might have to read up on the subject before our first family dinner,’ he joked, working to set her, and himself, at ease.
* * *
Jane tried to share in Jasper’s humour, but the brief interlude with Laura and Philip had left her shaken. Jane might have put Laura off the subject, but she’d noticed Philip scrutinising her and her husband.
My husband.
She stepped closer to him. Let Philip scrutinise them. She was a married woman now and he no longer had a say in her affairs.
* * *
It was dusk when the merry guests saw Jane and Jasper off in his landau. She could barely sit still beside him as the vehicle carried them from St Bride’s Lane to Jasper’s town house in Gough Square. In the privacy of the conveyance, she considered starting their marital relations early, but she didn’t want to shock the driver when they arrived at their destination.
Instead, she enjoyed the weight of his arm on her shoulders and the solid muscle of his thigh beneath her palm while they laughed about Mr Jones having tried to outdrink Mr Charton and failing.
Once they reached his house, he introduced her to his few servants, then showed her around the recently painted and repaired narrow rooms filled with the same gaudy furniture as his office. Like the furniture in the warehouse, it had belonged to his uncle and had come with the house. They poked into this room and that, discussing the minor details of housekeeping while avoiding the most important one waiting for them above stairs. They’d been friends for years and shared some of the most private events of their lives. None of those would compare to what was about to pass between them.
At last, with darkness settling over the house, they lit the candles and followed the housekeeper, Mrs Hodgkin, upstairs. Jane’s things were settled and away in Jasper’s room, her life at last completely one with his, leaving only the melding of their bodies to accomplish. At thirteen, she’d dreamed of this night, but as she’d watched him from the back of Philip’s landau as it pulled away from the Charton house, leaving him to his family and the ship that would carry him away, she’d never believed it possible. She held up her hand and the large diamond in her wedding band sparkled in the candlelight. He was hers and she was his.
‘Do you like it?’ he asked.
‘I do. It’s as overdone as the rest of your things.’ She motioned to the large, gilded four-poster bed from the warehouse, all but engulfing the room. It had been assembled and cleaned with a large mattress affixed to its sturdy frame.
‘Redo the rest of the decor if you like, but I assure you, by tomorrow you will not want to part with this piece.’ He slapped the post of the bed and it barely shivered, unlike her.
‘You’re so sure.’ She swallowed hard, suddenly nervous.
‘Incredibly so.’ He slipped his arms about her waist and the room constricted even more.
‘I hope you’re right. After hearing so much about the deed, I’d hate to be disappointed.’
‘You won’t be.’ He entangled his fingers in her hair, dislodging her curls from their pins as he brought his lips down to cover hers.
She gripped his shoulders and her knees began to fail. This was it, the moment they would at last become more than friends, but man and wife. She followed his lead, trying to match his moves as though they were engaged in a game of chess, but she soon gave up. All she could do was feel his breath against her cheeks, his hands gliding up her back and the anticipation engulfing her insides when he began to undo the buttons of her dress. Button by button he freed the silk from her shoulders until it dropped down over her hips to pool at her feet.
He leaned back to take in the curve of her waist beneath the stays and her breasts taut against the confining boning. Her skin tingled with the expectation of his touch, but instead he shrugged out of his coat and waistcoat before pulling his shirt over his head to reveal his captivating chest. He was all hers now and she was free to do anything with him. She touched his stomach lightly while he slid his hand up along the satin around her waist before reaching behind it to undo the laces of her stays. While he worked, he pressed light kisses to the tops of each breast, making her breath quicken before she inhaled sharply as her stays came loose and dropped to the floor.
The chemise billowed out around her as she stepped forward to caress the line of him, as curious about him as he was of her. Beneath his breeches she saw the evidence of his need and wanted to see more. She undid one button of his fall, waiting for him to stop her, but he watched with a crooked grin, his pupils as wide and dark as the next button she undid. At last the fall gaped open and she hooked her fingers inside the waist of his breeches. His chest expanded as her fingers brushed the smooth skin beneath while she pushed the buckskin down over his hips.
She followed them lower, coming face to face with his desire and wondering how she’d accommodate such a thing. She stood up fast, embarrassed for the first time this evening. He didn’t leave her to suffer, but gripped the sides of her chemise and pulled it over her head. She stood before him naked, her breasts heavy beneath his admiring gaze, but she made no move to cover herself. She trusted him to guide her tonight.
He caught her by the waist and pulled her to him again. Her breasts flattened against his chest while his member pressed hot and full against her stomach. He clasped her buttocks as he brought his mouth down against hers, raw and hungry in his need. With small circles he traced the line of her neck. She arched back while he dipped lower and lower until his lips took in the tender point of her breast. She cried out, digging her hands into his hair as she braced herself against the sensation his caressing tongue created deep inside of her.
Aware of the ache he’d raised, he slid his fingers down her hips, trailed them across her stomach and then slipped them between her legs.
None of the books ever described this! She rose up on her toes, his caresses pushing her toward something just out of her reach. Then he withdrew and she moaned in frustration as she lowered herself, but he didn’t allow it to last. He gathered her into his arms and carried her to the bed, continuing to tease her tongue with his.
The sheets were cold as he laid her on them and then covered her body with his. He gently nudged her legs apart with his knees and settled between them. She gasped as he pressed against her and she opened herself wider to him, ready to take him in. He didn’t push forward but lingered there, painfully close and yet holding back.
She shifted her hips toward his, trying to draw him in, but he moved away again.
They’d been apart for too long, across too many years and so much sadness. She wanted to be one with him, to claim all of him as he was claiming all of her. She brought her lips to his ears. ‘Please, don’t draw away.’
He stilled in her arms. His heart beat against her chest and he rested his cheek against hers so she couldn’t see his face. She didn’t move, wondering if she’d made some mistake and if he’d slide off and leave her with the terrible, aching need in her body and her heart.
At last he rose up on his elbows. Sweat glistened on his forehead. ‘Are you sure you truly want me?’
‘I always have.’
He claimed her mouth with urgency, as if he could kiss her deep enough to erase their time apart. Then he brought his hips forward and in one smooth motion joined with her at last.
* * *
Jasper
