Page 31 of Loving an Earl
He moved to the next breast and gave it the same treatment, and she thought she would lose her mind if he didn’t stop. Sensations were flooding her, overwhelming her. She didn’t know whether to scream from pleasure or frustration.
And then he moved, kissing his way down her stomach, his tongue circling her bellybutton. Dear God, she was going to die. He nudged open her legs, and then his mouth was there. Shock had her trying to close her legs, but his voice was low and inviting. “Relax and enjoy. You will love this, I promise.”
He licked and sucked her womanhood and moaned out loud while he did so. She reached down and buried her fingers in his thick hair, needing something to anchor herself to as she felt out of control. She was on the edge of a great precipice and afraid she would fall to her death. A pleasurable death, but death nonetheless.
When he slipped a finger inside her body where no one had ever been before, not even herself, she almost sprang up off the bed. Instead, she reached out with her free hand, fisted the sheet tightly, and tossed her head from side to side as something inside her exploded. Her legs shook uncontrollably as sounds she’d never made before escaped her lips and reverberated around the room.
Edmund kissed his way up her body, one hand still between her legs and her body wiggled shamelessly against his hand. And then it was gone, replaced by his hard member as it nudged against her opening, and she tensed. His mouth took hers, and he tasted different, earthy but not unpleasant. She lost herself in his kiss as his member slowly penetrated her body. She broke the kiss and gasped at the fullness of his invasion. He’d barely entered her and she wondered how he would fit.
He buried his head in her neck. “You are tight. You feel so good. Open your legs wider and let me in.”
She did as he asked. He thrust his hips against her hard. She gasped and swallowed the pinch of pain as he filled her completely and then he froze, lifting his head and looked at her with concern. “You are very tight. Am I hurting you?”
“You’re not hurting me.” By this point, the sting was easing, so she let the coming together of their bodies, a rhythm as old as time, work its magic, and she rolled her hips, reached for his face, and kissed him as he’d kissed her before. This time, she tasted him and bit his lip as he pumped himself in and out of her pliant body.
He braced one arm beside her head and moved the other between them and touched her, sending her spiraling over the ravine into the abyss. Edmund arched his back; a loud groan escaped his lips as his face tightened, and she felt the warmth of his seed spread inside her.
He pulled out and rolled onto his side, taking her with him. Her back nestled up against his front. He reached down for the covers, drew them up and held her in his arms. His head nuzzling the back of her neck.
*
Edmund’s heart continuedpounding as he held Lilly close to his chest and inhaled her rose fragrance. A fragrance he smelled in the sitting room between what were Henry and Lilly’s chambers the first time he’d been to Langford Manor after his uncle’s death. Unfortunately, his mind wouldn’t relent and let him sleep.
He felt bad leaving her in the middle of the night after they had made love, but there would already be enough talk in the morning among the household. If he could ease the situation by leaving now, he should. He would hate to make Lilly uncomfortable with unnecessary gossip.
He walked home. It took only thirty minutes, and he made his way into his study and poured himself a brandy, his mind still swirling with thoughts of Lilly, of her marriage to his uncle, of his own feeling of being drawn inexorably toward her.
When he’d first returned to London, he’d found two sealed letters in a false bottom drawer he was probably never meant to find. Across each, in Henry’s handwriting, was writtenFor Henry’s eyes only. He had respected his uncle’s privacy and left them where they were unopened. But he reflected now—most desks that he knew of had a drawer like that, so Uncle Henry must have known he would find it someday.
He ignored the tingling feeling on the back of his neck and broke the seal to the first letter. It was a handwritten note.
In case anyone has the whither all to question the marriage between Henry Weston and Lillianna St. Claire, the marriage took place on 10 April 1814 and was consummated on that very night.
His uncle and Lilly had both signed it at the bottom. Edmund found it odd, to say the least.
He cracked the second seal and unfolded the other letter. It was a document drawn up by Mr. Beauregard, and as he read it, Edmund’s eyes widened in shock. Why had his uncle set up a trust in Lilly’s name with such an exorbitant amount of money? As his uncle’s widow, Edmund was obligated to pay Lilly a certain allowance. Did Henry think he would not take care of Lilly? Had he thought so poorly of him that he believed Edmund would not do his duty by her?
In a flash of memory he recalled asking Lilly if she was receiving her monthly allowance from him, and she’d said yes. Why had she never mentioned the trust? Even if he had known about the trust, she was still entitled to the funds from him, and he would continue to pay her what she was due. But why had she kept this truth from him?
His heart began to pound, he began to sweat, and he found it hard to take a deep breath.
Did she have more secrets? Had she told him any outright lies? Was this Annabelle all over again, a connection doomed to end in sorrow?
No sooner could he finally see the possibility of making a future together with Lilly, than his heart was ripped from his chest.
What else was she keeping from him?
Chapter Twelve
Lilly awoke toan empty bed where Edmund had been. Her body was a little sore from their lovemaking, but she was glad to be a virgin no longer. Keeping it hidden from everyone, including Emmeline, was exhausting. She was always afraid she would slip up and say something telling.
She was nervous for when she saw Edmund again. They had no understanding between them, and she didn’t know what to expect. She rang for Daisy and requested a bath. Once inside the rose-scented hot water, she sighed with relief as her body relaxed and her soreness eased. Her mind went back to last night and Edmund. It was a night she would never forget, and she wondered if he thought of her this morning. As much as she was disappointed he hadn’t woken her up before he’d left, she had to believe he’d done so because he didn’t want to disturb her sleep.
Later in the morning, Lilly and Emmeline went to the Duchess of Greenville’s home for their Ladies’ Society of Mayfair meeting. During the carriage ride, Lilly told her about sleeping with Langford, but it seemed she’d already suspected.
“Harrison expressed his apprehension at letting Langford up to your chambers and came to me,” Emmeline said, watching her closely.
Lilly’s face heated. “I never thought about the household knowing.”
