Chapter Eighteen #4
Over and over, he stroked into her body, taking, claiming, fusing…
loving. There was no doubt that he was lost in the glory that was his wife, the outspoken widow who was dropped into his life by scandal a mere six weeks ago.
And now, he couldn’t live without her. The deeper he went, the more frantic and intense his thrusts became.
Her eyes shuttered. Twin spots of color stained her cheeks.
A few tendrils of blonde hair tumbled from their pins.
She burrowed her fingernails into his shoulders, and he welcomed the prick of pain, for it kept him as focused as he could be while losing himself in her bliss.
When she locked her ankles and her heels dug into his backside, his muscles protested, but his hold on control snapped.
He pushed with ever more fervor. The need to claim her became greater than everything else, and it went far beyond sex. “Are you close?” His words were raw, ragged, propelled into being by emotions he refused to acknowledge.
“No, for you haven’t played nearly enough, but I’ll get there.” She restlessly tossed her head. Yet her inner muscles fluttered around his shaft, ushering in the beginning of the end.
“Would that we had the time for me to eat you out. You are quite responsive during that act.” Soon, though.
Nearly gone, Michael clenched his jaw, held back the urge to finish in order to slide a hand between their bodies.
When he found the slippery, swollen button at her center, he rubbed his fingers over it with varying degrees of friction.
“Yes.” Evangeline’s eyes rolled back in her head. She bucked her hips, which buried him ever deeper, and he hissed out a warning. “I… I… Oh, Michael!” The cry echoed in the small room, but there was nothing for it. It might draw out his butler, so Michael needed to finish.
As she fell gently into release, he renewed his hold on her and gave himself over to finishing with her.
His strokes were frantic and hard, and all too soon hot sensation raced through his stones and shaft.
He pumped for all he was worth, hoping she’d hit bliss again, and when her body stiffened slightly and she clutched at his shoulders, he grinned and claimed her mouth, taking her cry into himself.
Release crashed over him, through him, roaring along every nerve ending like a voracious beast—changing him.
But perhaps that was merely because of the woman in his arms. Again and again, he pumped into her contracting passage even as his member pulsed and jumped.
For long seconds, he lost himself to the act of spending; once his body had ceased the mad torment, he held her close, keeping her safe between himself and the wall.
Never would he assume he was better off without her or she without him.
Such a nodcock idea. There was no turning back from this point.
He’d irrevocably either done the stupidest thing in his life or the smartest, and where he’d go with her from here was still unknown, but he did know they would meet what waited in the future together.
As his heartbeat returned to a normal pace and his breathing evened, he pulled slightly back from her to peer into her face. A pink flush had overtaken her chest and cheeks, and when he would have spoken, she pressed her lips to his in a tired kiss.
“That was good, but not as life-shattering as it’s been before,” she said in a breathless whisper. “I suppose I’ll give you grace since you were quite emotional earlier.”
Was there ever a more endearing woman? “Once our guests retire tonight, I’ll show you life-shattering.
” He kissed her as if he wished to memorize the secrets of her mouth all over again.
Eventually, he set her on her feet, waiting until she’d steadied herself before releasing her.
“Thank you for believing in me.” To his horror, moisture welled in his eyes.
However, this time, he let the tears fall before scrubbing at his cheeks.
It didn’t make a man weak; perhaps, in showing that he was vulnerable, it made him stronger.
“I will always believe in you, Michael.” As she set her clothing to rights, she kept her gaze on him and her expression sobered.
“When we tell our story, we should preface it by saying that once upon a time, there was a broken duke who didn’t know what he didn’t know, so he languished in his castle all alone until one day, he was given a reason to venture out into the world… ”
Her foray into whimsy tugged a grin from him. After finishing with his frontfalls, he closed the distance between them and gently encouraged her into his arms. “Where he found what fate had kept for him all along, and that changed… everything.”
“That, in itself, holds so much hope that you can’t help but look forward to everything.”
“I do now, simply because you are here.” After holding her head between his hands, he pressed a kiss to her forehead then found her gaze with his. “I can’t promise that everything will prove as happy as the ending of a fairy tale, but it won’t be horrible.”
“That is good enough for me. I’ve had horrible. I’ll wager anything else must be… happy.”
It was a lovely way of looking at things, and he hoped she was right.