Magic in the Stars (32 page)

Theo kissed her quickly, just to show his appreciation. To
do more would delay them where they might be found at any moment. “Come along.
I’ve planned a hideaway. It’s not much right now, but if you like it, we can
improve it later.”

“One of those improvements your family enjoys like plumbing
rather than niceties like fluffy pillows?” she asked in amusement, following
him up more stairs.

“We might even have fluffy pillows unless you take to
bringing the animals to bed with us. But right now, we may need your umbrella.”
He led the way up to the attic level. “If it’s raining, you may wish to simply
stay down here. I had a room made up in the attic in case of rain. At least
we’ll hear anyone coming if they’re looking for us.”

“And what do you have that requires an umbrella?” she asked
with interest.

Theo thought his heart might explode with approval at her
willingness to adventure further. He could not imagine another woman of his
acquaintance being so intrepid. He led her up a narrow set of stairs and pushed
open a hatch door. “The rain seems to have stopped. I think I even see a few
stars.”

“Your telescopes!” she said breathlessly, pushing up closer
to see out. “You do not fear me falling off the roof?”

“I have illumination tonight.” Helping her to the roof, he
hugged her and let her admire his handiwork.

He’d set lanterns along the path to his telescopes so she
could see where to place her feet. Above them, clouds parted, revealing the
night sky in all its diamond-sparkling glory.

But tonight, the woman in Theo’s arms captured his attention
more than the stars. She laughed and tilted her head back against his shoulder
to admire the celestial display. “I feel so small and unimportant!”

“If you do not fear crossing the roof, I’ll show you how
very insignificant we are.” He held her shoulders and waited, hoping he had correctly
judged her reaction to his academic choice of wedding night activity.

She studied him with curiosity. “I know that it’s providential
the stars have finally come out in time for our wedding night. I am all in
favor of visiting the stars, but would you really show me the universe before
bedding me?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “I do not need to seek moons tonight,
but I want you to understand why the stars are more important to me than cows.
I need you to understand why—if given any chance—I’ll disappear for hours at a
time, probably when you need me most. And I want you to be comfortable seeking
me out if you need me.”

Her smile was more blinding than the sun and his heart
nearly stopped in his chest. He was having a hard time staying with the agenda
he’d set to make her wedding night perfect.

“Then let us examine the stars,” she said with all evidence
of happiness. “I must admit the real sky is far more intriguing than mathematical
charts.”

Theo held her in a firm grip as they crossed the flat but
uneven roof, aware of the precious gift he’d been given this day. His bride was
sturdy and strong, but beside him, she felt like an autumn rose capable of
shattering in a wind. He’d never been trusted with a treasure to guard, and he
was desperate to show that her predictions of disaster were incorrect.

Her copper curls flew about in the wind, and she brushed
them away with one hand while gripping his arm in the other. He led her to his
newest telescope and showed her the eyepiece. “Look in here. Close one eye
until you can focus.”

“It’s all blurry,” she said in disappointment, peering into
the glass.

“Give your eyes time to adjust. It’s very odd to see objects
so distant up close, and it takes time to accept what you’re seeing.”

She placed her hands behind her back, and Theo could tell
his whirlwind bride was concentrating hard. Here was the focused, intelligent woman
who had drawn up those intricate charts. Even if he did not understand her work,
he admired her dedication to a complicated task. He wanted her to feel the same
about his pursuits.

“Oh,” she finally said with eagerness. “Is that odd bluish
circle a planet? It looks like a big ball!”

“Uranus,” Theo said in satisfaction, circling her waist in
his arms. “If you look close, you can see the brightness fades toward the outer
edges. And each night, it’s in a slightly different place in the sky because it
is orbiting the sun at a different rate than we are.”

“Uranus! That’s the planet changing all my charts! It’s so
pretty. Can I see other planets?”

“Some other night.” Theo teased at her breasts, eager for
the pleasure part of his agenda now that he’d done his duty. “Tonight, we’ll
create our own stars.”

She leaned into him with a sigh of pleasure and let him
caress her as he desired. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Below, the fiddle played and people laughed as the party
spilled from the stable. Theo hoped that meant everyone would stay occupied
another few hours. Aster’s father might be a fire-breathing dragon, but he’d
been right to create a celebration to disguise their escape.

“Come along, then, and see what I’ve so crudely thrown
together. I thought if I did it myself, no one would know where to find us.” Holding
Aster’s arm so she didn’t slip in her high heels, Theo led her toward the
office he’d established on the roof in lieu of the observatory he craved.

He assumed the structure had once been a guard tower of
sorts. It had been expanded and improved over the centuries, but it was still
very crude by any standards. He swallowed his fear of terrifying his bride into
running and opened the door. “If it isn’t to your taste, we can return to the
attic suite I had the maids set up.”

He touched his candle to a sconce, illuminating the room,
and tried to see it through her eyes. The mattress wasn’t ordinarily in here.
He’d rigged a rope bed to hold it, and remembering her cushioned drawing room,
he’d rounded up all the unused pillows he could find. He’d stolen covers from
unused beds. But he hadn’t added draperies to the many windows. The night sky
provided decoration.

“Oh, how cozy!” she cried, to his relief. “Even though you
argue and disagree with my warnings, you’ve still found a place so far from my
family that I can’t possibly harm them!” she cried in glee, flinging her arms
around his neck. “You understand!”

Well, mostly he’d wanted privacy from
his
family, but he’d accept all the gratitude he could get. He held
her tightly and poured kisses on her head while their hearts pounded in tandem.
“I understand your fear, anyway. I’m still not saying you’re right. I just want
you to be happy.”

“Oh, my, look at the moonlight!” she cried, spinning out of
his arms to admire the windows. “It spills everywhere. I’m so glad the rains
have gone. Is this your desk?” She touched the crude table covered in papers
and books. “The roof must be snug for these not to be damp.”

“It is the bed I wish you to admire, goose, not my papers.”
Finally having her alone, Theo swung her into his arms and covered her mouth
with his so she could not object to his name-calling.

Far from objecting, she flung her arms around his neck again
with gratifying speed. “This,” he murmured senselessly. “This is what I need
more than planets and stars. I feel as if I’ve waited forever.”

“To the twelfth of never,” she agreed, spreading her kisses
up his jaw.

Glad that he’d stolen the time to shave again, Theo let her
take the lead on kisses while he reached for the hooks at her back. To his
surprise, he only found ribbons. He tugged on one, loosening her bodice, but he
couldn’t find the rest of the hooks to remove it.

She smelled of roses and cinnamon, and everywhere he touched
was like caressing purest silk. She surrounded him in her sensuality before he
even had the pleasure of her feminine pulchritude in his crude hands.

She gasped as he slid off her narrow sleeves, baring her
shoulders. Still half-fastened, the bodice merely slid to the tips of her high,
full breasts, framing the heart-shaped mark near her cleavage. Moonlight
spilled across her ivory skin, and Theo wanted her naked.

As if reading his mind, she clasped her arm over her falling
bodice and smiled up at him. “Unwrap me,” she commanded, turning her back to
him.

“Laces!” he crowed in delight, finally seeing what she had
done. “How did you do this?” He’d never been given a gift-wrapped package.
Aster was all the presents he hadn’t known he’d missed receiving until now. Like
a boy with a new toy, he painstakingly undid the remaining ribbons, freeing
them from their hooks, so he could peel back the wrapping of her gown.

His efforts were rewarded with the exposure of her
translucent shift and slender back—a gift from the heavens, one only a man
could appreciate.

“I robbed your mother’s wardrobe of ribbons. It wasn’t
difficult. Otherwise, you’d have spent all night unfastening all the beads from
their loops.” She shrugged off the bodice, revealing a beribboned corset.

“Gift-wrapped, just for me,” he said with amusement, tugging
ties all over. “I could learn to love this game.” He placed kisses where each
ribbon unfurled, starting with her satin shoulders, working down to her breasts
as he unwound the corset.

“I shall remember to wrap all your gifts in ribbons from now
on,” she said in a whisper, shivering as he leaned over her shoulder and kissed
just above her bared nipple.

His bride was strong and smart and everything he’d ever
wanted in a woman—but she was still untouched by any hand but his. Even though
she encouraged him to play, Theo still understood that she was a responsibility
as great as taking on Duncan’s duty. It would be up to him to teach her to want
him as much as he wanted her.

If he wasn’t so powerfully aroused, he’d reach for a book to
see if anyone had written lessons on such an immense subject.

He couldn’t stop touching Aster if someone had offered him
an observatory.

He turned her around, lifted her heavy breasts, and pressed
a kiss to each one. His magical bride moaned and held his shoulders to steady
herself.

He untied her skirt and petticoat and lifted her from the
lengths of silk and lace. Carrying her to the mattress, he pressed kisses
everywhere he could reach, too thrilled to have her to himself at last to think
further.

She still wore her flimsy under-shift but she did nothing to
cover herself as he shrugged off his coat and began unfastening his waistcoat.
Moonlight poured over her skin in a pearly radiance he could practically taste.
Theo hastily struggled from the fancified waistcoat the valet had locked him
into.

“I’m warning you, if they start shooting cannon down there,
I’m not going out to see what’s happening.” He unbuttoned his breeches so he
could free his shirt.

“We have enough family around to handle any emergencies, I
should think,” she said, with what might have been amusement except she seemed
fixated on his undressing.

“Should I turn off the sconce?” he asked, aware the
moonlight was as bright as the light.

“I’m not shy if you’re not.” She snuggled into the pillows,
the very picture of innocence and wantonness combined. “Although if the lights
can be seen below, you might want to conceal our hiding place.”

Just looking at her was making him light-headed. He wasn’t a
connoisseur of women, so he didn’t have the words to define his bride’s lush
sensuality. He simply knew he could explore her delights for a lifetime.

He turned off the lamp, then sat down beside her to rip off
his shoes and stockings. The moonlight illumined the bed beautifully. He could
see her rosy nipples through the transparent chemise. He wanted to remove the
rest of the pins from her wayward curls, bury his hands in the mass, then kiss
her breasts until she begged for more.

“I’m not a smooth seducer,” he warned her. “I am not glib
with words. Charm is not in my nature. But if you don’t need charm and
seduction, I think I can do what comes naturally without any problem.”

She laughed and ran her hand up his bare arm. “I distrust
charm and seduction. I trust you and your planets.
This
is safe and good and real. I think I shall start looking for
the silver lining behind every cloud. If the roof crashes under us tonight,
then it’s a sign that you needed to fix the roof, and we discovered it before
it leaked.”

Theo laughed and sprawled out on the crude, pillow-littered
bed with her, leaving his trousers unfastened but still in place. Propped on
one elbow, he leaned over her and began kissing her again. “I will endeavor—” he
said in between kisses “—not to crash any roofs.”

***

Aster welcomed Theo’s heavy weight pressing her into the
mattress. He grounded the giddiness inspired by his caresses—and the dizziness
of believing she could actually have
family
again. She was so filled with joy that she thought she might explode into
bubbles—and all because of this man, her husband.

She knew where intimacy led, understood the danger, and she
still could not force herself to be her usual sensible self. She was entitled
to set prophesy aside on her wedding night and simply enjoy the pleasure
provided by the man she’d just promised to love, honor, and obey. Except she’d
changed that vow to love,
honor
, and take thee in equality
,
according to Malcolm custom. The vicar really hadn’t noticed. Perhaps because
her family had begun humming.

Boldly wrapping her arms around her groom’s neck, she pulled
Theo down to cover his face with kisses. The stars were right about this much—he
was the perfect mate for her.

She studied his bare chest in awe and excitement. For
someone who claimed to spend a lot of time with books, Theo was well-muscled.
She’d seen him knock Montfort half way across the drive, so he wasn’t precisely
the bookworm he claimed.

But despite all that powerful strength, Theo was careful in
not pushing her too far, too fast. She appreciated his attention to detail, and
relished his admiration as he opened her shift to gaze unabashedly on her
breasts. But once he bent to taste her aroused nipples, the connection he’d
already taught her between what he was doing and her womb drove her into a
frenzy of desire.