REGENCY: Loved by the Duke (Historical Billionaire Military Romance) (19th Century Victorian Short Stories) (71 page)

Chapter 6

The next evening, Abigail opened the door to Aryen’s bedroom, her own bedroom now, she thought firmly and breathed a sigh of relief to find it empty. Hastily she slipped out of the dress she’d been wearing, one that laced up either side so she wouldn’t need assistance, and swallowed her unease as she replaced it with a night gown. It wasn’t the gown that made her uneasy, it was the fabric itself. It was nearly completely transparent! She felt scandalous just wearing the garment in the room by herself, the thought of showing it off in front of her husband nearly sent her into apoplexy. 

She bent to the fireplace to stoke the glowing embers back to a fire, when a startled voice surprised her, making her jump up straight and spin around.

“Sweetheart? Abigail? What are you…” His words trailed off his his green eyed gaze travelled down her scantily clad body and she thought his eyes couldn’t get any wider. He stared for so long she started to shift uneasily.

“Well? Are you going to say something?” She finally pleaded in a breathy voice, but it was all she could get out. Never in her life would she imagine acting so brazen, but something about it thrilled her to the bone and she felt strength beginning to return at the appreciative light in his gaze.

“I…I…” Aryen paused, swallowing hard before answering again. “I don’t know what to say. I…You.” He stopped again, just shaking his head, but a moment later, his actions made up for lack of words as he stepped close, crowding her with his much bigger body and wrapped his arms around her. He wasted no time as he lowered his lips to hers, his kiss searing through her obliterating any lingering doubts. Finally, he looked at her, breathless and panting, “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen in my entire life, my wife, my love, I…I can’t thing of anything to say. You’ve completely struck me speechless.”

“No, Aryen,” She smiled up at him warmly as his words sunk into her heart and soul, “that’s all you have to say.” She didn’t get anymore words out before he was kissing her again, holding her as close as he could as his hands began to travel up and down her spine. She could feel every touch as if the gossamer fabric of the night gown wasn’t even there and a thrill of desire spiraled through her making her so dizzy she had to lean against him.

In the blink of an eye he had her from where they’d been standing in front of the now crackling fireplace to the bed. He didn’t even bother with the heavy coverlet or mountain of pillows covering it, throwing them aside heedlessly as he gently lowered her down and then not so gently followed her. His kisses grew deeper and deeper until she was lost in the passions he had swirling through her body. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, more intense, more all encompassing than she could have imagined.

Suddenly, Abigail felt a pang of regret for the past two weeks that she had tried to stay away from her husband. This, she realized, is what it felt like to really be alive, to really feel loved and cherished. And she couldn’t believe that he was her husband, the man she had come to care about. It was like she had known him her entire life rather than just a few short weeks.

She could feel him moving above her and she pressed her eyes open against the heaviness trying to drag her under. But as she saw him peel off his tunic and over shirt to reveal the muscled chest underneath her breath caught in her lungs. My god, he was beautiful.

“Thank you,” He said with a laugh and she blushed to the roots of her hair as she realized she’d said it out loud. She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off with a kiss that burned through her and her embarrassment was completely forgotten as his hands moved over her body, sneaking under the thin fabric of the night gown and setting each and every nerve ending on fire.

A trembling started and moved from her toes all the way up her body and an insatiable need followed it, making her move restlessly on the bed and pull him closer. He laughed again at her eagerness but kept it at a slow, steady pace that was driving her to distraction. She needed him. She needed…something. And she needed it right now.

“Aryen, please, I need…” She trailed off, unsure of what words to use to explain the torturous desire twining through her but he just continued his gentle assault.

“It’s alright, my love, I know exactly what you need.” Those were the last words he spoke before he began trailing kisses across her cheek, down the hypersensitive side of her neck and then finally burying his face in the crook where the gentle curve of her shoulder began. With feather light touches he swept his hands up her leg, across her inner thigh to the very center of her and she almost jumped right out of her skin when his lightest touch set off an explosion inside her.

He knew exactly were to press, and the pressure to bring her right the edge of…something, but she just wasn’t sure what. It was something bright and golden and she reached for it but every time he would bring her close he would ease his touch just enough to bring her back down. And then he would start the process all over again until she was stretching underneath him, begging him with her words and her body to fulfill the need that had grown to unmanageable proportions inside her.

“Please, please…” She wasn’t even aware of the words that slid from between her lips and then finally, he was moving over her, his weight settling in between her thighs and it felt like heaven. It felt like exactly what she needed, even though she still wasn’t sure why.

“Abigail, are you…Are you ready, sweetheart? Ah, this might hurt a little, and the last thing I want to do is–.”

“Now, Aryen. I need you now.” Abigail pulled him close, pressing her hips upward and his hard length slid at her entrance. He groaned, trying to take it slow for her pleasure she knew, but she couldn’t wait any longer. She needed to know what was waiting for her on the other side of that shining cliff he’d teased her with.

In one motion she arched her back, hitching her hips against his and bringing him deeper inside her. She felt that moment, a tiny tearing sensation and then a mountain of pleasure as he slid all the way inside her. They both moaned together, and soon Aryen was thrusting, both out of control and panting as lust and desire overrode any other thought.

With a shriek of pleasure, Abigail hurtled over the edge and sensations exploded across her body in tingling waves that left her shattered and boneless. A moment later, Aryen gave a loud moan of his own, shouting her name as they came together.

Moments later, they were both asleep, drifting in blissful slumber, their arms and legs tangled together in a heedless pile, as man and wife.

Epilogue

Scotland, 1789

Abigail clenched the letter in her hands, her uncle’s scrawled handwriting bringing back memories of the events that had transpired almost a year ago. But things were different now, she was different now, so much stronger, so much happier than she had been and she wouldn’t let her despicable uncle turn her life on its ear once again.

She cradled her arms around her middle, feeling the babe kick as the child responded to her riotous emotions. As an only child, she had always dreamed of having hoards of children of her own. A house filled with laughter and joy and above all, life and love.

And the best thing for her was that she was going to be sharing the life of this child with Aryen. The love between them had only grown more and more over the past year, changing her from a lonely woman content to live her life on the shelf to someone confident, strong, not only a wife but now a mother.

She knew she would love this baby more than she had ever loved anything or anyone in her entire life, and it warmed her heart to know that her husband was there right along with her.

She read the words again and shook her head as sadness swept through her and she had to swipe at a rogue tear that escaped despite her best efforts.

“Abigail?” Aryen’s soft voice calling her name had her instantly turning towards him. Towards the man that she had learned to love and cherish and had shown her just how sweet it can be when you share that love in return. “Darling, is everything alright? Is it the baby?”

She just shook her head, but couldn’t get any words out past the lump in her throat, so she handed him her uncles letter. He quickly perused the document, his face growing red with anger at each word.

“Why, that awful man, he doesn’t deserve to be there, he doesn’t deserve–.”

“Aryen, my love, it’s alright.”

“But, Abie, he…”

“I know.” She said simply, and sank into him as he pulled her close. In the past short year, her uncle had completely bankrupted the estate. He had lost everything to a life of gambling and excess. The home she had grown up in with her father, the home she had loved, was gone.

For a moment she felt sorry for her uncle, for his wasted life, but in the end it was because of him that she had fled the manor to chase after the infamous Black Lord of Scotland, and for that she would be forever grateful for him. She hoped he had a nice cell in the debtor’s prison he would surely find himself in.

“My love, are you sure you are alright?” He asked again softly as he cradled her close, his hand resting lightly on her burgeoning stomach. In only a few short months they would have their first child, and she hoped many more to come after that. Abigail placed her hand over his, soaking in the love and peace of the moment.

“Oh yes, so much more than alright,” She finally said as she leaned even closer against him, listening to the sound of his heartbeat under her ear, because more than anything, it was the truth. “I am absolutely wonderful.”