As if she cared for parties and trousseaus. “I don’t know why you’d feel there was a need.”
Although a new habit would be nice. One in a rich, dark red, with militaristic piping and shiny brass buttons that would make all the other ladies move aside. She smiled to herself.
There were advantages to being a married lady.
“Come, take sustenance with me.” She tugged on his hands. “For what it’s worth.”
He assessed the array of food. “Honestly, with most of the kitchen staff on leave, I’m surprised this much was sent up.”
“We have your Gerard to thank, I think. Although Harbury would have provided the wine—” She stopped herself before revealing she’d tasted the vintage here before.
He lifted her hands, kissed both sets of knuckles, and then set to pouring them both a glass.
He handed her the drink. “To my beautiful wife.”
“To my handsome husband,” she shyly toasted back.
“Handsome…” He lifted his brows. “I suppose there’s no accounting for taste.”
She studied him as he drank deep. Did he notknow? She’d told him, hadn’t she? About the shoulders? About the heat?
She swallowed another measure of wine.
Half her glass, in fact. She’d become quite suddenly parched. She took another long “sip.”
Well—she glanced in wonder at her empty glass—that had gone down quite quickly.
“Beautiful?” she forced herself to ask.
His chuckle was low and throaty and thrilling. His gaze traveled over her face before dropping, with a sigh, to her breasts. Until he’d placed his lips over her nipple last night, she hadn’t seen any use for them at all. Although when her bodice was tight, young men tended to stutter and, when dancing, tread on her toes.
Which had been the dress’s original purpose—not for male attention, but to keep the men fawning over her off their guard. And the reason she’d worn the dress today.
“Are you mad about the dress?”
“No.” He sent her a half-smile and made a sound that was either warning or groan. “I’m madforthe dress.”
“There’s a frightful number of buttons down the back, I’m afraid.”
He exhaled as he smiled an entirely different kind of smile, one that left her tingling head-to-toe.
“I know.” He put down his glass. “I intend to carefully dislodge them, one by one.”
Carefully?From experience, she knew that would take an excruciatingly long time. “Eliza intimated once that a dress need not come all the way off for—formarital congress.”
“What’s this?” His grin widened. “No longer linguistically brave?”
“Auggie,” she said pleadingly.
“Very well, I will leave the teasing to you…for tonight. But to answer your implied question—no, neither your dress, nor my trousers, need fully come off to, ah, swive.”
Her eyes widened. That word was new.
Bother him. He was having entirely too much fun.
“But clothed coitus is only for when we’re in a rush…” He advanced.
“Oh?” She retreated. Was there anEnglish Synonyms Explainedfor vulgar words?