, she’d done something just for her. She’d gone after the man of her dreams, and he was far better than any of the heroes in her books.

  The End

  Praise for Sandra Sookoo’s historical work

  Sandra Sookoo has created a strong and independent heroine who never expected to find herself in the position she is in. However, once in it she does not give up or give in to her circumstances or love very easily. I would recommend this book to readers who love an adventure and to romance lovers who enjoy a strong female heroine to match up against a sultry bad boy hero. -- Kathryn Bennett, Readers Favorite (for Act of Pardon)

  I loved Sandra Sookoo's Misfortune's Lady. From the characters to the setting to the sizzling and emotional love scenes, I was hooked and drawn in by this story from the first page. The characters are complicated, messy, and utterly charming. The historical setting was richly painted, not only with small scene details but with the backdrop of political and diplomatic issues that affected the characters. Most enchanting was the development of the relationship between Miranda, John, and Richard. Not only was it rife with boiling-over attraction, but it was emotionally complicated, each man approaching the ménage relationship with fears and needs that clashed with Miranda's. If you crave ménage romance and love the Regency era, I can't imagine a book that could more thoroughly and enjoyably satisfy your desires. – Christy, Night Owl Reviews (for Misfortune’s Lady)