One True Love (37 page)

"Oh yes. Times are hard right now. We should take them baskets of food," she said.

"Excellent idea. We can set Margie and her kitchen staff to the task tomorrow." William realized one of the things he loved most about his wife was her kind heart. He expected she would want to be involved in various charity events. She had already taken an active role in helping Anne with her orphan home project. "We should also get to know the local gentry. I have neglected to socialize with my neighbors thus far. I wanted to get the house in order first."

"Perhaps we should hold a dinner party. Lady Moreland called on me before we left London. She wanted to introduce herself to the new lady of Rosehill Manor. I believe she has returned to the country as well. I shall call on her tomorrow and obtain a list of the local gentry whom we must invite."

Cassie needed a sense of purpose, something to do besides sit around and wait for her husband to make an appearance. He neglected her in this. He would work to make amends, and perhaps, his guilt would eventually evaporate. "Besides, decorating and socializing, we will take walks in the gardens together, go on morning and evening rides, and picnic by the lake or in the secret garden. Make love in the secret garden..."

"Outdoors?"
she exclaimed. He loved the blush on her cheeks.

"Outdoors. Take down your hair Cassie."

"What?"

"I want to watch you take down your hair." They already
talked
long enough.

She stilled for a moment, her chest heaved, her eyes studied him, and then she sat down her glass and sat upright. She pulled one pin from her hair. A long golden curl dropped down across her bosom. And then she removed the pins slowly, one after the other until each curl dropped and bounced, and every blonde strand of hair lay across her like a golden shroud, a glorious crown on the head of an angel.

"I love your hair."

"I need to brush it now."

"Allow me." He set his glass on the side table, then stood and offered her his hand. They walked through her bedchamber door, and he sat her in front of her vanity table and mirror. He picked up the brush and ran it slowly through her hair, stroking, ever so gently.

William watched Cassie's eyes in the mirror as he reached down, pulled her hair from the nape of her neck, and planted a kiss between her neck and shoulder. Her eyes widened as tremors shook her body. Delighted by her reaction, he kissed a path along her neck and ran his tongue along the outer edge of her ear. Her nipples tightened and pressed wantonly against the pink silk of her dress. The erotic sight set his own skin on fire, and his cock hardened beyond redemption.

William pulled the brush through her silken strands. "I love your hair, so soft, like silk." He put the brush down and ran his fingers through her hair, then he reached up and massaged her scalp. Cassie made a mewling sound from her throat. He pressed a strand of her hair to his nose. "You smell like lemons, like sunshine."

"I bathe in lemon water. Do you like it?" she asked.

"I love it."

She grabbed his hand and kissed his palm. He stepped back and helped her stand. Then she stretched, and pressed her breasts against his chest. She ran her slender fingers through his hair.

"I love your hair too. I hope our son has thick, soft hair like his father."

"I hope our daughter has golden curls like her mother."

William dug his hands into her hair and pulled her in for a kiss. He touched her lips with featherlike kisses then moved across her cheeks and eyes, and to the bridge of her nose. He trailed his way back to her luscious, sweet raspberries and cream mouth. He loved the taste of her, and dived in with his tongue, and explored her depths.

He pressed his desire against her, and she moaned and tightened her hold on his hair. He smiled in their kiss. "What do you want, sweetings?"

She kissed him with everything she was worth. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up off the ground. Their mouths merged and their tongues tangled in a sweet dance. He restrained from stripping her clothes from her body, and made a silent promise to love her slow and easy, until she burned with desire, and tipped over the edge.

He kissed her as if they had all the time in the world. Her little sighs made it difficult for him to control himself, but he was determined. He could spend a lifetime exploring the feel of her mouth against his, and indeed, he would do just that. He broke their kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, taking a moment to catch his breath, and to control his building desire to bury himself within her
now
. "I love kissing you."

"I love it when you kiss me." She whispered and wrapped her arms around his neck then plunged her hands into his hair. "Kiss me again?"

"I will do just that after I tell you that you are the most beautiful woman in the world. My very own angel."

"Well done. Now hurry up and kiss me."

And so he did. Breathless, scorching kisses that set their world on fire. He moved his hands down Cassie's back and cupped her bottom, and pressed his aching cock against her. She moaned as he kissed a trail down her neck, and across the swell of her breasts. He suckled a breast through her silk gown. She cried out and held him to her, as he continued to scrape his teeth across the thin fabric. He cupped her round bottom in his hands, and she wiggled beneath him. Not one to leave a job undone, he moved to her other breast and repeated his actions.

"Oh please, William, please," she begged.

William lifted his mouth from hers and pulled away. "Please what, Cassie? Say it."

She stared at him wide eyed, and breathed deeply. "I want you to make love to me."

"Oh, I am. I am."

He ran a finger down her cheek to the tip of her chin, then down her neck and across her breasts until his finger rested on the center of her cleavage. "Turn around." He removed his finger and stepped back.

Cassie eyed him warily, but did as he commanded. He pushed her hair over her shoulder and unfastened her dress, one button at a time. Once her dress was undone, he kissed a trail across her shoulder, then released the silk confection to slither down her body and pool to the floor at her feet. He followed the path with his hands and mouth before he returned to the nape of her neck.

She stood before him in her chemise, stockings, and slippers with her hair down to her waist, as the candlelight bounced off the golden strands. He reminded himself to breathe. His angel stood before him in all of her glory. For such a long time he believed he would never have her in this way. He dropped to his knees before her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He smothered her stomach in kisses through her chemise before he pulled back. "Lay your hands on my shoulders and give me your foot."

She followed his instructions, and he grasped her foot to slide off her slipper. Then he did the same to her other foot. He ran his hands up to the top of her leg, untied her stocking, and rolled the silk down her leg one inch at a time. He kissed and licked her leg above her stocking, all the way down to her ankle, then lifted her foot to remove her stocking completely. He did the same with her other stocking, taking his time, inching the silk down her leg. He followed with his mouth and tongue. She dug her nails into his shoulders as little mewling sounds escaped from her lips. Over and over again, he kissed and licked her leg until she collapsed to her knees.

They crashed to the floor and laughed, overwhelmed with love for each other. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him. He simply embraced her, knee to knee, chest to chest, face to face. "I love you, Cassie. I promise I will spend the rest of my life telling you and showing you how much I love you."

"I love you too. So very much. I will make you a good wife, William, I promise."

William leaned away from her and looked into her eyes. "You are the most wonderful wife a man could have." He wiped away a tear that spilled from her eye, then realized his own eyes were wet.
Good heavens!
He had turned into a watering pot! She caused emotions to surface in him he did not know existed. She wiped away his tear with her hand as he said, "I have not been a good husband thus far, but that changes as of this moment."

"Oh, William. You are a perfect husband. Perfect for me. Everything between us happened so quickly and our emotions were confused. We needed time to come to each other, and now we are here. I suppose marriage is not an easy venture, but if we both work at it, then we can build a strong and happy marriage."

"I suppose you want me to talk to you more," he chuckled.

"Yes, but not now. Now I want you to kiss me again." Cassie put her hands on his shoulders and yanked him against her, until they almost teetered to the floor again.

They laughed as their lips came together. If he were not careful, he would make love to her right here on the floor. Keeping his mouth on hers, he stood, took her hands and brought her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her once again and kissed her deeply.

Cassie tugged at his cravat until she freed it from around his neck, then made short work of his jacket, before she tackled the buttons of his shirt. He let her have his way and stood back, as she kissed his chest then ripped open the rest of his shirt. Her trail of kisses stopped short of his breeches, and he sucked in a breath as her mouth came so very close to his cock. She trailed her kisses back up to the center of his chest then tugged his shirt out of his breeches and pushed it off of his shoulders.

William swept Cassie up into his arms and carried her to the bed, where he laid her down with complete reverence. He intended to worship every inch of her. Her white chemise barely concealed her dusky nipples and the golden triangle at the apex of her thighs. His eyes drunk in her long legs and dainty feet. He kneeled down before her and massaged her foot from heel to toe, then shocked a moan out of her when he put her large toe in his mouth and sucked.

Cassie set up on her elbows and stared at him with lusty green eyes and gaping lush lips. He lifted his eyes to hers and chuckled. "I suppose no one has ever suckled your toe before."

"Hardly." She giggled and crashed back onto the bed.

"I feel honored to be the first to worship you at your feet." He let down one tiny foot and picked up the other to repeat the performance.

She laughed, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at him, smacking him in the face. He lunged at her, and pressed the entire length of his body against hers. She wrapped her arms around him as bent down for a deep and lingering kiss.

His hands roamed her body, grazed her breasts, stomach, hips, then moved to her thighs and back up again. William rolled off of her and removed his boots and stockings. Then he tugged her chemise from her shoulders, and pushed the silk past her breasts, down her hips and long legs until he yanked the fabric from her and sent it flying across the floor.

William sat up next to Cassie and stared at her perfectly formed body. He lightly touched the soft, rounded curve of her stomach. "I am looking forward to watching you grown round with my child."

"You mean fat."

"I mean perfect," he said as he bent down and trailed kisses across her stomach. "You are perfect. And when you are large and
round
with child, you will still be perfect."

"You say that now..."

"And I will say it then."

"Do you think doing this will harm the child?" Alarm crossed her face.

"No. I confess I asked Dr. Ainsworth if the act of lovemaking was safe. He said it was perfectly safe, unless you become uncomfortable. You will tell me if it ever becomes uncomfortable or painful?"

"Yes, of course."

"Turn over on your stomach."

"What?"

"Trust me."

Cassie did as she was told and William climbed over her to straddle her lower back with his legs. He leaned over and touched the backs of her hands with his hands, and then slowly eased his hands up her arms to her neck where he gently massaged her shoulders.

"Mmm...that feels wonderful."

He continued massaging his way down her back, and moved to her side, until he reached her bottom and massaged it too. She giggled as he made his way down her thighs and calves. Then he returned to one of her hands and kissed the back of it, and kissed and licked his way up one arm. He climbed over her to her other side, and took her other hand and kissed his way up until he reached her shoulder.