Cooper found himself eager for the wedding night as he changed his clothes and made himself ready for his bride. Stone’s suggestion returned to him—haunted him, really. But he couldn’t see giving Emily more reason to be angry with him at the moment. She had sufficient ammunition, and a rather sharp tongue as it was. If their wedding day had softened her to him in any capacity, he felt compelled to take advantage of that and see if they could find some common ground.

Even if only between the sheets.

He thought of running his hands up her muscular legs, spreading her thighs, and tasting her sweet pussy. Lapping at her until she squirmed beneath his mouth and begged him to give her release. His cock hardened at the fantasy and pressed against the flap of his trousers. Ignoring the discomfort, he tied off his dressing gown and stuck his feet into his slippers.

He knocked twice on the door separating his chamber from Emily’s and then pushed it open. She stood across the room before the fire, wearing a simple white cotton nightgown. No sheer negligee, no corset and stockings, and no bare skin exposed. She was covered from her neck to her toes, as prim as any English virgin on her wedding night.

Her golden-brown hair hung loose, glowing in the firelight like a beacon in the dark chamber. Cooper found the moment more erotic than if she had waited for him stark naked and spread out upon the bed. The stillness hung heavy between them, a weighted silence broken only by the snapping of the fire and the slight hitch of her breathing as she stared at him.

Fearing any movement might break the spell, he remained rooted where he was, watching the play of emotion over her face as desire warred with anger. His hellion remained within the woman, even if she had capitulated to the marriage. With fists balled at her sides, he could see the hellion wanted blood. But if her flushed skin and choppy breaths were any indication, she also wanted to know his touch once more. Was she remembering the feel of his hands on her body and the pleasure he had given her? He certainly was.

Once more, he marveled that he had thought such an expressive, fiery woman would have made a meek, biddable wife. What a self-important, obtuse fool he’d been.

Finally, she huffed out a breath and looked away from him. “Do you plan to stand there all night?” She raised the poker and jabbed at the log uselessly. “I should think that would make consummation of this marriage rather difficult.”

Freed from the spell, he walked toward her. “Always the practical one.”

“Not practical, just realistic. Or I try to be.” She set the hot poker back on the fireplace tool rack.

Cooper sat in the wing chair near where she still stood. “And what does your realism tell you about tonight?”

“There’s no avoiding it, and why should I?” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I’m here because I enjoyed the pleasure we found together. Why should I now cut myself off from it?”

“I see.” He paused, considering his next question. “And what of your anger at me?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “What difference does that make? What difference has that ever made in the history of marriage? Men have always taken what they wanted from a woman, regardless of her choices. At least if I let you take my body, I shall still find the physical pleasure of it.”

Cooper blinked. Did she think him such a barbarian that he would take her against her will? “Emily, I have never taken anything from you without your consent.”

She snorted. “Of course you have. You took my choice when it was all I had left. You ruined me when I would have chosen to stand against the charges.”

“That is not what I meant.” Anger tinged with enough guilt to take the edge off welled within him, and made his stomach knot up.

She turned to face him. “Yes, well, men typically only see it from their perspective. Have you ever forced me to lie with you? No, of course not. Not even the first time. But this marriage is all your doing. You took my choice from me, you and my meddling brother. So I shall take what little I can from this arrangement, and I shall do it on my terms.”

He felt the situation slipping from his control as quickly as every other critical moment with his hellion. “And what are those terms?”

“I expect pleasure. I shall give as good as I receive, but come the dawn, you will be gone from my chamber, not to be seen again until night falls. Outside of this chamber, we shall be civil should we meet, but do not expect my attendance at social events or other such trials.”

Her hazel eyes sparkled green as she trembled with her anger.

“And if I do not agree to your terms?”

Could he make love to her at night but remain separate during the day? He had imagined laughing and arguing and chatting with his little hellion once they were married. Not living like virtual strangers.

Her gaze narrowed at him. “If you choose not to agree, then we shall see how chastity suits one such as you, my lord.”

He warred with the desire to rise to her challenge, seize her, and tie her to his bed so he could pleasure her until she screamed. Hands gripping the arms of the chair until he worried the wood might crack, he tried to find a way around her ultimatum without proving himself to be exactly what she claimed. At a loss, he forcibly relaxed his grip and took a deep breath. If he still had her in bed at night, he could at least work on winning her heart once more. If he was barred from her entirely, he would be without recourse.

“Very well. Pleasure by night it is.” He clenched his teeth and tamped down his frustration. Why did nothing ever go as planned with her?

Emily nodded and strolled over to the bed. By the time she had reached the brocade-draped monstrosity from another era, her gown was gaping at the neckline. In a swift and unexpected motion, she whipped the gown up and over her head, exposing her naked body beneath. “Come along, Cooper. The night is slipping away from you as we speak.”

Feeling like a prize stud, he stalked over to the bed and stood over her. She may have won this skirmish, but he was determined to win the war. Because, damn the woman to perdition, he loved her.

She lay on the bed, naked as the day she was born, and tried to hide the tremors snaking through her limbs. Despite all her bravado, her heart galloped in her chest as though it might break free at any moment. Had she truly just been so brazen as to give Cooper an ultimatum? To demand his husbandly services while she remained free to do as she pleased by day?

Of course, she hadn’t intended to do any such thing. In fact, she’d been thinking of relenting in her anger and trying to find some common ground. But when he’d come into the room baring a sliver of his chest from the vee of his robe and looking every inch the conqueror come to claim his spoils, she’d lost control of her temper. Again. Somehow, he provoked her more than any other man she had ever met.

Her husband made her mad with desire and fierce with anger, all in the space of a few heartbeats. How was she supposed to stay calm and practical in the face of such emotional swings? How was she supposed to be the wife of someone she wanted so desperately but feared losing, as she had lost everyone else she ever cared about?

First her parents—a monumental betrayal by her father, who killed her mother by his own drunken recklessness—then her brother, betraying her with his gambling. And now Cooper. If she allowed herself to love him, she was certain she would lose him, as well. He would surely lose interest and walk away from her, or worse, stay and merely drift past her on occasion.

No, better she kept her heart safe and her independence in place. If she did not need anyone else, she could not be hurt or disappointed.

His shaft rose long and thick from his groin, seemingly undeterred by their previous conversation. One large hand reached down and wrapped around the base before he stroked the length once, twice.

She couldn’t have torn her eyes from his blatantly sexual display had she wanted to. So she didn’t. Instead, she watched avidly until he let go and then joined her on the bed.

“Tell me. Is there anything off-limits in our marital bed? Anything I am not permitted to taste or touch?” He lifted his brow in question even as he let his gaze roam over her naked form.

A little shiver of want slithered through her. “Nothing. If it brings us pleasure, it is allowed.”

“Excellent.” He offered her a feral grin and then crept between her thighs.

The heat of his hands warmed her ankles and then her calves as he slid them higher and higher up her legs until he reached her inner thighs. Then he pressed her legs open, spread her wide until there was no hiding the wetness between her legs that had started the moment he’d walked into the room. He looked his fill, almost as though he was memorizing what she looked like spread out before him.

Then he leaned over and dragged his tongue from her entrance up and over her clit. The bold stroke shot frissons of pleasure through her body, immediately putting her resolve to only seek physical pleasure at odds with the reality of just how good the man made her feel. And now all those physical feelings were tangling with her emotions in the most unwanted fashion.

He licked over her hot center once more, and a low moan escaped her. He chuckled lightly, sending a tingle through her nerves.

He pulled back from her spread thighs. “Don’t hold back, sweetheart. I want to hear you call my name.” And then his mouth sank down on her, seemed to swallow her whole as she cried out at the intense pleasure he wrought with his tongue and teeth.

As her hips bucked of their own free will, she focused on breathing and feeling. And there was so very much to feel. He lapped at her entrance as though savoring the sweetest nectar. Then he swirled his tongue over her sensitive little nub. As her hips wiggled and begged for more, she sank her fingers into his hair and held his head where she wanted it to ensure the peak she was hurtling toward would be reached.

Then he growled against her swollen flesh and nipped her clit, sending her over the edge of orgasm to plummet into oblivion. She cried out his name over and over as he lapped at her pussy, sending her into one paroxysm after another. Lost to everything but the feel of him between her legs, she floated slowly back to reality as he eased her return with lighter and lighter strokes of his tongue.

Once she was merely shivering with the remnants of pleasure, he crawled up her body and swept his tongue into her mouth. The sweet-tart taste of her own release coated his lips and stirred her desires anew. Ignoring the tug at her heart, she pushed Cooper off and rolled him onto his back as she landed astride his thighs.

He looked up at her, desire in his hooded gaze as he waited to see what she would do next. And truth be told, Emily wasn’t sure what she wanted. For a moment, she considered taking him in her mouth and returning the attention he had just bestowed upon her, but then the selfish desire for her own pleasure won out.

Taking his cock in hand, she stroked him just as she had seen him do earlier. He closed his eyes and pumped into her hand once, twice—but then she released him and shimmied up his body so her entrance was poised over his hard shaft. “Tell me, husband.” She reached down and swirled the tip of his cock around the wetness of her pussy. “Do you prefer a sedate trot, or are you more of a bruising rider?”

His eyes flew open and dropped to the spot where she was rubbing him over her heated flesh. He licked his lips as though savoring her taste. “I favor a long, hard ride. One that reminds me later why I enjoy it so much.”

Emily followed her wicked impulse and formed a small pout with her lips. “Too bad. I like a nice. Slow. Controlled. Gait.”

He closed his eyes and groaned as she pushed the tip of his erection inside her. Then she slowly lowered herself, inch by agonizing inch, down his length. Her leg muscles quivered with the leisurely slide of her body down onto his.

Cooper gripped the bedspread in his fists as he fought for the control he needed, but she refused to move faster. Never before had he allowed her to take any real control, so she chose to savor her moment as she sank lower on his shaft.

And when his balls finally pressed against her arse as he swelled and seemed to fill her tighter than ever, she reveled in the power she so obviously held. His labored breathing told her he was struggling to maintain his control, so she milked it for all she could get, because she knew he would soon break and take over.

Rising up only slightly faster than she’d settled down on him, she relished the thickness of him, and the hardness. She could not imagine another man filling her so perfectly, and yet she feared to trust this one with her heart. How could her body be so receptive and her brain so determined to push him away? And why did that leave her heart stuck in the middle?

After a few more slow slides up and down, she finally picked up her pace. With his hands resting on her hips, he watched her intently as she raised herself up and lowered herself down on his cock. The increasing friction both inside and against her clit pushed her to speed up with each stroke. She wanted more, needed more. Her breasts bounced and jiggled in the most obscene fashion as she tried to find a faster pace.

Finally, with a roar, Cooper lifted her off his cock, flipped her over onto her hands and knees, and plunged deep inside her from behind. Emily cried out with the force of his thrust, delighting in her power to push him past his control.

He pressed her head down to the mattress and thrust into her hard and fast. Then he slowed a bit as he leaned over her back. The wet slide of his tongue along her spine sent unexpected shocks of desire sparking through her body. Her pussy clenched his cock tight, causing them both to groan. Then he paused all movement with his hips plastered to her bottom, lodging his erection deep inside her. “Tell me what you want.”

Need gripped her hard, and made it difficult to think anymore. “Please.”

A soft whimper was all she could manage.

The gravelly sound of his voice refuted her simple plea. “Tell me. Tell me what you want. Say the words.”

Frustrated, she tried to pull off him and shove back, but he held her hips in a firm grip. Then he reached down and wrapped one arm around her chest. He pulled her up so his chest pressed against her back while his cock remained inside her. “Tell me, my little hellion.” And then he pinched her nipple, making her moan with need.

“Make me come. Please, Cooper. I need to come all over your cock.”

And with the last word, he released her, pushing her back toward the mattress as he pounded into her body.

Words far beyond her ability, she made mewling noises as she thrust backward to meet him stroke for stroke. With each thrust, she climbed higher and higher.

“So tight and wet. And all for me.” He yelled out and thrust with harder, shorter strokes as he reached down to rub her clit.

When his fingers stroked over her nub, she shattered in an explosive climax. He continued to pump into her as she came around him, yelling his name. “Cooper, yes!”

And then, all she could do was scream.

He continued to piston in and out of her until she faintly heard his own cry of release before he collapsed over her back.