Chemistry of Magic: Unexpected Magic Book Five (Unexpected Magic #5)(76)
“It’s time!” With only that warning, he loped off.
“I will need you here when my time comes,” Bridey had explained as she ordered Emilia to accompany her in the birthing of Ashford’s first child. “I’ve done my best to train the Wystan midwives about cleanliness, but your knowledge of herbs is superior to mine, and your gift is beyond valuable. The marchioness is strong and healthy and this should be an easy birth for you to learn from. I have not been so fortunate, so I want the best talent available when my time comes.”
Emilia understood Bridey’s desperate desire for a child of her own. Pascoe’s twins were adorable. He had his heir. But that wasn’t the same as having a piece of one’s self to love and nurture and provide hope for a brighter future. For her own reasons, she was more than a little interested in learning about this next step in being a wife and woman.
So Emilia joined the other females in the castle in lighting candles, chanting, and welcoming the new infant into the world. Celeste’s gifted voice soothed and celebrated at the same time. A modest woman of large and generous nature, Christie, Lady Ashford, seemed delighted with the entire ceremony and joyfully joined in the chant when she was not gasping with her contractions.
As lavender incense perfumed the air and music vibrated the walls, Emilia sensed the stirring of the castle’s ancient spirits. It was almost a physical sensation of a veil lifting between worlds, combined with sensual anticipation. Maids and ladies alike held hands and repeated the old songs, occupying a timeless universe with all the centuries of women who had come before.
The ceremony kept the men at bay until the cry of the newborn pierced their songs and the air shivered in jubilant triumph.
“A boy,” Bridey cried in delight, lifting the red, kicking infant into the air for inspection. “Ashford has his heir!”
“And I will call him Malcolm,” the marchioness announced, holding out her arms for the babe.
“Over my dead body!” Ashford roared, forcing his way past the barrier of women as they released each other’s hands and allowed him in.
Emilia chuckled, and at a nod of approval from Bridey, she slipped away.
Appearing amazingly healthy in an unfastened coat and waistcoat that revealed his wide chest, Dare waited impatiently in the corridor. “Now,” he demanded, his hungry gaze practically ripping her clothes away before he lay a hand on her.
“Now, yes,” she agreed, feeling the excitement shivering the old walls. Tonight, the spirits walked.
Chapter 22
Emilia inhaled deeply of the musky scent of Dare’s shaving soap. She loved that he didn’t use the sweet soaps other men used, or perhaps his natural scent neutralized the perfume. Whichever, the fragrance was seductive in itself. When combined with the knowledge that he’d bathed and shaved while waiting for her. . . He made her feel special, as if he truly noticed her preferences and cared enough to indulge her. Nothing could arouse her more than to know that this brilliant, dashing man considered an uninteresting creature like herself worth his time and trouble.
When he led her back to their shared chamber, and she saw what else he had done, she nearly wept in disbelief at his attention to seductive detail—for her. He’d lit the room with flickering lavender-scented candles, filled glassware with every flower blooming in the village, and had a hot bath steaming before the fire.
“I think I’ll keep you,” she murmured senselessly, wiping at a tear threatening to roll down her cheek. She swung around, stood on her toes, and hugged his neck while spilling kisses over his jaw.
When Dare’s mouth deliberately covered hers, she nearly expired of shock and pleasure.
They’d been married for over a month, and they’d not once properly kissed. His mouth was hot and demanding, and she nearly swooned from the sensual power of his hunger. Beneath his insistence, she parted her lips, and the sweet invasion of his tongue shot desire straight through to her womb. Who had time for a bath at a time like this? She tore eagerly at his neckcloth.
His hands worked the fastenings of her bodice while she tugged his linen loose. She groaned beneath the intense torture of his mouth as Dare backed her toward the bed. Emilia took advantage of his unfastened coat and waistcoat to run her hands over the linen covering his chest, until he undid his placket buttons so she could tug the shirt free of his tight trousers.
He rewarded her by bending her back against the mattress and plundering her breasts through her chemise. The ribbons came loose, and soon he had her nipple in his mouth, suckling, until she cried surrender.
They were supposed to be going slowly, but the night air filled with song and vibrated with seduction and it had been so long. . . The flickering light gleamed in his honey-gold hair and revealed his broad, bare chest beneath the half-open shirt, and she wanted to lick him all over.
He had other plans. Emilia cried out as Dare tugged her skirt and petticoat up, and cool air caressed her thighs. She felt as if she would die of emptiness if he did not join her now. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she urged him toward her. He hastily finished unbuttoning his trousers. She whimpered with need as his male organ brushed her female petals.
“I wanted to do this properly, my love,” he murmured, coming up for air and letting a draft blow across her aroused nipples. “I have a speech prepared telling you how much I adore everything about you, how you’ve changed me for the better, and how much I will love you until the end of time. I don’t think I can remain coherent to speak it properly. Thank you for being mine.”