Protection (28 page)

Good Lord, he had been a fool.

“This, I like,” he murmured, drawing her into his embrace.

“So do I.” She pressed herself tightly against him.

They made love as they had on the previous three occasions since they’d wed, with
her beautiful body stretched out beneath him while he moved over her. It was simple,
sensual, and utterly sublime, and he made sure Lisa was fully satisfied while finding
no small pleasure in the coupling himself.

Despite the similarity with their previous joinings as man and wife, Nathaniel noticed
a difference in Lisa. She was less reserved, more free in her responses, and her cries
were definitely louder. Her enjoyment intensified his own satisfaction, and Nathaniel’s
groans filled the room. Finally spent, he maintained just enough presence of mind
to keep his weight on his elbows. But to his astonishment, Lisa’s body continued to
respond long after his was replete, his slightest movement or caress or brush of his
lips triggering another round of pulses to contract deep within her.

“You amaze me,” he whispered when she eventually lay still beneath him. “I cannot
begin to quantify my love for you or the depth of my adoration.”

Smiling up at him, she confused Nathaniel by pushing on his shoulders. Fearing his
weight must be too great for her, he went to pull away.

“Take me with you.” She squeezed her thighs tightly, so his still-hard member stayed
buried within her as he rolled them onto their sides. The new position was intimate
but not overly comfortable, and she continued to push on his shoulders.

“I want to be on top the second
time,” she said when he raised a brow, her lovely face revealing a heady mix of shyness
and determination. More than happy to oblige her, he rolled onto his back so her lithe
body sprawled on top of him.

“Better?”

She nodded, though her expression was a little uncertain.

“What is it?” He stroked a lock of hair back from her face.

Rather than reply with words, she sat up so she was mounted astride his hips. Wiggling
a little, she seated him more deeply inside, her actions elicited a rumbling growl
from his throat. With a coy smile, Lisa released her lip from between her teeth to
stroke it with her tongue, triggering another groan.

“You love me,” she said, her sober expression gaining his undivided attention. “You
love me, and you want me to be unguarded
when we’re intimate?” Her voice rose questioningly, and Nathaniel hated that he’d
put the doubt in her eyes.

“Yes, Lisa, a thousand times, yes.”

“Good.” She nodded once. Then with a sultry smile, she rested her hands on his chest
and began to ride him. Her hair fell around them like a shawl, and he shuddered as
it brushed against his skin. Her thighs hugged his sides whilst her bottom pressed
against his groin with each rise and fall of her hips.

Nathaniel’s hands eagerly cupped her breasts, teasing the nipples with his thumbs.
Moaning, she arched her back, pressing against his hands and silently asking for more.
Eager to please, he lifted his head off the pillow and captured a swaying breast with
his lips, suckling the nipple against the roof of his mouth. When he teased the sensitive
bud with his lips and tongue, she cried out, and he smiled against her softness and
warmth.

There was a heaven, he decided, and it was right here on earth.

Lisa seemed to be in agreement, her moans of pleasure increasing as his hands alternated
between caressing her breasts, paying the same attention to the curves of her bottom,
and guiding her perfectly rounded hips. Not that she needed his direction. She rode
him, slow and gently, squeezing her inner muscles until the sensations threatened
to overwhelm him, then fast and hard as he thrust upward to meet her downward strokes.
Just when he thought he couldn’t last any longer, her back arched and he felt her
tighten around him. Holding to the remnants of his control, he continued stroking
her while her body trembled.

Only when her head fell forward, her eyes fluttering open to meet his gaze, did he
surrender to his own release. Groaning, he arched beneath her before collapsing back
on the bed, his body shuddering as rapture coursed through him. With a sigh, she fell
forward, and he cradled her in his arms—his sensual, responsive,
determined
young wife.

Chapter 26

Acceptable

Waking in her husband’s arms was one of the truest joys Lisa had ever known. It was
also much better than waking alone. With her head resting comfortably on his shoulder,
she trailed her fingers through the soft curls that formed an inverted triangle in
the centre of his chest. He stroked her bare arm in return, and she sighed contentedly.

“Sorry.” Nathaniel’s lips nuzzled her brow. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You’re forgiven,” she murmured, moving to lie on top of him. “As long as you promise
to awaken me the same way every morning.”

“I’m surprised this is your first choice.” He ran his hands up and down her back,
his lips curling into a sultry smirk. “You wouldn’t prefer I woke you in the manner
I used earlier?”

Despite the intimacy of their position, and the uninhibited way in which she’d responded
to him throughout the night, Lisa felt a blush warm her cheeks. With their expectations
finally
in accord, they had stayed awake until the early hours with only short rests in between
their bouts of lovemaking. Eventually exhausted, she had fallen asleep with Nathaniel’s
body curled around her, only to be woken some time later to the feel of his hand at
her breast and his apparently never-sated member pressing against her from behind.
What had ensued was a reenactment of one of her fonder memories from their time together
at Worthington, the new memory one she would treasure also.

“Well, now that you mention it.” Lisa kept her tone purposefully prim despite the
shivers running through her. “I suppose there are any number of ways you could choose
to awaken me that I would find acceptable.”

In a flash, he rolled them over so she was beneath him, her hands pinned above her
head.

“ ‘Acceptable’?” He scowled, a glint in his eyes. “You dare to call my passionate
and highly skilled lovemaking ‘acceptable’?”

“Quite admirably so.”

She fluttered her eyelashes, giggling when he nibbled her neck with his lips. Releasing
her hands, he gently stroked her cheek, his grin fading. His change in mood mirrored
her own, as she was filled with relief at their finally
being together without reservation.

“I love you,” he whispered, and she nodded, her voice too tight for words. “And I’m
sorry for the unnecessary restraints I placed upon us.”

She brushed his hair from his forehead, and he turned his head to kiss her palm. “You
meant well, but it’s past time you ceased with the self-castigation, Nathaniel. I
wanted
to be with you at Worthington, as much as you wanted to be with me. We both made mistakes,
but we’ve been given a second chance.”

“Which I almost ruined.” His expression turned bleak. “First by keeping things from
you, then through lack of consultation regarding your wishes.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time things have gone awry in my life because I’ve been
kept in the dark.” Lisa did her best to keep the memories of Copeland’s brutality
at bay but couldn’t control the shiver that coursed through her.

“You’re safe now,” Nathaniel murmured, reaching to kiss her cheek.

“I know,” she said. “But I don’t want to be left uninformed ever again. My father
sought only to protect me, and I appreciate that you were similarly motivated, but
I’m stronger than you think.”

“I meant it when I promised you there will be no more secrets between us,” Nathaniel
said. “It’s one I am determined to keep as faithfully as my wedding vows.”

Lisa smiled, the tension leaving her body. “Now if we can just manage to communicate
openly with one another, I foresee us living very contentedly together.”

“Our own
happily ever after
?” He smirked.

“It’s been known to happen.” Lisa eyed him archly before drawing her far from cynical
husband down into her arms.

Chapter 27

Celebration

Hugh was right. It was possible to have the best of both worlds.

For a long time, Nathaniel couldn’t imagine being happier than he’d been when he'd
made Lisa his mistress. Indulging their passion for one another, enjoying her company,
caring for and keeping her safe. It had been the highlight of his life until that
point . . . but not without it’s lows. Her insights about women, class, and fidelity
had been both curious and challenging, bothering his conscience. He’d been willing
to make what most would have considered a ridiculous sacrifice to keep her in his
life, foregoing marriage and a legitimate heir so that she would stay with him. And
when he thought he’d lost her . . .

A shudder passed through him, and Nathaniel reached for Lisa’s hand seeking reassurance.
On their way to Worthington for their first Christmas together as man and wife, this
was the second day of their journey.

“Hello husband.” She put her book aside and smiled at him.

“Hello wife.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Marriage to Lisa was even better than having her as his mistress and not at all what
he’d expected. Growing up in a household where there was no love lost between the
husband and wife, and society’s expectations hung noose-like over all their heads,
had warped his views of the institution . . . and ladies in general. Lisa was nothing
like his mother, ‘cold and unfeeling’ the least appropriate descriptions of her nature
he could imagine. Sometimes he wondered what his mother would have been like if she’d
not been raised with such a constrained view of acceptable female behaviour. Thank
God Rebecca had not been so stifled.

He was looking forward to seeing her and Hugh, the couple only recently returned from
their honeymoon. While Nathaniel still wasn’t comfortable thinking of his sister as
a married woman with everything that entailed, he couldn’t deny he was happy for her.
Hugh was a lucky man, both brave and determined, as he’d had to endure being threatened
to a fair-thee-well by not only his prospective wife’s father but her brother also.

“What are you smiling about?” Lisa asked, snuggling a little closer.

“Just remembering the look on Hugh’s face when I told him what the consequences would
be if he ever hurt or disappointed Rebecca.”

“I remember.” Lisa laughed. “Rebecca was so cross, as Hugh wouldn’t even give her
a peck on the cheek after they were betrothed, refusing to touch her at
all
before the wedding. Whatever did you threaten him with?”

“The same threats your father used on me when we were becoming
acquainted
at the palace. He’s very protective of you and has quite the imagination . . . not
unlike someone else I know.”

“
Hmm
.” Lisa’s smile held a decidedly sultry overtone. “I do have an excellent imagination,
one I’ve put to good use to solve a minor dilemma of ours.”

“What dilemma is that?” Puzzled, Nathaniel watched as she drew the curtains. When
realisation dawned as to her intentions, he didn't know whether to laugh or groan.

There was something about a long carriage ride that inspired his wife to heights of
ingenuity, and they
definitely
could not manage a journey of any great distance without her finding her way onto
his lap. Admittedly, that was usually Nathaniel’s doing. But in taking it further,
the reality had not lived up to his expectations.

The night of the King’s ball, the hoops and petticoats beneath her gown had prevented
him taking things beyond a few tender kisses—that and the knowledge her father would
soon be re-joining them, and their decision to wait until they were wed to be intimate.
On their return journey from Marsden to London for the Little Season, they’d been
likeminded in their determination that Nathaniel should finally
have
her in a carriage. While enjoyable, it had been an awkward affair, traditional fashions
not suited for the occasion.

Reaching the conclusion some ideas were better left to the realm of the imagination,
they had resigned themselves to finding other ways to pass the time whilst travelling,
at least, Nathaniel had. It appeared his wife was not so easily defeated

“Sweetheart?” He raised a brow. She could just be planning on taking a nap, though
she didn’t normally worry about darkening the carriage before doing so.

Lisa didn’t respond but sat on the bench opposite and reached down to remove her short
travelling boots. Swallowing hard, Nathaniel concluded his wife had something other
than an afternoon rest in mind. For that, she normally just leaned her head against
his shoulder. With her boots removed, she sat up and eyed him in a desultory fashion,
though he suspected conversation was the
last
thing on her mind.

Oh hell. Even if it was awkward, it would be worth it.

His eyes fixed on her plump lower lip which glistened from where she had slowly swiped
it with her tongue, then they followed the movement of her fingers as they released
the buttons fastening her pelisse. With a shrug, the garment slid from her shoulders
to reveal a dress he’d not seen her wear for some time.