She giggled, and even that slight movement of her body was enough to make him fully erect again.
With a little gasp, she moved beneath him. “So soon?”
“Not if you’re tender,” he insisted.
“Oh, I’m not tender.”
And before he knew it, they were rolling around on the bed, until at last he pulled her on top and watched her discover the pleasures of mastering him.
“Oh my!” she gasped, falling down onto his chest when it was over.
Both of them were breathing hard, moist with perspiration.
“If I’d have known it was this much fun,” she said, “I’d have been a scandalous widow before now.”
He pinched her backside. “You’d better watch it. I’ve now seen all those freckles you thought you’d keep hidden.”
She laughed and rolled off him, not even bothering with a sheet, comfortable with her nudity. And that aroused him allover again, but he restrained himself with difficulty. He came up on his side, resting his head on his bent arm, letting the other hand trail along the curves of her body. Her eyes were half closed, and she moaned softly when he lingered on her nipples.
“You must stop,” she whispered. “You can’t stay here tonight.”
He thought about being with her every night, wanted to remind her that all she had to say was “yes,” and they’d never be separated again.
But he didn’t want passion to be the reason she accepted his proposal. That seemed too … underhanded on his part.
As if he hadn’t been underhanded in so many other ways, he thought with regret.
He leaned down to give her a soft kiss. “It’s difficult to leave you.”
“But you must.” She yawned. “You have exhausted me, and how will I face your guests with circles under my eyes? They’ll know?—”
“They’ll know that an engaged couple couldn’t keep their hands from one another for one more moment.”
She smiled, but didn’t respond, and at last, he sat up and left her bed. As he dressed, he watched her. She drew the sheet up at last, but he knew the chill of the room had more to do with that than shyness. She could never be shy with him again.
When he was ready to leave, he leaned over her, making her sink slowly back into her pillows until he was above her. He kissed her long and deep, not touching her in any other way.
“Good night, sweet Audrey,” he murmured against her lips.
“Good night.”
He thought she was about to say something else, but all she did was give him a soft smile that he took with him into his dreams.
Audrey awoke feeling morerelaxed and happy than she’d ever felt in her life. Her body was tender in spots, but not painful, only a reminder of Robert’s passion, and that felt delicious.
She thought she might feel embarrassed at breakfast, but any of that was overwhelmed by the somber knowledge that she was leaving right after. She tried to enjoy each conversation with Robert, Blythe, and the Blackthornes, to make the meal last, but soon enough it was time to leave.
At the carriage, Robert held both her hands. “It’ll be a day or two before I can come to you, no later than your tenants’ feast, I promise.”
“It will seem a long time,” she murmured, squeezing his hands.
“You’ll miss me?”
“I always do.”
And then he kissed her cheek in front of everyone, and she didn’t mind in the least, only found her smile growing tremulous as she waved good-bye out the window.
“He still has his arm upraised,” Blythe said, her words trailing off in a sigh of happiness. “I think he truly loves you. Don’t you?”
