Chapter 33 #2
James’s head lifted sharply. “Your promise?”
“Yes,” she replied. “To live separately. To give you the distance you asked for.”
The words landed between them like a dropped glass.
James’s breath caught. “Eleanor.”
She tilted her head, watching him carefully. “It is what you wanted, was it not?”
He took a step toward her before he seemed to realize he had done it. Then another.
“No,” James said hoarsely. “It is what I thought I needed.”
Eleanor’s chest tightened. “James.”
“I cannot let you go,” he said, the words spilling out now, unguarded and urgent. “Not after this. Not after you stood in front of her and did not flinch. Not after you trusted me when I gave you every reason not to.”
Eleanor swallowed hard. “You do not owe me anything.”
“I owe you everything,” James replied.
He stopped just in front of her, close enough now that she could feel the warmth of him, the steadiness of his breath.
“If living separately is what you truly want,” he continued, voice rough, “then I will give it to you. I will give you whatever you desire. But I have to try. I cannot remain silent any longer.”
Her pulse thundered. “Try what?”
“Loving you,” James said.
The word settled into her bones.
“I have loved you,” he went on quietly, “since long before I allowed myself to admit it. I loved you when you challenged me. When you refused to be frightened. When you looked at me and demanded the truth. And I love you now, standing here, alive, brilliant, and entirely unlike the woman I thought I had married for convenience.”
Eleanor’s eyes burned. “James.”
“I know I am not gentle with my feelings,” he said. “I know I have been cruel with my distance. But if you will have me, truly have me, then I will spend the rest of my life making amends.”
She reached for him before she quite realized she was moving, her fingers curling into the fabric of his coat.
“I love you too,” Eleanor said, her voice steady despite the tears threatening at her lashes. “I have loved you in all the quiet moments you did not notice. In every rule you set and every wall you built. I loved the man beneath them even when he tried to disappear.”
James closed his eyes briefly, as if the words were almost too much to bear.
When he opened them again, the restraint he had clung to for so long was gone.
He drew her into his arms carefully at first, as though giving her every chance to pull away. Eleanor did not. She pressed closer, resting her forehead against his chest, breathing him in.
“I am here,” he murmured. “And I am not leaving again.”
Eleanor smiled against him. “Good.”
He lifted her chin gently, giving her time to stop him.
She did not.
Their kiss was unhurried, reverent, full of everything they had nearly lost. When they parted, James rested his forehead against hers.
“Come with me,” he said softly.
She nodded.
The instant the door clicked shut to James’s room, and every barrier between them shattered. James’s hands slid around Eleanor’s waist, thumbs pressing into the curve of her hips as he pulled her flush against him.
His mouth claimed hers in a slow, scorching kiss. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, tasting her breath, coaxing a soft moan from deep in her throat.
She felt the press of his chest, the steady thud of his heartbeat beneath her palms, as his fingers splayed across the small of her back, mapping her form with deliberate urgency.
“You’re home,” he breathed, voice husky, each word vibrating against her lips. “You’re mine.”
She responded by arching into him, her fingers tangling in the coarse wool of his coat.
Heat radiated from his body, warmth pooling between them. He cupped her neck, tilting her head back so his teeth could graze the tender skin just above her collarbone. The rustle of fabric was the only sound besides their racing pulses and the faint hiss of the rain against the windowpane.
When he finally peeled away her gown, inch by inch, Eleanor felt the cool air kiss every exposed curve of her.
James paused, eyes dark with awe, taking in the slope of her breasts, the smooth line of her ribs. His palm ghosted over her skin before he closed the distance to her nipple, rolling it between his tongue and teeth until a gasp escaped her. She pressed herself harder against him, legs trembling.
He guided her down to the satin-draped bed, fingers trailing sparks along her thighs as he knelt between them. The linen whispered beneath his weight.
James’s mouth followed the path of his hands along the hollow of her hip, skimming the gentle swell of her stomach, lingering at the secret fold of her groin until Eleanor’s breath hitched and her back arched in invitation.
With measured devotion, he aligned himself at her entrance. She parted for him, slick warmth welcoming his length as he slid inside her in a single, deliberate thrust.
Eleanor’s nails raked down his spine; his own breath hitched as he buried himself deeper.
They moved together, a slow crescendo of rolling hips and shifting weight. His arms braced on either side of her head, hers wrapped around his shoulders, dragging him closer.
Each pulse of motion sent a ripple of fire through her veins. Eleanor’s velvet moans filled the dim room, mingling with the soft slap of skin on skin. James’s grip tightened around her waist, anchoring her as he angled his hips, testing the rhythm that set both of them alight.
The sheets twisted, a warm, rustling tide beneath them.
“Look at me,” he whispered, voice thick with need.
She opened her eyes to find his face flushed, pupils dark with want. A slow, reverent smile curved his lips just before he dove back down, kissing her again driving them both toward the edge.
When the wave broke, Eleanor cried out his name, every nerve ending aflame as release washed over her. His own climax shook through his groin, and he stilled within her, panting, murmuring her name like a benediction.
They clung together, foreheads pressed, skin slick with the mingled heat of their bodies.
Afterward, the world softened around their joined warmth. Eleanor curled into James’s arms, tracing lazy patterns across his chest.
Outside, the storm raged, but inside, beneath the tangled sheets and whispered confessions, they were no longer two people bound by restraint, but a single, unbreakable promise.