Intentions of the Earl (33 page)

Brooke could feel her face grow warmer, and
began to restlessly look around the room.

They sat for only a few minutes before
Stevens walked in. “Dinner is ready, my lord.”

Andrew offered Brooke his arm and together
they walked into the dining room.

“For the lovely bride and her groom, only the
best food in the house,” Stevens said, gesturing to the sideboard
where the food was waiting for him to serve it.

Brooke had never seen such a shabby meal.
Only four bland and paltry courses were served. The first was a
salad made with slightly brown lettuce and soggy tomatoes, nothing
else. The second course was stewed cabbage. It smelled awful and
tasted worse, but judging by the size of the portion and the way
Andrew was eating, she ate every bite. The third, and largest, was
a potato, just a little baked potato with a small pat of butter.
Dessert was the final course; it was nothing more than just a
couple spoonfuls of custard.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you
couldn’t afford a wife,” Brooke teased without thinking it
insulting or vulgar to discuss a man’s money with him, at the
dining table in his house no less.

“I tried to warn you,” Andrew said with a wry
smile. “It's too late to cry off now.”

“What of an annulment?” she asked with a
teasing smile.

“That possibility will be out of the question
within the hour if I have my way.”

Brooke felt her skin grow warm. Did he mean
what she thought he did? They were going to have marital relations,
whatever those were, in less than hour? How could that be, she had
no idea what she was to do, her mother never had the talk with her
that she was supposed to before her wedding.

A nervous giggle ripped through her as she
suddenly understood what Mama had tried to ask her earlier.

“I assure you, it’s no laughing matter,”
Andrew said with a sweet smile on his lips. He scooted his chair
back and came to Brooke’s side. “Lady Townson, would you like me to
escort you to your room?”

Brooke understood his question held a dual
meaning. There was the obvious meaning, him asking to escort her
upstairs. But there was a hidden meaning as well. He was also
asking her permission if he could share her bed.

“Yes,” she said nervously, biting her
lip.

Andrew reached out with his thumb and ran it
along her lip causing her to release it from her teeth. “No need to
be so nervous,” he murmured, then helped her out of her seat.

As they walked up the stairs, Brooke could
not help but peeking up at him from beneath her eyelashes. Was this
how all brides felt on their wedding night? Nervous with a hint of
excitement.

As they reached the end of the hall and her
door was in sight, she slowed her steps, causing Andrew to slow his
to match. “I know this all seems rather sudden, so if you’re not
ready, we can wait,” he whispered quietly.

“I’m just nervous, that’s all.”

Andrew stopped walking and brought his hands
up to her face. Cupping her chin, he bent down so his lips were so
close to touching hers she could almost feel them. “I’ll be gentle,
I promise.”

Then he pressed his lips to hers in such a
reverent way she knew he meant to keep his promise.

His hands caressed her face, while his lips
caressed her lips. “I love kissing you,” he said against her
lips.

Brooke soared on hearing those words. They
may not be “I love you”, but they were close enough. If he loved
something about her, such as kissing, it was a step in the right
direction to winning his love and getting him to abandon his
mistress.

Brooke gasped against his mouth when she felt
his hands sliding down her body, settling against her ribs and
right below her breasts. She loved it when he touched her there.
She couldn’t explain why, but when Andrew touched her there it felt
like sparks were flying through her body.

Leaving her ribs, he moved his hands to the
top of her bodice and gently tried to pull it down, exposing the
very tops of her breasts.

Andrew ceased kissing her and took hold of
her hand. With a small squeeze and a gentle tug, he led her to her
room. When they were both inside, he shut the door with a loud thud
then took her mouth again as they stumbled together to the bed.

He broke their kiss and looked at her with a
consuming gaze. “You’re so beautiful, Brooke,” he rasped before he
reached for her gown again and started unfastening the buttons that
ran down the back. With only half of the buttons undone, he moved
his hands to grip the sleeves and in one swift tug, he pulled her
gown down, causing it to fall into a pile on the floor.

Brooke looked down at what clothes remained.
Only a few scraps of clothing now stood in the way of her being
completely exposed to his hungry gaze.

Stepping closer, Andrew grabbed the straps to
her chemise and went to pull them down over her shoulders, but
Brooke grabbed his wrist to stay him. “You first,” she said
shakily. When he didn’t make a move to remove his hand or step back
from her, she gave his chest a gentle push.

Andrew took a step back and grunted. His
hands flew to his front and he quickly removed his coat, cravat,
waistcoat, and shirt.

Brooke let out a gasp. She'd felt his chest
before and knew he had muscles and hair all over it, but to
actually see it was something different. She resisted the urge to
reach out and touch him. But her resistance wasn’t very strong and
soon she found herself running her hands along the hard planes of
his chest and stomach, twirling her fingers into his mat of black
hair that covered his chest.

Andrew groaned. “Is this good enough?” he
asked in a husky voice.

“No.”

Andrew grunted again. “You’re trying to
torture me. Is it because of our pitiful dinner?”

“No. I just want to see you, too.”

Andrew arched an eyebrow.

“Keep going,” she said breathlessly.

He removed his boots and reached for the
buttons on the fall of his pants. In seconds, he had them undone
and let them drop. He stepped out of them, peeling off his
stockings as he went, leaving him clad only in his drawers. “Is
this good enough now? Or do you require that I remove my smalls as
well?”

Brooke didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer.
She just stared at him, her mouth slightly agape and in a
trance.

Andrew needed no further invitation. He
stepped closer to her and ran his fingers along the crest of her
collarbone and over to the straps of her chemise. Not allowing her
time to protest or try to stop him, he tugged the straps so hard
and fast the stitches attaching the straps to the rest of the
garment ripped, leading to her chemise joining her gown on the
floor.

Andrew took another step back and raked her
over from head to toe with his intent gaze. There was much more of
her visible now. Her stomach was bare and so was the top of her
chest. She still had her drawers, stockings, and the bands she wore
wound around her chest.

Wasting no time, he grabbed the top of the
piece of cotton that was tucked into the top and started to unwind
the linen.

“Please don’t,” she said suddenly, panic
creeping into her voice.

His hands froze. “Why?”

Brooke shook her head. She couldn’t say,
“My breasts are actually much smaller than what they appear
because I have two folded up pillow linens stuffed under these
bands.”
But she was going to have to say something. He was
going to see them eventually, and it appeared it would be
relatively soon.

“My size is not what it appears,” she said
stiffly, not meeting his eyes.

“Yes, you explained that before. They’re too
big for your bodices.”

“I did not say they were too big,” she
corrected. “You just assumed that. Because like all other men of
the world, you like to ogle ladies bosoms; and the bigger the
bosom, the more you ogle.”

Andrew gave her a curious look. “Then why do
you bind them?”

“Because I have quite the opposite problem,
thank you.”

“You think they’re too small?” he asked
bluntly.

“Yes,” she conceded flatly.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Andrew
growled. Grabbing hold of the offending linen, he unwound it so
quickly, that try as she might, she couldn’t stop him. After two
times around, there were twin thuds on the floor. Andrew reached
down and picked up one of the wadded up pillow shams before tossing
it down and shooting Brooke an amused glance.

Brooke felt a little relieved that at least
he found some amusement in the situation. She, on the other hand,
was so nervous she could feel butterflies swarming around in her
stomach. Her lower lip began to tremble and she thought at any
minute she was going to swoon, which she had never done before, but
there was always a first.

The last round of linen came off and Brooke
felt the cool air hit her bare breasts in one big woosh. The cool
air was quickly replaced by Andrew’s warm hands that came up to cup
and shape her swollen breasts.

Her eyes flew to his face. She watched him as
he swallowed and his eyes grew darker with desire.

“They’re perfect,” he rasped unevenly, giving
them a gentle squeeze.

Brooke looked down and saw how wonderfully
they filled his hands. They fit perfectly into his palm, slightly
spilling over each time he massaged them with his fingers. She
thought he would have been disappointed they weren't bigger, but
his reaction to seeing them had disproved the notion and sent a
flood of relief through her. She couldn’t help but smile up at
him.

“Who told you something was wrong with your
body?” he growled, as he brushed both of her nipples with his
thumbs.

“Why?” she asked tentatively. Nobody had told
her there was anything wrong with her. She had eyes. She could see
that most other women spilled out the top of their gowns, and she
didn’t.

“Because I’m going to string him up from the
nearest tree, that’s why. You’re body is absolutely perfect,” he
repeated. Then he dropped down to his knees and showered kisses
across the tops of her breasts and the valley between them.

Brooke let go of any restraint she had left.
He thought her body perfect; who was she to argue? It would make
life a lot easier not having to bind them each day.

Andrew wrapped his arm around the back of her
knees and the other around her waist, then with one quick movement,
he picked her up and placed her on the bed. It was only a second
later that his hands were caressing her all over her body, leaving
nothing that was bared untouched.

He lowered his head and drew her tender
nipple into his mouth. She gasped at the warm sensation. Nothing
they had done so far could have prepared her for what she was
feeling now. Just when she felt it couldn’t get any better, he
circled it with his tongue then gently nipped the tip.

Her body relaxed into a boneless mass and she
closed her eyes to better savor the sweet sensations Andrew’s hands
and mouth were sending through her body. She let out a nervous sigh
when his fingers reached into the slit in her drawers and ran along
the crease between her leg and her most intimate area.

“Just relax,” Andrew whispered as his fingers
moved to lightly dance through her curls.

His mouth left her chest, where he had been
kissing a slow trail down her sternum, and met her mouth. Stilling
his fingers, he pressed his mouth to hers and took full control of
her lips. She let out a soft moan when his lips left her mouth and
kissed a hot path down to her jaw. He ran his tongue along the
ridge then moved down to kiss her neck, causing Brooke to shiver in
excitement.

Descending down her body, his mouth reached
her nipple and he took it into his mouth, gently suckling while his
fingers left her curls and trailed along her soft stomach, circling
her naval and leaving a hot, searing sensation in their wake.

Dipping lower, his fingers lightly skimmed
over her mound and found their way to her swollen, aching flesh. He
massaged her there, causing her ache to grow into an intense throb.
Finding her wet, silky opening, they both groaned when he slipped
his finger inside.

She felt his finger slide inside of her,
filling the part of her that ached with need for something more,
she didn’t know exactly what it was aching for, but Andrew did.

Rhythmically, he moved deeply in and out,
building something deep inside her she couldn't describe.

His pace increased, as did her pleasure. She
let out another groan when he added a second finger.

Suddenly, Brooke’s legs felt like they were
being licked by fire and her mind was spiraling away from reality.
Then her whole world exploded. All the pressure that had built up
released in a flood and her whole body tensed then completely
relaxed, leaving her with a very content feeling.

A few moments passed before she was able to
bring herself to meet Andrew’s gaze. “Did you intend to do that?”
she asked dully.

“Yes, it was my intention,” he said honestly
with a self-satisfied smile.

“If I had known that was the result of you
reaching in my drawers, I might have let you last night,” she said
with a bright smile.

“I doubt it would have been nearly as
enjoyable if either Gateway or Lady Algen happened upon us doing
that,” he said dryly.

Brooke scrunched her nose up and giggled.
“No, I don’t suppose it would have.” Brooke met his eyes again. “Is
that all? Was that the marital act?”

Andrew gave her with a puzzled look. “No.
Didn’t your mother explain it to you?”

“No,” Brooke said shyly. Oh, how she wished
she had known what Mama was talking about earlier this afternoon,
then she wouldn’t be such a ninny now.

“There’s more,” he said raggedly, tracing a
lazy pattern across her thighs.

Brooke reached out and touched his face
tenderly then grinned. “Well, what are you waiting for? I’m
ready.”