Free Jilted in January by Kate Pearce

done?”
    “Not quite.” He took her hand and placed it where they were joined, shivered as her fingers stroked the tight curve of his balls. He wanted to come very badly, but not yet.
    Lacing her fingers through his, he started to thrust in and out, watching her face, seeing the pleasure take her for the first time, and felt like the most incredibly lucky man in the world. Her feet climbed his thighs, opening her even wider to the roll of his hips, sinking him deeper. He groaned with every advance, his whole being focused on her as she strained to find her release along with him.
    He slid his thumb over her bud, and she bucked against him—almost as if it was too much—but he kept touching her, and suddenly she screamed his name, and then he knew no more than the blessed relief of achieving his climax deep within her tightening channel. It was as if he and Rose were part of the same person, united against the world, and that for him was the most wonderful sensation of all.

Chapter Six
    Rose woke up to the thumping of Colin’s heart under her cheek. She’d somehow managed to sprawl all over him again. One of his hands rested on her bottom, the other was tangled in her hair. She resisted wiggling against him, having seen what that might awaken, and carefully eased away, immediately missing his warmth. Her robe lay on the floor. She put it on, noticing odd aches in her body she had never experienced before. She glanced back at the sight of her sleeping husband and smiled foolishly.
    Mayhap they had married in haste, but she couldn’t say she regretted it.
    “Good morning, Mrs. Ford.”
    He’d turned onto his side and was now smiling back at her.
    “Good morning, sir. Shall I ring for my maid?”
    He shoved a hand through his disordered curls. “You have a maid?”
    “Indeed. She might even bring us breakfast if I ask her nicely.”
    He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed to the floor. “That would be rather nice.” His smile faded. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m… very happy. Why?”
    “Because we are now married in truth.”
    Some of her contentment dissipated at his grave expression. “I thought we agreed there was nothing we could do to prevent the marriage and would make the best of it. Are you doubting the legitimacy of that decision already?”
    He sighed. “I wonder whether we should have waited to speak to the new duke and explored the legal implications of the matter. That’s the whole reason your brother was pushing for the marriage to happen immediately in the first place.”
    Rose pleated the sash of her robe between her fingers. “He told me that he wanted to make sure I wasn’t left at the altar again.”
    He went still. “Of course, that was probably his primary reason, I just—”
    “Did he tell you something different?”
    “I received the impression he worried Lieutenant Woodford would become involved in legal proceedings and wished to protect him.”
    From his suddenly wooden expression and carefully chosen words, Rose gained the sense that her brother had said something far worse. She turned her back and walked over to the window, staring unseeingly down at the fountain. “That sounds just like him.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “That my brother is more concerned with his friend’s feelings than his sister’s? There is no need. I’m quite used to it.”
    “Perhaps I shouldn’t have reminded your brother that the duke might be interested in the matter.”
    “You did no more than I.” She spun around. “Although you’re correct that your price for interfering in the matter was probably far higher than you anticipated or deserved.”
    “Rose, that’s not what I meant…”
    She stalked off toward her dressing room. “When Annie arrives, tell her to come through.”
    Shutting the door behind her, she held back her tears. David didn’t deserve them, and poor honorable Colin had been used as a pawn to win her brother the game simply because he was the