Really, it was a great deal of strain to put on a couple, especially since they were a couple that had enjoyed kissing so well.
She longed for night to come. After all, it was the one thing she truly had to look forward to with Will. Oh, she’d have all the trappings of a duchess, but that wasn’t truly him. That was his position. No, she wanted to feel his arms about her again.
The breakfast, thank goodness, sped by quickly, for they had not bothered to invite a hoard of guests. Why should they? They did not need to proclaim their marriage to the world.
The gossips would do that for them.
Eventually everyone would know that she was the new Duchess of Blackheath, and she was not worried about it in the slightest.
She did not need the approval of others to do a suitable job. All she needed was her own approval and the support of her husband.
Her husband.
What a shocking word; one she’d never imagined to think, let alone say with regards to a man like him.
But here she was, thinking the word.
Husband, husband, husband.
Goodness, it was true.
William was her husband, and she was his wife.
Ben and Kit had already departed to their shared bachelor lodging.
And after she bid her uncle and her cousin goodbye and they’d departed in their coach, Beatrice turned to William in her new foyer and asked, quite mystified, “What do we do now?”
“What, indeed?” he asked, sliding his hand to her waist. They were in his house, now, where the wedding breakfast had taken place.
It was all a bit of a puzzle being a wife, and she had no particular line of study to which to turn. Especially a marriage, which specified accord but not love.
There was no book written out for the actions that a young lady should take the moment that she and her husband were alone together. And if there had been a book written, it would no doubt say that she should wait for him to lead the way.
But Beatrice was not particularly good at waiting for others to lead the way. And so she asked, savoring the feel of his palm just above her hip, “Has the wedding night already begun?”
His sensual lips parted. “Not quite.”
“Do you think that we could commence with it?”
He choked on a laugh but then sobered, his eyes darkening with that look of hunger she had seen before.
“Of course,” he said. “May I show you to your chamber?”
“That sounds like a marvelous idea,” she replied even as her insides fluttered.
While she was capable in many things, it was always nerve-racking to be new at something. And she was most definitely new at this.
“Will, can you explain—”
But as she was speaking, he swept her up off her feet and cradled her against his hard chest. A chest she admired greatly.
“Whatever are you doing?” she asked, her voice far breathier than usual.
“We’re not crossing a threshold. So, I must carry you to my bed.”
“Aren’t I too heavy?”
He quirked a brow. “No.”