Page 34 of The Mistletoe Countess
This brought his gaze to hers. “Different?”
He quickly moved his focus back to his book. Peculiar. She touched a hand to her loose hair. Did having all her hair down and wild about her shoulders shock him? Where was that beautifully endearing look he’d given her during the wedding ceremony? Perhaps it had only been a look of admiration at Lillias’s gown. She gasped. Or a part he played for the crowd? Oh! That didn’t sound loving at all.
She pushed away the thought. Certainly her hair was the culprit. “Now that we’remarried.”She exaggerated the word, still a bit in awe at the whole notion. “Apart from having more alone conversations with you, I don’t know that I feel different.”
“I’m certain the feelings will come with time and…familiarity.”
She smoothed out her blankets again, fluffed her pillow, and sighed. Why did something seem very wrong? Maybe hehadbeen pretending all along. “May I ask you a question?”
He closed his eyes and grinned before looking over at her, his gaze trained on her face. “Yes, Grace.”
“I’m sorry to keep interrupting your reading. I can tell you are very interested in your book.”
“Not really.” He narrowed his gaze as if pondering his response. “I’ve read the same sentence five times since you entered the room.”
Well, that didn’t sound like pretending. “Because I keep interrupting you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Oh.” She studied him. “Why?”
He sighed and placed his book down on his lap, turning to face her as much as their beds allowed. “To be perfectly candid, Grace, you are a very beautiful womanandyou happen to be my wife. We have a future to build together, and sometimes these close quarters can make it…challenging.”
Her smile faded. Oh dear, he didn’t like her at all. “I talk too much, I know. I even talk in my sleep, but I’ll try to leave you alone so these close quarters won’t be unbeara—”
“Grace.” He shook his head, his lips quirking into a smile that made her have kissing thoughts all over again. “The challenge is not your talking.”
“It’s my fidgeting, isn’t it!” She sighed into a pout. “My chattering away, my distractibility, and my fidgeting. What a horrendous trinity of errors for an earl to have in a wife. Father tried to warn me that grand ladies do not—
“Grace.” He held up a palm to still another excuse. His lips twitched, and then he swallowed so hard she heard it.
Look how difficult it was for him even to find the words to describe her exorbitant number of shortcomings! Poor Frederick needed much more than a Dickens Christmas miracle. He needed a fairy godmother!
“Though there are certain characteristics of an aristocratic lady that you’ll learn in time, some of which you’ve mentioned, I was particularly referencing the fact that…well, simply put…” His pallor flushed with a red hue as he averted his gaze and waved a hand toward her. “Seeing you in your nightgown makes me wish to pull you into my bed and do…more than kissing.”
“More than kissing?” Her eyes widened. “Better than kissing?”
“God help me.” He cleared his throat. “The combination of kissing and the more make what I have in mind quite pleasant.”
What an utterly fascinating idea! Sleeping in his bed? She’d slept alongside her sister before, especially during storms, but what would it feel like to share a bed with him? “I enjoy time with you, especially the kissing parts. I think I can manage whatever…togetherness you have in mind.”
His jaw tightened. “Do you really have no idea of the intimate workings of a husband and wife?”
“Well, I know about the kissing and an occasional loss of clothing, but Lillias told me she’d share more when I became engaged.”
“I see.” He released another sigh.
She really was a troublesome creature, and the poor man had married her. Was he regretting it all now?
“There is more to it, but it is an intimate affair that requires, in the best cases, the mutual readiness of each party, especially if the pair wish to engage in such affections on a frequent basis.”
She certainly wanted to engage in his kisses on a frequent basis. She stared at him for the longest time, trying to sort out why his entire body looked as stiff as sitting in a pew on Sunday.
“So we need to become better acquainted before we engage in such intimate affections?”
“Yes, that’s it.” His voice firmed as if he’d come to some sort of decision. “Exactly.”
She studied him again, at a complete loss to his meaning. “Do you think it will take a long time for us to become that acquainted?”
