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“But Mr. Graham insists—”

“Mr. Graham will never admit he could be wrong; however, Richard said he has seen men under his command suffer the same injury as I did, and they recovered in only six months’ time. It has been eight months since I was hurt.”

William let go a heavy sigh. “Richard was not with those men on a daily basis, watching them tremble whilst trying to stand as I have seen you do.”

“No. But Richard watched as they returned to the battleground.” When William did not reply, she continued. “Please believe me when I say that if you make me your wife now, all shall be well. In fact, it shall be more than well, for I do not think I can bear much longer being near you but not truly being yours.”

William tightened his embrace and closed his eyes. “Please understand, sweetheart. There were times when I thought … I believed you might die, so I will not resent having to wait as long as it takes for you to heal.”

“I know you do not resent the waiting, and it only makes me love you more. Still, you must trust me to know myself better than Mr. Graham.”

As Elizabeth began to pull him towards her bedroom door, he pleaded, “I am only a man, Elizabeth. Flesh and blood, and I want you so badly I cannot breathe. If you continue this—”

“If I continue, will you love me?”

When she rose again on her toes to kiss him, William tried one last time to resist but failed. In mere minutes, he was returning her kisses as passionately as she gave them. They continued to kiss as they manoeuvred into her bedroom, and William kicked the door shut with his foot.

“When do you expect Mollie to return?” he managed to say.

“She is not to return until I ring for her.”

That settled the matter for William.

William had seen naked women before, but none as beautiful as his wife when he pushed the robe off her shoulders. Elizabeth was petite to be certain, but her breasts were generous and her hips were wide enough to make her waist appear even smaller. As he stood transfixed, she stepped forward and began to pull his shirt over his head. Spurred into action, he helped her accomplish that; then she immediately began undoing the buttons on his breeches. Since she was doing an admirable job with that, William let her finish before pushing the offending clothes to the floor. Now as completely nude as Elizabeth, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her more ardently than ever.

Of course, his body had signalled its desires the moment he saw Elizabeth naked, and his manhood was now pressing hard against her abdomen. Lost in desire, he began to explore her body—first by cupping her breasts gently before moving his hands around to her back and sliding them down to cup her perfect bottom.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he murmured as he began planting hot kisses on every place imaginable: her face, across to her ear and then down her neck to her décolletage. “I have waited so long for this moment, but I fear hurting you—not only when I take you as my wife, but I fear disturbing your wound. Are you afraid, too?”

“My aunt explained what to expect regarding our … our union. She said there may be some pain at the beginning, but it will quickly be forgotten in what is to follow. As for my wound, even Mr. Graham says it has healed remarkably well. Besides, any pain I may experience cannot be worse than the pain of being your wife without us actually having become one.”

No longer able to argue against what his entire being desired, William captured Elizabeth’s lips in a fierce kiss. Poised to fulfil her every wish, this kiss led to another and then another, until he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Tossing the counterpane to one side, he laid her down on the satin sheets and joined her. Talk was forgotten as he rolled atop her, being careful to brace himself on his arms, and began worshiping her body. Soon her breathing sounded as desperate as his own, as he made short work of kissing every inch of her soft, lavender-scented skin until he reached the dark circles of her breasts.

Feeling as though his heart might burst when he captured the first perfect pink circle in his mouth, he gently suckled it before focusing on the second soft mound. A strangled sound escaped Elizabeth’s throat when the nipple hardened under the ministrations of his tongue and her fingers gripped his hair even tighter as he repeated the deed with the other nipple.

Lost to sensations she had never experienced before, Elizabeth writhed beneath him whilst softly moaning, prompting William to slide one hand between them to persuade her legs to part. Having spent years dreaming of making love to the woman in his arms, when she opened to him, he answered the invitation by sliding inside her as far as possible and ere long settled into a steady in and out rhythm. Soon Elizabeth began to experience something she had never known before—pure ecstasy. When at last a rapturous wave of pleasure overtook her, she felt as though she had fallen off a high summit and was slowly floating back to earth whilst murmuring his name.

At liberty to find his own pleasure, William thrust again and again until he, too, found release. Not willing to break contact, he stayed joined to Elizabeth and quickly rolled over, taking her with him. As she lay splayed across his chest, he murmured in her ear, “You are so precious to me, sweetheart. Tell me truthfully. Are you in any pain?”

If he could have seen Elizabeth’s blissful expression, he would not have had to ask. “I am perfectly well, my darling. In fact, I am incandescently happy to finally be able to say I am yours completely.”

William lifted his head to place several kisses in her hair. “I am so relieved to hear that, my love. In fact, I intend to make it my life’s work to make you happy from this day on, by any means at my disposal.”

“If my happiness is what you desire, you will stay just as you are until I have rested sufficiently to persuade you to love me again.”

William could not stop smiling. “I do not think you shall have to do much persuading.”

Elizabeth turned to kiss his chest. “I am glad to hear it.”

“I must ask, however, are you hungry? We can have tea and refreshments now or wait until dinner and have trays brought up.”

“At present, all I am hungry for is more of you.”

So ecstatic that he found it hard to speak, William said, “Let me see if I understand. You do not wish to indulge in tea or refreshments at present?”

“That is true.”

“Do you wish me to inform Mrs. Reynolds that we intend to skip tea and have dinner trays sent up later?”