“Are they good enough for you?”
“Of course.”
“Then they’re good enough for me.”
And there was one of the reasons he loved her so fiercely. She didn’t consider him beneath her. While he’d fought his entire life not to let the circumstances of his birth influence him, until Vivi, he’d never truly convinced himself they didn’t matter. He tightened his hold on her, wanting to keep her near, nestled against him as long as he drew breath.
They left the residences and the shops and other buildings behind until eventually they crested a hill, a full moon guiding their way. Finn brought Sophie to a halt, slid off her, and closed his hands around Lavinia’s waist, bringing her down to the ground as though she were delicate porcelain to be treated with extreme care. Guiding her around so her back was to his chest, he held her close, his chin resting on the top of her head. Below them, the lights of London twinkled as merrily as the stars above.
“Someday,” Finn said quietly, “I want to live in a residence that will give me a view such as this. I want to be away from the crowds, the constant noise, the stench of too many people crammed into too little space. But it’ll be a while before that comes to pass.”
“It’ll be wonderful when it does.” She wanted to be there with him, sharing his home, his bed. “Will your brother build it for you?”
“I’d have to pay him for the materials and labor, but I suspect he’d give me a good price.”
She turned within the circle of his arms. As lovely as it was to look out over the metropolis in the distance, she always preferred looking at him, holding his gaze. “What will you do when that day comes, when you escape the city?”
“Breed horses, train them, give lessons to folks on the proper way to care for them, to ride them”—he shrugged as though suddenly embarrassed—“I don’t know the particulars, but I know I want to work with horses in some capacity. There are days, Vivi, when I leave the slaughter yard, and I’m simply sad. I despise what I do, even when I convince myself it’s necessary.”
She combed her fingers through the thick strands of his hair. “When all is said and done, Finn, I think you have too gentle a heart. I saw it that first day. I think that’s the reason I went with you so willingly. It’s not within you to cause pain.”
“I hurt you last night.”
Rising up on her toes, with her teeth she nipped playfully at his chin. “That wasn’t you. That was Mother Nature. Did it hurt you?”
He chuckled low. “No.”
While she’d not want him to experience any discomfort, it was rather irritating that only women suffered. “That’s hardly fair. Why can’t the world be fair?”
His lips touched her crown, her forehead, the tip of her nose. “I don’t know, Vivi. But what I do know is that I want to make love to you with the moonlight shining down over us. Here, where there’s no one about. Only us, the breeze, and the moon.”
“And Sophie.”
His laughter threaded through her. “And Sophie. But she promised me she wouldn’t watch.”
“You discussed the matter with her?”
“I discuss everything with her. Because you love her so, it makes me feel as though I’m almost talking with you.”
“Ah, Finn.” Tangling her fingers in his hair, she brought his head down until she could claim his mouth as her own, just as she wanted to claim him. She couldn’t help but think it was a rare thing indeed to be so open with one person, to bare one’s heart and soul with such abandon, to have no fear because the trust was absolute.
They worked quickly to divest the other of clothing until every inch of their bodies was bathed in the glow of the moon, as though it was caressing them. She thought his body, a rich tapestry of shadow and light, the most sensual, decadent image she’d ever beheld, far more artistic than any painting or sculpture.
When he carried her down to the mound of their clothes and settled himself between the juncture of her thighs, she was more than ready for him. She could not help but believe that her body had been created to cradle and shelter his and his alone. They were equally eager, hands caressing, mouths tasting, endearments echoing around them.
“So beautiful.”
“So handsome.”
“So soft.”
“So strong.”
“I love the silkiness of your skin.”
“I adore the hardness of your muscles... and other things.”
Laughter, low and deep, dark and wicked. “Say it, Vivi. Saycock.”
