My Darling Caroline Read Online Free PDF Page B

His voice grew deeper and thicker as he continued to caress her skin. “Then what else can you do?”
    She shrugged, lowering her lashes to stare at the center of his chest. “I…plant things.”
    “Hmm…gardening again.” He raised both hands to rest them atop her shoulders, starting a slow massage of her bare skin.
    Caroline caught her breath, entranced by his boldness. The touch wasn’t all that intimate for a married couple in the privacy of their home, but it made her nervous nonetheless. What bothered her was that he probably noticed it, too.
    “Do you like this?” he whispered roughly.
    She nodded slightly as the warmth of his palms seeped through her skin.
    “So tell me about your sisters. What are their names?”
    She blinked, confused at the turn in conversation. “My sisters?”
    He shrugged negligibly. “I’d like to know more about your family.”
    She wondered for a moment why on earth he could possibly care, but he just looked at her innocently, curiously, gently caressing the tops of her arms.
    Relaxing forcefully, she murmured, “Jane is the oldest at thirty, and Mary Anne is twenty-seven. I, as you know, will be twenty-six in eighty-six days.”
    “Eighty-six days, Caroline?” he repeated with a grin.
    She faltered, then simply ignored that. “Next is Charlotte—”
    “Charlotte?” His hands stopped moving, his brows furrowed. “You have a sister named Charlotte?”
    She pulled back slightly. “What’s wrong with the name Charlotte?”
    He stared hard, then began massaging her again. “Go on.”
    She took a deep breath. “Charlotte is twenty-two, and Stephanie is the youngest at seventeen. They’re all married except Stephanie. She’ll be married next spring.”
    “Mmm…”
    An uneasy moment ticked by, until she finally sighed and asked, “Have you any close relations?”
    “None.”
    “Oh…” She waited. “And how old are you, Brent?”
    “I’ll be thirty-four on the eighteenth of March.” Smugly he smiled into her eyes. “How many days is that, Caroline?”
    She wanted to laugh at his arrogant question. Instead, she beamed, leaned her face toward him, and whispered huskily, “Exactly two hundred and twenty-four, my lord husband.”
    Brent gaped at her, amazed, and at first quite certain she’d made up a number to throw back at him. But something compelled him to quickly add the months and days together, and although it took him several moments to do so, he knew her figure was probably accurate. She would have to be fairly bright to make such summations in seconds, or more likely extremely bright, and suddenly, to his surprise, he found his once plain and unattractive wife incredibly appealing. Grinning at him with eyes the color of dark chocolate, revealing the dimple in her cheek and a beautiful white smile, made her almost irresistible. She was teasing him, probably without awareness, and he found himself thoroughly enjoying it.
    “Remarkable…” he said lightly with a gentle lift of his brow.
    She continued to smile proudly, relaxing to the pressure of his hands, her arms falling loosely to her sides. Smoothly he continued to massage her shoulders, growing anxious to touch her more suggestively. He had to conclude that his sudden desire for his new wife was strictly due to his prolonged state of celibacy, and that he finally had a woman to lawfully bed at his leisure. To be fair, however, he also had to admit he now thought her attractive, even striking to look at.
    Her wedding gown was made of ice-blue silk flowing loosely to her ankles, but the bodice fit low and snugly across her deliciously, now noticeably ample breasts. With her hair loosely wrapped in pearls and pinned on top of her head, soft curls framing her face, he could hardly keep himself from freeing the dark, silky tresses to fall down her back.
    She belonged to him now, and with that thought in mind, he decided to help himself to his new acquisition. Quickly, expertly, he turned one of his