Her departure would have led to a prolonged engagement, considerable time apart, especially during the winter season, and all manner of things that Amelia had not wanted to contemplate. Thankfully, they had not kicked up a fuss at the news, or not too much anyway. And truthfully, David was one of the few men of Society that her father was likely to believe was not marrying her for her dowry. Which was why, after the ceremony, her father had said he would have the necessary papers drawn up to transfer Amelia's fortune to David.
Bless him, David had insisted that Amelia's funds be put aside in a trust for their future children. That way he - or she or as many as they were blessed with - would not be dependent upon the earldom for their security. It was a splendid idea and one that had made Amelia love her new husband all the more.
A love that she felt grow and wrap around her all evening, no matter who was at her side. Though more often than not, the person at her side was David. Just as it should be.
Now, however, the guests were abed and he was with her once more. Only this time, he was eager to introduce her to the pleasures of the flesh. And she could not wait.
Reaching up to remove the ruby and pearl choker around her neck - one of the new pieces of jewelry that David had presented her with before the ceremony - she was surprised when he stilled her hand.
"Leave that on." His voice was a mere whisper. "I want to see you in that and only that. Later. When I enter you for the first time."
"Oh, David." His words ignited that familiar fire inside of her again, the one that made her desire to behave like a wanton.
Slowly, he slid his hands down her arms - this time with no gloves between them to dull the fire his touch created in her belly - and pulled her back to him, her back to his front. There she felt the familiar press of his erect cock into the small of her back. "Do you know how long I have desired this, my love?" He kissed the side of her neck and then looked up to see her reflection in the mirror, her eyes wide with surprise. "What? Did you think I did not love you? I do. I have. Probably for some time now, though that night at the wedding, it was the first time I allowed myself to see it."
The old Amelia would have doubted her husband's words. Tonight, she did not. "And I love you, David Rutledge. I have since I was a small child, toddling along after a young boy who should not have tolerated me as much as he did." Reaching up, she covered his hands with hers. "I cannot begin to tell you how much."
Turning her around in his arms, he smiled down at her, his grin seductive. "Then show me, wife. Show me how much you love me and I, in turn, will show you."
With practiced ease, David slowly began stripping Amelia out of her gown, the scarlet silk pooling around her feet. She knew she was not his first lover, but she was going to make certain she was his last.
Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands. "I am unskilled at this, my love, but I am willing to learn what pleases you. Show me. I want to know."
"Everything you do pleases me, Amelia." It was true. In David's eyes, she could do no wrong. However, he also understood what she was asking. She was new to the world of pleasure but she was willing to learn. Thankfully, he was an excellent teacher.
He kissed her again, lightly this time, palming her breasts in his hands. She hadn't worn stays, even though with her generous curves, it would have been proper. Thankfully, he had a thoroughly improper wife so that now she stood before him clad only in her chemise, the raspberry-hued tips of her nipples a dusky shadow beneath the fabric. As his gaze skimmed down, he could see the dark triangle of curls between her legs and he could not help himself. He reached down to touch her, unsurprised when he found her already wet.
"You want me," he breathed as he kissed the side of her neck, savoring the sweet taste of her skin against his lips.
"I cannot remember a time when I did not," she replied, breathless now. When he kissed her again, this time nipping at the tender flesh where her neck and shoulders met, she mewled like a kitten in need. He responded by reaching down and slowly sliding her chemise up the silken length of her legs, his fingers caressing her soft skin as he went, hinting at the pleasures that were to come.
Up and over the sweet swell of her hips and the gentle slope of her stomach his hands moved, hot fingertips on aching flesh. Over her rib cage and caressing her breasts, every stroke so gentle and light that at first Amelia wondered if she felt him there at all. Then, another kiss, this one at the hollow of her throat, followed by another one at the tops of her breasts before his mouth moved lower to meet his hands.
She hadn't known she could feel like this, all hot and achy and wanting, his mouth laving her nipples and his teeth scraping gently at the tender flesh of her breasts while his hands stroked her body, leaving her wanting more.
When he pulled back to kiss her lips again, she pawed at him maddeningly, only breaking the kiss long enough for him to pull the chemise over her head until she was naked before him, save for the bejeweled choker.
"Magnificent," he breathed, his chest rising and falling as he drank in the sight of her naked flesh. "You are truly magnificent, my lovely, lovely Amelia. And all mine. Forever." Then his mouth was on hers again, hotter this time and far hungrier.
His tongue teased the seam of her lips and she opened for him as she had the previous night in the library. The first contact was a jolt to her system, sending fissions of pleasure along every last nerve ending, awakening a raw, hungry desire that she had not thought herself capable of.
She was not certain how long they kissed, only that at some point when his hands tunneled through the thick, glorious mass that was her hair, she found the strength and courage to undress him as well. She tore at his waistcoat and the thin fabric of his evening shirt. His cravat joined her gown on the floor in a rumpled mess.
David toed off his own boots but Amelia removed his stockings, taking a moment to press light kisses over the tops of his feet, something that she felt compelled to do and he seemed to rather enjoy. Then they were kissing again, mouth to mouth, this time his hands questing lower to press the center of her against him while his fingers teased the fine nest of curls between her legs.
She was hot and growing hotter, an achy need slowly building inside of her, a need that she did not know how to satisfy but suspected that David did. Restlessly she shifted her legs against him and he responded by dipping first one finger and then a second inside of her. It should have shocked her and it did to some degree. However as he coaxed her legs farther apart, she found the shock replaced by something more, a need so great that she could not articulate it.
Then he sank to his knees before her and kissed her intimately, his tongue delving deep inside of her, tasting her, teasing her sensitive swollen bud with the tip of his tongue.
Amelia groaned and leaned back against the bed frame for support, her legs weak and David not in a position to support her. No matter. She would support herself for she was unwilling to ask him to stop. Never had she felt such pleasure in her life.
"Oh, David," she moaned, her breath catching in her throat. The flicker of firelight played across the taut skin of his back, turning him gold and bronze in the light. She could see a few old scars left over from the rambunctiousness of youth. Some he had received while she was with him and others not, but each one of them was a part of the story of his life. A story they would now write together.
"Come for me, Amelia, my love. I need you to be so very wet when I take you this first time. Otherwise, I fear that I will hurt you." There was true contrition in his voice, but she did not care. She was not afraid. She would bear any amount of hurt to be with him, to be his true wife and give him the pleasure he longed for.
She threaded her fingers through his hair and held him to her when he pressed in harder, his tongue lapping at her very essence, drinking her in far more intimately than she had ever imagined was possible. Then, he slid that maddening finger inside of her once more, followed by a second, all while his tongue continued to stroke her to new height of pleasure.
Amelia could no longer resist the pull of the pressure building up inside of her and with a keening cry, she let go, wave after wave of sheer pleasure and bliss washing over her, her body riding the crests of the waves as they rose and fell within her.
Finally spent, she felt her knees begin to give out, her arms no longer steady enough to support her. But, as always, David was there.
"Easy my love. I have you. I will always have you." Picking her up gently, he cradled her to his chest before carrying her the few short paces to his bed where he placed her down as if she was the most precious thing in the world to him.
Looking at him, Amelia was left breathless. The shadows of flames seemed to lick at his skin, giving him the look of a god, a mythical being come to life. And he was hers. All hers.
His chest was as perfectly sculpted as she had imagined it to be, the contours of his muscles stark against the flat plane of his stomach. Those green-brown eyes watched her intently, searching her face for something she did not understand.
"David. Please." She reached for him and that brought a smile to his face.
"I though you would never ask."
As she watched, he slowly undid the fall of his breeches, stripping away the clinging fabric to reveal tight hips and a train of hair that led from his chest down to his waist and then farther yet to a nest of curls at his own apex, his hard cock jutting proudly out as if in salute.
"You see what you do to me, love?" he asked her, a grin on his lips when he saw where her gaze fell.
"I cannot... That is to say we cannot..." There was no possible way they would fit together. It was not possible. He was too big.
"Ah, you are good for a man's ego, my love. My ego anyway." He tugged his breeches off the rest of the way to reveal strong, muscular legs that matched the rest of his large, strong body. "And yes. I can assure you that we will be perfect together. I know it. For you are made for no other but me."
Amelia sincerely doubted it, but she did not want David to think her afraid. She wasn't. Not really. She was merely uncertain. After all, this had been a time of many firsts for her. And, at the moment, this was her first time seeing a naked man. Not that she minded. For he was indeed beautiful in the most masculine sense she could imagine, as if the heavens had carved him specifically to her wishes and desires.
Then he was kneeling beside her, his hard body looming over her much softer one. "Let me have you, Amelia. All of you. Do not hide from me." Slowly he began to push her legs apart and she opened for him.
For a moment, she reached out to touch his cock, barely brushing a finger over the velvet harness of him when he stilled her hand. "Later, love. You can explore me at length later. If you touch me now, this will be over far too fast. I am not certain as it is that I can last very long."
Amelia understood, at least to some degree, what he was saying and pulled her hand back. However, she looked up at him, a teasing glint in her eyes. "I shall hold you to that, husband. For I want to know you as intimately as you know me. And for that, I believe we will need much practice."
That elicited a groan from David and he sank between her knees, the hot length of his cock pressing against her entrance. "Forgive me, love, for I cannot wait. You undo me. Truly."
Then he was there, pressing inside of her and Amelia did not resist. Rather, she welcomed him as best she could, though her untried body was tight. At one point, she thought he would not completely fit inside of her, but then he pushed through an unseen barrier, which caused her a moment of pain but then brought her nothing but sheer pleasure. She could feel him throb inside of her and she wiggled against him, seeking relief from the pressure building inside of her once more.
At that, David began to stroke, flexing his hips as he drove into her before withdrawing. It took her some time to match his rhythm, finding one that pleased them both but when they did, Amelia began to soar.
She clutched at his back, holding him tightly to her, nipping at his shoulder as he nipped at hers, his kisses hot and demanding along her collarbone. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in deeper, she thought he might die if the groan he let out was any indication.
Then, just as in the library, she ceased to think, her body flying with his as he rode her. Hips pumping and arms clutching, they took each other higher and higher until David stiffened in her arms. At that, he reached between them, seeking out her nub of pleasure once more.
Amelia had no choice. She shattered, all of her desire flooding through her as she took in David's passion, his seed filling her, marking her as his. His property. His lover. His woman. His wife.
When she was finally able to breathe again, she looked up into his eyes and knew that she had come home.
"I love you," she whispered, her heart full of emotions she could not name, though she knew at least one of them was love. This was the earl who loved her. He was her husband. Life, she decided with a smile, was very good indeed. It paid to be a lioness and not a mouse.
Reaching up, she caressed his cheek, trailing her hands down over his torso, relishing the feel of him. All of him. And all hers. "And when you are ready, I want to do that again."
David laughed, which was not the reaction she had expected. "Ah, my saucy little minx. We will. I assure you, we will. But for now, we rest." And he pulled up the covers on his bed and settled down beside her, resting her head on his chest as he sighed contentedly.
Later that night as the flames in the hearth burned low, David marveled at his good fortune. Three days ago, he had despaired of ever winning Amelia's heart. Now, she was his wife and in his bed. She loved him. What more could he ask for? Nothing he decided as he rolled over, ready to wake his wife for another session of lovemaking.
Then he looked at her flat stomach and decided that there was one more thing he could wish for - a child that was the product of their love. When Amelia smiled up at him sleepily, he ran a hand over her stomach and then down to cup her intimately. Having a child could take months. And lots of practice. No reason not to get started straight away. And so they did.
Did you enjoy this book?
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Other Titles by the author
The Ghosts, Inc. series
Novels
Ghosts Of Lovers Past
Heart of Shadows
Spellbound
Falling Beyond Darkness (coming soon)
Ghostly Shorts
All Night Long
Dream Lover
Root Beer Float For Two
Key Largo
A Man After Midnight
Music Of The Night
Diamond Girl
You Don’t Know Me
Where My Heart Will Take Me
Cold As Ice
Lovers In A Dangerous Time
Promises In The Dark (available only in the Ghostly Shorts Anthology, Vol. 2)
Man On Your Mind (coming soon)
American Heartbeat (coming soon)
Edge of Heaven (coming soon)
And We Danced (A Thieves Market exclusive)
The “Aphrodite’s Closet” series
Nobody’s Cinderella
Fairy Tale Theater
A Little Bit of Magic
Finding Prince Charming
Stardust and Moonbeams
Belle Of the Ball
The Enchanted Season
Also Available
Santa Search And Rescue
Christmas in Philipsburg
The Magic of Christmas
A Midsummer Night's Delusion
Much Ado About Something - A Short Story
Fairy Tale Lives (coming soon)
The Clockwork Doll: A Steampunk Novella
On A Cold Christmas Eve (A Seldon Park Novella)
To Catch A Duke (Tales From Seldon Park: Book 1)
Far Beyond Scandalous (Tales From Seldon Park: Book 2)
A Viscount of Mystery (Tales From Seldon Park: Book 3)[coming soon]
At The Stroke of Midnight (A Tales From Seldon Park Novel)
The Earl Who Loved Me (A Seldon Park Novella)
Crossed Hearts (A Modern Frame Tale of Romance)
Under A Golden Moon (coming soon)
About the author
Making her home in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, Bethany Sefchick lives with her husband, Ed, and a plethora of Betta fish that she’s constantly finding new ways to entertain. In addition to writing, Bethany owns a jewelry company, Easily Distracted Designs.
When not penning romance novels or creating sparkly treasures, she enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, and lavishing attention on any stray cats who happen to be hanging around. She always enjoys hearing from her fans at: [email protected]
The Earl Who Loved Me (Tales From Seldon Park: The Short Stories Book 1) Page 7
