Her head was so dizzy from his words that she didn’t notice the hem of her skirt rising until a breath of cool air kissed between her thighs.
That was her last coherent thought before his mouth gave her pleasure while his fingers did the same, tormenting and teasing, promising and stroking.
“I want…” was all she managed before she dug her fingers into the sheet and exploded into a thousand fireworks.
His fingers retreated, only to be replaced by something longer, harder, thicker, rubbing against her right where he had touched, driving her mad with the desire to do it all over again.
“Together,” she said, instinctively wrapping her legs about his hips. “Promise me.”
“Together,” he repeated, entering gently, tantalizingly. “For as long as you want.”
Forever, she answered in her mind as a short sting of pain gave way to pleasure. Their mouths sought each other as their bodies found a rhythm, a wave, a crest that kept building higher.
She’d thought she was inviting him to her bed in order to give him her virginity, but with every stroke he was taking so much more than that. He wanted her heart, but already had it. He wanted her soul, but it was his as well.
He wanted her love, her passion, her peak—
Her body began to tremble, the familiarity of the warning signs even more thrilling now that she knew what would happen.
The first time, he’d done this to her. Now, he was doing it with her. When she took, he took, too. They were exploring each other, learning and claiming and taking.
When she couldn’t stand it anymore, when the wave overtook her and carried him with it, she pressed her lips to his to stop I love you from tumbling free.
He didn’t have to hear it. She’d already told him with her body, with her gasps and her sharp nails and slick heat welcoming him again and again.
She might need to think, but her body did not. It had chosen him. Was still choosing him. Would never stop choosing him over anything else.
When he collapsed in her arms, as breathless and sated as she, he rolled over to his back, keeping her locked in his embrace, until the ear he had kissed so tenderly rested atop the comforting beat of his heart.
“Thaddeus?” she whispered.
He mumbled something incomprehensible into the top of her head.
She smiled against the warmth of his chest and cradled the side of his face in her hand.
He pressed a kiss to her palm and didn’t move.
Tomorrow, she would tell him. After he’d gone home, after she’d had the night to think it over, when he came for his answer and she still said yes, he would know it was really true, and not a flash of emotion.
She’d thought her only future was a life of riches and loneliness, of endless adventure but no one to share it with. She’d begun to fear she’d never find love, that she didn’t deserve love, that it was a pretty story that never came true.
And then came Thaddeus. Time after time, she’d pushed him away, forcing him out before he could leave her on his own, knowing that when he did, it would destroy her.
But he didn’t leave. Was right here in her arms. Willing to share them with her for the rest of their lives.
How could she say no to an adventure like that?
Chapter 13
Thad spent the following morning selecting and discarding various waistcoats and neckcloths, followed by an equally frenetic trip to the market for fresh flowers that would convey the perfect message.
Not a limp handful of wilting daffodils. Something that said I love you and I want you and Marry me… but not florid or pushy or impatient.
Priscilla had asked for time to think. She had said “at least tomorrow.” Arriving at her doorstep at half past eleven in the morning with a mixed bouquet of roses and spring flowers in his hand did not mean an answer would be waiting for him.
Thad was prepared to give her time. And room to think, if that was what she wanted. But he didn’t want her to fear for a single second that his affection had waned after sharing her bed. Last night would be the first of many.
He pulled onto Grosvenor Square with a silly smile taking over his face. All at once, his giddiness turned into confusion.
