Snowflakes and Scandals

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Minnie, having escaped Frederick, backed herself into a corner. “That is too cruel a jest to make, sir!”

“Asking you to marry me cannot be cruel when I’ve fallen in love with you.” He stared at her hard. “Unless you don’t love me, too?”

She rubbed her brow, unwilling to answer that. “You can’t want to marry someone like me?”

He climbed to his feet and set his hands on his hips. “I’d like to know why not?”

“I had but one season,” she reminded him. “Unsuccessful.”

“Lucky for me, in a way. If it had been successful, you’d be married and with a couple of brats at your feet. But you came home to manage your brother’s household—beautifully, I must say—while you mourned, and no other man found you first. I’m feeling damn fortunate right now.”

What he said was flattering, but… “I’m not captivating like other women.”

“Did you not notice I chased you all over the house today just for a chance to talk to you again?”

Well, she had, but… “I’m rather…”

“Yes, that one is true. You’ve no experience with passion at all. You don’t seem to know how to flirt with me, either. You will, however, learn to do so soon, I hope. It will be a pleasure to allow you to experiment with me behind closed doors. You could start tonight,” he promised, with a hopeful expression. “I expect you to work diligently on the hard lessons I will set you in the future. Now flutter your lashes at me, darling, and invite me to kiss you without words.”

She huffed. He was incorrigible. “I meant, I’m not…willowy. Not tall like the ladies you usually pursue,” she murmured, looked down at her thick waist, and then up at his face. “I’m too fond of cake to be slender. Too short and round and, well…too plain for a man to ever propose a wager over.”

“Is that what you think after your brother shared his opinions? I’ll kill him! I swear, I’ll tear him and Mrs. Franks apart to get revenge for you over that slight if you want me to. Of all the ridiculous things your brother could say!”

Frederick rushed over and dragged her out of the corner. He pulled her down to sit on the settee. “If you’ve started comparing yourself to women like Mrs. Franks, don’t bother to do it again. The widow is nothing compared to you. All skin and bones and not really that pretty in close quarters. You, however, are luminous and kind, where Mrs. Franks is calculating, offering her company with artful and empty interest in every man present at this party. You, Minerva, attracted me without a single attempt at flirtation.”

“I did?” she murmured, staring into his eyes and realizing she’d never tried to really capture his notice. But she had him. He was begging for kisses and more, and had even spoken of marriage. “I did!” she whispered, full of wonder.

“You did.” He kissed her quickly. “All by yourself. You succeeded in seducing me without any effort at all. Trust me, I didn’t even realize I was under your spell until that day I got under your skirts in the woodshed. I could have told you then that your brother was misinformed, if you’d trusted me more. Not that I blame you for that. We hardly knew each other.”

She gaped at him, and he slid to his knees and reached for the hem of her skirts.

“You are beautiful. Desirable. And I want to make love to you for the rest of my life.”

Although hardly able to believe this was happening now, she cupped his face. “You really mean that.”

“I certainly do,” he said firmly, as he stroked her stocking-clad calves. “I told you…I like a woman with curves.”

“You said you liked my curves.”

“So, you did hear me after all. Glad to know you paid some attention to my flirting,” he said, and stole a kiss.

“I noticed all of your attention. I always have. What little there was.”

He winced. “You should have done more to encourage me,” he whispered, throwing her another grin that made her finally accept she was not the hopeless case her brother believed.

This time, she did not stop Frederick from lifting her skirts all the way, or propelling her backward to lay down on the chaise. She sighed as he made love to her with his lips, gently exploring their passion in endless kisses.

His eyes were open and watching her reactions as he turned her ideas of lovemaking upside down.

He laughed when he made love, too, and teased her and whispered of his desire to touch her intimately and each time waited for her permission. He moved slowly, deliberately, giving her time to adjust to his proximity. And dear God, did she feel far more desire to be touched the longer they stayed together!

Frederick nuzzled her neck and whispered, “Have you ever seen a naked man?”

“No.”

“You will tonight,” he promised, and he undressed fully before her startled eyes. He flexed his muscles, and then grinned as another pointed part of him seemed to wave at her. He laughed, and she laughed along with him.

He made loving fun.

He took his time peeling her out of her garments, pressing kisses to every inch of her body that usually was hidden under clothes. Thankfully, he took the time to stoke the fire in her as much as the hearth, or else they’d both be shivering.

His mouth was devastating, and she held his head to her breast as he kissed and suckled on her nipples.

Frederick drew back, smiling gently. “I want to tell you what comes next. I want to bring you to climax again before I enter you. If you don’t like anything I do to you, if the pain is too great, tell me and I’ll stop.”

“All right,” she whispered, reassured that he knew what he was doing.

And he did. With his fingers and then with his mouth, he brought her to the heights of passion again. She shamelessly begged for more, grinding her hips into his face until she was climbing out of her skin and crying out his name.

When she was calm again, she widened her legs when it was exactly the right time, and he slowly pressed inside her. She hissed at the slight sting.

He became still, his breath hot in her ear. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she promised. When he withdrew and returned, the pain faded away and only pleasure remained. It hurt at first, but she almost lost her mind for the thrill of what came soon after. They made love, and it was glorious, far better than she dreamed, and by the end, she knew that Frederick truly cared about her needs as much as his own.

He kissed her, touched her, and cried out her name as he climaxed. Afterward, he held her close, begging to know that she really would marry him.

Falling in love was not what she’d expected when she had first met her brother’s best friend. But she quickly discovered, once tempted, love had a mind of its own and an appetite to match insatiable hearts like theirs.