The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (Lady W 1) (46 page)

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Authors: Julia Quinn

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“Like this?” he murmured, kissing her on the nose.

Smiling, she shook her head.

“Like this?” he asked, brushing his lips against hers.

“A bit like that,” she admitted.

“Or maybe,” he mused, his eyes taking on a devilish gleam, “like this.” His lips trailed down the length of her throat, moving over the swell of her breast until they closed over her nipple.

Susannah let out a little shriek of surprise…which quickly melted into a low moan of pleasure. She’d never dreamed that such things were possible, or that such sensations existed. He had a wicked mouth and a naughty tongue, and he was making her feel like a fallen, depraved woman.

And she loved every moment of it.

“Was that it?” he asked, his torture unceasing, even as he murmured the words.

“No,” she said, with shaky voice, “I could never have dreamed that.”

He lifted his head to gaze hungrily at her face. “There’s so much more, my love.”

He rolled off her and quickly stripped off his breeches, leaving him amazingly, startlingly naked. Susannah actually gasped at the sight of him, causing him to chuckle.

“Not what you expected?” he asked as he resumed his place at her side.

“I don’t know what I expected,” she admitted.

His eyes grew serious as he stroked her hair. “There is nothing to fear, I promise you.”

She looked up at his face, barely able to contain her love for this man. He was so good, so honest, so true. And he cared for her—not as a possession or a convenience, but for
her,
the person inside. She’d been out in society long enough to have heard whispers of what transpired on wedding nights, and she knew that not all men behaved with such consideration.

“I love you,” he whispered. “Never forget that.”

“Never,” she promised.

And then words ceased. His hands and lips brought her to a fever pitch of excitement, to the edge of something daring and unknown. He kissed her and caressed her and loved her until she was straining and quivering with need. Then, just when she was certain she couldn’t possibly bear it a moment longer, his face was once again opposite hers, and his manhood was pressing against her, urging her legs further open.

“You’re ready for me,” he told her, the muscles in his face pinched with restraint.

She nodded. She didn’t know what else to do. She had no idea if she was ready for him, wasn’t even sure what it was she was supposed to be ready for. But she wanted something more, of that she was certain.

He moved forward, just a touch, but enough so that she gasped with the shock of his entry.

“David!” she gasped, clutching at his shoulders.

His teeth were gritted together, and he looked almost as if he were in pain.

“David?”

He pushed forward again, slowly, allowing her time to accommodate him.

Her breath caught again, but then she had to ask, “Are you all right?”

He let out a rough chuckle. “Fine,” he said, touching her face. “Just a little…I love you so much, it’s hard to hold back.”

“Don’t,” she said softly.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then kissed her once, gently, on the lips. “You don’t understand,” he whispered.

“Make me understand.”

He pushed forward.

Susannah let out a little “oh” of surprise.

“If I go too quickly, I will hurt you,” he explained, “and I couldn’t bear that.” He inched forward, groaning as he did so. “But if I go slowly…”

Susannah didn’t think he was particularly enjoying going slowly, and truth be told, she wasn’t so much, either. There was nothing
wrong
with it, and the fullness of the feeling was rather intriguing, but she’d lost the sense of urgency she’d felt just moments earlier.

“It may hurt,” he said, pressing further within her, “but only for a moment, I promise.”

She looked up at him, cradling his face in her hands. “I’m not worried,” she said quietly.

And she wasn’t. That was the most amazing thing. She trusted this man completely. With her body, with her mind, with her heart. She was ready to join with him in every way, to connect her life with his for eternity.

The thought of it gave her so much joy she feared she might explode.

And then suddenly he was fully within her, and there wasn’t any pain, just the slightest twinge of discomfort. He held still for a moment, his breath coming in short, harsh rushes, and then, after whispering her name, he began to move.

At first Susannah didn’t even realize what was happening. He moved slowly, with a steady rhythm that mesmerized her. And that excitement she’d been feeling, that desperate need for fulfillment, began to grow again. It started small, like a tiny seed of desire, and then grew until it wrapped itself around every inch of her body.

Then he lost his rhythm, and his movements grew frenzied. She met him with every thrust, unable to contain her need to move, to writhe beneath him, to touch him wherever her hands could reach. And just when she didn’t think she could possibly bear it any longer, that she would surely die if she continued on this course, her world exploded.

David’s entire body changed at that moment, as if he suddenly let go of the last thread of his control, and he let out a triumphant shout before he collapsed atop her, unable to do anything but breathe.

The weight of him was stunning, but there was something so…comforting about having him there. Susannah never wanted him to leave.

“I love you,” he said, once he was able to speak. “I love you so much.”

She kissed him. “I love you, too.”

“Will you marry me?”

“I already said I would.”

He grinned wickedly. “I know, but will you marry me tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” she gasped, squirming out from under him.

“Very well,” he grumbled, “next week. It’ll probably take me at least a few days for a special license.”

“Are you certain?” she asked. Much as she wanted to shout in delight at his hurry to make her his own, she knew that his position in society was important to him. Mann- Formsbys did not marry in hastily arranged ceremonies. “There will be talk,” she added.

He shrugged boyishly. “I don’t care. Do you?”

She shook her head, her smile spreading across her face.

“Good,” he growled, pulling her back into his arms. “But perhaps we need to seal the deal more firmly.”

“More firmly?” she squeaked. He seemed to be holding her quite firmly indeed.

“Oh yes,” he murmured, taking her earlobe between his teeth and nibbling until she shivered with delight. “Just in case you weren’t quite convinced that you belong to me.”

“Oh, I’m”—she gasped when his hand closed around her breast—“quite convinced, I assure you.”

He smiled devilishly. “I need more assurance.”

“More?”

“More,” he said, quite definitely. “Much more.”

Much,
much
more…

Epilogue

Happy Valentine’s Day, Gentle Readers, and did you hear the news? The Earl of Renminster has married Miss Susannah Ballister!

If you are grumbling because you did not receive an invitation, you may take solace in the fact that no one received invitations, save, perhaps for her family and his, including Mr. and Mrs. Snowe-Mann-Formsby.

(Ah, how This Author loves to write that name. Brings a smile to the face, does it not?)

By all accounts, the couple is blissfully happy, and Lady Shelbourne has reported, quite delightedly, and quite to everyone who will listen, that they have agreed to attend her ball this evening.

L
ADY
W
HISTLEDOWN
’
S
S
OCIETY
P
APERS
,
14 F
EBRUARY
1814

“W
e’re here,” murmured the Earl of Renminster to his new wife.

Susannah just sighed. “Do we have to go?”

He raised his brows. “I thought you wanted to attend.”

“I thought
you
wanted to attend.”

“Are you jesting? I’d rather be home, stripping you naked.”

Susannah blushed.

“Aha. I see you agree with me.”

“We
are
expected,” she said, but without conviction.

He shrugged. “I don’t care. Do you?”

“Not if you don’t care.”

He kissed her, softly, slowly, nibbling at her lips. “May I begin the process of stripping you naked now?”

She lurched back. “Of course not!” But he looked so crestfallen she had to add, “We’re in a carriage!”

His glum face didn’t perk up.

“And it’s cold outside.”

He burst out laughing, then rapped on the carriage wall and directed the driver to return home. “Oh,” he said, “before I forget. I have a valentine for you.”

“You do?” She smiled delightedly. “I thought you’d given up on those.”

“Well, I have. And it’s a good thing you’re already well and truly married to me for eternity, because you shouldn’t expect flowery words and fancy valentines in the future. This attempt nearly killed me.”

Curiously, she took the paper from his hands. It was tri-folded, and sealed with a festive red bit of sealing wax. Susannah knew that he usually sealed his correspondence with a serious dark blue, and she was touched that he’d gone to the extra effort with the red.

With careful fingers, she eased the missive open and smoothed it out on her lap.

There were only three words.

“It was really all I meant to say,” he said.

“Oh, David,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “I love you, too.”

Julia Quinn

When Julia Quinn created Lady Whistledown in her groundbreaking novel,
The Duke and I,
she never dreamed that the character would take on a life of her own. Readers everywhere were fascinated by the mystery of her identity, and Julia’s Korean publisher was even forced to put up an internet bulletin board so that her fans in that country could discuss her books.

The author of eleven novels for Avon Books, she is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest. Her next novel,
To Sir Phillip, With Love,
will be published in July 2003.

Please visit her on the web at
www.juliaquinn.com
.

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This is a collection of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF LADY WHISTLEDOWN.

One True Love
copyright © 2003 by Suzanne Enoch
Two Hearts
copyright © 2003 by Karen Hawkins
A Dozen Kisses
copyright © 2003 by Mia Ryan
Thirty-six Valentines
copyright © 2003 by Julie Cotler Pottinger
All Lady
Whistledown
excerpts written by Julia Quinn,
copyright © 2003 by Julie Cotler Pottinger

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

ePub edition June 2005 ISBN 9780061744303

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