Lord Sebastian's Secret (The Duke's Sons #3)(86)



“Oh.” Her father looked nonplussed, as if this should have occurred to him.

“I’ll join you, Papa,” said Edgar.

“I should like a brandy, too,” said Hilda. “As would Emma.”

“Oh…I…no,” stammered their middle sister.

Emma needed a bit of time away from Hilda, Georgina decided. She’d have to see about that when she was married. Warm anticipation ran through her. Only a few days to wait now, and tonight… She dared a glance at Sebastian. He was looking at her with a tender hunger that was unbearably exciting. Georgina caught her breath. “Good night,” she murmured, and headed for the stairs.

Behind her, her father was saying, “Not that special an occasion, Hilda. You may have some sherry, however.”

“Can’t have you befuddled with drink,” Edgar added.

Their sister’s giggle followed Georgina into the hall.

*

Sebastian paced his bedchamber, wondering how much longer he had to wait. Could bear to wait. He’d sent Sykes away, after satisfying the man’s curiosity about the evening’s events, saying that he wished to sit up for a while. His valet no doubt suspected that something was afoot—the man was too clever to miss such things—but he would say nothing.

They should have set a specific time, Sebastian thought, checking his pocket watch yet again. But how long would Hilda, for example, be allowed to stay up carousing? How long would her father and brother linger over their brandy? Would Miss Byngham wander the corridors reveling in her triumph? Would the pugs be restless, reflecting their mistress’s mood?

He could manage if he encountered one of them as he made his way through the castle. It wasn’t that. He could simply claim to be restless after his…investiture? He was just…eager. And what a poor little stump of a word that was to express all he felt, Sebastian thought. If he could say everything that swelled inside him right now, he’d be like one of those fellows in a play, striding about the stage waving their arms and declaiming for ten minutes at a pop.

The hands of his watch crawled around the face. More than once, he was certain it had stopped. Finally, he judged it was late enough. At least, he could wait no longer.

Sebastian stepped silently into the corridor outside his room. He listened. Silence. Moving with a hunter’s care, swiftly but silently, he walked along it, turned into another, and carefully counted doorways in a third. This one was Georgina’s.

Despite the risk of being seen, he stood still for a moment. What if she’d changed her mind? She might be regretting her invitation, with no way to tell him. Well, if she was, of course he’d go. No question. But he truly hoped she wasn’t. He took a deep breath and knocked softly.

The door opened at once. Georgina grasped his coat sleeve and pulled him inside, closing the door behind him. “I thought you’d never come,” she said, throwing her arms around him.

Sebastian pulled her close. She was wearing a thin, lacy nightdress, and he could feel the warmth of her skin under his hands. The heady scent of her perfume made his head spin. It would be all too easy to lose himself in wanting her. But he was still worried. “What if someone comes looking for you?”

“Why would they?”

“I don’t know. Bad luck. The perversity of fate.”

“If they do, you can hide in the wardrobe,” she whispered, a laugh in her voice.

“Not sure I could fit in there,” he replied, smiling down at her.

“You’d have to crouch down among my gowns.”

“Like the hero in a bad farce?”

“Exactly.”

They laughed together. Then he kissed her, and jokes were forgotten as their hands and lips communicated more passionate sentiments.

When she strained against him, Sebastian thought he could feel the desire rising in her as strongly as it did in him. The idea filled him with a novel sort of pride. This extraordinary woman—as wise and beautiful as any he’d ever met—loved him. How had he managed that? Wasn’t it more than he deserved? But she’d said not.

All thought evaporated as she pushed his coat over his shoulders and down his arms to pool on the floor. Her hands came back up under his shirttails, caressing his back, slipping round to his chest and making him shiver with desire. Sebastian went into a flurry of pulling off boots and stockings and breeches. He reached the end of his clothing just as Georgina let her filmy gown fall to the carpet.

They stood facing each other, utterly revealed. Well matched, Sebastian thought, and then wondered at himself. She was perfect, and he was…desperately in love with her. Perhaps that was enough. He held out his hands. She took them. Their eyes held as he led her to the bed.

With a soft laugh, she let go and jumped onto the mattress. Lying on the snowy linen, she held out her arms. He went to them.

Their lovemaking was the most exciting and tender and satisfying he’d ever known. Every touch seemed to deepen the bond they were creating, like an echo back and forth, only stronger each time rather than weaker. He reveled in the soft sounds he drew from her and the way she clutched him as she reached the pinnacle. He couldn’t imagine anything finer than to be with her, in this way and all others, for the rest of his life.

Afterward, they lay side by side, hands clasped, letting their pulses slow. What he finally recognized as joy bubbled up in Sebastian. “I never knew how it would be,” he murmured. “I never even imagined it.”

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