Chapter 30

CHAPTER30

As it turned out, the more intimate side of marriage happened to be rather like swimming. Once Nancy had dipped her toe in the water, she found herself wanting to go deeper. It scared her, as the lake had, but anticipation and possibility outweighed the fear.

So, after leaving Marina to her embroidery and hot cocoa in the library, claiming she was retiring after a long day of swimming, Nancy had decided to sneak up to Adam’s bedchamber to finish what they had begun earlier. But he had not been in his chambers, and the prospect of searching the entirety of Stapleton Court had seemed much too daunting.

Fortunately, Mrs. Holloway had come to the rescue. “Are you lost, dearie?” she had asked. “Your bedchamber is up the western staircase. Should I escort you?”

Nancy had informed her that she was looking for Adam, and the housekeeper’s entire demeanor had shifted to one of barely concealed excitement.

“He’s up in his study, dearie. Just this staircase here.” The housekeeper had gestured to the doorway up ahead, which led to the first of four spiraling staircases. Then, she had added, with a knowing smile, “Shall I send a tray up for the pair of you? Some refreshments?”

Nancy had hurried away with a “Thank you, that will not be necessary.”But as she had headed for Adam’s study, she had paused to wonder how much the housekeeper knew.

Had Mrs. Holloway somehow seen them in the pagoda, or was it just the knowledge of a servant who had been in a household for so long that nothing escaped her?

But nothing could have prepared Nancy for Adam’s welcome as she slipped inside the square turret.

“I must know,” she said now, crossing her arms. “Who poisoned your father’s henchmen?”

Adam smiled, rising from the velvet chaise longue. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Whom would you be saying such a thing to?”

He chuckled, making his way toward her. “It is a long tale, and one I shall tell you tomorrow over breakfast.” He brought his hand to her cheek, stroking his thumb across the still-flushed skin. “But, what brings you here at such an hour? I assumed you would be gossiping with Marina, revealing all of the details of your swimming lesson.”

“I have said nothing,” Nancy protested, sinking into his embrace. “And I came here to see you. I have decided that I would like another lesson.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you have, haven’t you? Well, I apologize, but it is much too cold outside for us to swim in the lake. You really might get sick.”

“You know that is not what I mean,” Nancy said coyly.

She was losing her nerve a little bit, uncertain of how to proceed. How did a woman tell a man that she was ready to discover everything? How did a wife tell her husband that she no longer wished to remain a virgin and that even if he could not promise her love, he was the only man she trusted to make love to her?

He laughed softly. “I know, but… I do not think another lesson is wise.”

“Why not?”

His brow furrowed, his thumb stilling in its gentle caress. Yet, as the seconds passed, he did not answer her. And with each tick of the clock on the mantelpiece, her embarrassment bloomed.

Had she misjudged his affections so entirely? Did what they had done in the pagoda mean nothing to him? Perhaps it did not. Perhaps, to him, it was nothing more special than sneezing.

“You are regretting what occurred by the lake,” she said as she shook her head. “I am so foolish. You told me the parameters of our marriage. You warned me that—”

“Cease, please,” Adam urged, smiling. “Am I not permitted a moment to think?”

Nancy shrugged. “If you are thinking of how to rebuff me gently, then no. Be direct, as you have always been.”

“Nancy, my dearest Nancy, do you have any notion of how much you stir me, move me, affect me with everything you do and everything you are? Do you have any notion of what you mean to me?” he asked, his eyes gleaming with something akin to amusement. “I am not thinking of ways to rebuff you. I am thinking of reasons not to proceed.”

“No, my dear Adam, I have no notion of what I mean to you,” Nancy wanted to say, for she did not dare to speculate.

She swallowed thickly. “Is that not the same thing?”

“No, it is not.”

“And… what reasons have you conjured?”

He skimmed his tongue across his lower lip. “Thus far?” He bent his head, whispering so close to her mouth that it was almost a kiss, “None.”

His lips pressed against hers, his arms wrapping tightly around her until they were flush against one another. Indeed, it took her a moment to realize he was not sending her away, but as she understood, her lips rushed to catch up, crushing against his with a hunger that frightened and exhilarated her in equal measure.

Slowly, he walked her backward to the chaise longue, his lips never leaving hers. She went with him, allowing him to take the lead, for she was entering unknown territory. But if it was anything like their moment in the pagoda, she knew it was not something to be afraid of.

As Adam’s legs bumped into the edge of the chaise, he twirled Nancy around like they were back in the ballroom, dancing a waltz that would assuredly shock the gossipmongers of high society. They continued the dance, moving around the room in a whirl of kisses and caresses and clothes being loosened and unfastened, until the pooled garments became an additional challenge to the dance, the pair sweeping left and right to avoid tripping.

Soon enough, Nancy stood almost naked before him, wearing nothing but her stays and a shy smile. Meanwhile, Adam had managed to keep his trousers on, considering he really might have toppled over if he had tried to remove them while dancing.

“That is hardly fair.” Nancy pouted as they twirled back to the chaise longue.

He chuckled. “Surely, you do not expect me to do everything?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She feigned outrage, while her fingertips reached for the fastenings of his trousers. At the same time, he reached behind her, making swift work of the ties that held her stays together.

There was unexpected laughter as Nancy helped Adam ease the trousers down his powerful thighs, for she had assumed that making love was a very serious affair. Yet, the laughter comforted her, raising her confidence as she saw, for the first time, what it was she was contending with. Adam’s manhood, springing free—a majestic and somewhat daunting sight.

But he barely gave her a chance to observe his hard length as he hoisted her up into his arms, his eyelashes fluttering as her legs locked around his waist. Kissing her neck, he laid her down on the chaise longue, sliding out of the vise of her thighs as he followed a remembered path downward.

“Exquisite,” he purred, drawing her nipple into his mouth and sucking until she bucked against him, her hands clawing at the blankets draped over the chaise.

Now that she partially knew what to expect, her senses heightened with anticipation. Her eyes closed as she felt each kiss he was tracing on her skin, moving toward that sweet spot between her thighs that had brewed a storm within her the last time. And when his tongue finally tasted her, the explosion was instant and earth-shattering.

“Oh, my darling,” she moaned. “Yes, my love!”

She thought she felt him stop for half a second and realized what she had said. She had been too bold, and he was surely going to stop and tell her he could not continue. But just as her worries were about to peak, his tongue rolled against her, stirring up that bottled lightning that she had not stopped thinking about ever since their tryst in the pagoda.

Satisfied that she had not said something unwelcome, she writhed on the chaise at every gifted stroke of his tongue, her bliss rising to a feverish summit when he slowly pushed his fingers inside her.

Soon enough, she felt that strange and marvelous sensation, like the cusp of a sneeze. It branched through her body, following the roots of her veins, tingling and tickling and pulsating until she feared she might burst into flames, for the heat within her was too intense and growing hotter by the second.

The pleasure hit her like jumping into cold water, her breath lodging in her throat as her back arched off the chaise longue, her mind no longer in control of her quivering legs and shuddering body.

“My love!” she cried out, clawing at the velvet blankets. “Oh, my love!”

If she had thought her pleasure had reached its limit in the pagoda, she realized she had been mistaken. He had transported her to a new realm of bliss, her mind foggy with lust, her entire being both drained and revived by the rush of absolute euphoria.

As the trembling ebbed, her body thrumming with the magic of his talented tongue, he kissed the inside of her thighs and set her legs shaking once more. She gripped the blanket beneath her in an attempt to anchor herself back in reality, but there was no such thing—the turret had become paradise itself, belonging to only the two of them.

“Are you still uncertain of how you stir me?” Adam asked slyly, trailing kisses up her thigh and over her hipbone.

He paused at the softness of her stomach, running his palm across the smooth skin as if committing it to memory. He dipped his head, pressing a firm kiss to the spot below her navel, before his return journey began, his kisses following a well-detailed path up to her breasts. There, he paused again, sliding his hand over one bare breast as his mouth closed around the other, drawing her nipple into that wet warmth. As he sucked, he lightly pinched her other nipple, jolting her body into a gasping spasm of renewed need.

“I am,” Nancy lied, stroking her fingertips through his hair as he kissed his way back to her mouth, taking the long road up the curve of her throat and along her jaw.

Adam laughed softly against her mouth as he kissed her. “Well then, we shall have to remedy that.” He pulled back slightly, gazing down into her eyes in earnest. “But you must be certain that this is what you want.”

“I want it,” Nancy murmured, slipping her arms around his waist, holding him close.

All the while, she was aware of his manhood pressing against her, and though she knew what purpose it served, she did not know how something so large could possibly fit inside her. Yet, that was her only fear, and she could bear the burden of that if there was a world of bliss awaiting her.

“If there is any pain, you must tell me,” Adam said, quite serious for a moment. “We can halt whenever you wish it. All you have to do is say it.”

She nodded, refusing to allow her nerves to get the better of her. “I am aware that there will be some discomfort, but I am not afraid. This is what I desire.”

“Very well,” he replied, smiling.

Adam kissed her slowly, sensually, taking his time to build her rush of bliss once more, his lips curving into a smile with every gasp he coaxed from her lips and every moan that tumbled from her throat.

As he kissed her, lavishing his affections upon her neck, her throat, her breasts, her collarbone, her shoulders, her arms, and even her wrists, she began to wonder if he was toying with her, making her desire unbearable in its power.

He ran his hand down the length of her body, from the hollow at the base of her throat to the juncture of her thighs, his fingertips lightly brushing her swollen bud to spark the furnace of her passions once more. As he rubbed slow, teasing circles, his teeth grazed the soft flesh of her earlobe, his breath whispering in her ear.

The response was immediate, her stomach tightening at the sound of hisdesire.

For a brief moment, his touch drew away from her hidden pearl, leaving her desperate for more. But more arrived in the sudden pressure of his manhood resting against her entrance.

“My darling,” Adam rasped. “Are you certain?”

Nancy nodded, breathless, her burning lungs robbing her of the ability to speak.

The pressure built, his manhood pushing forward until, with a cry, her walls opened for him. He stilled, gazing down at her. But as his mouth opened, likely intending to ask if she was all right, she nodded vigorously and grabbed his muscular backside, urging him to continue.

A mischievous smile turned up the corners of his lips as he eased himself inside her, slow enough that she could feel every inch of him.

Holding his gaze, digging her fingernails into the muscles of his buttocks, Nancy endured the slight sting that came with the unfamiliar, life-altering sensation. And as he paused once more, allowing her to grow accustomed to the feeling, she smiled in satisfaction as the sting ebbed away to nothing but an ache that got lost in the throb and pulse of her pleasure.

So, this is what I could not imagine.

She smoothed her palms up the lines and contours of his back, hooking her hands over his shoulders. Indeed, it was beyond anythingshe could have imagined, even with the wisdom that her sister had imparted.

“Are you well?” Adam asked, his breath ragged.

Nancy nodded. “Yes, my love.”

“I am pleased to hear it,” he purred. “More pleased than you know.”

His moan vibrated against her chest as he slowly drew back his hips, the sound the most potent aphrodisiac she had yet encountered. Somehow, the music of his pleasure fueled her own, the blood rushing hot through her veins as she pulled his face to hers, kissing him fiercely.

As Adam rocked his hips forward, sinking back into her depths, she gasped against his cheek, his lips pressing hungry kisses to her throat. It was as if she were no longer earthbound but floating up into a particular sort of heaven, where two people could move as one, joined beyond the physical.

Her gasps were his gasps, her moans were his moans, her sparks of bliss were his, and his thrusts were hers, her hips moving with an ancient guidance, meeting his every slow stroke.

“Mercy,” he panted, sliding his arms beneath her. “Mercy, you are… everything.”

It was as close to “I am falling in love with you” as Nancy could hope for, her ecstasy charged by those words. She clung to him, wrapping her legs around him, tugging gently at his hair, clawing at his back as he thrust inside her.

“Oh, my love,” she whimpered, peppering his skin with her kisses.

Each rock of his hips was a fresh bliss, rubbing a delicious friction against her swollen bud, but he did not seem content to let his hips do all the work, as his hand slid between them.

The moment his fingertips touched her hidden pearl, she lost all sense and reason, her mind swimming in the most exquisite delirium. Indeed, she had not realized that she could feel that gathering storm more than once in one encounter, but this was an education, after all.

Adam strummed her bud, the ebb and flow of his hips never ceasing, his lips never abandoning their duties to her flesh—a truly gifted juggler of untold, unexplored pleasures. As such, it was not long before the rising fever of her ecstasy began to soar toward its peak.

Adam must have heard the change in her breaths and sounds of delight, for he began to quicken his pace, his manhood plunging deeper with wilder abandon. Meanwhile, her hands smoothed down the muscles of his back until they found his firm backside. She gave his buttocks a mischievous squeeze and urged him deeper still, each thrust pushing her toward the edge of bliss.

“Oh…” Her breath caught as ecstasy cascaded over that brink of pleasure, pummeling through her in a torrent that seized every muscle, her fingernails sinking into his flesh as she bucked against him. “Oh, my love… my love!”

She screamed her bliss as the wave roared through her, thrumming with an intensity greater than ever before.

A few moments later, his own cries joined hers.

“My… love. My sweet… sweet wife. Oh… mercy.”

Nancy held Adam tight as they rode their tides of euphoria, his hips thrusting twice more before he stilled inside her. Her body shuddered and shivered against him, her muscles pulsing as the sensation began to slow, transforming into pockets of still-warm embers that made her want to sleep and dance and make merry, all at once.

“You are… everything,” Adam murmured, lowering the rest of his weight onto her.

She relished the feeling, hugging him. “No, you are everything.”

“You are too modest.” He chuckled and nuzzled her neck, pressing a kiss to her flushed skin. “But are you hurt?” He raised his head to look at her. “Are you in pain?”

She shook her head. “None, my love.”

“My love…” He whispered the words as if they were foreign to his ears and wished to know what they meant, for he rather liked the sound.

“I am falling helplessly in love with you, after all,”Nancy wanted to say, half in jest, half in overwhelming truth, but as she peered up into his warm eyes and saw his smile, she could not muster the words.

Everything had been perfect, and she did not want to ruin the moment by saying too much too soon.

Adam rolled onto his side, bringing her with him. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close as they lay together, and though they did not speak for a while, Nancy grew even more convinced that there was love in the air.