Edmond scrubbed a hand over his face. He was losing his damned senses. It did not escape him that he was more relaxed with his sexuality with Adeline in a few weeks than he’d been with Maryann in the years they had been married. Adeline challenged him to be unrestrained with his desires and he hungered to succumb to the cravings erupting from his soul.
If you’d not wanted an heir I would not be dying.
He gritted his teeth against the memory of the pained whisper. If he were to give in to the lust and Adeline fell with child… He sighed. How long would he hold onto this torment for? He had given huge sums to hospitals and spent many hours talking with the leading accoucheurs. It had almost become an obsession to try to discover what he could have done to prevent Maryann’s death, and he had been shocked to discover how common it was, and how little doctors and midwives truly knew. Thousands of women apparently died in England annually giving birth or shortly after, and that chilling fact ha
d shook him.
He was growing to like Adeline and to put her at such a risk…he would be a selfish ass to even contemplate making love with his wife. But there are ways to prevent conception. His breeches tightened uncomfortably at the mere thought.
When he’d hatched his idea to marry, it was not a decision he’d pondered on for too long. He’d moved very decisively and truly had not given much consideration to what it would be like to have a wife underfoot at all times.
Adeline had been his wife for all of twenty-four days, and she already had him in knots. How the hell he had allowed himself to be trapped in such a state of need mystified him. But it was his own dammed fault. He’d known before he married her how attracted he had been to her dark beauty and the intelligence that glowed in her eyes.
Though the desires he felt now transcended attraction. He found he wanted to please her and bring her delight. It was by mere accident his daughters had mentioned Adeline had never been to a theatre or to the opera. Edmond wanted her to explore all London had to offer, and he wanted to be the one to experience it with her.
He hauled himself from the lake, the cold night air biting deep to his bones, but finally his damn cock had gotten the message. He slipped his shirt onto his still wet body and dragged on his boots, then walked briskly toward the house.
He would leave for London tomorrow for a number of meetings with Members of Parliament and the House of Lords. Adeline would enjoy society as a duchess. Perhaps. But he would extend an invitation, though she might very well decline because of its suddenness. It did not escape Edmond that a few weeks previous he’d wanted a young lady who was not interested in society and the frivolities it offered. Now here he was thinking of ways to throw Adeline back into the fray because it bothered him she’d not had a grand time during her seasons.
He was truly losing his damned mind.
…
Hours later, Adel gave up the pretense of sleep and lay on her back in the dark room staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Soft fire still lingered in her blood from earlier in the day. Dinner had been subdued; the dowager duchess had glanced from her to Edmond several times, a smile playing on her lips. Then after only eating a little, she had excused herself. Adel had been left alone with Edmond, and she had silently beseeched him to invite her to his chambers. The stubborn, dratted man had been unflinchingly polite and cool.
She hated the reserve she could see re-forming, the very notion had anger snapping through her blood. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she shivered. It would rain tonight, and probably for a large part of tomorrow, forcing them to spend the day indoors. She let one leg slip over the edge of the mattress, and then paused. Perhaps he would reject her if she tried to seduce him. Anxiety seared her, but she pushed from the bed, and hurried from her chamber. She didn’t stop until she reached his bedroom. Swallowing down the nerves, she knocked firmly.
There was no answer. Disappointment pricked her. Was he already asleep? She spun to return to her room and hesitated. What if he had not heard her over the rain and thunder? She tested the knob. It was surprisingly unlocked. She walked into his chamber and Adel regretted the impulse that had driven her to seek him out. She froze ensnared at one of the most primal, and lascivious sight she had ever seen.
The duke stood by the windows in his chamber…stark naked. He was…splendidly beautiful. His masculinity was overwhelmingly erotic in nature. Unable to help herself she hungrily drank in his posture, the graceful but powerful line of his body. Muscles corded his shoulders, back and thighs. Even the turn of his calves appeared chiseled. She could only see his side profile, and his head was tilted, the strong column of his throat working, yet no sound emerged. One hand was braced against the glass and she could see the tension in his frame.
His other hand was… She glanced down and had to swallow her gasp. Her cheeks flamed and the throb of heat between her legs was startling. He had his…his…member in his hand, stroking, alternately gentle then hard. She squeezed her thighs together hoping to soothe the throbbing ache in the flesh between the juncture of her thighs. She was at a loss how from simply looking at him, such wanton urges could stir in her blood.
She couldn’t stay to watch such an intimate private moment. Worse, she had the feeling he was thinking of his wife. A sob hissed from her in denial, but he did not hear. Thank Heavens. She decided to depart and made the error of glancing at his face. Adel faltered. His face was drawn into hard lines of loneliness and yearning—stark and agonizing. A low, tortured groan slipped from him and the grimace on his face indicated he was washed in intense feelings, and she belatedly realized it must be pleasure, and not pain as she’d initially assumed. A whimper of need clawed from the back of her throat and threatened to spill in the room, when he fisted the length jutting from him, and slid his hands up, then down the thick stalk, and her name slipped from his lips like a benediction.
“Adeline,” he groaned, the sound reverberating deep in his chest.
It was her! He thought of her!
She pressed her hands low on her stomach, desperate to still the flutter of desire erupting through her body. Her nipples beaded beneath her nightgown, and she ached between her legs in a way she struggled to understand. Drawn to him, it was as if her feet had a mind of their own as they moved closer. Her lips parted on a gasp when he rumbled her name once more and even stroked himself with more…vigor.
…
A soft sound of need filtered on the air, and caressed right around his cock. Without moving Edmond knew Adeline was in his chamber. He did not question the how, or why. Hell, he knew why. The hunger she felt was the same reason he had his length fisted in his palm, urging himself to release—something he had not done in years. As he stroked himself he imagined her…tasting her, sinking inside of her. Turning from her earlier was the hardest thing he had ever done, restraining himself when his body had cried out to take her and slake the tormenting lust.
It had finally occurred to Edmond; he had been a blasted fool, denying them what they wanted most, when he could bed his duchess without releasing inside of her. Though allowing such intimacy was a slippery slope that could well lead to the very thing he dreaded. He would have to be vigilant never to slide so far he lost his common sense. He’d acknowledged it would be impossible to stay away from her any longer. They were married, a state that could not be dissolved, and it had finally pierced him that this hunger would never go away, whether it be for weeks, months, or years.
He turned and his knees nearly buckled. Though she was clothed in a nightgown that covered her from head to toe, it was all the more provocative for he knew the sensual beauty it hid. The cravings he had suppressed for so long surged to life, burning away all resistance. She was raw, earthy, beautiful…unforgettable.
Her eyes widened and then lowered to his cock still fisted in his hands. Edmond would consummate their vows, though it had gone far beyond duty. It was a living need inside of him to brand her with his touch. He’d almost visited her chamber, but had restrained himself. The fever of lust that dominated him would make it impossible to be gentle with her.
She stepped farther into the chamber, then she made to remove her gown.
“Leave it on.” His order was harsh and she hesitated, hurt flaring in her eyes.
“I do not want to hurt you,” he all but snarled, hating the idea that she thought he was rejecting her again.
Her lips parted in soft subtle invitation. “I know there is to be some pain.”