The realization that Susan wouldn’t deny him if he insisted on making love to her filled his heart to bursting.
He cupped his heavy sac, hoping the needy words would emerge. “Play with me,” he rasped, his thighs trembling when she squeezed him gently.
The Griff who sought only to flee his responsibilities and indulge his own pleasure would already be thrusting his greedy shaft deep inside his bedmate.
The Griff who had stumbled upon a priceless jewel in Susan Crompton struggled for control. “I want desperately to join our bodies,” he admitted. “However, like selfish male bastards everywhere, I’ve harbored the assumption I would deflower my bride on our wedding night.”
She let out a long slow breath and rested her head against his rapidly beating heart. “If ever I allowed myself to fantasize of one day being married, I assumed I would come virgin to my bridal bower. That was before I met you and it doesn’t lessen my craving for you to take me now.”
She put her arms around his neck and nestled into him when he lifted her off her feet.
“We’ll wait,” he said. “But there are ways to bring each other pleasure that making the waiting bearable.”
Making Plans
Susan and Rebeccahad very quickly become firm friends. They’d never had any difficulty sharing and appreciating each other’s ideas about the latest goings-on in the world. Mealtimes were always filled with lively conversation.
The evening she and Griff dined with Rebecca after their tryst in his chamber, Susan was afraid her friend would immediately sense what had transpired if she made any attempt to speak.
She might opine on the abysmal state of the post-war economy, but her voice and the longing in her eyes would betray a preoccupation with the exhilarating sensations wrought by Griff’s talented mouth on her most intimate woman’s place.
If Susan looked at her betrothed across the table, Rebecca would easily see her craving to rush back upstairs. She thirsted to relive the joy of Griff’s shout of completion when he spilled his seed between her breasts before collapsing atop her. She wanted to bear that weight again and run her fingertips through the sheen on his broad back.
She risked a glance at him, shuddering inwardly when he licked his lips and smiled.
Wretch! He was teasing her, knowing full well she was in agony. The promise of a life with a playful man made her giddy.
“Tell me about your journey to Preston,” Rebecca said after finishing her soup.
“Well,” Griff replied, “it’s only six miles, as you know. Barely enough time to get comfortable in the carriage.”
Susan’s nipples tingled at the memory ofgetting comfortable.
“Yes,” Rebecca confirmed. “My son is forever reminding me of the distance, as if I’m too senile to remember.”
Susan chuckled. It seemed Emma and her husband continued to indulge in a degree of intimacy during the ride to Preston. She wondered if they still referred to it as the Six Mile Kiss. Susan and Griff had gone beyond kissing. Perhaps they could call it the Six Mile F—
“And how was Canon Parr to deal with?” Rebecca asked, jolting Susan out of her reverie.
“Er…he wasn’t there. We arranged the banns and the ceremony with the curate.”
“Which reminds me,” Griff said, “I must mention Stephen’s impending visit to Gabriel before I leave on the morrow.”
Susan’s stomach turned over. “Leave?”
He reached for her hand and meshed his fingers with hers. “I have no wish to depart, but it will be necessary to go to Clifton Heights for a day or two. The house should be perfect if I’m to bring my bride there.”
His smile and the touch of his hand calmed her racing heart.
“Also, I want to make sure arrangements are made for Orion’s eventual arrival, and the stud farm we plan to set up. I’m hoping Tom Glazebrook is willing to come north to take over running that side of things.”
Accustomed to making her own decisions, Susan’s reaction was to balk at Griff’s assumptions. However, she was elated he seemed to be saying he wanted to make his home at Clifton Heights, rather than in London. She’d have willingly moved to the big city with him, but Lancashire was where they both belonged. She deemed it better not to object to his making all the decisions. A wife was expected to defer to her husband. Squeezing his fingers, she resolved to learn how to make him think she was deferring to him.
*
The following morning,after another stolen night of partially satisfying intimacy with Susan, Griff bade farewell to Thicketford Manor.
She was close to tears as they kissed each other goodbye outside the dower house. He too felt strangely bereft at leaving her, though he’d only be gone a few days. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered, nibbling her earlobe.