Through the fog of sleep, Juliana swatted the air in front of her face, trying to get rid of the nuisance tickling her nose. It vanished for a moment, then returned. She whined, wishing the bothersome cretin would leave her to sleep in peace. She swatted it away again, only to have it return seconds later.
She reluctantly peeled open an eye and found her overly cheerful-for-so-early-in-the-morning, husband perched on the edge of the bed, with a feather in his hand.
“Oh good. You’re awake.”
They’d only been married for a day—although a very glorious day—and already she wanted to kill him. He’d kept her up half the night with his insatiable desire, then he had the audacity to wake her.
“No, I am not. Leave me alone.”
“I’m afraid my excitement won’t let me do that, my sweet.”
“Why can’t you and your excitement find some other poor creature to bother? Leave me. I need to rest.”
Juliana cringed when a blast of cold air swept over her. The fool man had snatched away her covering.
“How dare you?” She sprang up, kneeling on the mattress like a vengeful harpy.
Showing that he had a modicum of intelligence, Colin backed away from the bed, his hands—one still holding the blasted feather—in the air. “Listen, my sweet—”
“Don’t you, my sweet me, after what you just did.”
“You mean this?” Colin tickled the feather against her nose, then backpedaled from the bed and sprinted out the door.
Juliana stayed unmoving on the bed for several beats, too shocked at the juvenile antics of her husband. Her shock slowly transformed into indignation, then ire.
“Why you little…”
She hopped off the bed and took off running after her husband. Several servants gasped as she ran by. Seeing their new duchess running through the house in her nightclothes probably wasn’t something they ever expected to see, let alone on her second day in residence.
They’d give apologies later. For now, she had to find and murder her husband.
She spotted Colin a short distance ahead, darting through an open door at the end of the hall. She chased after him and burst into the room, alert and watching for whatever trick he had up his sleeve.
“There is only one door and—” she began, issuing her threat when she spotted Colin on the other side of the room.
Juliana released a shocked gasp, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. In front of Colin was a blank canvas upon an easel, with several more canvases piled next to it. A small table next to it held an assortment of brushes and paint in almost every color she could think of.
“Colin. Is this for me?”
He gave her a satisfied grin. He’d won the medal for the Most Thoughtful Husband in London, and he knew it. “Who else would it be for? There is no other lady I’ve promised to make happy for the rest of her days.”
“I’m happy. So very happy. Thank you.”
Juliana ran over to her husband and flung herself in his arms. Colin caught her with ease. She rained kisses over every inch of his face. Colin’s warm, jovial laughter wrapped around her like a second hug. He gave her a quick kiss, then placed her back on her feet.
“I have one last surprise or you,” he said, stepping backwards.
He unbuttoned his shirt, one tantalizingly slow button at a time, with each step he took. Juliana watched him, the new carnal hunger he’d awakened in her last night making her want to chase after him again. This time to topple him over and have her way with him.
When his shirt was completely undone, she took a step toward him, but he held up his hand, stopping her movement.
“Sorry, my sweet, that will have to wait for later.”
“How do you know what I planned to do?”
“I can see it in your eyes,” he teased. “If I let you have your way with me, you’ll miss your next surprise.”
“What might that be?”
He made quick work of discarding his trousers, then finished walking over to the arrangement of cushions covered in red velvet fabric on the floor in front of her easel. He laid down, then propped his head on his hand and bent one knee, exposing every seductive inch of his manhood.
“I remembered that you once mentioned wanting to take a live model class. There is no way in bloody hell I’d ever let you paint another man naked, but you are more than welcome to paint me. In any position you want me.”
Juliana couldn’t help herself. She laughed so hard she doubled over, placing her hands on her knees. This man. This wonderful man was all hers.
“Laughing at a man while he’s naked before you is not a usual response.”
“I love you. How very much I love you.”
A twinkling laugh still issuing from her lips, she rushed over and threw herself onto her husband. “For now, I want you on the bottom. We’ll discuss further position later.”
“As you wish.” He pulled her in for a long, hungry kiss. “I live you make you happy.”
Yes, he did. He made her very, very happy.
Hello beautiful reader. I hope you enjoyed reading Juliana and Colin's story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I didn’t want to let them go and couldn't help myself, so I wrote a bonus epilogue. If you'd like to read it feel free to sign up for my newsletter to have it delivered to your inbox. Click here to join.