Chapter Eleven
The grandfather clock in the drawing room ticked at an abnormally slow pace. Each swing of the pendulum only emphasized how long Opal had been gone. When she left, she promised to be back “soon”, but so far, she’d been gone for two hours. If he’d been smart, he would have asked her how long “soon” was going to be.
No matter how much Landon tried to get into the book he was trying to read, he couldn’t concentrate. Maybe he’d done or said something to upset her. It hadn’t seemed like anything was bothering her, but he knew so little about people, ladies in particular, that he wasn’t sure he would have picked up on it if there was something he did to upset her. It was a shame Guy hadn’t been there to watch the two of them. Guy would know if something was wrong. He was good at that kind of thing. He just wasn’t good at keeping his money.
The clock struck three, and Landon turned his gaze to the window. He couldn’t see much of anything but the other townhouses from this view. With a sigh, he put the book down and went to the window so he could see the people who were coming and going by the place. To his relief, he saw Opal walking up the steps that led to their townhouse. She was smiling. That was good. Smiling was good. She looked like she was happy to be coming home.
Landon hurried to the door of the drawing room, just in time for the footman to make it to the entryway. In his excitement to see her again, he almost called out to the footman that he could get the door, but then, he decided against it. To come up with the words that wouldn’t require him to lisp would take too long. So he stood in the hallway and waited as the footman opened it.
As soon as she entered the townhouse, she went over to him. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long.” She kissed his cheek. “I thought I was only going to be an hour, but then the twins woke up and I wanted to spend some time with them. They’re adorable. When you feel comfortable with my family, you should come with me. Now that we’re married, they’re your niece and nephew. Of course,” she added with a grin, “your brother has a child. We can’t forget him. Or his wife. We should visit them, too.”
The doubts that had been plaguing him departed. She had returned to him with a kiss, and better yet, she was happy. In the future, maybe he wouldn’t be so quick to think the worst.
“I’m glad you had a good time,” he said.
“I did, but it’s nice to be back.” She slipped her arm around his and led him to the staircase. “I think it’s too late in the day to shop for items to make this place our home, but it won’t be too late to go to Hyde Park. We can take a stroll or ride horses.”
“What do you want to do?” he asked as they ascended the stairs.
“I want to do what you want.”
“I’d like to go riding.”
“Then we’ll go riding.”
They reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hall in silence. Had this been yesterday, he would have considered such silence to be awkward. But since she was content to be with him, he felt at ease with it.
When he entered his bedchamber, he fully expected her to go to hers so they could change into their riding clothes, but she shut the door to his room and went back over to him. He was trying to think of the best way to ask her what was wrong without having to use a word with the letter ‘s’ in it when she kissed him.
On its own accord, the memory of last night, specifically how good it’d felt to make love to her, came rushing to his mind, and his body made it no secret that it would much rather be in bed with her than taking a horse ride through the park.
Ending the kiss, she whispered, “I hope you don’t mind if we slip into your bed before we change into our riding clothes.”
Then to further demonstrate what she had in mind, she let her hands slide down his chest and to the part of him that hardened in anticipation. He hadn’t thought they’d be doing this until the evening. Sure, he’d been thinking about it all day, but he didn’t dare imagine she’d want to be with him before dinner.
“Do you mind if I see it this time?” she asked as she traced the length of his erection.
“No,” he whispered and unfastened the buttons on his breeches.
Last night, he never would have been brave enough to do this. But now, his excitement in being with her was prompting him to do whatever she wanted.
His penis was soon exposed to her, and she reached out to cradle it in the palm of her hand. From there, she proceeded to trace the length of him with her fingers. Her touch was soft, akin to the brush of a feather along his shaft. Her fingers then went to the tip of his penis, which made him shiver in pleasure. It was definitely a lot better when she touched him instead of him doing it himself. He closed his eyes and let out a moan.
“Did I hurt you?” she asked.
“No. It feelth good.”
He winced. It was hard to focus on the right words to say when she was touching him so intimately. But he didn’t want her to stop, so he squeezed her shoulders in silent encouragement then lowered his head to hers and kissed her.
She parted her lips. Accepting the invitation, his tongue slid into her mouth, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Groaning again, he interlaced his tongue with hers. She, in turn, continued her exploration of his erection. Yesterday, he didn’t think it was possible that he could be so open to her, but there was something about making love to her that made it safe for him to be vulnerable. She was accepting him. All of him. It really didn’t matter to her if he couldn’t speak eloquently like other gentlemen. She liked him just the way he was. And for that, he was grateful.
In his enthusiasm, he wasn’t paying much attention to who took off which garment or in what order. All he knew was that by the time they were in bed, their clothes were strewn about the room in a haphazard manner. It hadn’t been at all orderly like he had envisioned when he’d thought about taking her to bed that night.
But he supposed it didn’t matter. She was soon on top of him, and she took him into her body. She let out a soft moan, murmured something about how wonderful it felt to be filled by him, and then proceeded to make love to him. He brought his hands to her hips and guided them so that she was moving up and down his shaft, and he couldn’t help but notice that he was able to thrust inside her with more ease than he had the night before.
He tried to hold off on the inevitable. He wanted this to last as long as possible. But between the exquisite feel of her flesh, the image of her breasts bouncing above him, and the way she moaned in pleasure, he couldn’t put off his release. Giving one last thrust deep into her core, he cried out and grew taut as he filled her with his seed.
She stilled above him and allowed him to ride out each wave of pleasure as it crashed into him. He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but he thought this climax was more intense than it’d been last night. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been so nervous this time. Or maybe it’d been because she’d touched his penis or maybe it was the view of her as she moved above him. Either way, it didn’t matter. It felt incredible. He didn’t think there was anything else on earth that could come close to the thrill of making love to her.
When his head cleared, he realized she was kissing his cheek and then his neck. Though out of breath, he managed, “Do you need to climax?”
She rose so that she could look at him. “Would you mind touching me like you did last night?”
“I’ll do anything you want.”
She got off of him and rolled onto her back. He rolled onto his side and took a moment to get a good look at her. There was no better sight than seeing her completely naked beside him. He brought his hand to her breast, cupping it for a few seconds, and then he brought his hand between her legs.
With a contented sigh, she parted them. He slid two fingers into her, and she rewarded him with a groan. Recalling the technique he’d used last night, he stroked her core. He lowered his head to her mouth and kissed her while he continued his ministrations. This was even better than last night because this time, he was more confident in what he was doing.
Before long, she stiffened against him and let out a cry to let him know she’d reached her peak. His fingers stilled inside her, and he took the moment to enjoy how her core clenched and unclenched around him. Just like last night, it was nice knowing he had been able to bring her pleasure. He wanted her to look forward to being in bed with him as much as he looked forward to being with her.
She relaxed against him, and he pulled his fingers out of her. Remaining on his side, he brought her into his arms. Being with her after they made love was just as wonderful as it’d been last night. He was afraid to voice the thought, but he hoped she wanted to spend every night with him. Even if they didn’t make love, he at least wanted to hold her. Just being with her made him feel complete. Until now, he hadn’t been aware that a part of him had been missing. She truly was his other half.
“Landon?” she asked, her voice soft in the room.
“Hmm?”
“Is it all right if we stay here for the rest of the afternoon instead of taking a ride in the park?”
She was kidding by asking that, wasn’t she? Surely, she could tell how much he’d rather be in bed with her than going to the park. She was far more exciting.
He glanced at her, and when he realized she really wasn’t sure if he would be content to hold off on going to the park until another day, he smiled and kissed her. “I’d rather be here with you,” he whispered.
A smile crossed her face, and she returned his kiss. “Good, because I enjoy being in bed with you.”
“I enjoy it, too.” Then realizing how silly that sounded, he amended, “With you. Not me. I’m with me all the time.” He winced. Did he just make things worse? “I mean that I enjoy being in bed with you.”
She chuckled and gave him another kiss. “I know what you meant. You don’t have to explain it.”
Probably in an effort to prevent him from making a bigger fool of himself, she kissed him again. But he didn’t mind. He welcomed her kisses for whatever reason she wanted to give them, and it was even better when she was kissing him in his bed, without her clothes on. He pulled her closer to him and deepened the kiss, eager to make love to her again.