Pippa and the Prince of Secrets by Grace Callaway
Epilogue
“Are we there yet?” Pippa asked.
She was blindfolded and wearing a flannel wrapper, her husband of ten hours leading her carefully up the stairs to the glasshouse for her “surprise.” As an Angel, she knew exactly how many steps were left—sixteen—but she liked playing along. When Cull had knocked on their bedchamber door, her lady’s maid had been putting the final touches on her wedding night ensemble. She had her own surprise for Cull.
“Almost there, impatient minx.”
Cull’s deep amused tones sent a tingle up Pippa’s spine. Their wedding had been a jubilant affair. The ceremony had taken place in the flower-festooned great room of the Nest, attended by their family and friends. The Angels had acted as Pippa’s bridesmaids; Grier, Long Mikey, and Ollie had stood with Cull. Maisie’s adorable young son had been the ringbearer.
Walking toward Cull in her pale-blue wedding dress, the frothy skirts trimmed with lace, Pippa had felt like a princess going to her prince. Cull had certainly looked the part in his immaculate smoke-grey tailcoat and trousers, a diamond pin glittering in his cravat. The joy on his face had made the rest of the world vanish. They had exchanged their vows gazing into each other’s eyes. Their kiss had made her every bit as light-headed and giddy as their very first in the bell tower.
After a lavish wedding luncheon, they had spent the rest of the day celebrating. Pippa’s heart had brimmed over to see their family and friends mingling with natural ease. Papa had been deep in conversation with several adult larks who’d tripled their earnings last month using his investment strategies. Her brothers had badgered Cull into showing them the Nest’s sparring room.
Mama, Fanny, and Mrs. Needles had pulled Maisie into their protective circle. Pippa adored Maisie and knew how much it meant to Cull to have his sister and nephew back in his life. She had also introduced Maisie to the Angels, noticing Maisie’s rapt conversation with Charlie.
The party had ended an hour ago. Feeling the waft of lush, humid air as Cull opened the door at the top of the steps, Pippa shivered with anticipation. The private celebration was about to begin.
“Watch your step, love,” Cull said.
He led her by the hand into the quiet space. Of late, there had been a lull in the arrival of injured birds…which was just as well since she and Cull were leaving for their wedding trip tomorrow. They planned to spend a cozy fortnight at his property in Hertfordshire.
“Ready for your surprise?”
Cull stood behind her, his breath tickling her ear and raising goose-pimples over her skin.
“Yes,” she managed.
He removed the blindfold.
She blinked. “Is that…a swing?”
Her blood rushed as she recalled the one at The Enchanted Rose. This one was similar, a small hammock composed of black leather straps. It was attached by ropes to four wooden posts that had served as bird perches.
“I thought you might enjoy a ride,” Cull murmured.
He reached in front of her and gave the swing a push. The carnal possibilities of that back-and-forth movement made her intimate muscles clench.
She spun to face him, breathing, “I would adore a ride.”
He was a vision of sensuality with his lazy smile, his bulging form encased in a sleek black dressing gown. “There is one condition, sunshine.”
She tilted her head. “What is it?”
“You take this ride the way I posed for your portrait.”
It had taken a bit of coaxing, but she had convinced Cull to pose nude for her. She’d painted him scars and all, every inch of him beautiful and princely. When he viewed the finished version of Portrait of a Lady’s Dream, his chest had puffed out at the way she’d depicted his virile proportions. She had only captured the truth. The sittings had been charged with erotic tension; more than once, she’d ended up beneath Cull, moaning his name.
With those steamy memories heating her brain, she reached for the belt of her wrapper. Shedding it, she heard Cull’s fervent oath and smiled.
“Surprise,” she said saucily.
She wore a scandalous negligee of yellow silk so fine it was nearly transparent. The garment clung to her figure, plunging in a deep vee between her breasts and ending just above her knee.
“That is quite a nightgown, Mrs. Cullen,” Cull said in a guttural tone. “Give us a turn.”
Knowing how he liked to watch, she made a show of slowly pivoting and presenting him with her back.
“You’re like a bleeding present,” he rasped.
As the negligee was held together by the three satin bows along her spine, he wasn’t wrong.
She gave him a coy look over her shoulder. “Would you care to unwrap me, Mr. Cullen?”
He tugged on the bows one by one, and the silk slid off her shoulders, pooling at her feet. She sighed as he came up behind her, grazing his callused palms over the aching tips of her breasts, her ribs, and her trembling belly. When he cupped her between her legs, she whimpered.
“My present is nice and wet for me.” He teased her pearl with his fingertip, drawing forth more dew. “I think you’re ready for that ride now.”
Her heart thumping, she allowed him to help her into the swing. She gasped as she wobbled a little, almost tipping over.
“Hold onto the ropes for balance,” he said.
As she lay back against the web of leather, her hands wrapped around the cords, she experienced a disorienting weightlessness. She looked up through the ceiling and felt like she was floating in the starlit sky. Cull knelt beside her, taking her mouth in a long, dreamy kiss that enhanced the heavenly feeling.
Then he grew wicked, and she discovered another aspect of the swing: it made her utterly helpless to his desires. Suspended as she was, holding the ropes for balance, she could only lay back and receive his attentions. And she loved it. She moaned as he devoured her breasts, his mouth hot and demanding. Pleasure spread from her nipples to her core. She felt his forceful sucking in her pussy, which throbbed unbearably.
Her hands tightened on the ropes. “Please, Cull. I need…”
He lifted his head, his gaze smoldering. “You want to come, sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
“On my tongue or on my cock?”
Faced with an impossible decision, she furrowed her brow.
He laughed. “Never mind, my greedy wife. You can have it all.”
As always, he was good to his word. His oral loving brought her to an instant climax, but he didn’t stop there. Grabbing hold of the leather straps, he moved the swing back and forth, working her sex on his tongue. She moaned as he penetrated her, licking deep inside as he rubbed her pulsing love-knot. Bliss gushed from her, earning his growl of approval.
Rising, Cull stripped off his robe.
Sated as she was, her pulse leapt at his hard-carved virility. The brawny, hair-dusted muscles and flexing grooves. He was her prince, her husband…all hers.
Fisting his rampant cock, he brought it to her lips. “Suck me, sunshine. Make me wet for your tight little quim.”
His husky command chased a thrill through her. She parted her lips, welcoming his thick incursion. She loved taking him this way, seeing his eyes flare with lust as he fed her his cock. With her fingers clenching the ropes, she could only take what he gave her. She moaned around his girth as he sank his fingers into her hair, holding her steady for his plunges.
Wanting more, she breathed through her nose and loosened her jaw as much as she could. He panted harshly as he went deeper and deeper. His delicious essence coated her tongue, whetting her feverish appetite. When she licked his blunt tip to search out more, his hips jerked, his member butting against a silken limit. Her throat muscles clenched in reflex.
“Christ.” He pulled out, his eyes glazed and chest heaving. “Sorry, sunshine.”
In answer, she licked her lips and said sultrily, “I want you, Cull.”
He wasted no time. Positioning himself between her thighs, he entered her in a commanding thrust. She cried out as his huge shaft vanquished the emptiness and opened her to sensation. His determined drives set off tremors of bliss…and that was before he started using the swing. Grabbing the leather straps, he yanked her into him as he slammed his hips forward. The momentum jolted a moan from her.
“So damned perfect, Pippa. Every time,” he growled over the rhythmic slapping of their flesh. “I will never get enough of you. You are worth every second that I waited for you—longed for you, heart, body, and soul.”
“Oh, Cull,” she panted. “My love.”
“I’m going to spend so hard inside you, sunshine. Do you want that? Want to feel my seed deep in your cunny for the first time?”
She yearned for it. “Yes, yes.”
His gaze burning into hers, he fingered her pearl as he plowed her. The added stimulation threw her over the edge, and she soared into bliss, staring into her husband’s eyes. He clenched his jaw, the tension spreading to his neck and shoulders, the tendons there standing out as he threw his head back and roared. Her breath caught at his magnificence as he exploded, flooding her again and again with his copious heat.
Afterward, they lay on the hammock together. There was just enough room with her cuddled atop him. They swung gently in the starlit darkness, passion cooling on their skin.
“Are you sure the swing can hold both of us?” Pippa murmured drowsily.
“No. But if worse comes to worst, we only have a few feet to fall.” Cull’s relaxed voice rumbled beneath her ear. “My arse can handle it.”
“I don’t want anything happening to your arse.”
“Taken a fancy to it, have you?”
“I’ve taken a fancy to you.” Raising her head, she looked into his soulful, smiling eyes. “I love you, Timothy Cullen. You were worth the wait and more.”
Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining Pippa and Cull on their romantic adventures. Cull first captured my imagination when he entered the picture in NEVER SAY NEVER TO AN EARL, and I have been dreaming of his story ever since. I loved pairing him with Pippa, two deserving soulmates who took a while to find their way to each other but whose journey, in Pippa’s words, was “worth the wait.” It was great fun to incorporate elements of Beauty and the Beast into their story as well. As always, I appreciate your reviews, and thank you for your generous support!
Up next will be the story of Fiona Garrity (daughter of Adam and Gabby Garrity, REGARDING THE DUKE). Fi isn’t looking for love but finds it anyway in her marriage of convenience to Thomas Morgan, the Earl of Hawksmoor (son of Nicholas and Helena, HER HUSBAND’S HARLOT).
She is a member of a secret society of lady investigators. He is a spy for the Crown. Both want a marriage of convenience as a cover for their true activities… What could go wrong?
When her overprotective family discovers the true nature of her “charity work” and forbids her from undertaking future investigations, spirited debutante Fiona Garrity decides marriage is her surest way to freedom. All she needs is an accommodating, and preferably not too perceptive, husband with his own hobbies so that he will not interfere with hers. Fate puts her into the path of an eligible peer, who happens to be a scholarly widower known for taking long trips for his research. He would be perfect…if only his grey eyes were not quite so magnetic, and his virile nearness didn’t affect her in such a stimulating manner…
After the death of his first wife, Thomas Morgan, the Earl of Hawksmoor, is torn between his duty to produce an heir and his true passion: his exciting work as an agent of the Crown. Destiny gives him the perfect solution in the form of a beautiful debutante who professes to want a convenient marriage. She would be an impeccable choice…if only her heavenly gaze didn’t seem to lay bare his desires and her delectable form didn’t tempt him to unleash his darkest instincts…
On Fiona and Hawk’s wedding night, sparks turn into a conflagration that takes them both by surprise. Their marriage is further complicated when a dangerous case brings them into shocking contact, and they must battle not only a deadly enemy but the pull of seduction and desire. Will they conquer deception and fear to win their happily ever after? Find out in this steamy, friends to lovers romance!
Preorder FIONA AND THE ENIGMATIC EARL today!
