Marjorie Farrell by Lady Arden's Redemption

Author:Lady Arden's Redemption [Redemption, Lady Arden's]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

When Arden awoke, she found herself in the middle of the bed. Gareth’s body was pressed closed to hers and she could feel something warm pressing against her belly. His hand, she supposed. For a moment, she lay there, not quite awake, and she had to admit, a bit dazed by the unexpected pleasure and comfort his closeness brought her. Then she realized that this was no way to start a marriage of convenience. She did not want Gareth thinking that he could just casually pull her close like this. One thing could too easily lead to another, so she reached down to take his hand and move it, when her fingers encountered hair, too much hair for a human hand, and she gave a little shriek as memories of childhood stories of maidens married to beasts came flooding back. Her cry awakened Gareth, and as full consciousness returned to her, she realized it was indeed a beast, “That beastly cat,” she muttered, as she struggled to dislodge Mott from his comfortable position curled up against her stomach.

Gareth, who awoke to find himself lying close to his wife, one hand on her hip, removed it quickly and rolled over onto his back, only to see that in the arousal of early morning, the sheets were beginning to lift. Arden, who had just turned to face him, could not ignore such evidence of her husband’s desire.

Gareth could not help grinning at the combination of dismay and curiosity on her face.

“You are shameless to lie there like that, sir. It is insulting to me as a lady.”

“I assure you, madam, it is a compliment, not an insult, that my body responds to you. And there is not much that I can do about it, after all. Well, there is at least one thing I can think of, but I take it you are not inviting me to consummate our marriage?”

Arden had pulled herself up and the covers around her and was sitting against the headboard, staring away from Gareth. Her head kept wanting to turn around, and she felt a strange tightening in her own private parts. Dear God, she would not feel that. She would call him a…centaur. A centaur? Where had that come from? She couldn’t think of how to insult him. She never could summon up any wit around him. She took a deep breath and said as haughtily as she could, “I am sure that you agree that this sharing of a bed is somehow improper under the circumstances and will not work for either of us. I wish you to sleep in your own room.”

“Your idea of what is improper is marvelously convoluted, my dear,” replied Gareth, watching himself become soft with real regret. He had hoped that his arousal would spark something in her, but in addition to a loveless marriage, perhaps he had condemned himself to a union with a frigid wife? “It is surely meet, right and just for a husband and wife to become ‘familiar with the other’s response, physical as well as emotional.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.