page9 (1/2)

Alice’s stoe mixture of anxiety and excitement Edmund summoned her maid, a dainty wo Alice to the master bedchamber

The previous day, Alice’s wardrobe of clothes and other personal effects had been transported by wagon to Westfell Primrose reassured her mistress that all had been stoay safely

The bedroo would sleep in and not a lowly engineer’s daughter The golden drapes, e about the posts Alice fingered the fabric, ad the quality She truly had become a lady of wealth and status

Alice seated herself before thetable and Primrose brushed the curls out of her dark hair until the ends licked about her shoulders Staring at her reflection, Alice could see her nervous disposition clearly and wished she knehat to expect fro of the rudi witnessed a stallion s of nature, what happened betwixt man and wife in the bedroom remained somewhat of a mystery to Alice

Primrose bobbed her curtsey and left Alice to wait for her husband She wondered if she were to undress or lie on the bed, even take sanctuary under the covers Perhaps he didn’t wish to see her body, merely feel his way about her form

The door opened and Alice sprung up as if she were one of Edmund’s foot soldiers

He stood by the door, shutting it behind him and looked Alice up and down A s her blush He rehout the day’s events In the church with the sun shining through the stain glass s, he had looked especially dashing

With one hand, he undid his sword belt and tossed the weapon onto a nearby chair Then he unbuttoned his collar, reet, which protected his vulnerable breastbone, and loosened the white cravat about his neck with a sigh of a relief

“What do I do?” whispered Alice, enorance

“I shall undress you, ood start”

He approached and circled about her treer flicked her hair and another lifted her chin up so she could see his eyes Exquisite grey eyes and a narrow nose adorned his handsorew in appreciation and delight He may be over a decade older than herself, but it didn’t show in his physique nor were there lines about his face

Crouching down, he took hold of her ankle and lifted up her foot Balanced precariously, her hand reached out to the bedpost to find support Seeing him crouched below, his sturdy back and shoulders bent over, she re-directed her hand, bringing it down to lean on hi ertips and even through the thick fabric of his jacket The touch quickened her pulse

He slipped her feet out of her flat shoes, which he placed under the bed “There, such dainty feet,” he commented softly

Her tre hand slid off his back as he rose up He seeazed down, the heat eer palpitations His hands brushed against her sides, cliher until they found her shoulders The sensation sent a tingle of shivers down her spine

With each passing caress of his hands, she had a crippling sense of losing control over her body How did he do it? Barely touching and with only the penetrating greyness of his eyes, he rapidly sent her spiralling into an unknown place in her mind He unlocked a secret haven of desire and she craved to have hi else She couldn’t put her finger on what exactly her body needed from hi