“You’ve been such a good girl, Sophie.” He murmured in her ear and rocked against her in time with his fingers, until he became as breathless as she. The thin edge of control hung between them, swaying provocatively and waiting for one of them to give in first.
“Tell me something secret about you.” She needed to hear him talk. The rich cadence of his voice did something to her insides, made her core throb and her heart seize.
“Something secret,” he rumbled teasingly against her ear.
“No.” She tried to speak but he quickened the rhythm of his fingers. “I want you to actually say something secret…”
Lights starting flashing behind her eyelids as she sank into a dark sea of desire rimmed with longing.
“Emery! Oh god!” She screamed as she climaxed, something she’d never done in her life. Pleasure like nothing else, a ghost of near pain as he pressed his thumb on her clit.
Beautiful. Glorious. Devastating.
How apt the words were for this moment. For him.
He panted against her ear, the sound ragged and wonderfully human. Too often she’d thought of him as inhuman, too perfect to be real. But this man—losing control and catching his breath against her—he was real. He didn’t say a word. He’d been just as affected as she was. For a long moment they were connected by the lingering scent of passion, the crisp aroma of oncoming rain and the distant chatter of birds.
“Thank you,” she finally said.
Emery lifted his head and removed his hand from between her thighs.
“I don’t think anyone has ever had that reaction to me giving them an orgasm before.”
A telltale heat crept across her cheeks. “You’re not upset, are you?”
“Upset for you thanking me? No. Just curious. Why the gratitude?” He helped right her clothes and urged her to sit up. A shiver rocked her, and he wrapped the picnic blanket around her shoulders. “Only the truth, remember?”
“I’ve never…” She gulped and ducked her head, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder, foolishly hoping to hide from him. “I’ve never had a climax like that before.”
Emery moved fast, sliding her into his lap. He wrapped his fingers around her ponytail and tugged, forcing her head back. His lips brushed hers, and then he pressed his forehead to hers, eyes closed.
“You’re killing me, Sophie.”
“What?” she whispered.
“You are so sweet. It’s killing me. I want so much to—” His words were cut off and she would never get to hear what he meant to say because he lifted his head and sniffed the air.
“Do you smell that?” he hissed and surged to his feet.
Sophie inhaled, and the heavy, acrid scent stung her nose. “Smoke!” She jumped up and promptly stumbled as her legs gave out. Apparently mind-blowing orgasms were not good if she had to run anywhere quickly.
Emery spun, his eyes darting around the grounds, looking for the source of the smell. The curling tail of smoke rising in the sky in the distance told them where the fire was.
“It’s the stables.” He grabbed her hand and they started running. “We’ve gotta get the horses out!”
The stables were about a quarter of a mile away from the back of the house. Legs pumping, Sophie managed to keep up with Emery’s long-legged sprint through the back gardens and across the lawn. When they finally reached the stables, the waves of heat from the fire almost kept them from getting closer. The wood-paneled building had easily contained a hundred horses at a time in the past. But now the building was mostly empty, Sophie guessed.
“There.” Emery pointed to the left side of the stables, where a fire was blazing in a room next to the stalls.
Through the orange inferno and the dark smoke, they could see flames devouring hundreds of golden trophies and shiny blue silk ribbons hung along the far wall of one room where a door had been left open. All evidence of the glorious equestrian history of the Lockwood family was turning to ash. Before she could fully absorb the tragedy of that loss, something exploded in the room and the fire rushed outward. Emery spun and tackled her to the ground, and the air was knocked from both their lungs as an explosion rocked them.
Horses started screaming.
Sophie shoved at Emery, pushing him off her as the flames retreated momentarily. “Get to the horses. Go!”
“Stay back. I’ll get them out.” Without a backward glance he rushed toward the flames.
She sat there for only an instant, in awe as the red and yellow blaze silhouetted him. In that moment he seemed no mere man but something else. Someone of strength, courage, and compassion. Everything she’d ever wanted to be. Everything she’d ever wanted in a man she hoped to fall in love with someday. Somewhere deep inside, her rational brain screamed at her to get up and go save Emery before he went and got himself killed being noble.
