Page 68 of The Lord Next Door
That melted her, and she clutched his waist tighter. His voice sounded husky, as if even he had trouble speaking. The ache she’d felt in her breasts whenever he touched her now bloomed into a need so fierce, she didn’t know how to react, what to think. She just stood there as he gently kneaded her breasts until she could feel every caress tugging deep into her stomach, even between her thighs.
It was she who pulled away this time, stumbling backward as she crossed her arms over her chest. It couldn’t be right to need him this badly, to surrender herself so completely. There were so many things unsaid between them.
“Did I push too fast?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. “No. I just never expected—never imagined—”
She wanted to ask if it always felt like this, but she didn’t want to hear how other women had once made her husband feel.
“In the end, I’ll touch you even more intimately, Victoria,” he said, and there was a rawness to his gaze that made her feel needed.
“I know,” she whispered.
“Good night.”
He turned and walked away, and she let him go.
~oOo~
When David entered the dining room for breakfast, Victoria was already there, reading the newspaper with a look of concentration that he found endearing. He didn’t see a notebook in sight. Didn’t she always study it to begin her day?
She looked up at him, and instead of a smile, she watched him solemnly, her eyes half lidded, a woman contemplating passion.
She wet her lips, and he watched her mouth. He wished fiercely that this half marriage could be over and a real one begun. The moment lasted long between them, and it was finally Victoria who glanced at the footman and took a deep breath.
“I keep looking, but I don’t see anything more about the factory bill.”
David was in a daze as he filled his plate at the sideboard. “We’re still debating it. It might take weeks before it even goes back to committee for revision.”
Now she was studying him in a way that no longer had anything to do with passion. He inwardly braced himself.
“I’m still thinking about Mr. Dalton’s dinner party,” she said. “He is a member of Parliament, and perhaps it would help your career to attend.”
“Victoria, he and I speak every day.”
“But you don’t speak to all the other people he would be inviting.”
“I probably do. You have said yourself that you have no fond memories of dinner parties. Last night was the last you’ll have to attend—or host—for a while. I’m sure that will give you plenty of time for your music.”
They ate in silence for several very long minutes. But his wife was not a woman to dwell in petulance. Before long, she was speaking again as if they hadn’t had a disagreement.
“I received letters from my sisters today,” she said.
“And how are Meriel and Louisa?” he asked.
“Very well, but of course you already know that.”
“What do you mean?”
She laid her hand on his, and he stilled at her touch.
“You’ve begun to send them each an allowance.” Her voice was soft, mild, with traces of an emotion he couldn’t name.
“They are my dependents now, too.”
“You’re not fooling me, David.” Her eyes glistened as they stared into his. “You don’t owe them anything. You just want to help out of the goodness of your heart.”
“Perhaps I just don’t want them underfoot someday.” He slid his hand out from under hers and continued eating. “That is a rational motive, after all.”
