Sixteen

Immediately after Bentley drew the landau to a halt in front of Lady Mathilda's residence, Riordan stepped down and swept Adriana to the ground. Flying to the front portal, she rapped the iron clapper frantically against its metal base as Riordan assisted Samantha. In the silence that followed, Adriana could hear hurrying footfalls approaching the vestibule.

The steward, an energetic man in his early forties, pulled open the door a discreet distance and, upon recognizing the lady, stepped aside as he offered a cordial greeting. Espying the procession of people who followed her, he promptly swept the portal wider to accommodate the broad-shouldered men who were carrying a third who gave every indication of being unconscious.

"Hodges, we need a physician posthaste," Adriana announced anxiously as Percy and Riordan brushed past her with their burden. "Do you know of one who's well esteemed here in Bath? Lord Randwulf has been shot by miscreants and needs urgent attention."

"There's a physician Lady Mathilda holds in highest regard, my lady. I shall send my son for him forthwith."

The steward faced the youth, a boy about twelve, who hadfollowed him into the hall. "You're the best rider we have here, Caleb. Ride over to Franklin Croft's place and bid the man to come with all possible haste."

"Yes, sir!"

Adriana caught up her skirts and flitted past Percy to lead the men upstairs. Her aunt occupied the largest bedroom in the house. Her parents were ensconced in the more spacious of the two guest chambers, which left the one she occupied as the only room that could be easily spared.

Swinging wide the door, Adriana ran ahead of the men and whipped down the covers on the bed. At the end of the short procession came Samantha, who was trying to explain to Hodges what had happened, according to what Bentley had told Percy.

Adriana sought the butler's advice as she indicated the bed. "Should we not spread older sheets over the mattress and bedding to protect Aunt Tilly's fine linens?"

Hodges had already foreseen that likelihood before sprinting up the stairs after them. He faced the door just as a maid, clutching an armful of older linens, rushed in. Adriana quickly helped the woman spread out several protective layers over the mattress and, after the men lowered their burden to the bed, began loosening Colton's waistcoat.

Displaying an uncompromising dignity and discretion as he stepped beside the young woman, Hodges clasped one hand in the palm of the other as he spoke in muted tones. "Lady Adriana, this is no task for a young maiden, such as yourself. I must insist that you and Lady Burke make yourselves comfortable downstairs and leave the matter of undressing his lordship to the three of us." Sweeping a hand about to indicate Percy, Riordan, and himself, the steward gave every indication that he had taken charge of the situation and was well able to handle everything from that perspective. "In the past, your aunt has been good enough to help Dr. Croft when he has treated soldiers returning from the war. On a number of occasions she has offered my services as well. Knowing in advance the items Dr. Croft will need to remove the lead ball and repair his lordship's wound, I've already set servants to boiling the instruments as the physician usually requires and to gather bandages and whatever else is needed. I'm sure you'll agree, my lady, undressing his lordship and cleansing his wound is neither for the delicate in nature nor an unwed maid. Be confident his lordship will be in capable hands, not only now, but especially when Dr. Croft arrives. The man is an outstanding physician and has treated some very difficult wounds with fine results. I can readily attest to that, having personally seen some of the miracles he has performed. There is therefore nothing for you and Lady Burke to do now other than sip a little port while you wait for Dr. Croft to arrive and do his best by his lordship."

Reluctant to leave, Adriana looked back at Colton, but Samantha laid a gentle hand upon her arm. "Come, dear. Hodges is right. The men are far more capable of readying my brother for the surgeon than we are. We haven't the skill to treat serious wounds. If you'll remember, we never had much success in that area when we found animals that were severely injured. The best we could do was let our fathers put them out of their misery."

Worried tears blurred Adriana's vision. "But if he should wake and want me …"

Samantha patted her arm in a motherly fashion. "The men will tell him that you're waiting downstairs and will return as soon as Dr. Croft gives his permission."

Hodges's predictions proved trustworthy, for Caleb arrived with the physician on his heels less than a quarter hour later. The older man tipped his hat politely to the ladies as he hastened from the vestibule and then spoke to the youth over his shoulder as that one followed hard on his heels.

"I shall need a strong libation to cleanse the wound and to administer to the patient. Do you know of any in the house, young man?"

"I believe, sir, my father already has what you need upstairs."

"Excellent. Then please be kind enough to direct me to the patient," he bade, sweeping his hand before him in an invitation for Caleb to precede him.

Adriana abruptly came to the awareness that she was tagging along behind them when Samantha halted her with a gentle hand upon her arm. As if coming from a daze, she turned to her friend, her concern for Colton ravaging what little remained of her composure.

Samantha slipped her arms about her and murmured resolutely, "We must pray and trust the surgeon to do his best, Adriana."

It was almost an hour and a half before Dr. Croft finally emerged from the upper room with his coat draped over his forearm. Rolling down his sleeves, he began his descent as Adriana flew to the stairs and clutched the newel with slender, white-knuckled fingers. Though her question remained unspoken as she watched him, her eyes pleaded with him to give her an answer. The middle-aged physician smiled pleasantly. "You must be the young woman his lordship has been demanding to see for the last half hour."

"He's alive?" she cried jubilantly as Samantha ran forward and embraced her from behind.

"Of course," Dr. Croft informed her, as if he had had no doubt of his abilities. "I've made it a habit throughout my profession not to lose patients unnecessarily, and this one definitely has a lot of life left in him. That was made plain enough when he cursed at me a time or two." The surgeon's lips twitched with amusement as he took full note of the lady's glowing delight. "He didn't seem very appreciative of the fact that I forbade anyone to do his bidding when he commanded that you be brought up to the room, but the ornery buck is alive … and very well, considering." Lifting his hand, Dr. Croft rolled a lead ball between his thumb and forefinger as he perused it through square-rimmed spectacles. "I thought the man could do without this bit of lead, but you may want to give it to your grandchildren in years to come and tell them how their grandfather never muttered a word during its removal, a feat I've rarely witnessed. That's certainly more than I can say when I told him he'd have to wait to see you."

"He lost consciousness in the carriage and appeared to havebeen much weakened by his loss of blood," Adriana ventured tentatively. "How will that affect him now?"

"Actually, he didn't lose as much blood as you may have supposed. The shock and pain probably caused him to pass out, but he has abundant resilience, that one. His wound wasn't life-threatening … and will not be unless it becomes tainted, which I've taken measures to prevent with a mixture that not only discourages putrefaction but eases his discomfort to a goodly extent. Of course, the brandy also helped considerably in the latter area. In fact, he seems fairly spry now for a man who recently had a hole bored into his back, which thankfully missed vital organs." Dr. Croft flicked his graying brows upward. "He has the idea that the two of you will be getting married tonight. Do you know anything about that?"

Adriana didn't quite know what to say in response. "Well, Sir Guy did say he was going to send his father, the rector, over to perform the ceremony, but I'm not sure he was serious."

Dr. Croft threw a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the one in the upper room. "Well, I can tell you right now his lordship is, and if you want to keep him abed, you'd better think of a way to placate the lad if you don't intend to marry him toni—"

A loud rapping of the doorknocker brought Caleb running once again from the servants' quarters. When he opened the front portal, a tall man, dressed in black attire with a white collar, politely withdrew his hat from his graying head.

"I'm the Reverend William Dalton. My son sent me here with a special license from the archbishop with instructions to marry a couple in some haste." Upon recognizing the good doctor, he looked rather sheepish as he harrumphed uncomfortably. "Good evening, Franklin, I sincerely hope I'm not too late. Has the child been born yet?"

Laughing in hearty amusement, Dr. Croft beckoned the man inside. "Come in, William, and rest your mind. I came here to tend the wounds of a man seriously injured, not a woman giving birth to a child. I believe the couple desirous of getting married has been promised to each other for the last ten and sixyears, at least that's what his lordship said moments ago. ‘Twould seem after such a lengthy period, ‘tis time they marry, eh what?"

The rector chortled in obvious relief. "Well, that does seem fairly reasonable. Shall we commence with the ceremony? My wife would like me to get back to the Assembly Room as soon as possible. She gets a mite flustered when she has to entertain important guests in my absence."

Dr. Croft swept a hand in the general direction of the upper room. "I'm afraid you'll be required to perform the nuptials upstairs, William. I forbade my patient to leave his bed for several days. If he'll stay there a week, I'd be even happier." Lifting a hand to indicate Adriana, he predicted, "I'm sure he'd be willing to comply with my orders if the beautiful lady here would consent to be his nursemaid and hover over him to make sure he stays put. Though we've not actually been formally introduced, I believe this is the young woman his lordship intends to take to wife, the Lady Adriana."

The clergyman stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, uh … seeing as how the man is seriously incapacitated, perhaps the wedding should be postponed until he's on his feet again. I don't know that I've ever performed a ceremony while the groom has been lying abed."

Dr. Croft laughingly scoffed at his suggestion. "His lordship is quite adamant that the marriage vows be exchanged tonight, and if I were you, William, I'd humor the fellow. As I've just witnessed, he can exhibit a fairly nasty temper when he's kept from his betrothed. He also has a wide range of epithets that may do much to broaden your vocabulary, though I give you fair warning, ‘twill not necessarily enhance it." The doctor's mouth twitched as he relented to his ready wit. "Must've been tutored by the French while he was fighting them hand to hand. ‘Tis unimaginable that a proper English gentleman should say such things."

"Oh, yes, I see." The rector's graying brows flicked upward rather worriedly. "Well, no help for it, I suppose. Humor the man, that's what we should do, so let's be about it."

It was evident that Colton's patience had worn thin by the time the group entered, for he was scowling like an ill-humored tyrant. After the bandages had been applied and secured by winding them across his chest, a sheet had been drawn up over his hips, but in turning from his stomach onto his side, he had tested the freshly sutured flesh more than he had intended, making him excruciatingly aware of the searing pain that pierced through him during that repositioning and far less mindful of the fact that the sheet had become ensnared between his thighs and was now snugly adhering to the torpid fullness in that area. His navel had not only been exposed by that movement, but also the thin line of hair tracing down his flat, hard belly.

The good reverend began to bluster a bit in red-faced discomfiture as he became aware of the younger man's inadequate attire, but when the bride-to-be hurried to the bed and clasped hold of the strong, brown hand that had been extended to her, the elder's disquiet increased significantly. His cheeks reddened forthwith at the shocking impropriety he was now witnessing. Clearing his throat in chagrin, he turned to request assistance from Percy. "Do you suppose you can find something to spread over the injured man while the ladies are in the room?"

Percy's brow quirked above an amused smile as he glanced at the two women. From all appearances, they seemed oblivious to Colton's near nudity. "Well, one's his sister, and in the next few moments the other will be his wife. I can't see where it matters much."

"Nevertheless, the sheet seems painfully inadequate for a wedding ceremony," Reverend Dalton pointed out, feeling especially unnerved by the sight. It was bad enough the man's lower belly was exposed without one being made painfully aware of the cloth clinging to his private parts. He was just thankful his lordship kept his wits in the lady's presence and didn't thoroughly shock them all.

Amid his chuckles, Percy relented to the pleading look his wife gave him and took pity on the red-faced rector by spreading a light quilt over the bridegroom's lower half. Colton hardly noticed, for his gaze was focused entirely upon his bride-to-be.

"What of your parents?" he asked in some concern as his eyes searched the beautiful visage hovering close above his own. "Are they here yet?"

"They're with Aunt Tilly and your Uncle Alistair. Considering their delay in joining us, I can only imagine they've been told of my return to the town house but nothing more than that."

Colton's lips curved in a slow grin. "Won't they be surprised when they finally arrive?"

Growing suspicious of the glowing warmth in his eyes, Adriana leaned near. The strong odor of the intoxicant that Dr. Croft had given him prompted her to arch an elegant brow suspiciously. "Are you sure you're sober enough to know what you're doing, my love? I don't want you to complain later that you had been duped. Perhaps we should delay the nuptials until your head is clear of the influence of spirits and you're on your feet again."

"Absolutely not! I don't want to chance losing you," Colton declared and cast a quick glance toward Riordan. Although his rival was trying to put on a brave front, his dark eyes had lost their lively sparkle. Having been very close to losing Adriana himself, Colton fully understood the heartache the man was suffering and felt great empathy for him. "I may lose out altogether if I wait, and I don't want to take that chance, considering I have serious competition right here in this room. Let's proceed with the ceremony."

Believing she was doing what was right and beneficial for her heart and future happiness, Adriana stood beside the bed and repeated her vows with teary-eyed conviction. Her hand was clasped securely within the one belonging to the man to whom she had been promised years ago, and though Lord Sedgwick was not alive to realize the culmination of his heartfelt aspiration, it was a fact his foresight had been instrumentalin bringing about their union. Had it not been initiated by the elder years ago, Adriana knew she would've likely thrust the memory of Colton Wyndham far behind her and accepted Riordan's first petition. She had no doubt that she would've been happy with the man, but a greater love had reentered her life, and thereinafter she had been held captive by the yearning of her heart. Only by marrying Colton would she be able to utterly appease that longing.

When the good reverend asked for the ring some moments later, there was some confusion, for that small detail had been forgotten. Colton would not let the request go unfulfilled, however. For nigh on to twenty years, he had worn a small family ring on his little finger, and it was this he tugged off and, though it proved too large, slid over the slender digit of his bride as he repeated the reverend's words. "With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods, I thee endow…."

Tears were streaming down Samantha's face by the time the ceremony ended, and with an exaggerated sigh of relief, she threw her arms about her friend and joyfully wept with her. "At last, we are sisters through and through!"

Congratulations were warmly extended, and also a warning … from Dr. Croft.

"My lord, I urge you to consider your injury. Although I've liberally dabbed on a paste that has deadened the pain and will reduce the possibility of infection, I plead with you not to stress the wound overmuch. There's time later for you two to … ah … get acquainted."

Percy couldn't restrain his amusement, which spilled from him in hearty chuckles. "What are you asking him to do, Dr. Croft? Ignore his wife after he's finally permitted to take her into his bed? ‘Twould take a blessed saint to do that, especially when the lady is as beautiful as his bride. Frankly, if my brother-in-law doesn't mind hearing a fair sampling of my opinion of him, I think he misses sainthood by a wide margin."

"Percy, behave yourself for a change," Samantha bade, hercheeks glowing though she seemed unable to subdue a smile. "You're embarrassing me. No telling what you're doing to Adriana."

Percy chuckled as he drew his wife's hand through the bend of his arm. "I don't foresee her cheeks cooling for the next month, my love, so she might as well get used to the heat."

Adriana did indeed find it difficult to subdue a blush, but Colton grinned as he accepted Percy's comments as a fairly accurate assessment of his character. He had never claimed to be a saint, but considering how profoundly his bride now held his heart ensnared, he could believe there was more of a chance of that possibility coming into fruition in the future.

Reaching out, he took his bride's fingers within his clasp and, with his free hand, drew her head down to his for a long, gentle kiss. When they finally parted, Riordan was no longer in the room.

Colton bestowed a grin on the physician. The strong brew of which he had liberally partaken had done much to dull his pain, but not the desires that had inflamed his mind and body for the last few months. "I shall try not to stress myself unduly, Dr. Croft, but I won't promise anything more than that."

The physician flicked his brows briefly upward, sensing it would do him little good to reason with his lordship. But then, it was much as Percy had said. The pulchritude of the maid would have made it difficult for any man to ignore her. "Nevertheless, I ask you to be careful. I understand that you were a hero in our confrontation with France. However, consider yourself for the time being as delicate as a newborn. You're not to move around needlessly, so I suggest that you let your bride coddle you for several days. I'll leave a supply of powder and instructions with Hodges on how to mix it and treat the wound after it has been cleansed or should the pain become too intense. I recommend that it be applied four times a day to prevent the flesh from becoming tainted. Tomorrow I shall return to make my own assessment, and if you're worse off, I'll have to send your wife far from here to give you time to heal."

"I shall carefully adhere to your instructions, sir," Coltonavouched with a grin. "I'd certainly hate to be separated from her after I've finally taken her to wife."

At last, the couple were alone, but Adriana took the doctor's advice to heart and offered a solution. "I'll sleep downstairs so you won't be tempted to move about."

Colton shook his head resolutely as a slow, meaningful grin curved his lips. "Nay, madam, you'll sleep with me here in this bed, and if I can't find a way to make love to you without opening up my back, then at least I can hold you within my arms. And please don't bother undressing anywhere else or putting on a nightgown. If you do, I'll just have to come searching for you or be forced to remove the gown from you myself. Either way, I could injure myself, and of course you wouldn't want that. So I urge you, Wife, to consider the mayhem you'll cause if you fail to heed my entreaty. I've been waiting too long to find out whether the vision I saw in my old bathing chamber is actually real or merely a figment of my imagination. If the latter, then I should be praised for the degree of perfection I created in my mind. If genuine, then I want to hold that vision within my arms and to savor it thoroughly just as I've been yearning to do since I returned home."

"If that is your desire, my lord," Adriana murmured, her lips curving in a fetching smile. After their troubled separation, she was relieved that she could be with him.

Those warmly glowing eyes seemed to brand her as she lifted her hands behind her neck, but freeing the catch on the gold and sapphire choker caused her difficulty and sent her to her knees beside the bed. "I need your help unfastening my necklace."

When she sought to lower her cheek on the mattress to give him access to the tiny latch, Colton halted her with a finger beneath her chin. Lifting her face, his eyes probed the darkly shining orbs. "Leave the necklace for the moment, my pet, and kiss me instead. For too long now, I've been trying to avoid kissing you the way I've been yearning to do for fear of where it would lead us, but I needn't worry anymore about getting you with child. Simply put, madam, I'm nearly starved for thetaste of your sweet lips and all the other temptations I found myself facing whenever I was near you."

Adriana recalled his kiss on the night of Roger's attack and grew heady with anticipation. Only the one he had bestowed on her at the onset of their courtship had come close to equaling that singular exchange. Nothing since then, certainly not his gentlemanly pecks upon her brow or the swift brush of his lips upon hers, had even hinted of his desires.

Pushing herself to her feet, she leaned over him to deliver his request, but his right arm came around her hips as he silently urged her to lie alongside him. As she kicked off her slippers, he tossed aside the quilt that had been spread over his lower half and then patted the narrow space beside him. Willingly complying with his silent urging, she lifted the silken skirt to climb atop the mattress, but was forced to raise it far above her knees to accomplish that task. Had she issued an invitation for her husband to peruse the sights, he couldn't have been more eager to respond. Ensnaring his gaze, those long, sleek limbs sheathed in dark silk stockings enticingly secured above her knees by beribboned, black lace garters did much to shatter the notion that nothing would ever transcend the spiraling heights to which his admiration had soared when he had perused her naked form in the bathtub. Already he had stored within his memory diverse views of her; this one would be lodged in a niche among the most tempting.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that you're not supposed to stare?" Adriana teased, seeing where his gaze was fastened.

Grinning, Colton swept his hand along her thigh as she pressed alongside him and nestled her head within the crook of his arm. "I can't help it. The sights enslave me." He dragged his gaze away from her shapely legs long enough to give her a grin. "Truly, my love, I've never seen the equal of your perfection."

Smiling, Adriana ran her fingers through the fascinating feathering of dark hair covering his chest. "Believe me, sir, you're far from imperfect yourself."

At the insistent urging of his knee, she lifted a slender limb and laid it over his hip, allowing his thigh to encroach betweenhers. Her heel found a comfortable niche beneath his firmly muscled buttocks as her eyes delved with glowing warmth in his. His face slowly lowered to hers, and soon his lips and tongue took possession of hers, searching, demanding, consuming the delectable sweetness until his delicious assault left her feeling faint, and yet he would not relent. He drew her tongue into the warm cavern of his mouth where a flaming torch stroked over it with a slow, evocative rhythm that suggested something more erotic.

Drawing back with a trembling sigh, Adriana whispered, "The way you kiss leaves my head whirling in an eddy. Soon, I fear, my racing heart will take flight."

His hand slid over her breast, causing Adriana to catch her breath at the scintillating shock of pleasure he elicited as the tips of his lean fingers teasingly scrubbed across a nipple. She arched her back, thrusting the soft mound upward to reap the full measure of his attention. He bestowed it in a way that made her tremble as his thumb strummed with slow deliberation across the sensitive peak.

"You're beautiful, my love," Colton murmured huskily, leaving a trail of kisses down her throat, "but you have too many damned clothes on."

"You don't," she stated with a teasing grin as she drew back to savor the sights. Somewhat in awe of her handsome husband, she swept a hand over the steely bulges of his shoulders and traced slender fingers downward along the bandages crisscrossing his chest. With almost adoring reverence, she stroked the rippling thews, the taut ribs, the manly nipples, and began to brush kisses over the ridges and hollows. Colton watched her, amazed by her gentle passion.

Rising up on an elbow, Adriana stared into his eyes with all the ardent emotions she had kept tightly reined for some weeks. "I love you, Colton Wyndham. I always have … and always will. When I was a little girl, you were my idol. Now that you're my husband, I want to be made complete by you, to become part of you, to know you as I've never known you before."

The gray orbs shone with unmistakable ardor as Colton slipped a hand behind her head and pulled her face down to his. Their mouths were soon forged in another rapacious devourment of lips and tongues that blended the honeyed sweetness of her mouth with the brandy flavored taste of his.

Increasingly beset by his desires, Colton swept a hand downward to her thigh, above the place where a frilly garter secured her stocking, and slid it upward beneath her gown. It was not long before he drew back and stared at her in some astonishment. "Madam, you're not wearing any pantaloons."

Adriana blushed, wondering if he'd think her forward. "The skirt of my gown was so narrow, the pantaloons caused unsightly bulges, so I decided not to wear them. I never once imagined anyone would find out. Do you think me lewd, sir?"

Colton chuckled. "Banish the thought, madam. I approve of your decision. It certainly makes it easier for what I have in mind."

Coyly smiling into his shining gray eyes, she inquired, "What is that, my lord?"

"Need you ask?" He grinned into her shining eyes. "Undressing you is the first order of business, madam. After that, copulation, of course. The sooner we get to the latter, the sooner I'll be satisfied."

His fingers plucked at the placket running down her back as their kisses grew wilder and more frenzied. When the garment loosened, allowing him to drag it down in front, she quickly wiggled free of its silky confines and tossed it behind her into a nearby chair. When she faced her husband again, he was leisurely devouring the sights. The white satin chemise clung to the ripe orbs as if reluctant to be parted, while the delicate netting of the lace teased him with minute glimpses of the pale pink it swathed.

"Has anyone ever told you how utterly beautiful you are without your clothes, madam?"

A smile curved Adriana's soft lips as she pressed her brow against a lean cheek. "Only you, my lord."

"Believe me, my dear wife, since my return home, I have become your most ardent admirer."

Eager to view her beautiful body unfettered, Colton dragged the lace straps from her silken shoulders, encouraging her to slip her arms free. Soon he was perusing those luscious mounds as he tugged the garment down nigh her waist. She hastened its removal with a wiggle and slid it past her hips, drawing his eyes downward as she kicked free of it.

Adriana hardly knew the moment it slid to the floor, for her husband promptly lifted her up higher against him. His mouth was there waiting to devour the luscious orbs, quickening fires in the depth of her being. In a moment of pure bliss, Colton pressed his face between the creamy fullness and closed his eyes, savoring the silkiness of her skin and the delicate scent of roses. He was very, very thankful to be alive and to be married at last to this woman who had held his mind ensnared for the last several months.

"I'm glad you never offered me a demonstration of how pleasurable it is to be naked in your arms before now," Adriana whispered tremblingly. "Otherwise, I'd have likely yielded to your invitation to pleasure me long ago."

"The best is yet to come, my beauty, and now that you're my wife, ‘twill be even more pleasurable," he breathed as his hand slid down over her smooth, creamy belly. His lean fingers encroached into the moist, womanly softness and, ever so gently, plied their magic, snatching her breath and making her writhe with the ecstasy he evoked. As if with a will of their own, her thighs slowly parted, welcoming his deftly voyaging caresses. Waves of heightening bliss began to wash through her, thoroughly amazing Adriana at the sensations she was experiencing, yet as much as her cheeks flamed at the boldness of his caresses, she could not bring herself to turn aside and halt the fires that had begun flaring upward from her loins. Indeed, his evocative titillation set her whole being aflame.

"What you're doing feels too marvelous to be proper," she whispered shakily. "If you do not desist, I will likely dissolve."

"Perfectly suitable for a husband to search out all the secretplaces his wife has managed to withhold from him ere they wed, my sweet. Is it not to your liking, too?"

Her voice was faint, breathless. "Very much so."

The fact that she was garbed in nothing more than stockings seemed rather ridiculous considering all the other vulnerable womanly areas were fully in view. Yet when she sat up to loosen her garters, Colton's hand closed around her wrist, gently halting her. "Leave the stockings, my love," he rasped. "I want to feel you against me."

He lifted the sheet aside, inviting her to press close against his naked body, in so doing, causing Adriana to stare at his blatant maleness. Though it was a bold reminder of what she had seen in the bathing chamber, it seemed immensely threatening of a sudden. Lifting her gaze, she stared into those smiling gray orbs.

"I can't be around you without being effected, my love," Colton murmured huskily. "It's what I've been battling ever since the Autumn Ball. If not for the constant presence of our chaperones, I would have had my way with you every time we were alone in my coach … or anyplace else that proved private."

Adriana stared at him in astonishment. "But I thought you merely wanted Samantha and Percy along to provide proof of your gentlemanly comportment so you could break away cleanly after our courtship."

Colton softly hooted at such a notion. "It was difficult enough keeping my hands off you when others were around. Getting you entirely alone would have been certain disaster. I had visions of us standing before the rector after your belly had grown heavy with child."

Throwing back her head, Adriana relented to her overwhelming joy and laughter. "I thought you didn't want me!"

Colton took her hand and closed it around the throbbing hardness, drawing a shocked gasp from her. "Is this not proof of my desire for you, madam? It's what has beset me throughout the whole of courtship. Even now, I can hardly endure the pain after my lengthy abstinence. Indeed, I had begun to fear I'd become a damned eunuch, wanting you as I did, and not being able to appease that longing."

"But your wound. Won't you find it hard to …?"

"Banish the thought, my love. I could have one foot in the grave and still desire to make love to you."

"You should follow the doctor's advice," she cautioned as he pulled her full length against him.

"You could do all the work and let me reap the pleasure," he cajoled with a wayward grin as his eyes glowed into hers.

Smiling, she traced a finger over his lips. "You'll have to show me what to do."

His hand swept down to her thigh and dragged a stocking and garter free as she lifted a sleek limb to accommodate him. "I will, my love, but first, I must make you ready for me."

"Would you like me to take the other stocking off?"

"Um-hmm," he murmured, slipping his hands behind her nape and unfastening the choker. "And your earrings. I may want to chew on your ears a bit, considering it has been a craving of mine for the last several months."

Giggling, Adriana unfastened the costly jewelry from her earlobes as his hand once again claimed a ripe, creamy breast. "You have the strangest quirks, Colton Wyndham."

"You'll have a lifetime to become familiar with them, Wife, but I would be about more serious pleasures now."

"Such as?" She twisted away slightly to lift her right leg into the air. Stripping off the last silk stocking, she sent it fluttering to the floor beside the other.

"Crossing the last bridge before we become one, my love."

Adriana lay in quiescent stillness, indulging in every blissful thrill, every delectable delight he stirred within her as he worked his magic upon her womanly softness, but when his open mouth claimed her breasts once again and began to suckle her, she felt almost consumed by the pleasure he wrought. Driven by the intensifying pleasure, she reached out and laid claim upon the manly hardness, drawing a sharp gasp from him as the hot blood surged through him.

"Please, Colton … I can bear no more. Whatever you're waiting for, wait no longer, I beg you."

"I needn't, my love. You're now ready for me," he whispered. The dewy moistness readily affirmed that she was eager for what was coming.

Lying back upon the pillows, he met her questioning gaze as she rose up to peer down into his face. He smiled with a devilish gleam in his eyes. "I hear you ride Ulysses without a saddle at times, my dear. I have a horn but no saddle. Are you brave enough to try? ‘Twill be painful at first."

"You've made it impossible for me to refuse. I've never felt so … so … wanton before."

"Making love is not wantonness when it's between a couple who has been bound in marriage, love. ‘Tis an honest desire, and right now, I want you more than anything in the world."

Rising to her knees, she moved astride him as their gazes melded. Her voice was barely a sigh as she softly whispered, "With my body, I thee worship."

His hungering eyes swept over her alluring form in one long, lingering caress as he pressed himself into the narrow niche, evoking a shiver from her as she felt his heat. With one swift, descending movement, she took him into her, snatching gasps from both of them. Nearly consumed by her womanly warmth, Colton closed his eyes, luxuriating in the joy of being one with her. He sought to bide his time to let the shock of his intrusion ease, but as she had ridden Ulysses, so his young wife rode him until he could not hold back. Waves of rapturous bliss washed over them again and again until they were being swept toward the pinnacle of ecstasy. Myriad bubbles, as finite as the air they breathed, seemed to course over, around, and through their bodies as the heightening swells surged through them, sweeping them aloft with ever-strengthening billows until they were soaring on towering waves that carried them to the outer regions of the universe, seemingly among the very stars.

Much later, Adriana was just dozing off, nestled spoon-fashion within the protective curve of her husband's body, when he whispered near her ear, "Still sore, madam?"

She giggled, wiggling back until she came up in contact with the manly firmness pressing beneath her buttocks. "Do you have a reason for asking?"

He nibbled at a dainty ear as his fingers brushed over a pliant peak. "Aye, I'm a lecher in want of more of the same, and you are the only morsel I crave."

"That's good enough reason for me," Adriana replied with smiling eagerness. Turning to face him, she snuggled alongside her naked husband as her fingers swept over his broad chest and slid lower still, causing him to catch his breath. Finding him ready for her, she rose above him, and their fevered kisses led them on and on and on …

According to the delicate chimes of the clock in the bedchamber in which the couple had been ensconced, it was well past the hour of midnight when they were both abruptly awakened. A lamp was thrust close in front of their faces, and a loud raging roar rang out, snatching startled gasps from the two who sprang upright in unison from the mattress where they had been nestled closely together. A sharp wince of pain contorted Colton's features as he was suddenly reminded of his painful wound, and though immediately repentant of his hasty movement, he held up a hand to shade his eyes from the intrusive glare. Beyond it, he saw a raging snarl contorting Gyles Sutton's face. In all his life, he couldn't remember ever seeing the man so furious.

"I invited you to Bath to present your case to my daughter, not to fornicate with her!" the elder bellowed in thundering tones. "Now get up out of that bed, you debaucher of babes, and fight like a man!"

As he sought to lay hold upon the younger man, Adriana threw up a hand to ward off her parent. "Papa, no! It's all right!"

Gyles's eyes flared anew as he gaped down at his daughter. Glancing down in the direction he stared, Adriana gasped and hastily snatched for the sheet to cover her naked breasts, but it was far too late. Her father's face took on a ruddy hue that clearly attested to his fury.

Christina groaned from the doorway where she had been halted in shock. Her distressed moan evidenced her own horror after noticing the dark, telltale rosy color imbuing those delicate peaks. Of all her daughters, she had never dreamt she would ever find her youngest in bed with a despicable rake. Indeed, there had even been times when she had doubted Adriana would ever choose a husband to wed.

Gyles's roar of rage threatened to bring down the ceiling on their heads. Had the plaster not been firmly attached, it might've made him immediately repentant of his unrestrained wrath. He shook a clenched fist at Colton who, upon seeing the fire flashing in the dark eyes of the elder, had cause to wonder if he'd have to brace himself against the older man's attack. "So, this is how you repay me for trying to help you! You libertine! You sneak thief! You stole my daughter's virtue behind my back. I have a good mind to cut you here and now!"

"Papa, we're married!" Adriana blurted.

"What?!" Gyles staggered back in stunned surprise.

"We were married tonight by Sir Guy's father. We had a special license that His Grace, the archbishop, signed!"

Gyles stared at her with mouth agape. "But … but why couldn't you wait … to be married … in a church?"

"Colton's coach was attacked near Randwulf Manor, and he was shot in the back. We wanted to be with one another, and marriage was the only way we could be together without worrying about what was proper, what was not. Samantha, Percy, Lord Harcourt, and Dr. Croft were here as witnesses. ‘Tis all quite proper, I assure you, Papa."

Gyles stumbled back several more steps, wiping a hand down his face, as if still unable to believe the legality of their union. "You should've been married in a church, with your whole family there as witnesses."

"We're no less married now than we would've been in achurch, Papa. Reverend Dalton had us sign all the documents. He can attest to the fact that they are valid."

" 'Twas my fault," Colton volunteered, trying to placate the man, knowing he'd probably have been just as enraged under the circumstances. "I was afraid of losing your daughter, and I didn't want to take that chance. I was the one who pressured her into marrying me tonight."

"Actually, Sir Guy arranged it," Adriana explained, trying to spare him some of her father's resentment. She looked at her sire pleadingly. "But if you would be willing to consider my feelings, Papa, I didn't want to wait any more than Colton did. I love him, and I want to be with him for the rest of my life."

Gyles cleared his throat and glanced back at his wife who was smiling in relief. "What do you make of this, my dear?"

"I think they're legally married, dearest, and we'll have no more to say about it … except …"—she smiled at the couple, her blue eyes radiant as she concluded—"good night."

Gyles blustered a bit, remembering the names he had called his new son-in-law. "Yes, well, that seems the only thing we can say, now that we've awakened the whole house."

Adriana couldn't resist an inquiry. "Where were you, Papa? We sent Sir Guy to tell you that we were returning here to have Colton's wound tended. Why didn't you come then?"

Gyles harrumphed. "All I heard was that you had returned here with Samantha and Percy and, and, well, I just assumed you couldn't bear being at the Assembly Room anymore, what with Roger there and all. Then Alistair sprained his … ah … ankle … probably trying to keep up with your aunt, and we had to find a doctor to make sure it wasn't broken. Tilly's physician wasn't home, and we had to go all over Bath searching for one she considered as worthy as Dr. Croft." He stroked his chin reflectively as one dark brow arched suspiciously. "With what has taken place here tonight, it makes me wonder if Alistair's injury was merely something he just feigned after talking to Sir Guy. The two of them seemed equally intent upon whatever they were discussing … or else conniving. ‘Twas no good, I trow, at least from Alistair's end of it."

"Come along, dear," Christina urged sweetly. "You'll be imagining all sorts of things about poor Alistair if we stay here much longer. His ankle did seem bruised, which leaves me seriously questioning the possibility that he'd injure himself merely to keep us from delaying his nephew's marriage to our daughter. Now let Adriana and Colton get some sleep. Poor dears, you probably frightened them nigh out of their wits."

The giggles that flowed from the couple's bedchamber a moment later made Gyles pause after closing the door behind him. "They must not have been too frightened."

Christina smiled as she slipped an arm through his. "Just remember how impetuous you were when we were young, dear. If you'll recall, I had to slap your fingers more than once to make you cool your heels before our wedding."

His hand strayed downward possessively and claimed her backside. "You still have the most fetching derriere I've ever seen, madam."

She cast a glance awry to find a familiar leering grin upon his handsome lips. Tossing her head with a saucy laugh, she warned, "Humph, it had better be the only one you've ever seen, sir, or I will see you cut. There are some things I'm averse to sharing, and one of them is you."

The morning sun filtered through the Austrian lace curtains, softly illumining the bedchamber where the newly married couple was nestled together in the bed. It was just intrusive enough to drag Colton up from the depths of a heavy slumber. Except for the pain presently reminding him of the wound in his back, he felt far more rested and relaxed than he had in previous months, at least since he had discovered a dark-haired nymph slumbering in his bath. In spite of his injury, he seemed very much invigorated by their activity during the night. Never had he imagined a bride could be so eager to accommodate her groom, but she had proven quite acceptable to the idea that she was his and he was hers.

Grinning to himself, Colton turned his head slightly on the pillow as he ran his fingers through his hair. The dark, thickstrands were wildly tossed, so much so that he could just imagine his untidy appearance. Considering the past hours and what they had entailed, he was immensely thankful to be alive and … to be finally married.

His bride had been wonderfully enticing and responsive to his lustful bent. Indeed, in all his years as a bachelor he had never dreamt that when he finally wed, his bride would be mounting him. He could only marvel at her willingness to offer her virginity upon the fleshly horn of passion so they could complete their union, and yet, she had done just that in her sacrificial desire to be one with him. Not so long ago, he had thought he couldn't love her any more than he already did, but what he was feeling toward her now seemed to affirm unequivocally that he did indeed cherish her far beyond the measure that he had once considered himself capable of experiencing.

Smoothing a dark, luxurious strand out of his way, he pressed a gentle kiss upon her brow as his hand settled around a lusciously soft breast. Plying a thumb slowly over a pliant nipple, he whispered, "Time to wake up, sleepyhead."

Shaking her head to convey her displeasure with that idea, Adriana bent a knee and rested it upon his thigh as she burrowed closer against him. Sleepily she mumbled, "Can't we stay here forever?"

"I need a bath, and you'll have to give it to me," he persisted with a chuckle. "Unless, of course, you want me disobeying the doctor's orders."

"I've never given a man a bath before," she mumbled beneath the borders of the covers. "I wouldn't know where to begin…."

"Where would you like to begin?" he asked warmly, nibbling at a dainty earlobe.

Adriana's eyes popped open as the answer came readily to mind, but she dared not give him an answer, for fear he'd think her a wanton.

Colton peered down at her. "I could make a suggestion if you're willing to consider it."

Feeling his warm perusal, Adriana struggled not to smile. "And where is that, sir?"

His hand captured hers and pulled it forward before settling it over the hardened shaft. "It needs serious attention."

"Before or after your bath?"

"Beforewould be even better. I'm anxious to taste you again."

"You're insatiable," she accused with a giggle, evidencing her own eagerness to comply as her fingers tightened beneath his.

"Aye, but only for you, madam," he breathed near her ear before his lips moved on to caress her cheek. His hand freed hers, allowing it to play at will while his own slid behind her hip. "Has anyone ever told you what a winsome derriere you have, madam?"

"No, never."

"I've always had a fetish for breasts myself, but, my dear, you certainly have the shapeliest backside a lonely man would dare dream of in a far-off camp. I really do enjoy snuggling up to it. It warms me to the core."

"You do seem to enjoy cuddling, sir."

Arching a brow, he peered down his nose at her. "Are you averse to cuddling, my dear?"

Adriana wiggled closer until her breasts and loins were cleaving to him. "Does that appease your curiosity, my lord?"

"It may answer my question, but it also bestirs my cravings for more of what you have to give. But then, perhaps that was your intent. You do seem to enjoy the delights to be found in a marriage bed." He nuzzled her ear as his hand moved leisurely down the front of her. "Of course, there's nothing quite as sweet as this little haven here to bestir a man's lust."

Her breath caught in ecstasy as he intruded into her softness. She was somewhat amazed at the delicious sensations he could evoke within her when, only a moment ago, all she had wanted to do was sleep.

Sometime later, a perfumed bath was prepared in a small copper tub in the bedchamber. Beneath the admiring gaze ofher husband, Adriana set about bathing herself. Never in her life could she remember ever wanting anyone present during her baths. Maud had always prepared everything for her, and then had busied herself doing other things until she had concluded her perfumed ritual. Soon after stripping away the robe she briefly donned to allow servants to prepare her bath, she had realized the pleasure that could be derived by having a man in attendance. Her husband had been keenly observant of everything she did well before she had lowered herself into the warm, fragrant water. His eyes fed upon every detail of her womanly form as she soaped private areas, and in some embarrassment, she had urged him to close his eyes, to which he had responded with a slow shake of his head and a lecherous grin.

"Never in a million years, my beauty. I want to know everything about you, in particular those places you're wont to keep secret. Nothing is hidden or forbidden between a married couple; everything is openly viewed and shared. All I have is yours; whatever is yours is mine. ‘Tis a fair pact when two are joined as one."

On those terms, Adriana was more than willing to comply. Beneath his careful scrutiny, she had pushed herself to her feet and, from several pitchers of warm water, had rinsed away the soapy residue from her body. After stepping out onto a large cotton rug that the servants had spread beneath the tub, she had toweled herself dry, rubbed scented lotions over her skin, and then donned pantaloons, stockings, and chemise, the bodice of which she had left unbuttoned between her breasts in compliance with the wishes of her handsome spouse, in so doing allowing him a generous view of the rounded orbs and the deep valley between. Over this, she had tied a light linen wrapper snugly about her waist and then pulled the bodice aside her breasts, willingly fulfilling her husband's behest.

Once the copper tub had been removed, preparations for a basin bath were then made. Along with its initial appearance came fresh towels, linens, a pail of comfortably hot water, and a second basin. Immediately Adriana set about preparing not only her husband for his bath, but also the bed itself. Foldingdown the bedcovers to the far end of the four-poster, she bade him to roll first to one side, to allow her to place a thrice-folded older sheet underneath him, and then to the other, enabling her to finish spreading it beneath him, precluding the possibility of the feather mattress getting wet. Next she gathered linens with which to wash and dry him, but when she offered to borrow a nightshirt for him from her father, Colton smiled and shook his head.

"I haven't worn one since I was a boy, madam. I don't intend to start now. As for what you may enjoy wearing to bed, I prefer to feel you naked against me, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night. Besides, when you don't have anything on, it's easier to make love to you."

Her eyes glowed into his as she brushed a hand admiringly over his chest. "I'm beginning to think we're going to be spending a lot of time together in bed."

Arching a brow, he gave her a lecherous grin. "You should be forewarned, madam, I'm not going to limit myself to making love to you in a bed. Anywhere that's convenient and private will serve my purposes just as well."

"Then perhaps I should rephrase that with the prediction that we'll be spending a lot of time making love."

"Definitely a more truthful prediction, my sweet."

Adriana soon realized that bathing her handsome husband was an utterly satisfying experience for a new wife, especially since he seemed to take advantage of her proximity by touching her in ways that evoked her gasps. He certainly wasn't timid about what he displayed, either, but she soon found a cure for that by spreading a linen towel over his loins.

"Do you really think that's going to save you, madam? Or are you thinking it will perhaps vanish?"

"I'm not as apt to be distracted this way. You can hardly expect a new bride to see anything else when that's being flaunted in full view. In fact, I'm beginning to suspect you have no modesty, sir."

"Men don't worry about modesty as much as women do, my dear. When a watering hole is discovered in a desert, the only quest men have after quenching their thirst is bathing away the grime."

Through her undergarments she could feel his fingers encroaching between her buttocks and wiggled her hips in an effort to shake them off. "If you don't behave yourself, sir, we could be here until sunset tonight."

"You still have to wash my lower half," he needled with a grin.

"I'll wash your feet and legs first," she announced, directing her attention toward that very thing.

"Otherwise, you're afraid we won't get finished with the bath?" Offering the conjecture, he canted his head in an effort to peruse her flushed cheeks from a better angle.

"Something like that," Adriana replied, busily bathing and drying his feet, ankles, and calves. It occurred to her as she did so that there wasn't any part of her husband's body that was less than admirable. His feet were long and bony, his shins razor sharp beneath a meager covering of hair, his thighs lean and tautly muscled. As she progressed upward, she noticed the previously dark red and purplish area that had once surrounded his old wound had faded to a paler hue. Over time she could imagine the scar itself would be the only thing visible, but even that would eventually be less noticeable. "Your old wound definitely looks better now than it did when you first came home. Does it bother you anymore?"

"Only a twinge or two now and then, but nothing really painful."

There remained no other section to wash but his loins, and she tried her best not to blush as she complied with his instructions, which he definitely seemed to enjoy giving. When she chanced a glance at his face, she found him watching her with eyes glowing above a smile.

"You needn't feel embarrassed," he said. "That part of me isas much yours as anything else I have, perhaps even more so. In a few months, my nudity will seem commonplace to you."

"I doubt anything about you will ever seem commonplace to me," she argued in all truth. "I think you're the most beautiful man I've ever met or, for that matter, ever seen."

"Beautiful, my dear?" His brow jutted upward as he cocked a brow in wonder. " ‘Tis a very curious word to use for a man."

"Nevertheless, you're beautiful to me. You always have been."

His hand squeezed her backside affectionately. "Come, my sweet, give me another kiss. I'm hungering for you again."

Casting a meaningful glance toward his loins, she laughed. "Aye, I noticed."

As if declaring his bath complete, she dropped the linen towel in a heap over his privates and, with a wide smile, leaned over him. Through her clothing, she could feel his fingers intruding again in the cleft between her buttocks. From very close range, her dancing eyes searched his. "You must have been a very naughty boy when you were growing up," she accused. "There's still evidence of your wayward bent even today. Or is it that you're just trying to feed a fetish for the hind parts of a woman?"

He chuckled. "As your husband, I enjoy searching out all your hidden places, madam. I've never felt so complete in all my life as I do right now. I think I like being married to you."

Grinning into his sparkling eyes, she wiggled her hips in an effort to dislodge his fingers as he sought to resume his teasing search. "That's good, sir, because I'm going to be your wife for a very, very long time."

Philana Wyndham had been escorted by a maidservant to the door of the upper chambers wherein her son had been ensconced. According to the young servant, Lord and Lady Standish had departed the house with his mistress an hour earlier with intentions of visiting Lord Alistair at his hotel room to check on how he was faring with his injured ankle. The young miss informed the elder that the only one who had remained behind was Lady Adriana, who was presently with the injured man.

The fact that Adriana was with her son assured Philana that it was safe to enter the designated bedchamber without knocking. After all, the girl had hardly been speaking to her son before his most recent wounding. However, upon swinging wide the door, she promptly decided that she should've been more discreet, for her jaw plummeted forthwith when she saw her son lying on the bed, virtually naked except for a rumpled cloth elevated rather suggestively over his privates, his hand firmly clasping Adriana's backside, and the girl half lying across the bed toward him. It certainly didn't help Philana's composure when she realized that their mouths were locked in a deep, penetrating kiss. The shocking scene nearly caused her to collapse right then and there.

"My goodness, I should've knocked!" she gasped, clasping a trembling hand to her throat as she sought to survive the suffocating heat of a blush. "I just didn't expect …"

Having straightened much like a stiffly sprung spring, Adriana spun about to face the intruder. The stunned expression on Philana's face clearly conveyed the fact that Adriana was the last person on earth she'd have thought capable of such overt wantonness. Abruptly the older woman's gaze dropped to the lace-edged chemise and its display of rounded bosom and liberal glimpses of rosy nipples, prompting Adriana to hurriedly pull her dressing gown together in painful embarrassment.

"I've come at a bad time, ‘twould seem," Philana struggled to choke out, averting her gaze from the pair as Adriana began to pull up the sheets and quilts to cover Colton's lower half. "When Bentley announced last night that my son had been seriously injured, I hastened to come this morning to see how he was faring. I never expected this … I'm sorry, I certainly didn't mean to intrude. I shall leave…."

"Don't, Mother," Colton bade gently. "What you see before you is perfectly acceptable, believe me."

Philana's hackles rose at such a foolish declaration, and she glared back at her son. "Since when did it become perfectly acceptable for a rapscallion like yourself to sully a young woman whom I had previously deemed a lady? Have you no regard for honor, my son?"

Colton's lips curved upward in a cajoling smile. "I guess it became acceptable the moment I married her."

"Married?" Philana clasped a trembling hand to her bosom. Could it be true? Had they really gotten married? Or was this some sort of faraway intention they were merely contemplating? "You don't mean that Adriana actually exchanged wedding vows with you, do you? After all that has happened?"

"I did last night, Mama Philana," Adriana murmured with a gentle, somewhat apologetic smile. "Colton wouldn't have his wound tended unless I agreed to marry him."

"Oh, I see." Philana arched a delicate brow and nodded knowingly. "He always did seem a bit too manipulative with the young ladies. His father didn't know what to do with him, and as for me, I'm totally at a loss." She lifted a smile to Adriana. "Perhaps you'll be better at handling him than I ever was, my dear, but in any case, I'm delighted to have another daughter in the family, especially one I've admired all these many years. Sedgwick would be so very proud of this match. He always believed in it, that it would be good for you both. Now you'll have a chance to find out for yourselves whether his prediction has merit."

She held her arms out in invitation to the young woman, and eagerly Adriana accepted, hurrying forward and encircling the elder with her own as they came together. Tears of joy lit Philana's eyes when she finally stood back and cupped her daughter-in-law's beautiful face lovingly between her hands.

"Thank you, dear child, for forgiving my son and for making me so very happy today. Although Bentley assured me Colton would live, I had to find out for myself that he was being taken care of. Now I can rest assured that he's in good hands, and that this is the beginning of a dynasty that I feared would be dying out. May God bless you both with many, many children."