She gave him a pointed look. Thomas walked to her, grasping her by the shoulders. “I left to speak with Devons to see if the investigators had found anything. Then I met with some colleagues I’ve been writing to off and on for several years.”
“I did think you were angry.”
Thomas shrugged. “I was, but I quickly moved on. I told you how I felt, and you disagreed. I’m still concerned, but that is it.”
“I’m sorry I jumped to the conclusion that you were off sulking.”
He smirked at her. “It’s because I behaved like an ass previously.”
Thomas grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers one by one. She shivered from his light touch. He smiled wolfishly at her. “You and I are stuck together, Lizzie. Over the next thirty years, we are going to fight, laugh, cry, and I hope to spend countless hours in bed together. Every fight can’t be the end of the world.”
Lisbeth grasped his shirt. “How many hours exactly?”
“I mean, I’m delighted with at least half the day.”
She grinned. “Half the day. I won’t be able to walk.”
Thomas would be fine with that. He brushed his lips across hers. “Good, then I can have you in bed the whole day. It is my mad scheme.”
Lisbeth became lost in thought and frowned.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Will you miss exploring and being at the excavation sites?”
The question was out of nowhere. “Why?”
“Life is fairly predictable here.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed. Thomas’s brows shot up. “Really?”
She blushed. “Usually.”
Thomas wrapped his arm around her waist and was quiet for a moment. He would never regret the last ten years of his life. It had made him a wealthy man, but only one thing had driven him to be as ambitious and so successful. “You have to know, Lizzie, that everything I ever did was to impress you, to prove that I was worthy.”
She kissed him hard as if to take away any pain he might be feeling. “You always were.”
“My point is that you and I both loved antiquities as children, but it was you who pushed us out to explore the world. I stayed working with antiquities because it reminded me of you.”
Her eyes watered. “Thomas, don’t say that. You must have hated me.”
He pulled Lisbeth to his chest but didn’t lie to her. “Some days I did, but I also appreciated that you’d given me a new life path. For our future, I don’t care where I live. It can be London, Syria, or somewhere else as long as you, Alice, and Jeremy are there.”
She looked up at him, warmth spreading across her body. “Make love to me.”
Thomas groaned and walked them backward until the back of Lisbeth’s legs bumped the bed. “I’m here to do your bidding.”
They stared at each other, and desire thrummed through him. This woman was his wife. She’d be in his arms until they grew old. She smiled at him impishly. “Take my clothes off.”
Enticed and amused by her demand, he leaned forward and kissed her neck. He softly said, “I like you ordering me about.”
His hand grasped her gown and slowly slid it up. Once it reached her shoulders, he tugged it over her head and tossed it behind him. She giggled. He wanted to see what else she desired. “What now?”
She sat and scooted up on the bed, motioning to her most feminine area. “I want you here.”
Thomas also wanted to be there, but he stayed where he was. Folding his arms across his large chest, he stared down at her hungrily. Her blonde hair fell around her naked form, and his cock twitched when she bit her pouty lower lip. Thomas suspected that shyness was taking hold of her. He didn’t want that. His voice thick with desire, he gruffly asked, “There are so many ways I could be between your lovely thighs. Tell me exactly how.”
Lisbeth widened her legs. “I want your mouth between my thighs. Make me moan with your tongue.”
