“I hear congratulations are in order, my lord,” said Captain Samuel, a man close to his own age with sandy hair that he tied back beneath a striped cloth. The captain made frequent stops at Winchelsea, and they’d known each other for years.
“Indeed. I’m a married man, if you can believe it.”
“Best wishes to you and your new wife,” Captain Samuel said with a little bow. “We’ll get you home safe and sound. From what Halfred told me, you’ve had quite an eventful journey so far.”
“I’ll tell you all about it over a tankard of ale once we’re underway, but first, I must see to my wife.”
“As you wish. My ship is yours.”
Martin made his way belowdecks just as Isabella closed the door of her sister’s cabin behind her.
“How is she?” Martin asked, seeing the distraught look on Isabella’s face.
“Still feverish, but she’s sleeping now. The healer is with her.”
“Does that mean that you and I can have a private moment to ourselves in our cabin?”
Isabella crossed her arms and shook her head. “Wicked man.” But she was smiling, and Martin could see her blush even in the meager lanternlight that bathed everything around them in gold.
“I was merely inviting you to finish our game of chess. What did you think I had in mind?” he asked, all innocence.
She grabbed his arm and hauled him into their empty cabin, right beside Adelaide’s. As soon as the door shut behind them, she pulled him into an embrace. “If you attempt to play chess with me, husband, I’ll devise such tortures that you’ll spend the rest of eternity begging for mercy. It is time to finish what you started last night.”
“Oh? You want to write more letters?”
“Don’t toy with me. You know what I need, even if I’m not sure I do.”
Her fingernails raked down his back, and his whole body came to attention. “Are you sure, Isabella? We could always wait until Winchelsea.”
“I want a true wedding night, and I want it now. Here. With you. I want you as my husband in truth, to have and to hold until death do us part. Is that plain enough for you?”
It most certainly was. Heady pleasure and need flooded through him as he locked the latch on the door. Oh, how he’d dreamed of this! From the moment he’d met her, he’d been smitten, and now she was truly going to be his in every sense. And now it was time at last.
Chapter Thirty
Isabella tried tocalm the rapid beating of her heart as she stepped into the simple, lantern-lit cabin she would share with Martin for the remainder of their journey to Winchelsea. She wasn’t entirely sure she understood what was about to happen, despite Martin’s description of the act on their wedding night. But after their encounters the previous day, she was aching for his touch. And not just because she craved the pleasure that he could give her.
After all that had transpired, she needed to be close to him in every way she could. He filled her mind and her heart, and she could hardly think of anything else. He was her partner, her equal. Together, they could overcome anything. She loved the way they played off each other, attuned to each other’s thoughts even in the direst of circumstances. He had set out to woo her, to win her, but this had long since ceased to be a game for either of them.
He pulled her gently into his embrace, and she whispered in his ear, “Don’t let it go to your head, you pompous coxcomb, but I think I might be madly in love with you.”
He froze, not even breathing, and for a moment, she wondered if she’d gone too far, said too much. Maybe she’d gotten everything wrong, and now she’d ruined everything by confessing her feelings.
But a moment later, he crushed her to him so hard she could barely draw breath. “Thank you,” he whispered against her shoulder. “I swear I will love and cherish you for the rest of my days.”
His lips brushed tenderly against her cheek, and she melted. All her worries, all her defenses disappeared. It was terrifying to feel like this, but there was no denying the raw power of what she felt for this man who was cradling her closely as if she was the most precious thing under the firmament.
“As will I,” she murmured into his hair. And she meant it with all her heart. He had rescued her first from her family, then from a storm, and lastly from Lord James. Her husband had proven himself time and again, despite every hurdle and barrier she could throw at him. There was no more running. Her heart had a home for the first time in her life. Never before had she allowed someone so close. Even her siblings she’d kept at arm’s length, always taking care of them and never letting them in. But with Martin, she didn’t have to be strong. She could simply be herself.
And miraculously, he loved her for it.
His lips brushed against hers in the tenderest of kisses, and joy and light welled up within her. She opened to him, letting all that was in her heart shine through as they tasted each other. The press of his body against hers made her tremble, as his kiss grew hungrier and deeper. His tongue glided against hers, and it was as if the sparkling threads of their souls were being woven together into a single tapestry. She no longer knew where she started and he ended as they savored the bright intensity of their embrace.
Isabella lost track of time, or her surroundings, of everything as one of his hands caressed down her back to her buttock, pressing her against his hard length, while the other grazed the side of her breast. She moaned into his mouth as their kiss grewwilder still. Somehow, he had backed her against the cabin door, and he pressed again, groaning with her as he ran his hand down her thigh, pulling her closer still as she wrapped her leg around him.
He pulled away and began kissing along her jaw and neck. “Oh, Isabella,” he murmured against her skin.
She leaned her head back, arching for him, aching for each touch of lips and tongue as he set her alight. Bowing his head, he grazed the peak of one taut nipple with his teeth through the fabric of her dress, and she thought she might die.
