“No,” Adrian said quickly, his panic renewed. “You are doing no such thing, Bridget. If anything, you are giving me a much-needed reprieve. I was starting to lose myself before I met you.”
“You are trying to be sweet,” Bridget sighed, shaking her head. “And that is kind of you, but it is not true.”
Adrian was moving before he could even think to stop himself. He gripped Bridget by the waist, pinning her to the bed with his weight as he held her wrists above her head. Pleasure scorched through him as he felt her pressed so tightly beneath him, and with the way Bridget’s breath quickened, he was positive she felt it too.
“What… what are you doing?”
He leaned down, kissing her intensely until he could no longer breathe.
“You think I am sweet?” he challenged as Bridget’s eyes brightened and her cheeks flushed.
“How could I not?” she whispered, her eyes searching his. “You have saved me at every turn. At the Blue Parrot. On the way to Alfriston. The night Victor attacked me. You were there for mewhen no one else was.”
Pleasure and satisfaction roiled through his veins at her answer. He was glad she saw him this way.
“And you are thankful for this?” he asked, parting her knees with his own as far as her skirts would allow.
“Yes,” Bridget moaned, her lashes fluttering in the way he lowered himself between her thighs. “Oh,yes.”
She undulated beneath him, brushing her mons against his cock and flooding Adrian’s body with more pleasure. He thought it wickedly wonderful for a moment, but then realized she had no idea she had done so. That somehow made it even better.
“Tell me then, sweet wife,” Adrian insisted, capturing her wrists in one hand so his other could freely roam down her body. “Why are you so intent on running away from me at the first opportunity?”
Bridget’s lashes fluttered, and she moaned softly as his free hand moved to cup her breast.
“Adrian,” she breathed, then leaned up to kiss him.
Though he wanted so very badly to let her, he pulled away, needing to gain the upper hand.
“Answer me,” he whispered when she gave him a pleading look. “You want my kiss? You need to answer me. Why do you keep trying to distance yourself from me?”
Her eyes searched his for another moment as he felt her begin to tremble beneath him, and he was not sure if it was out of need or from strong emotion. Perhaps, like him, she was experiencing both.
“It is not the right time for us, Adrian,” she finally said, then a look of guilt passed through her eyes. “And my past… it is so painfully tied to yours. Even if I did not directly hurt your family, Iamassociated with that pain. Perhaps… perhaps if we had met at a different time, it may all be different, but right now… I am old enough not to believe in dreams anymore.”
“No,” he rasped, trailing the tip of his nose along hers. “Now is the perfect time. Before I had you, I was dreaming about having you. Of any way I could have you. And now that I do, I refuse to let you go.”
Bridget’s brow tensed.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked.
Adrian raised a mocking brow as he let out a raspy chuckle.
“You think I only started to want you once your husband was gone? Oh, no, my sweet Bridget. I have wanted you from the moment I saw you.”
He paused, taking a moment to kiss her forehead.
“I wanted you the moment I saw you come down those stairs in nothing but your nightshift, looking so beautiful and enraged,” he whispered, then kissed her left cheek.
Bridget’s breathing deepened as he felt her body relax, and he continued.
“I dreamt of you since that very first night,” he whispered, then kissed her right cheek. Then he drew back, smirking devilishly. “And I certainly dreamt of you the night I found you outside the Blue Parrot, wearing that scrap of a dress that was far too tight and revealing.”
This time, Bridget laughed breathily along with him, and their lips met for a sweet, long kiss.
“Then that night at the inn?” he asked, pulling back one last time. “The night I stopped you from assaulting your own poor jaw, and you curled into me and kissed my neck? Oh, my sweet, devious Bridget, you have no idea how hard it was for me to leave you that night.”
Bridget’s eyes widened as her blush deepened into crimson.
