Phoebe stared down at him, nodding slowly as she felt him gradually slip into her. It was moments later that she understood what he meant.
This posture was much different from the first they had shared together. Like this, he was reaching farther than she imagined he could and she felt so full and breathless, as though she had her head underwater.
“Breathe, darling,” Edward cooed, reaching up to stroke her cheek, running his thumb along the line of her scar.
Phoebe inhaled sharply and whimpered, legs shaking beneath her as she tried to grow accustomed to his girth and length, somewhat aware that she was still not comfortable with any of it. Her husband, to his credit, stayed patient with her, just as he hadthe first time, waiting silently as her body took its time to recover its strength.
It did so sooner than she expected, and the flames of desire were ignited as she gave her hips a slight roll as a means of trial. Her nerves were instantly aflame with arousal.
She wanted more, needed him to do something so she could feel as good as she knew she was on the verge of. Edward, who she had learned could read her thought with a mere glance, held onto her hips and lifted her up slightly, moments later pulling her back down onto his member.
Phoebe gasped, a part of her utterly thrilled to feel the sensations she had been after in full force, barely managing to press her finger tips over her lips in time to silence herself. He kept his hold on her, but alternated between lifting her off and bringing her back down, and simply thrusting up into her.
She had grabbed hold of his shoulders in search of some balance, but that only provided her with some leverage to move better on top of him.
“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes,” he said softly, reaching up to caress her cheek again, an action that was causing an unsettling stir in her heart every time he did it. “You look so beautiful… and you are doing so well, taking me like this. Well done, duchess.”
The compliment was rather unexpected – or at least that is what Phoebe told herself when his words unleashed a strangesensation in her that caused her walls to tighten around him. Edward winced slightly, but his lips pulled into an impressed smirk, as though he had just discovered something about her that he had no intention of sharing.
His arms wrapped around her and he began to thrust faster into her, barely giving her any time to catch her breath. After a particularly rough thrust, Phoebe crumbled in his arms, her body shaking with ecstasy as his seed filled her. Edward held her close for a minute, their hearts beating so rapidly, Phoebe was sure he could feel hers as much as she could feel his.
“Excellent,” he muttered, pressing a kiss to the juncture of her neck before he lifted her off of him and set her gently by his side.
Phoebe felt overly conscious of her nakedness, but could not find the strength to rise to her feet – a concern that seemed unnecessary because once Edward had made himself presentable once more, he went back to the door where he had discarded her clothes and retrieved each article of clothing.
When he returned to her, he held a hand out and told her gently,
“Let us get you dressed, so we can return home and you can rest properly.”
“Home?” Phoebe wondered out loud. “We’re leaving now? Why?”
She did want to leave, her body feeling far too heavy to carry on with the unnecessary appearances for the evening, but she had no intention of complaining. And she did not expect that Edward would have wanted them to leave either – seeing as it was his idea for them to attend as well.
He helped her to her feet carefully and began to dress her as he replied,
“It is for the best that we return home for now. There will be other events that we can attending at a later date. Do not worry, my friends would not mind our early departure.”
Phoebe had no reason to complain, so she did not, focusing on simply getting her clothes on properly. It was no easy feat, as she kept getting distracted by how his hands wandered over her in a bid to achieve that same goal. She glanced up at him at some point and noticed he had been staring at her, specifically her lips and a strange feeling settled in her gut.
“Are you ready?” he questioned seconds later, acting as if nothing had happened.
Phoebe nodded and he led her by the hand out of the room. Like before, Edward led them through the hallways as though he had lived in that house his whole life, moving discreetly and avoiding any with people standing or conversing.
Sooner than she expected, they were in their carriage that had begun its return to their estate and Phoebe could not help but wonder what tonight meant to him.
Had that been another attempt to fulfil his filial duty or perhaps something else? Could that even be the case?
She shook her head and snuck a glance at him, struck, not for the first time, by how handsome he looked. The idea of their complicated marriage arrangements surfaced in her mind but she refused to dwell on it, instead focusing on the lingering warmth of their unexpected tryst.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You seem quite distracted. Are you sure that you can handle the consequences of sparring with a clouded mind?”
Edward ignored the teasing lilt in Thomas’ voice as he tightened the bandages he had wrapped around his hand, flexing slightly to make sure he was not cutting off the circulation of blood completely.
Despite his friend’s playful jabs, Thomas’ gaze held a serious edge to them when Edward, now done with his preparations, faced him from his side of the boxing ring. It had been a while since they had done this and it was imperative that all their focus was trained on the present.
However, as Thomas charged at him, Edward knew his mind was too far from his body. He managed to dodge the fist that swung at him and counter attack with a punch of his own, hissing with regret when Thomas sensed his intentions and blocked his attempts almost immediately.