Epilogue

Three months later

Catherine closed her eyes and lay back in the bed. The wedding had gone off without a hitch, and even her mother was satisfied with the bridegroom. He may not be a duke but one day he would be an earl. Not that it mattered to Catherine. He was Sebastian to her, and she loved him with every part of her being.

He was still downstairs, receiving congratulations from their friends and neighbors. Actually, there were a lot of both, something she had never realized when she lived at Winstanton. She had asked Ellinor to the wedding but her sister-in-law hadn’t come. It seemed a pity she could not put the past behind her, but Catherine supposed it was to be expected. The late duke’s word would always be law.

Jack had been wary for a while after they arrived at Albury House, but as she knew he would, Sebastian won him over. The turning point had been when Jack saw some puppies in the village, and Seb had presented him with one. Catherine did not think she had ever seen her son so deliriously happy.

Maggie and Dodds were married now and living in one of the cottages on the estate, although they insisted on retaining their positions with Sebastian and Catherine until they had trained up suitable replacements. The list of requirements for those replacements seemed very long and detailed, and Catherine doubted such paragons existed.

The bedchamber door opened and closed, interrupting her thoughts.

“Ah, here she is, my beautiful, delicious wife.” Catherine laughed as Sebastian strolled toward her, stripping off his shirt, and tossing it aside, and then unbuttoning his breeches. He really did look as if he wanted to eat her up.

When he reached her and knelt on the side of the bed, she tugged him down on top of her. His mouth closed eagerly on hers, their tongues battling. They had become very good at kissing over the past three months, and now they kissed for a long time. Until Catherine was boneless and hot and aching in all the right places.

“It is time to recommence your lessons,” he said, his voice husky as he ran his finger down the opening of the silken robe she was wearing.

She looked up at him through her lashes. “I can’t wait, husband,” she said in a breathless voice.

When he parted the robe and saw she was naked, he groaned. He bent to gently suck on the rosy tip of first one breast, and then the other. Catherine slid her hands over his broad shoulders, cupping the muscles as she leaned up for more kisses.

“You are very needy, wife,” he said with mock severity. “But I have the solution.”

He rolled her over, so that she was on top, and her loose hair fell about them, making a cave. Her breasts were too tempting, and he licked and nipped, and she wriggled so that his hard length was where she needed it. She began to move, rubbing herself against his cock over and over again. It felt so good, and she had missed this so much. She could reach her climax by simply doing this, and perhaps she would have done so, but he held her still.

“Not yet my needy wife,” he said, and she could hear the amusement behind the words.

He reached down between them, his fingers gliding past the dark curls at the juncture of her thighs, caressing her swollen folds, groaning at her wetness. Her body rippled about him in bliss. Once more she thought she was going to climax, and he must have known it, because he stopped, and smiled up at her. “It has been too long. I will need to have you at least three times before my cock softens enough to walk.”

She burst into laughter, muffling the sound against the curve of his neck and shoulder. Happiness bubbled in her blood, mixing with desire.

For three months they had resisted intercourse, waiting until they were wed, not wanting to scandalize anyone more than they already had. Catherine’s mother had traveled north to stay with them as her daughter’s chaperone, although Catherine suspected if she had pushed the point her mother would have turned a blind eye. But there was Jack to think of, settling him into his new life at Albury House, and making sure he knew how welcome he was.

Sebastian had suffered during their weeks of abstention. And every time their paths crossed in Albury House he had stopped to kiss her.

“Why did we agree to this?” he had whispered.

“Because your father wanted the wedding to be the beginning of our lives together and not just a continuation of what we already had.” Catherine had repeated the words—she had memorised them by then. She had giggled when he groaned like a man in agony and rested his head on her shoulder.

“I suffer. Take pity on me.” He had placed her hand on the large bulge in his breeches. “Suck me.”

“Oh, I will,” she had promised him, “when we are wed, my love.”

But for all her amusement, Catherine had suffered as much as Sebastian. During their time at The White Rose Inn he had lit a fire inside her, and it continued to smolder. She wanted him almost more than she could bear, but she also knew the earl was right. Their marriage should be the beginning, a new start to the rest of their lives.

And now they were wed.

His thumb circled her swollen pearl with an expertise that had her whimpering in urgent need. She nuzzled against his jaw, licking, tasting him. As she lay on his bigger body she indulged herself, rubbing her aching breasts against the hairs on his muscular chest, pushing against his hand.

He whispered in her ear. “Take me inside you, Catherine. Fuck me.”

It took a moment for the words to make sense. She lifted her head and looked down at him. “You want me to...?”

He grinned. “Up you get.” He helped her to sit up. She pressed her palms against his chest, using him for balance, and straddled his narrow hips. His cock was right there in front of her, irresistible, so she bent down and gave it a lick.

He shuddered. “Now she sucks me,” he moaned. “As much as I enjoy your mouth, my love, I will hold strong this time. I want to be inside you. Ride me, use me.”

Catherine used her knees to lift herself up. His cock was throbbing in her hand, and desire flared in his pale eyes as he raised his head so that he could see her body and his. She moved over him and pressed the tip to her aching core.

“Yes,” he groaned.

Slowly she pressed down onto him, feeling her body stretching to take that rigid, velvet-covered flesh. Before she had taken him all the way he pushed up, deep inside her, his hips arching, his hands clasping her thighs. Pleasure sent hot bolts through her.

For a moment they were so eager they were a little clumsy, but soon they found their rhythm. It felt so good, but she couldn’t make it last, not this time. At one point Sebastian sat up, so that she was on his lap, but they kept moving. Quickly now, as the top of the mountain rose before them, and then they flew over the peak. She cried out and he echoed her.

It took a long moment to regain her breath and her senses. They were lying together now, him holding her close against his side, his seed sticky between her legs. Idly, she wondered if they would have children together, but that thought was for another day.

He tucked her hair out of her face and brushed his nose against her, breathing her in. “I love you,” he said.

She smiled and kissed him. “Hmm, I love you, too, my dearest rake.”

He gave a wicked laugh. “The things we are going to do together. The life we are going to have.”

And she smiled again because it sounded like a pledge. And a promise.