Read Online A Whisper of Desire by Bronwen Evans - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bronwen Evans
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to hell with the consequences. She’d always been the brave one and Helen the quieter, slightly scared shadow.
She hated fear. Her parents’ arguments used to see her cowering, until one day she’d seen the effect on Helen. She’d decided that to help Helen she had to pretend not to be frightened. From that day onward she’d never shown fear.
Until tonight.
“Oh, this is ridiculous,” she said, and stood and moved quickly to the door that joined their rooms. She didn’t bother donning her wrap. She simply knocked quietly and entered his bedchamber.
Chapter 5
She halted just inside the door, surprised to see he was not in bed. He sat before the fire, reading, wearing a claret-colored velvet dressing gown. For a moment she thought him naked beneath the soft material, for she glimpsed a bit of crisp hair at the V, but then she caught a glimpse of his trousers where the gown gapped open over his crossed legs. However, his feet were bare and it made him appear more human and less like a duke. She was surprised at how intimate the scene looked, more so than if he’d been naked in his bed. It was as if they had been married for years.
He half rose from his chair. “Is everything all right, little one?” The “one” came out in a whoosh as she stepped closer to the fire and he glimpsed her attire.
“I’m sorry if I have disturbed you.”
Knees, stop shaking.
“Not at all. Come sit.” He beckoned her to a chair as the book snapped shut. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. She thought for a moment that he looked even taller in bare feet. There were not many men who were more than half a foot taller than she. The deep red velvet gaped open, exposing more of his muscled chest, and he looked terribly virile. More virile than any man should look. She wondered what sort of women appealed to him. Did he prefer a certain type? Tall, short, buxom, girlish, dark, fair…perhaps he didn’t find her overly attractive and that’s why he could sit, calmly reading on his wedding night. Was he not consumed with curiosity about her and how they would be together, as she was?
Be brave. This is what you want. He is what you want.
She suddenly realized her thoughts were true. As she stood, staring at the display of towering masculinity before her, her body sparked like a flint when it was scraped against stone.
With a convulsive shiver of pleasure, she glided toward him, ignoring the offer to take a seat. She stopped less than a finger’s length from his enticing chest.
“I wanted to come and bid you a proper good night.” At his raised eyebrow, she said in a tone she hoped conveyed her inner desires without her having to ask. She pushed aside his robe and walked her fingers up his bare chest. “Isn’t that what a good wife would do?”
He halted her hand’s progress. “You don’t have to do this.”
A moment of doubt crept in. He didn’t desire her? Her heart squeezed tight in her chest. She moved closer to him, and flagrantly pressed against him and felt the evidence for herself. To her relief, it felt as if he very much desired her, and she’d done nothing more than enter his room. It would have made for a lonely marriage if there was to be no passion.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been alone in a bedchamber with him, but it was the first time she wanted more to happen. It was the first time she would be
with
a man, and Marisa longed for him to erupt with the burning fire that she’d experienced in his arms once before.
She answered him. “You have much to learn about me. I very rarely ever do anything I don’t want to do.” She looked into eyes swirling with molten heat. “Bear with me, as my knowledge only goes so far and you’ll have to guide me.” She stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
She heard the book drop to the floor and his arms came up to wrap her in his knowing embrace. He pulled her flush with his chest and her feet actually left the ground as his mouth consumed
She hated fear. Her parents’ arguments used to see her cowering, until one day she’d seen the effect on Helen. She’d decided that to help Helen she had to pretend not to be frightened. From that day onward she’d never shown fear.
Until tonight.
“Oh, this is ridiculous,” she said, and stood and moved quickly to the door that joined their rooms. She didn’t bother donning her wrap. She simply knocked quietly and entered his bedchamber.
Chapter 5
She halted just inside the door, surprised to see he was not in bed. He sat before the fire, reading, wearing a claret-colored velvet dressing gown. For a moment she thought him naked beneath the soft material, for she glimpsed a bit of crisp hair at the V, but then she caught a glimpse of his trousers where the gown gapped open over his crossed legs. However, his feet were bare and it made him appear more human and less like a duke. She was surprised at how intimate the scene looked, more so than if he’d been naked in his bed. It was as if they had been married for years.
He half rose from his chair. “Is everything all right, little one?” The “one” came out in a whoosh as she stepped closer to the fire and he glimpsed her attire.
“I’m sorry if I have disturbed you.”
Knees, stop shaking.
“Not at all. Come sit.” He beckoned her to a chair as the book snapped shut. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. She thought for a moment that he looked even taller in bare feet. There were not many men who were more than half a foot taller than she. The deep red velvet gaped open, exposing more of his muscled chest, and he looked terribly virile. More virile than any man should look. She wondered what sort of women appealed to him. Did he prefer a certain type? Tall, short, buxom, girlish, dark, fair…perhaps he didn’t find her overly attractive and that’s why he could sit, calmly reading on his wedding night. Was he not consumed with curiosity about her and how they would be together, as she was?
Be brave. This is what you want. He is what you want.
She suddenly realized her thoughts were true. As she stood, staring at the display of towering masculinity before her, her body sparked like a flint when it was scraped against stone.
With a convulsive shiver of pleasure, she glided toward him, ignoring the offer to take a seat. She stopped less than a finger’s length from his enticing chest.
“I wanted to come and bid you a proper good night.” At his raised eyebrow, she said in a tone she hoped conveyed her inner desires without her having to ask. She pushed aside his robe and walked her fingers up his bare chest. “Isn’t that what a good wife would do?”
He halted her hand’s progress. “You don’t have to do this.”
A moment of doubt crept in. He didn’t desire her? Her heart squeezed tight in her chest. She moved closer to him, and flagrantly pressed against him and felt the evidence for herself. To her relief, it felt as if he very much desired her, and she’d done nothing more than enter his room. It would have made for a lonely marriage if there was to be no passion.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been alone in a bedchamber with him, but it was the first time she wanted more to happen. It was the first time she would be
with
a man, and Marisa longed for him to erupt with the burning fire that she’d experienced in his arms once before.
She answered him. “You have much to learn about me. I very rarely ever do anything I don’t want to do.” She looked into eyes swirling with molten heat. “Bear with me, as my knowledge only goes so far and you’ll have to guide me.” She stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
She heard the book drop to the floor and his arms came up to wrap her in his knowing embrace. He pulled her flush with his chest and her feet actually left the ground as his mouth consumed
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