The first guests began to leave about eleven, and by midnight they waved the last straggler off. Kitty and Jim had retired to their flat above the garages long ago and Kitty had promised she wouldn’t disturb them until she called them for Christmas Day lunch at one o’clock the next afternoon. The day after that they were flying to Hawaii for a month’s honeymoon. Morgan had booked a little villa right on the beach.
They stood wrapped in each other’s arms on the doorstep as the lights of the car faded down the drive. A million stars twinkled in a clear velvet sky and the frost glittered like diamond dust on the ground, thick and white. The dogs had gone out as they’d seen their guests off and now filed past them into the warmth of the house, sensing it was their bedtime at last. They’d accepted her presence in Morgan’s life completely.
Morgan grinned at her. ‘We’ve been keeping them up. I think they were ready for bed long before this.’
She turned in his arms, kissing him hungrily. ‘Them and me both,’ she murmured. ‘I didn’t think the last few would ever go.’
With a groan of longing he pulled her into him and then lifted her off her feet, carrying her over the threshold for the second time that day. Kicking the door shut behind him, he held her high against his chest as he kissed her, devouring her mouth as she yielded to his maleness, her body boneless and fluid against his. She was trembling but not with fright, and as his mouth crushed hers possessively she strained against him, wanting more, passionate and willing for all the love he had to give.
By the time they reached the bedroom they were both breathing raggedly, their faces flushed. From somewhere Morgan found the strength to slow down. This had to be so right for her after all she had been through and he didn’t want to rush it. They had a thousand tomorrows and he would make sure they were all filled with happiness and fulfilment but tonight—tonight was precious, a night apart. Tonight she became his wife.
An ice-bucket with a bottle of the best champagne and two flutes, along with a huge bowl of hothouse strawberries, was standing on a small table close to the bed. He made himself walk across and pour two glasses after he had set her down on her feet, returning immediately and placing one glass in her fingers before he said, ‘To us, Mrs Wright.’
She smiled up at him and touched his cheek with her palm. ‘To us, Mr Wright. And you are right for me, so right.’
They drank deeply before he set the glasses down and took her in his arms again, covering her face with kisses before he turned her round and began to undo the tiny buttons, kissing and nuzzling her shoulders and the nape of her neck as he did so. He edged the dress apart, caressing the silky skin of her back, before continuing with the myriad buttons, swearing softly once or twice when a particular button resisted his efforts and making her giggle.
‘Of all the dresses in all the world…’
‘I wanted to look beautiful for you,’ she murmured softly.
‘Believe me, my darling, you don’t need clothes for that.’
When the final button gave up the fight he turned her round to face him and as he did so she let the dress fall to the floor. The look of wonder on his face was all she could have wished for. ‘My surprise,’ she whispered, suddenly overcome with shyness at the expression on his face. ‘Happy wedding day.’
‘You’re more beautiful than words can say,’ he breathed against her skin, his hands cupping her breasts as his mouth explored her curves. He peeled off her bra and then her stockings, taking his time, using his hands and mouth with exquisitely controlled sensuality as he knelt before her. When he removed the scrap of material that was her panties, followed lastly by the garter, she tugged at his hair.
‘My turn,’ she murmured plaintively.
He smiled, rising to his feet and standing before her as she undressed him. Now it was she who stroked and tasted the contours of his body, the hard muscles that shivered under her fingers and the roughness of his body hair exciting her as she teased him. By the time he was naked he was hugely aroused.
He lifted her up and carried her over to the bed, placing her on the black satin sheets and lying down beside her. She had half expected that their first time would be a quick and lusty coupling born of the desire he had kept a rein on for so long, but Morgan spent a long time showing her differently. He kissed and tasted and caressed every inch of her until she was mindless beneath him and begging for the release only he could give. And still he continued to please her.
She had never dreamt her body was capable of what it was feeling, that it was possible for pleasure to reach such a pitch that it was unbearable in its intensity. He introduced her to things she’d had no idea of, things that would have made her blush in the cold light of day but which were so right in the warm womb of their room. And all the time he whispered words of love and passion, taking care not to hurt her, her pleasure his only focus.