“Let it happen, Angel,” he whispered. “Let it happen.”
The pleasure rose to a crest, and time ceased to exist as she exploded in a million particles of light and flame. As she gasped for breath she chanced a look at him. The hunger in his eyes was as unmistakable as his partially bared fangs. She answered the question he didn’t dare ask. “You may if you’d like.”
With a low growl, he bit her neck and she gasped, awash with ecstasy as the vampire fed. His growl deepened as he clenched her tightly and his shaft began to spasm hotly within her. The sensation of his mouth sucking at her throat while his length pulsated inside her flesh brought another climax. Angelica trembled with mind-bending ecstasy, feeling his heart pound against hers for what seemed a glorious eternity before he withdrew his fangs and spoke.
“Are you all right, Angel?” he asked, gasping for breath.
For a minute she couldn’t speak, still overcome with passion and his delicious weight atop her. “If I had known it would be like this,” she panted, “I would have insisted you marry me the very night of the Cavendish ball!”
He grinned and kissed her. “The experience will be even better next time.” He frowned at the puncture wound at her throat and bit his lower lip, drawing blood.
A pang of alarm struck her at the sight of Ian hurting himself. “What are you doing?”
He pressed his lips against her neck. “Healing your wound with my blood,” he whispered.
The wound began to tingle. She brought a cautious finger to her neck and felt smooth unblemished skin. “So that is how you did it before.”
“Yes.” As he gathered her into his arms, she saw that his lip no longer bled.
“You are amazing,” Angelica breathed, wincing at the rawness of her throat and wondering how many had heard her cries of pain, then passion. Everyone knows what we did. Yet somehow she couldn’t muster more than a kernel of embarrassment, especially when she was so desperately thirsty. She sat up and reached for the bucket holding a bottle of champagne in ice from the icehouse on the manor’s grounds.
Once her thirst was satiated, she was barely able to keep her eyes open as Ian took her into his arms and held her. Sleep closed over her as he whispered sweet love words in her ear.
Eighteen
When Liza woke Angelica and brought her morning chocolate, Ian was gone. At the sight of the sunlight streaming through the windows on the empty side of the bed, she felt a pang of regret that her husband would never be able to enjoy a glorious spring day with her.
“What time is it, Liza?” She rubbed her eyes.
“Past noon, miss, er, I mean, Your Grace,” her maid said with a twinkling smile. “I thought you were going to sleep all day. His Grace must have kept you up nearly all night.”
Angelica could tell from her maid’s pink cheeks and glittering eyes that she was bursting with curiosity. “Oh, Liza,” she breathed, “it was wonderful!”
The maid raised a brow. “I presume then that he was gentle?”
“Oh yes, gentle and magical and…” She stopped as she heard banging and footsteps down below. “What in the blazes is going on below stairs?”
“The servants are cleaning up after the party, and His Grace has hired a chef and staff. They are all at sixes and sevens.” Liza leaned forward and lowered her voice to a near whisper. “Would you believe the duke has never had anyone employed in the kitchens before? I’ve heard bachelors prefer to dine out most nights, yet one would think a man would occasionally enjoy a meal at home.”
Angelica’s heart warmed to hear that Ian had hired people to cook for her. She was going to ask if the chef was English or French, but Liza cut in. “Not only that, but none of his servants lived in the house before today.”
Angelica knew this, as she’d spied on Burnrath House for years. She’d assumed they were afraid of the ghosts, but now she feigned interest. “Indeed?”
Liza nodded solemnly. “Oh, yes. He hired people to come in during the day to clean and had his coachman come along in the evening, but no one was to be allowed in the house after sundown. Though I cannot countenance the silly vampire rumors, His Grace must be very eccentric.”
“Yes, he is,” Angelica agreed, a smile playing across her kiss-swollen lips.