When he entered her, Diana was ready, feeling her body wet and pulsing for him. He was slow at first, gentle, with each brush of his hand a tantalizing tease. It was a promise of the kind of heated passion there could be between them. Though Diana loved the gentleness of his touch, she longed to feel something more.
“Owen, please …” She reached up to him and hooked her legs around his hips. “More.”
“Diana,” he murmured her name as he reached down to kiss her again. “I cannot resist giving you what you want.” He was sudden in his next movements. He reached down, taking her thighs from around his hips and opening them wide. Rearing back on his knees, their position was altered, with her completely open to him and him thrusting inside her.
He grew faster, more urgent in his pulses. With each movement of his hips, Diana felt the pleasure within her begin to grow. It wasn’t just about their connection deep below; it was about everything else too. The way that his hand curled around her thigh, grasping onto her, and the way he looked at her, those brown eyes practically adoring as they washed over her.
She felt near to her edge, close to the pinnacle of pleasure when he reached down towards her, tipping her head back on the mattress to seal their lips together in a kiss. He paused his movements, taunting her with the deepness of the kiss and the hovering pleasure of him inside her.
“Owen,” she pleaded between kisses, needing him to start again.
“I have an idea,” he said softly. Keeping his hands hooked under her thighs, he moved the two of them. They rolled over together until they were on a right angle on the bed to where they were originally, with Diana on top and Owen laid beneath her. She was startled, falling still, for he had moved her in such a way that her feet were still planted to the mattress, crouching over him.
“This is new,” she said playfully, earning a soft laugh from him. The laugh vibrated through their connection, making a tingle travel up her spine.
“Do what feels good for you, Diana.” He brushed her legs with his words, urging her on. Desperate to have that feeling again, she moved, taking his length inside of her. This new position somehow made things feel deeper.
She had to cling to his stomach, needing something to grab onto as she moved. Each rock of her hips took them further until her pleasure was reaching such dizzying heights that she barely had control of her legs anymore, quivering on top of him.
When she hit her climax, it was sudden, making her body shudder and her hips come to a stop. His name was still falling from her lips when she felt herself being rolled over again. Owen thrust inside her, flinging her onto her back, pumping a few more times until he reached his pinnacle too.
He pulled out of her, spilling himself on the bedsheets as he came with a guttural moan, growling out her name before laying himself down on her, panting and whispering sweet loving things.
“Diana, I just … I can’t live without this.”
“I know. Neither can I,” she whispered, trailing her fingers up his bare back and clinging to his shoulders.
“Then we will not let this life slip us by.”
Chapter 24
“You look happy,” Jessie said carefully as she hovered by the fireplace.
“I can scarcely believe it,” Diana said, giggling as she stood from the chair at the desk in the library and sealed her reply to the publisher with red wax.
“What is it that has given you such a smile?” Jessie asked, looking up from her work with the fire. Diana turned her eyes on the maid, seeing she still had red eyes, suggesting she had been crying. Diana was wary of basking too much in her happiness when faced with such grief. She sat back down on the chair again, resetting the smile on her face to something much calmer.
“I’m sorry. It is not a time to be so happy.”
“Nonsense.” Jessie waved a hand in the air as she added more logs to the fireplace. “At times like this, I think we need to look at the good things in life all the more. It’s nice something good has happened for you, Your Grace. What is it?”
Diana was touched by Jessie’s sentiment and sat forward, eager to tell her news.
“A publisher wishes to publish a story I have written.” Her words made Jessie drop the logs in the fire and turn away, finding Diana’s gaze.
“Really? Yours? A woman’s story?”
“I know.” Diana worked hard to stop herself from giggling. “It is incredible.”
“It is wonderful,” Jessie said, stumbling to her feet. “Do you not see what this is, Your Grace?”
“A dream. That is what it is,” Diana said wistfully. “Something I always thought was beyond my reach.”
“No, Your Grace. Think of it.” Jessie strode forward until she was in the centre of the library and spun around, gesturing at all the books. “Look. Look at all these books. Publishing … there is money in that, isn’t there?” The words made Diana look down at the sealed letter in her hands. She hadn’t even thought about making money from her endeavour. It was simply the love she had for the work that had enticed her to try. “Your Grace, do you not think it possible this could give you financial independence?”
Diana hurriedly put the letter down and turned away, not looking at Jessie.
“I think for me to hope for as much is a foolish thing indeed.” She pushed the letter a little further away so that it was almost out of reach. “It is an exciting thing, yes, but independence? Such things are rare. So few people accept a woman as a writer regardless. Making any real money out of writing is not something I can hope for.”
