Allegra climbed into the large bed, sniffing delightedly at the lavender scent coming from the sheets. Even the large pillows propped up behind her were scented.

Honor curtsied. "Good night, Your Grace," she said, and hurriedly left the bedchamber, closing the door firmly behind her. She had not, Allegra noted, gone to her own room.

The Duchess of Sedgwick lay in her bed watching the play of the firelight on the walls. Outside her heavily draped windows she could hear the roar of the storm with its howling winds and beating rains. It had been a wonderful day, but now she had to face reality, except she wasn't really certain what that reality was. All her guests had been so happy today. Happy for her, for Quinton, especially happy with one another. Sirena loved her Ocky. Caroline and Adrian Walworth seemed radiant. As for Eunice and Marcus, they had scarcely been able to take their eyes off each other. Her father and Aunt Mama four months after their union were still acting like April and May. Why even Lady Bellingham and her husband seemed to evince tart affection for each other.

"But I don't believe in love," Allegra muttered to herself. "These are but aberrations." Neither a man nor a woman can be faithful to their mate except in rare circumstances. And for the one who loves, the pain of betrayal must be horrific. Papa and Aunt Mama, as well as the Bellinghams, are old. Perhaps when one is old, love, true love, enters his life. As for Sirena, Caroline, and Eunice, we will see what happens to them five years from now, she thought to herself. It was better that she and the duke had a more sensible arrangement.

The door connecting their two bedchambers opened, and the duke stepped through. He was wearing a white linen nightshirt which he immediately removed. Then he climbed into bed with her.

"Oh, my!" Allegra gasped.

"Let me take that charming garment off, my dear," he told her, and before she could protest, he swiftly whisked it over her head, and deposited the nightgown by the side of the bed. "There, now we are equals."

Allegra leapt from the bed, snatching up the discarded garment to clutch before her. "I do not think I can do this," she said nervously.

"Do what?" he asked, lying back amid the pillows. Damnation, she was utterly adorable. He had to be patient even though his male member was already evincing interest in her delectable form.

"Con… con… oh, damnit, Quinton, you know what I mean," Allegra almost shouted at him.

"Consummate?" he inquired helpfully.

"Yes! Consummate! I can't do it." Now she was shouting.

"Get back into bed, Allegra. No one is going to do anything to harm you," he told her calmly. "It is natural that a virgin would be frightened of her first experience, but I promise you it will be all right. Come," he held out his hand to her, "you are going to catch an ague."

She was cold. What on earth had made her behave in such a childish manner? "Do we have to… right away?" she asked him.

"Not right away, my dear," he assured her, "but I promise that you will soon want to do it, Allegra." The duke smiled. He knew he loved her. It was unlikely she would ever love him, but that didn't matter right now.

She dropped the nightgown she had been holding, and slowly climbed into the bed with him. Almost at once he enfolded her in his arms. To her mortification she trembled. She couldn't meet his gaze.

The silken softness of her flesh sent a fierce bolt of desire through him. He forced it back. She needed to be taken gently, not with brute force. He ran his fingers across her lips. "You are most kissable, my dear," he told her, and his mouth met hers.

Ohh, God! She could feel the hardness of his masculine body. It was deliciously exciting. His mouth was warm and enticing against hers. She felt herself melting in his embrace. I have the heart of a whore just like my mother, she thought to herself with shock, but she couldn't stop herself from kissing him back. He was her husband, she reasoned. They were supposed to cohabit like this.

Their lips parted. "Look at me, Allegra," he said to her.

"I can't," she whispered back. "I feel shy. I have never before found myself in bed with a naked man."

He laughed softly. "No, I expect you haven't, my dear, but here we are. Husband and wife. And it is our wedding night."

Her violet eyes finally looked into his silvery gray ones. There was something there she didn't understand at all. A look that totally confused her. But at least he was not slavering over her body like some fierce bestial animal.

"Would you like to see what I look like?" he asked her, and before she might refuse he threw back the down coverlet. Then he lay back.

Her curiosity overwhelmed her, and Allegra stared unabashedly at his long lean body. His shoulders and chest were broad, but she had known that, for even clothed she could see he was a big man. He was lightly furred upon his chest. Her eyes followed the delicate line of dark fur as it ran down his flat belly to a thick tangle of dark black curls between his muscled thighs. Allegra swallowed hard, but she was unable to turn away from her first sight of his manhood. "My brother was not so big," she remarked frankly. "I used to spy when he and his friends compared themselves."

"Ahh," he said, his unspoken question answered.

"Your feet are big," she noted.

"Yes," he answered her.

"But not wide. And your arms and legs are hairy. James Lucian was not hairy at all as I remember it," Allegra told her husband.

"Each man has slight differences," he advised her, "even as women do."

"I suppose you would like to see me," Allegra responded, and threw back the coverlet on her side of the bed. "I hope I compare favorably with the other women you have known, Quinton."

"Very favorably," he assured her. Then he bent down, and licked at her nipple.

"Oh my!" she said again. His touch was thrilling. His dark head against her milky flesh intoxicating. Unable to help herself she reached out with a hand and touched his head, threading her fingers lightly through the black hair. "Ohhhh!" His mouth had closed over the nipple, and he suckled upon her.

"Ohhhh good, or ohhhh bad?" he asked amused, raising his head, and piercing her with his silvery gaze.

"Good," she whispered, blushing, barely able to look at him.

"You are being very brave, Allegra," he told her with a chuckle.

"You are being very kind, I think," she replied.

"You have lovely breasts, my dear. They are like small round peaches, summer-ripe and bursting with sweetness. I will want to continue to adore them, Allegra. Will you let me?"

"Yes," she said. "I like your touch."

"There will come a moment when I become overwhelmed with your loveliness, and shall not ask your permission further, my dear. You must not be fearful, however, for I shall not harm you," the duke told her.

"Will you put your manhood inside of me?" she asked him.

"Yes."

"Will it hurt? Sirena said it hurts the first time," Allegra confided in him, although her cheeks were now fiery hot.

"Yes," he answered her. "It will hurt the first time, but how much depends on how tightly your virginity is lodged, my dear. I will be as gentle as I can be, I promise."

Allegra swallowed hard. "Very well then, sir, let us soldier on now. I should be rid of this troublesome virginity so you may have your pleasure of me. I am told men enjoy this fucking very much."

Now it was Quinton Hunter who swallowed hard. Actually he wanted to laugh. Most young women, he assumed, would have been reticent to speak, would have been shyly reluctant, and maybe even frightened on their wedding night. Allegra had passed through those stages quite quickly. He didn't think he had ever heard a proper lady use the term fucking. Nor mention in an offhanded manner that she had heard men enjoyed it. "They do," he agreed, "but women also enjoy fucking as well, my dear. They can be as enthusiastic as any gentleman," the duke assured his new wife.

"Indeed?" Allegra remarked. "Well, sir, then let us get to it, shall we. Is your manhood serviceable?"

Now he could not help himself, and he did burst out laughing. "Allegra, Allegra! Your innocence is charming, but passion is not something one can force to one's will. We began nicely, but your questions have turned the mood between us. Can you, my dear, be quiet now, and let me lead you down Eros's path to pleasure? I find that I most surely do want to make love to you." He tipped her face up, and kissed her cherry lips, gently at first, and then with a little more passion, as he pushed her back against their pillows. "You are a most talkative little puss, my dear, but the time for talking has now come to an end. Would you agree with me on that?" He kissed the tip of her nose softly.

"But… but," she protested faintly, "I have questions, sir."

"Which shall all be answered, my dear, in due time, I promise you," Quinton Hunter told his wife. He kissed her ear, licking at it very provocatively, and then blowing softly into it. "I love the taste of your skin, Allegra," he told her, his lips wandering down her neck, and across her shoulder.

"But what should I do?" she pleaded.

"Nothing, my dear, but be quiet and still, follow your own instincts, and let me make love to you. No one has ever touched you before tonight, Allegra. I know that. No man shall ever have you but me." His voice had suddenly become very harsh. "You are mine, my dear!"

His words sent a shiver of excitement through her. She shuddered as his tongue licked at the straining column of her throat. He scattered kisses across her breasts. She could feel her bosom. It was tight, and the nipples were beginning to ache, but it was not a hurtful sensation. It actually felt good. He was restraining one of her hands by her side with his own, but her other hand began to caress his lean form in return. She stroked him slowly, reaching farther and farther until she was fondling the curve of his buttock and hip. Allegra hadn't known she could be so bold. She pulled her hand back to trail her fingers across the nape of his neck.

Her exploration, shy as it was, aroused him. Slowly, slowly, he drew her beneath him. Now he lay atop her, and he began once again to kiss her with slow, fiery kisses. Her body was soft, yet firm with her youth. He drew both of her hands up now, positioning them over her dark head. His tongue pushed itself into her mouth, stroking, fencing with hers. His excitement was rising with each passing moment. His manhood was now rock hard, pressing with urgency against her thigh.

"Open your legs for me, Allegra," he murmured softly in her ear. "I want you, my dear. I want you very, very much."

She trembled at his passionate words. The time had come for her to be initiated into the mysteries of Venus and Eros. Slowly, slowly she spread herself beneath him. Her heart was hammering, and she was unable at last to speak. She trembled again as he knelt between her thighs. His hand reached out to cup her entire Venus mont within his big palm, squeezing. Allegra drew a sharp breath at his touch there. She didn't dare to look at what he was doing.

He watched her and smiled to himself as he released her plump mont. She awaited her deflowering with a certain amount of trepidation, he realized, but he needed a moment more. Slowly he pulled her nether lips open, gazing upon her lovebud, all coral and wet with her excitement. She was almost perfect, he thought, and he very much wanted to love her in that special way, but tonight was not the time for such an introduction, he decided. Holding her open with a thumb and a forefinger he touched her lovebud with the tip of his finger, and rubbed it suggestively. Allegra murmured a little cry, and shivered. Her love juices were beginning to pearl against her flesh. He groaned low. "You are so beautiful, Allegra," he murmured to her, smiling again as even with her eyes closed she blushed furiously.

Leaning forward he kissed her, positioning himself for the tender onslaught he was about to make on her innocence. She felt the tip of his lance pressing against her most intimate place. It pushed through her slowly yielding flesh until it was just lodged within her body. He kissed her again, slowly, tenderly, then his mouth fused against hers in a fierce kiss as he thrust hard and deep within her.