“Will.” When her fumbling fingers couldn’t seem to slide the buttons on his trousers free, she palmed his hard length. He jerked against her hand, his breathing hard. She knew a moment of gratification that he seemed every bit as affected as she.
“You’re still wearing far too much armor, my dear,” he growled, and whisked her corset, chemise, and drawers away in a blink. All she wore was fine silk stockings to her knees. And then he took her into his arms and carried her across the chamber to her bed.
As he lay her upon it, she reached up to frame his beautiful face between her palms. The slight abrasion of his whiskers was delicious upon her hypersensitive skin. He fused their mouths in a searing, open-mouthed kiss as he joined her on the bed after stripping off his trousers, underclothes, and shirt. Warm, wet heat pooled between her thighs. He brushed a tantalizing caress over her breasts, his thumbs toying with her nipples. She arched into him, sucking his tongue into her mouth, unable to get enough. He broke away to suckle the peak of a breast. His fingers went unerringly to the aching bud of her sex, working it back and forth until she was nearly mad.
“Mmm,” he murmured, tonguing the taut nipple of her other breast as he gazed up at her. “I adore the way your body responds to me, my love.”
He slid a finger inside her then. She eagerly opened her legs wider, thrusting her hips into his delicious rhythm. Another finger joined the first. She moaned, her fingers sifting through his silken hair as he tortured her responsive breasts with his mouth.
“I want you desperate for me,” he whispered, his voice a deep, rumbling seduction all its own.
Dear heavens, she was, but he had rendered her incapable of speaking. She moaned again as he kissed a path down over the curve of her belly. He cupped her bottom and angled her to his mouth, gazing up at her across her pale curves. Their eyes locked. He sucked the nub of her sex into his mouth, working it with his tongue and teeth. The sight of him pleasuring her as she wore nothing but her stockings, his wicked mouth upon her most sensitive and intimate flesh, was her undoing. She knew she ought to look away, but she could not. Before, her skirts had covered him. She hadn’t known how pleasurable it would be to watch.
His finger sank deep into her slickness as he worked his magic upon her with his mouth. It was too much to bear. She felt as if she were about to shatter into a thousand tiny, glittering shards. He tugged at her pearl with his teeth. A second finger slipped inside her, deep and angled. Oh, dear heavens. She couldn’t bear another moment. She came undone, shuddering and crying out, grinding her hips into him with shameless abandon.
Yes. This—him—was what she wanted. Was everything she wanted. She shuddered with the aftermath. He rose once more, his powerful body atop hers, pinning her to the bed. She wanted to bring him the same fulfillment he brought her. “Your turn,” she murmured, putting her hands on his shoulders and guiding him down to the bed so that he traded places with her.
She met his gaze, reveling in the unabashed desire she saw reflected in their smoky depths. She had no idea what she was doing, only that she wanted to bestow upon him the same raw pleasure he had given her. It was the ultimate gesture of her love for him. She lowered her head and took his rigid cock into her mouth. He was smoother than she’d expected. She ran her tongue up and down his length, tasting him as she sucked on the thick tip of his shaft.
“Christ, darling,” he groaned after a time. “You’re going to bloody well kill me.”
She smiled against him, continuing to suck and tease his arousal. It was wanton of her, she knew, but she loved giving him the same bliss he’d given her. Suddenly, he caught her shoulders and hauled her atop him. She was breathless as his cock pressed against where she wanted him most.
He guided her limbs so that she was fitted comfortably against him. “Rise up a bit, darling,” he directed, his hands on her waist. “That’s it.”
With one swift thrust, he was inside her. She emitted a startled exclamation. Good heavens, she was atop him. She hadn’t realized lovemaking could be done this way as well. It seemed she had much to learn.
“Ride me, my girl,” he murmured, helping her into a delicious rhythm.
Her unbound curls swept down like a curtain around them. Their gazes locked as he surged inside her again and again. She found she rather liked the feeling of power her position gave her. Leaning down, she kissed him once more. Their tongues tangled, mouths sealed as their bodies rocked together as one.
Passion crashed over her like waves upon a shore until she could no longer resist the pull of the tide. She was swept away, helplessly overcome, her sheath tightening upon him in spasm after spasm of release. He pumped faster, moving deeper until he too let go. The hot spurt of his seed went inside her as she collapsed against his chest, thoroughly spent.
They were both silent for an indeterminate amount of time, the only sound their equally ragged breathing. Will ran his hand gently up and down her back in a soothing motion and gave her a swift kiss. Everything had changed for them now. But this was his final chance. She never again wanted to discover he’d been dishonest to her, and she damn well never again wanted to find one of his courtesans in their drawing room.
“If I ever see the Signora again, I swear I shall tear the false hair right from her head,” she warned him. “You’ll find I’ll not be as forgiving now as I once was.”
He laughed, his fingers tangling in her hair. “Now that is something I’d almost like to see. Your ferocity is one of the many reasons that I love you.”
“Say it again,” she ordered on a sigh.
“Now that is something—”
“No,” she interrupted, giggling herself. “The other part.”
“I love you.”
She sighed again. She believed him, believed in what they’d just shared. How could she not? “I love you too, Will.”
Tangled up in each other’s arms, they went to dreamless sleep.
he next two days passed for Victoriain a state of utter bliss. She and her husband lingered in bed mornings and afternoons alike, making love to each other until she knew every inch of his body and he hers. It was all very much like a dream from which she had no intention of waking. Ever.
But their idyll wasn’t meant to last, it seemed.
The duke had arrived, and his first order of business was an audience with Victoria. The summons came as a surprise to both her and Will. Afternoon light filtered into her chamber as she prepared for the undoubtedly uncomfortable meeting to come. Keats was putting the finishing touches upon her hair.
“Do you think my dress too forward?” She frowned at her reflection as she asked the question of Will, who had joined her in her chamber, similarly concerned by his father’s odd request.
