AgeofInnocence Read Online Free Page B

them and then he had a carriage brought around to see them
home. Last night, with the help of one of the servants, he’d finally inched his
way to his room and silently closed the door between his room and Lettie’s. He
breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t need to provide any embarrassing
explanations.
    He did not sleep immediately. Just the simple idea of
bedding his wife caused a painful arousal and a deep well of anxiety he knew
would prevent his sound sleep. He handled his cock as he always did when he
felt such a strong urge. He was pleasantly surprised that his arousal was a bit
slower and the experience more intensely pleasurable, which he could attribute
to a night of drinking. He did not feel safe drinking prior to his consummation
with Lettie. The results could be even more disastrous than he already
imagined.
    Thinking of his wife was strange indeed. He had a wife.
    His thoughts had escaped some carefully controlled mental
prison and he could not stop thinking of her. Not as she had been, dressed in
blue, looking like a virgin, but as his man’s mind wanted her to be—naked.
Naked. Yes, that is all he wanted when he thought of her.
    Lettie was a powerful force—the idea of having a wife as
sensual as she—well, it made his climax sweet indeed. She wasn’t mad. He was.
Only a madman would allow a woman such as his wife to remain alone in her bed.
    He’d agreed to ride with Archer this morning. They’d both
brought horses into town that needed proper rides, putting them through their
paces including several jumping exercises that had man and beast exhausted.
After that, the day just seemed to have wings and more demands than one man
could meet.
    When he returned to the house—he wasn’t ready to call
Whitfield House his home—Lettie was hurrying down the stairs wearing a
green-and-white-checked day dress with a scooped neck and fat sleeves from her
elbows to her wrists. He met her at the bottom step, her breasts near level
with his eye line.
    “Oh good, you’re home. Everyone is champing at the bit,
waiting for supper. There is warm water in your room and clean clothes laid
out.” She took the last step and then stretched to her toes and placed a kiss
to his lips before hurrying away.
    If she was going to kiss him, that was the way to do it. He
had no time to think, only react. The touch had been quick and warm and he’d
responded or at least he thought he’d responded well. He stared at her swaying
bottom as she hurried away.
    She turned at the door to see that he was still standing
there—gawking.
    “Hurry,” she said again.
    If only she knew that hurry wasn’t his problem.
    Tonight it was mostly family. They stayed at the dining
table longer than usual, allowing the older children, six of them in all, to
sit with the adults. Ferd had never enjoyed the company of family so much.
    Lettie’s gaze settled on him once too often. He hoped his
discomfort wasn’t obvious.
    Would he get by with another week of avoidance? If her stare
was an indication, he’d be lucky to make it through this evening but the needs
of the family came first and Ferd stayed up until the last man departed for his
bed.
    The following night was the Peleseys’ ball. Lettie was happy
to stay home, Ferd insisted that the ball was too important to miss. The ball
was underway when they arrived. Rather than torture himself with anticipation
about their first dance, he swept her into a waltz, holding her close while he
endured the effects of her scented hair and flowery perfume and clean body. The
warmth of her made him dizzy with need. The result was the undeniable knowledge
that he wanted his wife. The price for his infatuation would be the
embarrassment he would have to suffer when he couldn’t perform. Was it worse
that she’d had two husbands to which to compare him? He hoped their wicks were
bent.
    A virgin would have been better. They could have stumbled
through the awkwardness of the first bedding, both of them