A Season Beyond a Kiss (13 page)

“I’ll try the coffee,” she volunteered before he could summon their waiter back.

Jeff arched a dark brow dubiously. “Are you sure? The coffee may keep you awake all night.”

The corners of her mouth curved upward coquettishly. “Were you planning on letting me sleep?”

“Drink your coffee, madam,” her husband urged. The taut depressions in his cheeks lent his grin a devilish charm that was irresistible, especially to a young wife who was already well on her way toward being totally captivated. Lifting his own cup, Jeff silently toasted her. “We have a long night ahead of us.”

5

Whatever the shape of the capricious brilliance, it seemed intent upon searching out some sublime nectar as it swept over the one lying amid the rumpled sheets. The blazing beams highlighted auburn tresses curling in glorious disarray upon a downy pillow and impishly chased across darkly lashed eyelids serenely closed in slumber, but whenever the radiance masqueraded as a scintillating array of tiny specks, it seemed to take special delight in dancing across swelling mounds partially concealed by a snowy white sheet edged with embroidered lace.

Lean, brown fingers reached out and, with careful diligence, lifted away the covering, exposing the pale, lustrous body to the dappled light. From the edge of the bed where he stood tall and naked, Jeff slowly perused the curving form now illumined by the whimsical radiance of the solar orb. It was much like considering a lavish feast; he didn’t know exactly where to begin.

Bending a knee upon the edge of the mattress, Jeff leaned across the bed until he lay braced on an elbow beside his sleeping wife. For a long moment, he made no effort to touch her, only admired her dainty features and softly parted lips, but the temptation to do more than just look proved stronger than his power to resist. As lightly as the brush of a butterfly’s wings, his mouth caressed hers with fleeting kisses, parting her gently curving lips until they began to respond. Her creamy throat provided a pathway to more tantalizing ground, and soon he was savoring the sweetness of a delicately hued crest. Smiling sleepily, Raelynn threaded slender fingers through the short, raven strands at his nape and arched her back to receive the best of his attention. He gave it eagerly and continued on with fervent dedication until she was all but writhing beneath his delicious assault.

“Please, no more, Jeffrey,” she pleaded. Against her will she had found herself swiftly advancing toward that same rapture he had taken her to time and time again during the night gone past. “I’m nigh faint.”

Pressing her down flat upon the bed, Jeff leaned above her and smiled down into eyes that had grown luminous with desire. “Why would you have me stop now, madam?”

Admiringly Raelynn traced a forefinger over the male visage as the scent of his cologne drifted with the strength of a well-aged brew through her senses. The morning light bathed the chiseled planes and angles of a warmly bronzed cheek and the muscular contour of a shoulder and arm, making her keenly aware of his fine, manly appearance. Had he been some Greek god who had awakened from stone to vibrant life, he could not have aroused her awe more readily.

Her fingers continued their inspection, touring the fascinating grooves that marked his handsomely chiseled cheeks. From a distance, a stranger might have supposed them small scars that had puckered his cheeks, albeit captivatingly, except that when he grew solemn, they disappeared entirely. Just as quickly they deepened with the degree of humor he displayed.

During the brevity of their marriage, Raelynn had come to the realization that she had difficulty believing in her own good fortune. Being the wife of such a man seemed a position reserved for loftier, more dignified ladies, not one barely past the difficult years of puberty. Just as frequently she had wondered when reality would awaken her and she would realize that all of it was nothing more than an enchanted dream. “Because I want to wait for you.”

“Do you now?” Grinning, Jeff cocked his head curiously as his hand paused. “And have you no liking for my caresses?”

Beneath his glowing eyes, a blush crept into her cheeks. “So much so, Jeffrey, that you make me forget everything else, and I am swept away by the bliss you create within me, yet I enjoy such pleasure far more when we’re joined as one and can share the experience as husband and wife.”

He searched her face, amazed by her wifely commitment to their unity. Not more than a day or two ago, he had suspected something entirely different about the woman he had married. “You’re not overly tender after our night of love?”

Though Raelynn lowered her gaze from his probing stare, her mouth curved upward winsomely at the corners. “I forget about all of that when you assuage the hurt.”

His lips twitched as he teased, “No longer afraid of my base parts, madam?”

Color suffused her cheeks even as she shook her head with a definite denial. She sent a fleeting glance chasing upward. “You’ve made me crave
everything
about you.”

Willing to accommodate his beauteous wife, Jeff rolled upon her, but surprise soon lit Raelynn’s face when she realized that he had other things in mind. His eyes gleamed into hers, much like those of a puckish little boy pestering a girl with pigtails. Except that this was no child’s play, but a married couple bent on extracting exotic delights from every moment of their foreplay. Raelynn became a willing spectator to his teasing as he used his maleness to awaken that part of her that was most sensitive to stimulation. She experienced the same quickening excitement, the same catches in her breath as he had done in the carriage the day before, yet, whereas his passions had gone unappeased until they had gained the comfort of their bed, she had every hope that both of them would reach that lofty height well before they ever left its soft confines.

Lifting her head from the pillow, she kissed his brows, his cheeks, his nose and his subtly cleft chin with a womanly appreciation for all that she saw. In claiming his lips, she soon gained his ardent response, and their mouths and tongues joined in an avaricious search. Still, he tantalized her, stroking himself against her dewy softness, boldly skimming beneath the outer fringes, until strengthening tremors began to assail her. Unable to subdue a muted moan, Raelynn rose up against him in an anxious quest to ensnare the fiery blade. Chuckling softly at her mounting impatience, Jeff yielded to her urgings and pressed fully home, causing her breath to catch at the onrushing waves of pleasure that washed over her. Scrubbing her hands over his tautly fleshed ribs, she cooed near his ear as she whispered assurances that she did indeed feel as if she had been made for him. In the next moments she was meeting his quickening thrusts with a growing eagerness to please and be appeased.

  
  R
AELYNN CLASPED THE SHEET HIGHER OVER HER
bosom and, in spite of the restrictions of the confining shroud, shuffled across the room to an east window, from whence she could view the world outside. Jeff had informed her that they would have to wait until their bath cooled before they could make use of it. During the interval, she had sought to familiarize herself with her new wifely domain and to see all the sights available from the master’s chambers. She could hear Jeffrey stropping his razor in the bathing chamber as he hummed softly to himself, evidencing his cheery mood after a night of sensual delights and, more recently, a return to their own private nirvana. Though hardly a qualified judge of voices, she was led to believe that he could sing fairly well as a baritone; he certainly could hum on the proper key, but as far as making any final judgment, she would just have to wait until he actually burst out in a song. A bride normally had many things to learn about her spouse, but in her case, there was much more than the usual, considering the fact that they had been complete strangers mere hours before they had spoken their vows.

Pulling aside a silken panel, Raelynn scanned the scenery beyond the window and smiled as she took note of the early weanlings frolicking in a lush meadow beyond the stable. Apparently they were feeling rather frisky in the cooler weather presently gracing the countryside. Seeing them chase each other about, she made a mental note to ask her husband to take her out for a ride one day soon and to show her some of the land that comprised the plantation. It was doubtful with the thousands of acres he owned that she could view it all during one afternoon’s excursion, but she had to start somewhere. Then, of course, there was the fact that she hadn’t been riding for almost a year, and though like the older foals, she was anxious to test her skills, she wasn’t all that confident about her stamina.

In turning aside from the window, Raelynn became mindful of the desk that was angled in such a way that the front of it faced three corners of the room, allowing whatever light that streamed through the French doors and window to be of immediate benefit to anyone working there. Residing on top of the finely tooled leather were a pair of glass inkwells in a brass holder that bore a small statue of a bronze horse and a slender brass sheath for a quill. Nearby lay a curved knife with a handle carved in the shape of a ram’s head. Although rather large for such a service, she could imagine that it functioned fairly nicely as a letter opener. The hazard would be if it slipped across a hand or finger, for the blade looked positively wicked.

Her gaze fell on a leather-bound volume lying open on the desk top. In growing curiosity she picked up the book, turned it over to see the title, and discovered that she held within her grasp a copy of “
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border
” by Sir Walter Scott, a collection of poetry published in Britain to great acclaim the previous year. It had sold so well that many of Sir Walter’s readers had gone in want of a copy. To see the book here in the Carolinas left her totally amazed by the resourcefulness of the man she had married.

Raelynn leafed through the pages, noting as she did so that the edges had been neatly cut to the very last page, no doubt by the knife she had just seen. Jeff had obviously readied the book for a reading and, from the presence of a bookmark tucked near the center, she guessed that he was in the process of indulging himself in that particular pastime.

Raelynn smiled at the idea of her quintessentially masculine husband having a desire to read such a book. Jeff conveyed such a strong manliness in nearly everything he did that it was difficult to imagine him enjoying poetry. More pronounced than the pleasure he took in reading was his love of horses, his skill with firearms, his dedication to his work, his plantation, shipping company, and the lumber mill he owned with his brother. Then, of course, there were his very manly attributes, some of which made her blush with secret delight to recall.

“Our bath is now tolerable, madam,” Jeff announced, stepping from the bathing chamber with a scant linen towel wrapped about his narrow hips. “Coming?”

“Your obedient servant,” she said, playfully bobbing a curtsey before him.

Jeff braced his fists against his lean waist and, feigning the scowl of some dreaded pharaoh, peered down his noble nose at her as he arched a dark brow to a lofty height. “A servant, you say?”

“Yes, my lord,” Raelynn replied in a guise of humble obedience. “Your every wish is my command.”

“Is it now?”

She peered at him suspiciously and decided she didn’t trust the devilish gleam in his eyes. Her responding grin was reminiscent of an elfish sprite. “Then again, sir, a lady must have some reservations.”