somewhere deep down, she couldn’t help feeling the slightest twinge of something unpleasant. A foreshadow of something to come.
It was 11:15 p.m. by the time Phillip walked Hannah to her suite. He left to change out of his uniform while she went inside where her maids were waiting to help her out of her gown. To unfasten the row of miniscule buttons up the back.
It seemed to take forever, but finally she was free. She dismissed them immediately, so she’d have time to see to all the preparations she had been planning.
She took the box down from her closet, the one she had been saving for this day, and from inside of it pulled out the pure-white, silk-and-lace nightgown. She slipped it on and it dripped over her body like liquid, conforming to every curve.
Since Phillip liked her hair down, she fished out the pins then brushed out all the gel and hairspray until it lay shiny and soft against her shoulders. She dabbed a touch of perfume behind her ears and along her collarbone.
As Hannah asked, Elizabeth had decorated the bedroom with white candles. Dozens of them on every possible flat surface, all lit. When she turned out the lights, the effect was exactly what she had hoped for. Soft, flickering light.
The maids had turned the bed down and left two perfect red rosebuds, one on each pillow. A bottle of champagne chilled in a stand by the dresser.
It was exactly as she’d imagined.
“You’ve been busy,” Phillip said.
She jolted with surprise and spun around. He stood, leaning in the bedroom doorway, watching her. He wore slacks and a long-sleeved silk shirt that was untucked and lay open. His skin looked warm and golden in the candlelight.
She felt absolutely naked in the scant gown, but she resisted the urge to cover herself. She didn’t want him to know how nervous she was. “I didn’t hear you knock.”
“That’s because I didn’t. I thought you wouldn’t mind, now that we’re married.” He walked toward her, a hungry look in his eyes as they raked over her. “It would seem that I’m overdressed.”
The shirt slipped off his shoulders, down his arms and landed on the floor. The candles were supposed to make her look good, but, oh my goodness, he was beautiful.
He didn’t stop until he was standing right in front of her. She just hoped he didn’t notice the thud of her heart, the way her hands trembled. She didn’t want him to know how nervous she felt.
He reached up and touched the lacey edge of the gown where it rested on the swell of her breast. “This is nice.”
She swallowed hard, willing herself to relax.
“Nervous?” he asked.
“No,” she said, but it came out as more of a squeak than an actual word. She cleared her throat and amended her answer to, “Maybe a little. Are you?”
He grinned and shook his head.
Of course he wasn’t. Unlike her, he had done this before.
He leaned down, kissed her bare shoulder, his lips soft, his breath warm on her skin. “You smell good,” he said.
So did he. She loved the way he smelled, the way he felt, yet she couldn’t seem to make herself touch him.
Why was she so afraid? It wasn’t as though she had never touched him before. But for some reason this time was different. Maybe because she knew what the end result would be.
His hands settled on her hips, large and steady, and she couldn’t help it when she tensed.
“Relax, Hannah.”
She took a deep breath and blew it out.
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. This is my first time.”
Rather than act disappointed, he smiled. Not condescending either. This was a smile of pure affection. “Just do what comes naturally. Act on your instincts.”
That was the problem. Her instincts seemed to have lost their voice.
“You could start by touching me.” He took her hand in his and pressed it flat against his chest. It felt so solid under her palm, his skin hot to the touch.
He tugged her closer, nuzzling the hollow behind her ear. It felt amazing, better than amazing.
He nipped the curve where her neck met her shoulder, making her skin shiver with awareness. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure you were a virgin.”
“You weren’t?” How could he not tell?
“Not after that night in my suite. You seemed to have a pretty good grasp on what you were doing.”
He kissed her throat, the line of her jaw. “This is no different.”
His hands slid up her sides, his thumbs brushing the outermost edge of her breasts. She felt them tingle, the tips tighten into painful points.
“So, no man has touched you like this?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Never?”
She shook her head. She could see by his smile that he liked knowing she was his, and his only. She liked it, too.
“No one ever did this?” He cupped her breasts in his hands and a whimper slipped from her lips. His thumbs grazed back and forth, teasing her, and her skin went hot.
Then he picked her up and placed her on the bed. He unfastened his pants and slid them off.
Hannah couldn’t help but be drawn to the front of his boxers. To the impressive-looking ridge underneath. She was no expert, but he looked…generous.
He settled beside her, propped up on his elbow, smiling down at her. A sleepy, sexy grin. “Here we are.”
“Here we are,” she agreed. Finally. She had been beginning to feel as if this day would never come.
He brushed her breast with his lips. Once, then twice, then he took her in his mouth, silk and all, and the sensation was so shockingly intense that she gasped and arched her back.
She couldn’t help wondering what other places he could use his mouth.
He hooked his index finger around one strap of her gown and eased it down her arm until her entire breast was exposed. And when he took her in his mouth this time, there was no fabric barrier. This time she felt everything. His tongue, his teeth. The wet heat.
A sound came out of her, like a moan, but more desperate, and she realized her fingers were tunneling through his hair. She was arching against his mouth, urging him to take more.
Phillip seemed to be fascinated by her. He kissed her breasts, her mouth, touched her in ways that made her shudder and quake. And her own hands seemed to have taken on a life of their own, exploring the secrets of his body, touching him like she had only imagined in her most intimate fantasies.
