The Wagered Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

savored the warmth of the alcohol—along with a sense of well-being—men removed his coat and his cravat. He cursed himself for having dismissed Robbins before he removed his boots, but finally managed to get them off.
    He waited for her to call, but there was no sound from the other room. He sipped at another glass of brandy and waited some more, increasingly impatient. Finally, he went to the bedroom door and gently pushed it open. She sat on the edge of the bed staring blindly at the floor. She was dressed in a cotton nightrail more suitable to a schoolgirl than a bride. Strangely enough, he found her garb appealing.
    â€œCaitlyn? Are you all right?”
    â€œY-yes.” She turned large questioning eyes toward him.
    He sat beside her and put his arm around her. “It will be all right. I promise.”
    â€œI-I’m sorry to be so henwitted. It is just that I . . .” She buried her face in her hands.
    He gently pulled them away. “I know. Neither of us has been married before.” He stood, pulling her up with him. He kissed her, hugging her to him, aroused by the pressure of firm young breasts against his chest. He caressed her back and deepened the kiss. She put her arms around his neck and responded warmly.
    Part of him knew he should be taking this much more slowly, but another part of him—a throbbingly eager part—wanted her now—right now. Still holding her with one arm, he reached over to toss back the covers on the bed and nudged her into it.
    He quickly divested himself of the rest of his clothing and crawled in beside her, sliding his arm under her to pull her close. He groped for the edge of her nightrail and pushed it up, caressing her thigh as he did so.
    â€œT-Trevor? What are you doing?”
    â€œSsh. It’s all right,” he whispered as he felt for the most intimate part of her body.
    â€œI do not think so,” she said aloud, her doubt quite clear. She pushed at his hand and tried to pull the hem of her gown back down.
    â€œYou are my wife. And I want you,” he said. Oh, Lord, how he wanted this. He knew he could not wait much longer. “Relax, sweetheart. Let me in.”
    â€œI do not understand. What is it you want me to do?”
    He told her, and she did as he said, but she did so mechanically. The shy warmth she had shown earlier was gone, but he was beyond thinking of anything but his own desperate need.
    â€œOw!” she cried. “You’re hurting me.”
    He put a hand over her mouth. “Be quiet. Do you want the whole inn in here?”
    â€œNo,” she whispered, “but that hurts.”
    â€œIt always does the first time,” he said, sounding at least to his own ears as though he knew what he was talking about. “It will get better.”
    He tried to kiss away her fear. She lay quietly for a few moments.
    â€œIt is not getting better,” she announced. She pushed at him. “I want you to get off me.”
    â€œI . . . I can’t,” he gasped as his body seemed to be acting independently of any conscious direction. She pummeled his back with her fists.
    Finally, when he rolled off her body, she tossed the blanket aside and leaped from the bed.
    â€œOh, my heavens! There’s blood!” she cried. “You have injured me something dreadful.”
    â€œKeep your voice down,” he said fiercely. “That is perfectly normal. Good God. Did that aunt of yours tell you nothing of the marriage bed? Can you truly be so ignorant?”
    She sniffed, looking down at him. “Can you truly be so selfish and unfeeling?” She ran into the dressing room, and he heard water splashing.
    He rose and put his trousers and shirt back on. He went to the other room to retrieve his boots. He had to get out of here. Take a walk. Or something.
    He suspected he had not handled this well.

    Caitlyn heard her husband moving around in the bedroom. She also heard the bedroom door and then