Suddenly, everything seemed to click into place in Edward’s mind. Their meeting on the boat from France, her secret letters, even the way she carried herself and spoke…all of it practically screamed she was of the nobility.
He had been such a fool. How could he have been so blind?
“Where is she?” he asked a tone of desperation in his tone.
“She went back to France,” Lady Longmore told him. “Back to her family.”
“Will you tell me how I can find her?” Edward’s heart was drumming in his chest.
Lady Longmore laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded. “Of course. So long as you promise to be on the next ship to France.”
Edward released a long breath and smiled. “I swear it.”
***
The sun was bright, and a cool breeze blew across her cheek. By all accounts, Victoria should have been happy and content on such a beautiful day.
Yet, it felt as though a dark cloud hung over her. She had felt that way since returning to France. Though she had been so happy to see her mother and siblings again, she missed Edward so terribly. It felt like a physical pain in her chest. It had proven difficult to hide her melancholy, especially from her mother. She would not tell anyone about her time with Edward, however. It hurt too much to recall, let alone speak of it.
That day, Victoria had offered to go out to pick berries while her mother and siblings went to the market. She just needed a little time alone so that she did not have to try and hold her tumultuous emotions inside her.
Her heart was broken, she could not deny that fact, and she did not know if it would ever be healed again. She very much doubted she would ever love anyone as deeply as she loved Edward. It was rather ironic that she had found the love of her life when she had determined to give up a future of marriage and family.
What was he doing? Did he miss her as much as she missed him?
Such questions buzzed through her mind almost constantly. She could not escape her thoughts of him, and sometimes it seemed as though she could actually hear him speaking to her.
“Victoria.”
Ah, there it was happening again. She could hear him as though he were talking directly to her.
“Victoria.”
She froze and frowned. Wait…this time, it sounded so much clearer.
“Victoria…turn around. Please.”
Heart pounding in her chest, Victoria straightened from the berry bush she had been bent over and slowly turned around.
“Edward,” she breathed in shock.
He was there, standing before her, real and solid. How was this possible? How had he found her?
Before she could find the words to ask any of these questions, Edward closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. His lips found hers in a kiss that stole the breath right from her lungs. The kiss was firm and desperate, and in it, she could feel everything she thought he wanted to say. She could feel his apology and his deep, unbidden love for her.
At that moment, words did not matter. She simply needed to feel his body against hers. Feel his arms tight around her. She needed to be one with him. Her body was so desperate for him she could feel herself growing wet between her legs with just their kiss.
“Edward,” she murmured. “Please…I need you.”
“I need you too,” he replied.
The next moment, Victoria was lying on her back on the ground with Edward spread over her. Their kiss grew more desperate as he pulled his skirts up and bunched them around her hips. He slid his hand between her legs, and she gasped when his fingers brushed along her tender flesh.
“Edward,” she whimpered. “It has been so long…do not make me wait.”
“I will not,” he assured her, reaching down to undo the front of his trousers. She felt his length press against her sex, and when he pushed inside her, she released a hiss of breath. Pleasure shot through her, and she felt truly whole for the first time since returning from France. She clung to Edward as he began to move over her, pounding into her over and over again, driving her closer and closer to the edge of her release.
It did not take her long. She had been yearning for him so desperately, her body hungry for his touch, that she reached her climax suddenly and with such force she screamed out. Edward drove into her harder and harder until his body tensed, and he let out a roar as he followed her over the edge.
