Page 12 of A Necessary Wife

Amelia saw no other choice but to move things along herself…and she reached for the hem of her chemise.

“Stop,” he barked.

She did, confounded by his order. “I want to consummate our marriage tonight, husband. Do husbands and wives not undress for intimacy?”

“Sometimes they do, but not always.” Chatham groaned out loud. “There’s no cause for haste in this matter. We should take more time,” he said, glancing at the doorway.

“Yes, but the longer we are married, the more nervous I will become about sharing your bed. I would rather have it over and done with now, so we might continue without the burden of it hanging over our heads,” she told him.

His head whipped around. “Burden?”

Amelia rushed to explain. “It is obvious that you were greatly let down by your first wife, and I am well aware of the differences between us.”

“Differences?”

“She was very beautiful, lively, and voluptuous. I am none of that. My hair does not curl about my face in pleasing waves, my breasts are small…but I’m told they will change after I have a child. I wish to make this easy for you.”

He shuffled his feet. “Believe me, Amelia, the last thing I am doing right now is comparing you to my late wife.”

There was embarrassment on his face.

“So, it is all right then?” she asked, gesturing to her lack of attire.

He nodded slowly and sighed. “As you say, best to get it out of the way before you terrify yourself and me.”

She laughed at the idea of a man being afraid of intimacy with her. “It is not so much terror as not understanding what you expect of me there,” she clarified, pointing at the bed. “I’m an old maid, and aside from public situations, we have barely touched, let alone kissed.”

“Ah. So that is the real issue,” he drawled. He stepped closer and reached for her face, and his touch was gentle as he held her jaw. “You wished to be wooed, and not having done so, you have taken it upon yourself to seduce me.”

“A kiss would be enough, perhaps,” she told him.

“I do not kiss anyone anymore,” he said firmly. “I had not kissed my wife since her betrayal became known.

Amelia gulped. “Oh…”

Chatham drew closer though, and she was relieved when he swooped in and pressed his lips to hers.

Kissing was not something she had done since her scandal, but she remembered enjoying.

Chatham’s kiss was brief, perfunctory almost.

He drew back, frowning, and Amelia lowered her eyes, disappointed.

She’d worked hard to maintain her dignity since her scandal, but she recalled all the excitement of those heady, stolen moments with her one and only beau.

But this moment was not stolen. This was her life now.

She expected something more.

Raising her chin, Amelia rose up on her toes and kissed Lord Chatham herself, knowing that there could be no risk in doing so.

Chatham, taken by surprise, did not resist.

They kissed for endless minutes, her near naked body pressed against the earl in all his splendor still. The disparity excited her, and she lopped her arms about his neck as her passions ignited.

Suddenly, the earl pulled her even harder against him, digging his fingers into her hips. He moved her toward the bed and flung the bed linens out of the way. Amelia held on to his shoulders as she was lifted and deposited there, quite willing to be swept away.

And he did that, covering her body with his quickly, all the while kissing her lips as if he were desperate for her.