To Pleasure a Lady (Courtship Wars)

He smiled faintly. “Almost never.”

She buried her face in his shoulder as if suddenly feeling embarrassed. “You probably felt nothing like magic-”

“You’re wrong, sweetheart. I felt it, believe me.”

Arabella eased back to peer up at him. “You are just trying to charm me.”

His laugh was soft, decisive. “If I had wanted to charm you, sweeting, I would have done so before we made love.”

His declaration must have reassured her for she closed her eyes again and relaxed against him with another blissful sigh. “I suppose so.”

Marcus exhaled as well, relishing the delight of having Arabella warm and naked in his arms. Fiery magic was an apt description, he thought, experiencing a sense of triumph and something even more profound: heartfelt exhilaration. Arabella’s passion was as vibrant and exciting as he’d known it would be, and so were the feelings she’d aroused in him. He had never felt more alive with a lover, more satisfied.

Holding her close, he pressed his face into her hair and breathed in her fragrant scent. He thought fleetingly of past lovers-of their seductive charms, the endless ways they’d tried to please him-but not one of them had ever succeeded in arousing such a stark hunger in him without even trying.

A dangerous hunger. His desire for Arabella had made him forget his rational mind, Marcus realized. He’d taken her virginity tonight without any concern for the consequences.

Yet whatever guilt he felt for deflowering her, he was able to reason away. It would have happened when he made her his bride. This was only sooner than either of them had expected. Still, he should have considered the possible repercussions. He could have gotten her with child tonight.

Marcus drew an uneven breath at the prospect of little Arabellas and even little Marcuses. He had always considered the responsibility of fathering children from an intellectual standpoint, if at all. He was resigned to fulfil

ling his duty to continue his titles and carry on his bloodlines.

The idea of being a father to Arabella’s children, however, not only held immense appeal but roused a profoundly primal emotion in him.

A faint smile curved Marcus’s mouth. Drew and Heath would laugh uproariously to hear him entertaining the notion of wanting a family. And to have said family, he would first have to persuade Arabella to wed him. But now there was no question that he would succeed. He would never let her go. Possessiveness had never gripped him so hard.

You are mine now, he thought, stroking her bare shoulder absently with his fingers.

At the caress, Arabella stirred in his arms, then raised her head to glance at his chamber door as if suddenly recalling where she was.

When she uncurled herself from him and started to rise, though, Marcus caught her arm before she could leave the bed. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Back to my room. I shouldn’t be here.”

He drew her down to lie beside him once more. “You are spending the night with me. We have barely begun to explore the delights of lovemaking.”

“But the servants could discover us-”

“The servants have their own wing on another floor. And as long as you return before dawn, no one will see you.”

Rising himself, Marcus went to the washstand to fetch a wet cloth. When he returned to wash away the traces of his seed from Arabella’s thighs, the enchanting flush that rose to her cheeks betrayed her embarrassment.

He stopped her from drawing the covers over her limbs to conceal her nudity. “Don’t hide yourself from me. You have a beautiful body, and there is no shame in my seeing it.”

Arabella bit her lower lip but didn’t protest his ministrations.

“It’s just as well that I destroyed your nightdress,” Marcus observed, seeing the smear of blood on the torn cambric. “I would rather not leave evidence that you gave me your innocence. You can throw your shift in the dustbin, or better yet, burn it. I’ll give you a nightshirt to wear when I take you back to your room.”

“We made a shambles of the bed,” Arabella said ruefully as he finished his task and returned the cloth to the wash basin. But when Marcus turned around, she sucked in a sharp breath. Her gaze locked on his loins. He was heavy and aroused-and clearly ready to make love again.

“You are still…” Her face flamed even more. “I thought it took hours for a man to…recuperate.”

Marcus smiled as he climbed back into bed and gathered Arabella in his arms. “Not with the right lover. Not when a man wants a woman as much as I want you.”

“Then you mean to make love to me again?” she asked, nestling her head on his shoulder.

“We’ll see. You will be tender enough tomorrow as it is.”