Page 27 of The Duke's Improper Bride
Nora winked at Isaac, then nodded to the maid.
Isaac bit his finger, looking away as his wife accompanied the maid into the bathroom. Every inch of him was ready to pounce. Patience might be a virtue, but it was never a strength of his. Tonight was no different.
After the maid left, Nora excused herself, instructing him to wait until she called for him. He eyed the door, seeing glimpses of her as the lamps were lowered to a soft golden glow. He shifted himself, his pants long past the point of being comfortable.
“Come in,” Nora called at last.
Isaac removed his suit jacket, then kicked off his shoes and socks. He halted in the doorway, hit with a wave of rose and jasmine, and the sight of his wife, naked, in the large copper tub.
Lit candles were scattered around the tiled bathroom. The room was steamy and warm, a far cry from the cold stretch of the Scottish Highlands where they first met. And Nora sat in the water, flower buds floating around her as she smiled at him, her hair curly and pinned up.
He remained there, struck by in the glorious sight of her, this powerful and beautiful woman. Somehow, she was his. Somehow, they were man and wife.
The truth punched him straight in the stomach, leaving him breathless as she chuckled.
“Are you g-going to join me?”
He closed the door behind him as he shed his waist coat, tossing it to the floor. Isaac bent, sinking to his knees, and cupped Nora’s face between his hands. He drew her mouth to his with soft kisses, while panic and excitement warred in his chest. Nora deepened the kiss, opening his mouth with a gentle nudge of her tongue.
If he were a dying man, the taste of her would be enough for his last meal.
Nora reached out and tugged at his shirt, removing his shirt tails from his trousers. He laughed against her mouth, but this only spurred her on, and her hand dropped lower, falling momentarily to his waistband.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, please.”
Her hands returned to their job of unbuttoning his shirt as they kissed. Lust wasn’t the right word; this was something else entirely. Whatever this feeling, he had never experienced it before. He had never been so consumed by a woman before. His hands ached to hold her, his mouth longed to taste her, and his cock, well, his cock was greedy as hell and wanted to bury itself deep inside her.
She freed him of his shirt. It landed across the bathroom, almost knocking over a candle. They both chuckled as he stood and removed his trousers. But their laughter died when his hands gripped the waistband of his smalls.
Nora met his eyes, her own suddenly lit with a want that mirrored his own.
His heart drummed in his ears, nearly drowning out the thoughts circling in his mind.
With a deep breath, he lowered his smalls and stood before his wife.
She appraised him, her eyes sweeping over his body with such heat he was almost convinced she had caressed him with her hands. She reached her hand out for his, not saying a word, and drew him into the tub with her.
* * *
Nora sankinto the water with Isaac opposite her, his long legs wrapped around hers, his knees poking out of the water.
“Next time, I’ll be sure to procure a larger tub.”
His smile faltered, but the desire in his eyes did not. It burned down to her belly, that gaze. She swallowed, reaching beside the tub for a cloth. “It’s been a long day.” She pushed herself forward until she stood on her knees before Isaac, and with a soft hum, she gently wiped the day from his face. Nora was careful as she stroked the side of his neck and swept the cloth over the breadth of his shoulders. He was tall and lean, but his shoulders gave away his secrets. She could feel the tension knotted there after years of burden.
She froze as he reached out, brushing a hand over her breast.
“Nora,” he whispered.
Slowly, she looked up from his finger circling her nipple to meet his stare.
“You’re so goddamn perfect. And I don’t want to…I want to be a good husband. I want you to know that you’re wanted and important. And I don’t want to ruin what we’ve found together.”
Something within Nora cracked—her heart maybe—at his words, at the way her heart suddenly longed to know if she could safely call him home. It was too early, and this marriage had been hasty. And she barely knew her own heart, how was it expected to suddenly open to another fully without a deeper understanding?
Even if she were, in that moment, wonderstruck for the man before her.
And Nora didn’t trust it. Not completely.
