Mail-Order Groom (14 page)

“Are you sure about more kissing?” he asked her.

A nod. “Yes. But we might have to take things slowly.”

“I promise we will,” Adam assured her. “But first, now that we've settled that, I find myself wanting to know.” He lifted his head to give her a rakish, unswerving look, akin to the one she'd offered earlier in the hallway. “Are you finally ready to reveal your secret?”

“M
y secret?” Feeling her heartbeat quicken, Savannah gaped up at Adam. He didn't mean—
he couldn't mean
—her past. Could he?

“Yes. Your magician's secret. From earlier tonight.” Adam mimicked the showy maneuver she'd used to pluck the key from his ear. “Remember? You said you might be persuaded to share it.”

She nearly sagged with relief. “Oh!
That
secret.”

His expression appeared quizzical. And handsome. And altogether irresistible. No wonder she'd allowed herself to be caught off guard by his inquiry. She hadn't been thinking straight since their rendezvous in the hall. Perhaps earlier.

“What other secret are you keeping?” Adam asked.

I have a disgraceful past and a disreputable name,
Savannah thought. But she couldn't tell him that. Now was not the right time. Not when they'd been getting on so well. Not when they'd been on the brink of some wonderful discoveries together.

“Why don't you come closer and find out?” With her
most flirtatious look, Savannah beckoned him nearer. “After all, it's our wedding night. I have a feeling we'll be learning all sorts of secrets about each other soon.”

Adam blanched. His odd reaction stopped her where she stood. Curiously Savannah scrutinized him. Were there things
Adam
didn't want to share with her? Did he have secrets, too?

She wondered what they could be. Wondered who or what they might involve. Wondered if Adam's secrets were as scandalous as her secrets, or if they were more innocuous in nature.

But a second later, just as she became truly inquisitive, Adam stripped away his suit coat, revealing his fine white shirt and the strapping muscles beneath it, and Savannah forgot all about her musings. In his shirtsleeves now, Adam appeared much too appealing for her to continue thinking complicated thoughts. She simply wasn't capable of it. Openmouthed, Savannah stared at him, wondering how she'd been fortunate enough to find a man like Adam Corwin to love her and protect her and stay with her.

And initiate her, she thought with a private thrill, into the intimate ways of married life. Whatever they entailed…

“Learning about each other sounds good,” he told her. “I want to know
everything
about you.” Before she could panic over that statement, Adam distracted her by tossing his coat on the settee. He loosened his necktie and the top button of his shirt, sparking her curiosity to new heights. “I want to learn about you, Savannah, starting with the top of your head,” he promised, “and working all the way down to your toes.”

“All the way down to my toes?” Savannah could scarcely imagine such a thing. It sounded downright sinful. But before she could launch into an intriguing attempt to envision it, Adam provided the very experience he'd described.
Just as he'd vowed, he began by kissing her on the top of her head.

The gesture should have been brotherly…but it wasn't. In Adam's capable hands, even a relatively innocent kiss felt wicked. He tightened his hand on her jaw, holding her still as he kissed her forehead next. Then her right temple. Then her left temple. Savannah's knees buckled, but Adam only held her more securely, then went on keeping his promise. His breath feathered subtly across her cheek as he kissed her there, too.

“You,” she managed to say, “are being very conscientious about your promise.”

“Yes.” He kissed her jawline, inciting a shiver. “I am.”

“That's—” she swayed “—very well done of you.”

“I hope so.” Expertly he kissed her neck. “Let me know if there's anything else you'd like. I'm here to please you.”

Another kiss. A cascade of goose bumps prickled from the side of her neck all the way down Savannah's body. Gasping, she clutched Adam's shirtfront to keep her balance. “Oh! I'd like more of
that
please. Who could have known that would feel so—”

“Good?” Adam whispered in her ear. “I hope it feels good.”

Dumbly she nodded, afraid to move out of his reach and end this tantalizing contact between them…but too preoccupied with the novel sensation of feeling his tongue swirl gently along her earlobe to muster a coherent sentence. Naughtily Adam bit down.

Savannah shivered anew. “I'm happy I wore my hair up!”

“I am, too. At least for now.” As though reminded of that fact, Adam slipped out one of her hairpins. Then another. She couldn't possibly have refused him a third or fourth hairpin—or anything else he desired in that moment. “You
looked beautiful today,” he said. “You always look beautiful to me, Savannah.”

Savannah
. She loved the sound of her name on his lips. She could have listened to Adam whisper it all day. She couldn't imagine why she'd waited so long to grant him permission to use her Christian name so familiarly. Now that she had, she wanted to hear Adam say it again and again.

But first, she realized, she needed to offer a reply. Adam was still speaking with her, and all she'd done for the past few heart-pounding moments was nod and quiver. It would only be correct and proper to further their dialogue, she realized, even while she wriggled and gasped beneath his continuing kisses.

“You looked very handsome, also!” Savannah divulged in a breathless tone. There. She'd done it. She'd conversed with him, and in a complimentary fashion, too. But her well-cultivated manners were fading fast. The authors of the
Guide to Correct Etiquette and Proper Behavior
handbook would have been appalled. Feeling muddled, she searched for more polite conversation. “Also, you're very good at this head-to-toe kissing,” she struggled to say. “I find that I quite like it.”

“I love it.” His smile charmed her. Uninhibited and freely given, Adam's smile lighted the room like a beacon of good humor and enjoyment. “I love kissing you. Just like I knew I would,” he said, “from the moment I first imagined it.”

“You imagined kissing me?” The notion seemed astonishing.

His masculine laughter rang out. “Endlessly.”

Pleased at that, Savannah preened. Certainly she'd made men want her as The Seductive Sensation. But they hadn't really wanted
her
. They'd wanted the illusion she presented.

“I could go on this way,” Adam said, pressing another kiss to the side of her neck, “all night long.”

As though in evidence of that, more hairpins fell away, coaxed free by his talented hands. Soon her hair fell past her shoulders in silky, unbound waves. She'd worn her hair loose while onstage sometimes, of course, but it felt different to let down her hair with Adam. It felt personal, like a gift. A gift to him. Adam seemed to recognize that fact, too.

Reverently he gazed at her. “You're so pretty, Savannah.”

Shyly she ducked her head. Surely this was pushing the boundaries of good fortune, to have a husband who complimented her so freely. “You mustn't get carried away,” she warned him, staring in abrupt fascination at the tanned triangle of skin exposed by his open shirt collar. “After all, we have a whole life together to look forward to. Perhaps you should save some of your sweet talk for later, so you don't run out.”

“And miss telling you how much I enjoy the curve of your mouth? The feel of your lips? Never.” Adam demonstrated his affection with a kiss. He cradled her cheek in his hand, then smiled at her. “Besides, I make it a policy not to count on later. Not when there's so much to be savored now. Like this.”

His mouth came down on hers, showing her all there was to appreciate in this moment, magically enticing her lips to open. This time, tutored in this style of kissing, Savannah participated enthusiastically. She clutched Adam's shirt and levered herself upward on her tiptoes.

At her eagerness, Adam raised his head briefly, then chuckled. But he approved, she could tell. Because he kissed her again, deeply and thoroughly and with spine-tingling intensity.

Lost in the miraculous slide of their lips and tongues,
the gentle warmth of their mingled breath, the seductive moan that Adam made as she kissed him back, Savannah felt positively giddy. Surely this clever variety of kiss was like a drug, encouraging innocent people to partake again and again.

“There.” Finished, she leaned back. “Was that better?”

A nod. “You're a natural talent. Soon you'll be instructing me.” Adam's hooded gaze lowered to her lips. “But we'd better make sure of that. We wouldn't want to get lackadaisical.”

“I'm nothing if not thorough,” Savannah agreed.

He kissed her again. She wriggled with delight, making her skirts swoosh sideways. Beneath those layers of worsted wool and lacy petticoats, her loins felt heavy, her bosom full and tingling. All over, she felt warm—but not in the ordinary way she did while cooking or riding to town in the sunshine. This warmth felt far more pleasurable than that. It felt…
essential
somehow. Craving more of it, Savannah crowded closer to Adam, daring to splay her hands over his broad shoulders and chest.

Carefully she stroked him. He murmured his approval, so she did it again. He felt hard and solid beneath her palms. Warm, too. She wondered if he experienced the same warmth she did.

“Is this…enjoyable for you?” she asked solicitously. “Or would you rather be doing something else? I'm not quite sure what to expect with regard to our wedding night, so—”

“All I want is to be with you.” Adam cradled her face again, leaving her feeling as though his thoughts were only for
her.
“But if this is happening too quickly for you—”

“Oh, no! No.” Vehemently Savannah shook her head. “In fact, I'm very much enjoying myself. You're an excellent…partner.”

She bit her lip, distressed that she didn't know how to properly address him under these circumstances. Adam only smiled. “That's very generous of you,” he told her with heartwarming courtesy…and adorable roguish pride. “Thank you.”

“You're certainly welcome.” She gasped as he kissed her neck again. Momentarily her thoughts fled. Savannah tried mightily to muster up more conversation. “It's only the truth.”

She tried to keep talking, but her words stuttered to a stop as Adam slowly, methodically, undid the buttons on her dress, kissing her all the while. Cool air touched her skin as he spread apart her dress. Carefully he scooped her hair over her shoulder, stroking her heavy locks as he did. But then he dipped his head to kiss the back of her neck, and she forgot about being chilled altogether. All she could think about were the soft impact of his lips, the subtle rasp of his beard stubble, the ticklish teasing of his tongue and teeth.

“You know,” he mused as he dragged his mouth pleasurably and slowly along her bare shoulder, “you don't have to keep talking. You're allowed to simply feel.
Feel this,
for example.”

His hands followed his words, sliding down her back in a warm, gentle caress. With surprise, Savannah realized that Adam had bared her entire back. She hadn't even noticed. Even as she marveled at the sleight of hand
he
had exhibited, she was startled to feel her very best dress fall in a puddle at her feet. With a chivalrous gesture, Adam helped her step out of it.

Suddenly Savannah felt exposed. She felt, despite her chemise and drawers and layers of petticoats, almost naked.

But Adam had the cure for those feelings. His eyes shone with affection as he gazed at her. His attention lingered
complimentarily over all her barest, most tender places. And his hands, when he came nearer again, touched her with something very much like fascination. Caught up in his reverence, Savannah felt cherished…and downright beloved.

Raptly Adam stroked her shoulder, then her arm. His heated gaze dropped to her bosom. To her astonishment, Savannah yearned for his hands to follow that same path. She wanted to feel his hands all over her, to allow him to touch her even more boldly.

As though he'd somehow guessed her thoughts, Adam murmured something, then cupped her breasts in his hands. Carefully he stroked her. In response, her nipples budded. The heat between her thighs increased. The pace of her breathing quickened, just as though she'd run a mile. Even more than those things, a sharp yearning came to life deep inside her, urgent and undeniable. Savannah had no idea how to satisfy it, but she hoped Adam did.

Helplessly she closed her eyes. This was beyond wonderful. This was…
sublime
. Surely a woman could not be expected to withstand much more pleasure. She must have reached some sort of apex of sensation—from here she would simply return to living her everyday, normal life in her everyday, ordinary body. But as Adam went on caressing her, Savannah discovered she was wrong.

She was very wrong. Because in Adam's hands, her body felt anything but ordinary. And there was definitely more pleasure to be found in his continuing caresses—in letting him untie her chemise and bare her breasts to the quiet, lamp lit night. There was infinitely, spectacularly more pleasure to be taken, Savannah realized next, in watching him lower his head, draw in a fervent breath, then kiss her in a place that until now no one had even seen, much less touched with such remarkable effect.

Shocked but needful of more, Savannah arched her back beneath him. She closed her eyes again, caught up in the good feelings of Adam's tongue swirling over her nipple, of his palms cradling her, of his lips kissing and kissing and kissing…

“I…feel a bit faint,” she said in a husky voice hardly recognizable as her own. Feeling her knees tremble, Savannah gazed hazily at Adam. “I don't know how much more of this I can stand.”

He smiled again. “That means we're doing this correctly.”

“Surely not! How can we be expected to—” Abruptly Savannah stopped, belatedly becoming aware of a change in her husband. Whereas before Adam had been busy kissing her, which had provided a magnificent distraction, now he was only holding her…and all at once, she discerned a hard, hot, overwhelming
firmness
pressing against her belly. It felt urgent and large. Very, very large. Wide-eyed, she stared up at him. “Are you all right?” she asked.