Page 96 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt better,” she purred, settling back.
He undid the buttons down the front of her pelisse.“I dreamed of us together in this bed, you know.”The husky edge to his voice betrayed his struggle for control.“I feared it might never happen.”
Athene had expected this first tumble after the long hiatus to be fast and fierce.But something about the empty house and the quiet and the winter sunlight streaming through the mullioned windows made her linger.Tarry over every sensation.Use her body to express her profound love for this man, here where they’d set up their life together.
Something in Hugo’s face told her that he felt the same.He took his time sliding her pelisse off her shoulders.Then he undid the pearl buttons on the bodice of her pink merino gown.
Her yearning breasts mounded above her stays.He needed only to push away her filmy lawn shift to touch her.When he cupped her bare breasts in his large, adept hands, he set off a cascade of pleasurable shivers.
She released a broken breath as his thumbs grazed tight nipples.Very gradually she began to move, relishing the long glide.
“That’s it,” he muttered.“Don’t stop.I can feel how much you love me.”
“I do,” she sighed, hardly knowing what she said as radiant warmth enveloped her.
For a long time, she undulated over him, circling her hips until he reached the places that made her shake.The whole world glowed with desire.Athene bit her lip as the inevitable spiral to climax started.She was almost sorry their ecstatic communion veered toward an end.
Her movements became less controlled as Hugo bucked upward.For a dazzling moment, she poised on the brink, becoming one with the sunshine.Then she plunged forward into the brilliant light of invincible love.
He groaned as she convulsed around him.For the first time, she felt the hot rush of his seed inside her.The sensation was exquisite, unforgettable.
As the storm ebbed, she slumped across Hugo’s chest, gasping for breath.“I’ll love you forever, Hugo,” she whispered into his damp skin.
His arms closed tight around her.“Forever, Athene.”
Forever.What a perfect word.
Epilogue
Hampden Crags, Yorkshire, May 1828
Athene was enjoying a peaceful morning in Hampden Crags’ well-stocked library when Hugo appeared at the door, bearing a rectangular parcel wrapped in brown paper and string.
Two of the room’s three occupants raised their heads, both knowing what the package contained.The third person continued to gurgle happily in his crib in the corner.Master William Ivor Brinsmead was, at six months, a little too young to realize the significance of this moment.
Young Sylvie Brinsmead at seven, jumped up from where she’d been drawing pictures of her pony Mushroom and ran to twine her arms around her father’s waist.“Is that Mamma’s book?Show me, show me!”
Hugo glanced down from his great height at the miniature person clinging to him, and his lips curved with the delight that he always showed in his bright, outspoken daughter.“I think your mother should see it first, don’t you, Syl Bill?”
Athene, loving to witness her daughter and her husband’s mutual adoration, rose and stepped around the desk.“That’s a new nickname.What happened to Silver?”Hugo loved playing games with Sylvie’s name, and Sylvie loved it when he did.So did Athene.
“You can’t call me Syl Bill,” Sylvie complained with a toss of her dark head.“Bill is William’s name.”
“Maybe I should call you Silly and him Billy,” Hugo said with a twinkle in his eyes.
“No!”Sylvie said in protest.“I’m not silly.I’m very clever.Miss Grey says so.”
“Well, I’d never disagree with Miss Grey,” Hugo said.Sylvie’s governess was an undisputed treasure and even better, she appreciated all of Sylvie’s quirks.
Athene canted in over her daughter and kissed Hugo, then tugged the parcel from his hand.She stepped back and picked up some scissors from the top of the desk to cut the string.
“What’s wrong?”Hugo came up behind her.She turned to see him holding Sylvie’s hand.
Athene’s beloved husband had always known her too well.Right from the first, when his ability to perceive her feelings had verged on the uncanny.Now she met his questioning gaze and summoned a smile.
She suspected it was a weak effort, because his concerned expression didn’t lighten.Her husband was still breathtakingly handsome, and eight years of happy marriage had lent him a settled, contented air that sat well on his noble features.
These days, she was a different woman, too.Love and Hugo had made her more generous and readier to trust in a benevolent universe.After all the lonely years, she still found herself upon occasion marveling at the abundance of joy she’d found in her family and in this picturesque corner of Yorkshire she called home.William’s arrival had placed the final stamp on her happiness.
