“And dinner,” Frances added. “I’m famished.”
“You ate all the food we brought in the picnic basket,” Rory said. “How can you still be hungry?”
“Mama Genevieve says I’m growing like a weed, and weeds need lots of food.”
Rory looked at his wife. “A weed?”
She gave a delicate shrug. “That’s what my mother used to say.” She leaned close to him and whispered, “Before she yanked them out of the ground, so they didn’t steal her roses’ food.”
Rory laughed, pulled her close, and kissed her.
“Ew!” Frances said, and Rory and Genevieve laughed.
Soon everyone piled out of the coaches and into the inn, and the next couple hours were spent eating, unpacking, and arguing over sleeping arrangements. King and Violet were given the largest chamber, and Frances wanted to sleep in their room so she could be with the other children. Genevieve finally allowed it, after telling Violet she could send the girl back to their room if she insisted on giggling all night instead of sleeping.
Considering Violet had all but raised her two brothers on her own in the most dangerous rookery in London, Rory had a feeling Frances would not pose much of a challenge. When Genevieve returned from settling the child, he closed the door and locked it.
She turned to him and smiled. “Alone at last.”
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. She felt soft and warm against him. She feltright.
She tilted her chin up to gaze at him. “It feels as though it’s been months since we were alone. Who knows when we’ll get another chance?”
“We’d better make the most of it, then.” He stripped off his coat, and she withdrew the pins from her hair. The red curls bounced down over her shoulders, the lamplight behind her making them look fiery. Rory untied his cravat, and Genevieve loosened her fichu and set it aside. He unfastened the buttons of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Genevieve undid her bodice and tossed it aside, then reached for her skirt as he reached for the fastenings to his trousers. Her skirts pooled on the floor, and his trousers joined them.
“How is it I am naked, and you still have layers to go?” he asked, indicating her stays, petticoats, and chemise.
“You could help me,” she suggested.
He shook his head and lay down on the bed. “I’ll watch…and wait.”
She began untying her petticoats. “I heard you and the other men discussing returning to the school tomorrow,” she said. She looked up at him as her petticoat slid down. Rory sighed as he realized she wore another pair underneath. “I want to go with you.”
“To the school? Why?”
“I want to see it. That place had such an influence on your life—on all of your lives. It’s an important place to you, and I want to know what it looks like, what it feels like.”
Her other petticoat slid down, and she came to sit on the bed, giving him her back so he could loosen her stays.
“I don’t want to bring Frances,” he said after a moment. “I don’t want her to ever go near that place.”
Genevieve stood and wiggled out of the stays, clad only in her chemise and stockings now. “I imagine Violet and Katie will want to see it as well. If so, Joshua can stay back with Frances. He seems a responsible enough boy, and he’s used to watching over his little brother.”
“I trust your judgment,” he said, his mouth going dry as she reached for the drawstring of her chemise. Then she pulled her hand away and sat on the bed.
“I forgot my stockings.” She leaned down to remove them, and Rory, impatient now, picked her up and tossed her on the bed. He straddled her, grasping her wrists and securing them over her head. Then he kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, and finally her mouth. She returned his kiss with an urgency he felt all the way to his toes. The kiss deepened, and he released her wrists to twine the fingers of his hands with hers. Hands clasped together, he pulled back and looked down at her. She looked up at him with such desire and such love that it all but stole his breath.
That look was all he’d ever wanted. His entire life he’d sought to feel worthy, to feel wanted, to feel loved. At two and twenty, he thought he’d found what he sought, but his wife hadn’t loved him, and he’d done everything he could to earn her love. In the end, he’d walked away, feeling worthless and undeserving of any love.
But now Genevieve gazed at him with so much yearning and desire, he couldn’t help but feel loved. He’d done nothing todeserve it. She hadn’t even said she loved him. But heknew, just as he knew he loved her back—though just the thought of admitting such a vulnerability made him tremble.
Instead, he kissed her again and showed her how much he loved her. He undressed her tenderly, kissing every inch of her as it was revealed. When he had her naked and panting beneath him, he parted her legs and slid into her warm heat as slowly as he could manage. She moaned and wrapped her legs around him, her gaze hot on his. He watched the play of emotions on her face as he moved slowly within her. He couldn’t believe there had been a time in his life when he hadn’t known this woman, and he couldn’t begin to imagine a life without her in it.
“Rory,” she gasped, and slid her hands over his arms, arching up to meet him. He went over the edge with her, clasping her to him, and when they finally came back to earth, she turned to him and smiled. “It’s different every time,” she murmured, tracing a path on his chest. “How can that be?”
“We’ll see if you’re still saying that twenty years from now.”
She chuckled. “I like hearing you talk about the future. I hope after this you’re able to put the past behind you.”
