Scandal By The Ton (19 page)

Julia rolled her eyes. "I believe him, but thousands wouldn't." 

In the late afternoon, the sounds of laughter and music lured everyone outside, where the wedding guests joined the villagers in dancing.

Nicholas needed no urging to partner his bride, and then Lord Grenville, the Foreign Secretary, claimed a dance. When it was Michael's turn, he stole a kiss, and declared that Nicholas was the luckiest man in the universe today.

Julia eagerly danced with all her husband's tenant farmers, while Nicholas and Michael danced with their wives and daughters.

Just before the sun set, the new Lady Royston was lifted into a pony cart festooned with flowers, and the Royston tenants hoisted Nicholas onto their shoulders. The bride and groom were escorted to Royston Hall where the celebration continued into the night.

Chapter Nineteen

As the newlyweds sat in Royston's Great Hall, acknowledging all the toasts that were being offered, Nicholas was flooded with desire. He hadn't closed his eyes last night. His blood had been too hot and he could not stop thinking about Julia in his bed. His glance was drawn again and again to his bride. Nicholas thought her radiant, as if a light shone from her like a jewel.
She is my jewel.
He felt a moment of pride like he had never known before.

As his dark eyes roamed over her possessively, Julia felt a sensation she'd never experienced in public before. It began in the pit of her belly and radiated upward to set her breasts tingling. Then it traveled downward to between her legs. This man who sat beside her with hot desire in his eyes affected her body. Her pulse began to race at a frantic pace and her breasts rose and fell with her rapid breathing.

Nicholas murmured, "Am I under a spell? You grow more beautiful and desirable with each hour."

In a trice, all changed for Julia. Before they were wed, she had been extremely eager for Nicholas to make love to her. But suddenly she felt shy, and more than a tiny bit afraid. Julia reached for her champagne to give her courage. At the same moment Nicholas reached out and removed her glass. When their hands touched for an instant, it felt as if a flame ran up her arm.

"To deprive me of more champagne is not playing fair, Nicholas."

He laughed. "I'm going to play with you all night when I get you to bed."

Michael overheard his brother's randy promise. "You look as if you would like to eat her," Michael said.

"I would," Nicholas replied suggestively. A heavy, sweet ache suddenly flooded his loins. His dark eyes showed clearly the desire he felt.

Julia knew that any minute, Nicholas would rise from the table to take her upstairs. She turned to Michael. "Please don't let anyone follow us to the bridal chamber," she pleaded.

Nicholas watched her lovely lips as she spoke to his brother. He wanted the taste of her in his mouth; he wanted the feel of her beneath his body. He pushed himself back from the table and stood.

Julia's insides fluttered as if they were filled with a million butterfly wings.

He saw the hesitation in her violet eyes, and swept her
into his arms, holding her against his heart.

A great cheer rose in the hall, and as Julia hid her face against his chest, Nicholas grinned. "Lady Royston and I bid you all good night."

"You're trembling." Nick set his bride's feet to the carpet of the master bedchamber.

"I asked Michael to keep anyone from following us," Julia said breathlessly.

He threw the bar across the door. "They won't get in, even if they do come up." It suddenly dawned on him that she was still apprehensive. "Surely you're not afraid of me, my love?" He cupped her face, gazed worshipfully into her eyes, dropped a hungry glance on her mouth,
and then drew her close for a tender kiss. "Julia, I adore you."

His hands and his lips were so gentle, so reverent, it brought a lump to her throat. Slowly, his mouth became more demanding, and his hands dropped from her face and slid around her body, bringing her soft curves close against his hard length. He embraced her tenderly until her body stopped trembling, then he once more lifted her against his heart and carried her toward the bed. "Your bridal gown is so
lovely; I don't want to damage it." He turned her back toward him and with gentle hands he undid the buttons.

When the gown fell about her hips, she stepped from it and stood before him in her lace petticoat. Miraculously she realized that her shyness had fallen away with her gown. She helped him slip off his jacket, undid the buttons on his shirt,
and then reached inside to stroke the slabs of muscle on his powerful chest. Everything about him was virile, hard, and overtly male, making her feel delicately soft and feminine.

Nicholas sat her on the edge of the bed and knelt before her. His eager hands lifted her petticoat, then glided up her long legs to remove her blue satin garters, and then her stockings. "I intend to carry you to bed and peel off your stockings every night, sweetheart." His deep voice was husky with desire and his eyes were like dark smoke. With infinite tenderness his hands cupped her breasts to caress and stroke them. Then he leaned forward and took a lovely pink nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking it with his tongue until it hardened into a tight little bud.

His touch stole her senses; he was far more potent than champagne. This romantic night was a thousand times more intensely compelling than the other encounters they'd shared.

As his hands caressed the silken flesh of her thighs, his senses were saturated with the feel of her skin, the scent of her dark curls and the taste of her honeyed mouth. "Lord God, how you make me quiver." Nicholas lifted off her petticoat, then quickly disrobed, scattering their clothes on the carpet. He laid her back on the bed and came over her in the dominant position, whispering love words that flowed over her like champagne and silk.

The heat of his body seeped into her flesh, setting her aflame with a raging desire that threatened to burn out of control and consume her. She was panting with need, and her breasts rose and fell against his powerful muscled chest. "Love me, Nicholas. Love me now."

He unleashed h
is long-starved passion. He had crossed the high point of no return. He was aflame and lusting as he opened her thighs and lowered his weight onto her. Nicholas thrust hard and deep, and Julia cried out from the unfamiliar pleasure-pain. She stopped thinking. She only wanted to feel the fullness of him inside her.

When he began to thrust, his mouth claimed hers. His tongue also thrust in and out in the sensual rhythm in which lovers had indulged since the dawn of time. He felt her arch beneath him and her tongue dueled with his, arousing him to madness. He finally
indulged the fierce desire that had been riding him for months.

She became aware of a delicate fluttering inside, then an ache deep within began to build, making her arch her mons into his powerful thrusts as he lifted her toward climax. She hovered on the brink, as time seemed to stop. Then with passionate daring, she plunged over the edge of the precipice. Her feelings were so intense she bit his shoulder. The initial sunburst was followed by intense throbs, then long shuddering pulsations.

Nicholas was stunned by her raw sensuality. This was the way he wanted her every night for the rest of their lives, writhing and frenzied beneath him. When he felt her final pulsation, he allowed himself to spend. Then he clasped her tightly in his arms and his lips feathered kisses across the damp tendrils on her brow.

Julia's body curved into his. She lay enthralled at the transcendence of crossing each other's boundaries and becoming one. They clung together in the warm nest they had thrashed out in the big bed, both savoring this precious time together, naked in their own private world where no other could intrude. She smiled her secret smile as she listened to his wildly beating heart and knew she would never be the same again.

They touched, and kissed, and whispered for hours, sharing secrets, and hopes and dreams. Just before Julia fell asleep in her husband's arms she murmured, "I'm so glad I married you, Nicholas."

"And why is that, my own sweetheart?"

"Because you will teach me to become a woman of passion."

Epilogue

December 23, 1800

Curzon Street, London

"Everything is packed and ready for Hertfordshire. I'm truly looking forward to spending our first Christmas there." Julia sat perched on the side of the bed in a diaphanous night gown. "Hurry and come to bed, Nicholas. You know how I hate the cold."

"I have a gift for you." Nick grinned and brought the big box to the bed. "Open it."

"But it's not Christmas yet," Julia protested.

"This isn't a Christmas gift, it's an anniversary present. We've been married four months today."

"Then I shall open it immediately. You are such a romantic at heart."

Julia undid the ribbon, tore off the wrapping, and lifted the lid from the box. "Furs!" She lifted out the luxurious sable cape and its matching muff. "Thank you. They are absolutely beautiful."

Nicholas picked up the cape and draped it about her shoulders. "I have to confess that it's a self-serving gift. I bought you furs to fulfill one of my erotic fantasies."

Julia rolled her eyes. "I love fantasies, especially erotic ones. Tell me about it."

"Remember the day we went fishing, and your petticoat got soaking wet?"

"How could I forget? That was the first time your wicked fingers removed my stockings."

"You were sitting in the sun to dry your petticoat, and you said,
I love the summer. I always feel so cold in the wintertime.
That was the moment I decided that someday I would wrap you in furs and roll you in the snow."

Julia laughed and raised her mouth to his. "It's been snowing for days. When we get to Hertfordshire tomorrow, I promise to let you fulfill your fantasy. How would you like me to be naked beneath the furs?"

He rolled her onto the bed. "We are mismatched. I am a romantic at heart, and you are a bloody wanton."

"Admit the truth and shame the Devil. You wouldn't want me any other way."

He took possession of her mouth and kissed her deeply.

"I have a gift for you," she whispered. "I was going to keep it until Christmas, but our anniversary would be more fitting." She brushed back the dark hair from his brow and looked into his eyes. "Nick Royston, you are going to be a father."

His eyes widened with joy. He plucked her from the bed and swung her about. "I didn't think it was possible to love you more, but once again you have proven me wrong." He lifted her into bed, threw off his robe, climbed in beside her, and took her into his arms.

Julia began to laugh until her breasts rose and fell against his chest.

"What the devil is so amusing?"

"I was just thinking about Mother's reaction. She'll have a bloody fit when she finds out she's o
ld enough to be a grandmother!"

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He had waited so long, four years to be exact, but now the waiting was no more. He reached across the bed and gathered her close against his powerful body. She came eagerly. The privacy of the big bed formed a delicious cocoon about them, shutting out the world and everyone in it, save this pair who were about to make love.

He slipped the thin gown off her shoulders and down her body, his mouth following its descent until he tasted the luscious breasts, all velvet cream and rosy pink in their swelling perfection. Her silken thighs opened willingly to his hands as they explored the secret valley, and his shaft throbbed with the pent-up torture of the long denial.

She was trembling beneath him. Small incoherent cries filled his ears and his nostrils flared with the intoxicating scent of her. She reached her mouth up to his in a slow, soft kiss that began with a rich warmth, then rapidly changed to a burning, fiery blaze that threatened to consume them in its intensity. Poised above her, his hands shook as they caressed the soft curves, now quivering with anticipation that matched the passion he felt. His voice was hoarse with his desire as he whispered love words against her ear. He could wait no longer; if he did, he would die with agony.

Suddenly he felt a shimmering, dissolving, as she moved away from him, out of his reach.

"No!" he cried sharply. His vision was clouded by a dark veil, then it brightened to a red mist. The mist thinned and separated and he shot up from the pillows, fully awake, as the dream dissolved and evaporated like mist on a summer morn.

He took a great gulp of air and tore the clinging bed sheet from his naked torso. As the morning air cooled the powerful throbbing of his body, he stretched his arms beneath his head and let out a long, slow breath. He gazed up at the ceiling where the morning light sketched a pattern of dappled sunshine and realized that this was his wedding day.