Chapter Twenty
The dash up to the room left Amelia breathless and laughing. Nick was right behind her the whole way, taunting her with words and playful smacks to her backside. He caught her just inside the door, closing it with their bodies as he pressed her against the wood. Amelia was slick with wanting. From the moment he’d whispered in her ear, her body had lit up with sensation. Playfulness gave way to need as their lips joined.
They devoured each other, tugging at the offending clothing that kept their skin apart. Amelia shoved her skirts up, wrapping her legs around Nicholas’s waist as he lifted her against the door. She moaned against his lips as his fingers finally brushed against her center.
“Now,” she demanded.
Nicholas was taking deep, measuring breaths. “We should—”
“Now.” She pulled his hair, grinding her hips against him.
Nick swore, and his hands left her to release the buttons of his trousers.
Amelia reached down, taking him in hand, guiding him into her. Nicholas swore again, this time with his mouth pressed against the curve of her neck. Amelia moaned as he filled her. The sweet ache of it erased everything from her mind but the feel of him. She flexed her hips in, trying to take in as much of him as she could.
“God, Mia, you feel—” He lost his words as she gripped his shoulders and levered her hips away and back down again.
She bucked again. And again. He picked up her pace, holding her hips still so he could drive into her with powerful bursts that rattled the door. It wasn’t enough. She needed more.
“Faster, Nick. Please,” she begged.
His thrusts took a frenzied pace. Amelia clung to him, crying out her satisfaction. The ache built to impossible heights as their bodies collided, Nick’s length pressing against the sensitive places inside her over and over.
Hands, thighs—her entire body tightened as sensation took over, sending her up and over the edge. She heard his shout as she came apart, the shuddering climax of his body sending hers into a second wave of ecstasy. It was almost too much to bear. Terrifying and wonderful, she relinquished all pretense of control and let it have her.
When she came back to herself, breathing hard with Nicholas’s head resting on her shoulder, she felt as if she’d been unmade. “That was…”
“You’re amazing,” Nick said, shaking his head. “I’ve never…”
They were both at a loss for words.
Nick let her down, kissing her lips and forehead as her feet touched the ground again. Her knees buckled, and he caught her. She didn’t protest as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He helped her out of her clothes, and after, she watched with a surreal feeling as started removing his own.
“What?” he asked.
Amelia smiled. “I get to watch you undress whenever I want.”
Nick’s smile was lopsided. “You like watching me undress?”
She nodded.
He had a slight blush on his cheeks as he turned toward her. His jacket fell to the floor. He reached for the buttons of his shirt. Amelia turned on her side for a better view. As each new section of his chest was exposed, she felt a stirring response in her body. It wasn’t the urgent need she’d felt up against the door, but it was no less compelling. Her fingertips traced sensual circles against her hip.
Nicholas was on the last button, his eyes locked on her hand.
Amelia let it trail down across her stomach. “Do you like watching me?”
He swallowed. “Very much.”
“Then I suggest,” she said, stilling the motion. “You keep removing your clothes.”
Nick picked up his foot, awkwardly pulling off one of his boots. He lifted an eyebrow at her in challenge.
Amelia inched her fingers closer to the juncture of her thighs. “Other boot.”
It dropped to the floor. He finished unbuttoning his shirt and let it fall on top of his jacket. She rolled onto her back, head turned on the pillow to take full advantage of the view. Her fingers dipped between her legs as he pushed his trousers free of his hips. Nicholas’s manhood responded, thickening. He placed his knee on the bed.
Amelia bit her lower lip, stroking herself.
“Show me,” Nick said. Amelia let her legs fall wide.
She hid nothing from him, and it was the most sensual thing he’d ever witnessed. Seeing her touch herself, her attention focused solely on him as she shifted and moaned—it was almost better than being inside her. Almost.
Moving the rest of the way onto the bed, Nick positioned himself between her spread legs. He flattened out, pressing a kiss to the inside of her thigh. Amelia watched him through lowered lids, her fingers moving faster. Nick scraped his teeth across her silky-smooth skin. She whimpered.
“So beautiful.” He placed a kiss right against her sex.
Her fingers froze.
Nick had a few surprises left for her. He ran his tongue the length of her center, ending in a circling swirl over the bead of pleasure she’d been stroking.
It shocked a surprised whimper out of her.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll stop,” he teased.
Amelia’s hands tangled in his hair, pushing him back down. She was so demanding, and it drove him wild. His shy Amelia, digging her heels into his back and lifting herself to his mouth. He molded his hands over her hip bones, holding her in place while he tortured her with his tongue. Surrounded by her scent, overwhelmed by the taste of her. Nick hoped to spend an eternity with his face buried between her thighs.
His wife had different plans.
She was pulling at his hair, urging him up. “I need you.”
“Right now?” He would never tire of teasing her.
Her heel thudded into his side. Nick chuckled as he crawled up her body. He took his time, stopping to lavish kisses on every inch of skin as he passed.
“Hurry,” she demanded.
He pressed his lips to the space between her breasts. “No more hurrying. We have our whole lives.”
Amelia actually growled at him.
He dropped a kiss on her lips. “You’ll like it, I promise.”
She opened her mouth to argue. Nick entered her in a smooth, single thrust. Her objection turned to a moan.
“Yes?”
“Yes,” she said in a breathy sigh.
Nick withdrew, ever so slowly. She shifted her hips, bringing him back in. His own jerked in response. For a moment, they took up the frenzied pace from earlier, but Nick regained control, pulling all the way out. If he wanted to get his way, he was going to have to make a change.
Under protest, Nick flipped her on her side. He shifted behind her, pressing against the full curves of her backside.
“What are you—”
Pulling her leg up over his, he entered her again, this time from behind. He took a fistful of her hair, stretching her body out like a bowstring. His lips found the spot by her ear. “How do you want it, Mia? What do you like?”
He felt her shudder around him. From the hand in her hair or his growling tone, Nick didn’t know. He intended to find out though.
Thrusting slow and deep, he spoke to her in low tones. “Tell me what you feel. Does it feel good?”
Another shudder gasp confirmed that it did. He slid his free hand around, burying his fingers in her slick curls. “Do you know what it does to me to feel how wet you are for me?”
She bowed her back even farther, resting her head against his shoulder.
Nick picked up his pace. He rocked into her with deliberate strokes, feeling her tighten around him in response. The symphony of sounds coming from Amelia almost pushed him past the point of no return right then. He needed her to come for him, needed her to grip him impossibly tight while she exploded in ecstasy.
Her cries started the telltale crescendo that Nick craved.
“Do you love me, Mia?”
“Yes. Oh, yes. I love you, Nick.”
When she said his name like that, in the throes of passion, it sent a jolt of pleasure straight to his cock. “Will you come for me?”
And just like that, she fell apart around him. Nick’s hips jerked in response, burying himself deep with his own release.
Amelia woke to a strawberry being placed against her lips. She kept her eyes closed, accepting the offering with a smile. A piece of cheese followed it. “Mmm. So this is what it means to have a husband.”
“I’m glad you’re finding matrimony to your liking.”
The bed dipped beneath Nick’s weight. She shifted over to make room for him. Another strawberry found its way to her lips. “Mm-hmm. I think we should live here.”
“In Scotland?”
Amelia shook her head. “Here. In this inn. In this bed. Do you think they’ll let us stay forever?”
Nick stretched out, putting his arms behind his head. “We can certainly ask. We might need to go back home, though, at least for a bit.”
That sounded like an awful idea. Home was where Lord Montrose was, and her mother, and all the things Amelia didn’t want to think about. She wanted to stay here and think about Nick’s tongue between her legs. About his hand tangled in her hair while he thrust into her from behind. She reached for him, prepared to re-enact some of her favorite memories.
Her hand encountered woven cloth instead of Nick’s skin. “Clothes? How could you?”
Nick’s chuckle filled the room. “I doubt they would have given me any food if I’d gone down naked.”
Fair point—the food was much appreciated—but he wasn’t in the taproom any longer. “I think you should get naked again.”
“I would like nothing more,” Nick answered, kissing her shoulder. “But I suspect that would occupy us for quite some time and we have to catch the coach back to Manchester.”
Amelia knew that, but she rubbed her hand over the length of him through his trousers anyway. He pulled a deep breath in through his nose, bicep flexing under the fabric of his shirt. “Surely we have a little time.”
“A little, but—”
That was all she needed. Amelia moved to straddle his lap. As she did, the blankets fell away.
Nicholas’s protest fell away with them. His hands came up to trace the curves of her breasts. “We have to go back eventually.”
“But not yet.” Amelia rocked her naked hips against his clothed ones.
“Not quite yet.” Nick leaned forward, trapping her nipple between his teeth. He drew on it with his lips, spiking pleasure from her breast straight down to her sex.
Amelia gasped. “How did I get so lucky?”
Instead of answering, he did it again. Amelia writhed against him. Ripples of need rose up in her. Amelia would never tire of the way he made her feel. The way being near him made her want to do every wicked thing ever invented.
She reached between them, freeing his erection. She stroked it in time with the pulling pressure on her nipple.
Nicholas lifted his head. “Mia. Sweet, incredible Mia. You’ll be the death of me.”
“Good.” She lowered herself on his hardness with the same deliberate speed he’d tortured her with earlier. “Pull my hair, Nick.”
His hands were there in an instant, taking a firm grip on her long curls. “Like this?”
“Yes.” She rolled her hips, testing the feel of him from every angle. Finding one that made her mind go blank with pleasure, Amelia braced her hand on his chest and rocked against him, driving their bodies into a frenzy.
“God, Mia. I’m going to… I’m…” Nick grabbed her hips, trying to slow her pace.
She took them, pinning them behind his head. “My pace.”
Nick groaned. She kissed him, needing to touch him every way she could. She rode him relentlessly, racing them both to a reckless finish. When Nick cried out, shuddering beneath her, she reached down between them and took herself the rest of the way.
He pushed her hair from her face and pulled her into a long kiss. “You’re incredible.”
“I feel incredible.” She kissed him back. “You make me feel incredible.”
“As a husband should.”
Amelia grinned. “I’m glad you think so.”
They stopped at Wakefield Manor first. It was the least likely to end well and he wanted a chance of them finishing the day on a happy note. Smithson frowned when he let them in, but he didn’t try to outright refuse Amelia entry. Philip and Caroline came out of the drawing room to greet them.
“We wanted to be here to support you when you came back,” Caroline said.
Philip looked significantly less charitable, but he nodded his agreement.
“Is Father…”
The slight shake of Philip’s head stole his hopes. Today was not a good day, then. Well, they could break the news to his mother and worry about telling Lord Wakefield another time. Lady Wakefield was the true challenge, anyway.
“They’re in the garden?”
Another nod.
Nicholas led Amelia outside where his parents were sitting in chairs, enjoying the scenery.
Lady Wakefield scowled when she saw Amelia.
He stiffened his spine. He’d known she wouldn’t be gracious. “May I present Amelia Wakefield, my wife.”
“So you’ve done it then.” She didn’t sound as venomous as he expected. Mostly she sounded tired.
“Amelia?” Lord Wakefield asked. “Like the neighbor girl. Plucky little thing.”
His mother reached her hand out. “Arthur.”
“I know you don’t like her, Lavinia, but she’s only a child, and I think she’s good for Nicholas. She brings out his spirit. A Wakefield needs spirit. Someday, when he’s a man, you’ll see. That girl will be good for him.”
Nicholas was shocked. Next to him, Amelia was equally spellbound.
“Did he just say that?” she whispered.
“Yes.” It was a sentiment he wished Lord Wakefield had expressed years ago, but he supposed it was better late than never. Even if he wasn’t in his right mind when he said it.
“Well,” Lady Wakefield. “I suppose you’ll be going now.”
Nicholas nodded. “We will, but I’d like it if we were welcome to come back to visit.”
Lady Wakefield’s response was a noncommittal sniff. It hurt as much as his father’s words had made him happy.
Amelia took his hand. “Come on. You can always try again later.”
It was true. Nothing was set in stone, and he had Amelia. That was all he truly needed.
They were on their way out of the garden when his mother stopped them with a word.
“Easter.”
Nicholas looked back.
“You shouldn’t miss Easter. Caroline and Philip are bringing the boys.”
It wasn’t an open invitation, but it was a small triumph. “We’ll be here.”