Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“I’ve got you, my Lottie,” he said as he grasped her by the waist and pulled her flush against his chest. Her breaths came fast as she attempted to calm herself.
She turned, placing a hand on his cheek. “Of course you did. I let you catch me.”
“As the victor, I demand to claim my prize,” he whispered, locking his gaze on her warm brown eyes, golden as though lit by the very rays of the sun.
“Of course,” she said, lifting her hands to play with the hair at the base of his head, sending shivers coursing through his body.
Closing his eyes, Peregrine savored the touch, lowering his lips to meet hers.
How would he learn to live with the intense hunger she stoked within him?
Was it like this with all women? After several years of preferring the country life over that of the city, he hadn’t gained the experience a man of his twenty-two years typically did.
The way she lit up his whole body was unlike anything he had ever felt.
Perhaps it would be the same with his wife? Somehow, he doubted it.
Sliding his hands down the curve of her waist, he tasted the soft moan on her tongue as she pressed deeper into him. It was amazing how quickly they could light the flame into a blaze, the passion that stood between them. Their time was fleeting, and they made the most of it.
Pulling away, she took his hand and led him into a private alcove within the maze, a circular section with a small opening where one could easily hide from prying eyes. She placed both his hands on her hips and brought their lips together once again.
Her hand crept down to stroke him, his erection straining against the prison of his breeches, but it was safer that way.
Perry leaned his head back, rolling his eyes in ecstasy at her touch.
They had grown bolder in their last few love sessions.
More desperate. He knew they had to put a stop to whatever was growing between them, but they were helpless once their lips met.
Truly.
Tugging at her skirts, she guided his hand between her legs. “Touch me,” she breathed against his cheek, taking a moment to come up for air.
How could he resist? He wasn’t made of stone.
“Like this?” he teased, drawing a finger up her inner thigh.
“Yes,” she responded breathily.
Perry could barely suppress a groan as she continued to stroke him. His cock tightened against her palm, begging for release. He knew what would come next. He had made his way home with soaked breeches before and savored every minute.
“Perry?” she spoke, pulling away.
Taken out of his love haze, Perry blinked. “Yes, my love?”
“What happens next?” she asked.
Perry frowned, bewildered. “After what?”
“When a man and a woman…are together completely?” A bright pink blush tinged her cheeks, and she hid her face in his chest.
Perry cleared his throat. How would he reveal the truth without embarrassing himself?
There were certain expectations of a man of his age.
He had simply neglected to sow his wild oats, choosing instead to focus on his studies and research.
Huffing a breath, he ran a hand through his hair and chewed on his lip.
“I know what happens, but I can’t say I’ve experienced it.”
Her large eyes widened as realization dawned. “Oh. Does that mean you cannot?”
He laughed. “Of course I can. I simply haven’t.”
Dropping to the lush green grass, she tugged on his hand, pulling him down next to her. “I would like to know how it feels to be properly loved.”
His heart hammered in his chest as he absorbed her provocative words. Perry shook his head. “I would not ruin you for anything. I care too much to hurt you and jeopardize your future that way.” He brushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
“I want you to give me what he will never be able to give me.”
Perry coughed into his fist, adjusting the neckline of his shirt. Suddenly, his cravat felt like it was choking him. His body was overheating as this conversation continued.
Resolute, he shook his head. “I cannot ruin you. Your husband will know we have lain together. There are ways for him to detect if you have been with another,” Perry explained.
“I cannot risk leaving you at his mercy.” She was so innocent.
He didn’t expect her to know that it would be easy enough to tell she was no longer a virgin.
“I’ve heard the maids speaking of ways to trick a man when they believed I wasn’t listening. I will deceive my husband. He is an old man. This is what I want.”
Swallowing, Perry rolled his head back, eyes fixating on the sky. He was no saint, and there was nothing more he wanted than to give her all she desired.
“Lottie…you will be the death of me. I am not strong enough for this.”
“Then don’t be strong. We can be strong later. You have no idea what it is like to look forward to such a bleak future with my betrothed.”
“You know I do,” he said simply, unable to finish the sentence with the words that sat on his tongue.
Any future without you is a bleak one.
“Then give me this. I beg you. A moment of sweetness to carry with me when we go our separate ways. The summer is almost over. Let us comfort each other. The memories will sustain us when the future has its day of reckoning.”
Stroking her hand up and down his arm, Perry shivered, leaning into her. Her touch lit his blood on fire; there was no will within him to resist.
“If you change your mind at any point, you can tell me to stop,” he said, staring into her eyes.
Her mouth pulled into a grin, and he pressed his lips against hers while resuming his previous exploration under her skirts.
The tremble of her skin beneath his fingertips was intoxicating, each gasp a shot of poison running through his bloodstream.
He would never recover from her. From the memories of their time together. Ever.
The poison of painful memories coursed through his veins to this day. He had marked her, thinking he would eventually have to deliver her to another man. Unaware that when she left his arms, she would never to return. Death would claim the one he held so dear.
He would be left to live with the stamp she had left on his body. On his heart.
Only death would set him free.