Fortunately, Grace was on the far side of the house, and Mrs Mouser was down the stairs, so they were able to take a back staircase up and hurry to Ophelia’s chamber. Inside, Ophelia laughed as she fell onto the bed, reaching for the covers, for the chill in the air was beginning to seep into her skin. The tailcoat fell from her shoulders as she moved, and as she looked round for it, she found Elliot was beside her, climbing into the bed with her.
“I hope I don’t have to go yet?” he asked, following her in.
“Please, stay.” She drew him down into the bed with her. After what they had just shared, she had no intention of parting from him. It had been too much of a thrill, too exciting to think of leaving—but there had been tenderness too, and intimacy, right down to the point he had kissed her cheeks when she had first suffered the pain.
“I do not think I can sleep yet though,” Elliot said, leaning up on the bed and resting his head in his palm. The moonlight that filtered through the window cast a silvery light on his face, making Ophelia admire his angular features.
“Are you hoping to do it again?” she asked when she noticed his eyes wandering down her body.
“Oh, I wish we could, but you’ll be sore for a while now.” He kissed her shoulder as she lay beside him, cuddling into him. Ophelia found she hoped the soreness would pass quickly. She wanted to experience such lovemaking again and she did not want to wait long for it. “Let us talk instead.”
“What of?” Ophelia asked.
“Everything,” Elliot said, surprising her. “Tell me about your life before I knew you, Ophelia.”
She had to hold back a wriggle of happiness when Elliot asked her such a thing.
Maybe this won’t just be a marriage of convenience after all.
“If I bore you, just tell me to be quiet,” she jested with him. He shook his head, that handsome smile growing on his face.
“With you? I can’t imagine being bored.”
Chapter 14
When Elliot woke, he felt a heaviness on his arm. It took him a minute or so to realise what it was in his sleepy state, shifting his head and blinking his eyes until Ophelia came into focus. With her head on his shoulder and her body facing away, her back was flush against his side.
The position of their bodies together beneath the quilt was warm, thrillingly so. As Elliot lifted his head a little, he could just about see the side of Ophelia’s face. She was fast asleep, peaceful, with her pink lips slightly parted.
Elliot sighed as he lay back on the bed, thinking of all that he and Ophelia had shared the night before. It was a night like no other he’d had. The passion he and Ophelia had shared had been all-encompassing, but the happiness hadn’t ended there. Coming back to her chamber with her, talking into the early hours of the morning, had his cheeks aching from having smiled and laughed with her so much.
She has this habit, does she not? She has since the night I met her.
Elliot recalled the night they had met and how she had made him smile, even after they had bumped into one another. The meeting in the library had been something too, bringing lightness to him when he had felt so dark and down about the world.
Ophelia is someone special.
Leaning up a little, Elliot shifted their bodies together so he could place his lips to her shoulder, kissing her softly. She made a small sound in her sleep, as if she noticed the kiss, but it was not enough to stir her.
Elliot knew as he watched her sleep that this marriage could be something more than just convenience. Ophelia had only been in the house a few days and already he felt better in her presence, and if anything from the night before was a signal of what was to come, they could spend many a pleasurable hour together, enjoying one another’s company.
Slowly, Elliot pulled his arm out from underneath Ophelia. She rolled on the bed a little, then seemed to shiver. He was careful to pull the quilt up over her bare body, stealing one last kiss to her shoulder before he retreated from her. He would have gladly stayed beside her and waited for her to wake, but he had a plan now, and he could not rest as the idea overtook him.
Taking the few clothes he had in the room, he slipped through to his adjoining chamber and leaned on the door. Across the room, he could see something of his own reflection in a mirror. His dark hair was mussed from where Ophelia had pulled at it as they had made love. The mere memory of the sounds she had made as he had pleasured her had his body rising to the occasion once again.
“Not now,” he ordered himself and hurried across the room, moving to dress. He hadn’t had a valet for some time, and he found he was used to not having one. He dressed alone with speed and hurried down the stairs.
In the hallway, he came across Mrs Mouser carrying a silver tray toward the dining room.
“Morning, Your Grace, are you off and out already?”
“Yes, I have to…” Elliot trailed off, uncertain what excuse to come up with him for his absence. “I have business to attend to,” he lied. “Would you tell my wife and Grace that I will be back soon, once they wake?”
“Of course. Have a good time, Your Grace.”
Elliot thanked her and hurried from the house, going to fetch a horse from the stable. Soon, he would have carriages again, but for now a horse suited him well and he loved the thrill of the ride. Once the animal was saddled, he rode quickly through London streets, heading to Covent Garden and the part of London where the theatres were housed.
As he rode, Elliot made a plan for his future. He and Ophelia might have first come together out of a need to help one another, in a plan that was mutually beneficial, but that didn’t mean things had to remain that way.