“Are we going to be lazybones today?” She kept her eyes closed as she murmured the words, her back tucked against his front, a possessive hand cupping her breast.
“Not all of me.” He prodded her from behind, making her gasp and giggle at the same time. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d giggled.
She rolled around to face him, stretching, and he met her with a kiss.
“No regrets?” she asked.
“Hell, no,” Luke growled and nipped at her shoulder. “In fact…” His hand was between her legs, and she required no persuading whatsoever to open to him.
“I could wake up like this every morning.” She regretted the words the second they flew out of her mouth. Was she tempting fate by speaking them aloud?
“Someday.” Luke spoke against her lips at the same time he eased himself inside of her. The stretching fulfilled a craving she doubted would ever go away. Both of them had finally come home. This ultimate sense of completion was new to her.
Being made love to by this man had been an epiphany of surrender. He touched her everywhere, with all of himself. He tasted her, he breathed her in, and he watched her responses, memorizing her preferences. There was no part of her he didn’t own completely.
Twice, that morning, he made love to her.
Twice.
By the time Luke finally climbed out of bed, they’d slept a while longer and the sun was halfway up the sky.
“Now who is the lazybones?” He slapped the flesh of her backside teasingly.
“Mm….” She moaned and buried her head back into the pillow.
“Come on, sweet girl. You need to eat and I need to work on the roof.”
She rolled over and stared up at him. He’d already dressed but his hair was satisfyingly disheveled.
“You never purchased your nails?”
“I’ll run into town. Do you want to come with me?”
She might run into Arthur’s mistress again. Herlate husband’smistress. In such a small village, it was practically a given. But for today, she would rather languish in the aftermath of a passionate night with Luke Cockfield.
She shook her head. “I’ll finish going through Arthur’s papers.”
Luke lowered himself onto the mattress beside her, his gaze searching her face. Unable to discern his thoughts, she wished she knew him better. “What is it?” she asked self-consciously.
He blinked and the corners of his mouth lifted into a tentative smile. “I just… I cannot fathom how lucky I am.”
Naomi pushed herself up, not caring that her breasts were bared or that her hair was in a tangle. “I am the lucky one.” She hovered her mouth at his and then leaned forward for a leisurely kiss.
She didn’t want him to go and yet she was eager to face the day.
A small amount of guilt split her anticipation. It wasn’t’ fair that she should feel happiness so soon.
Luke rose and with a wink, tossed her nightgown onto the bed. “I shouldn’t be long. Did you need anything else? Fabric? Thread?” He flicked a glance over the bed. “Lingerie.”
She blushed and threw a pillow at him. “Be off with you.”
“Make me a list,” he mumbled against her lips.
Forcing herself to be practical, Naomi drew the gown over her head and then wrote out a few necessities for him to purchase. Only after he drove off the property did she begin washing up and making herself presentable in case Ester or any of her relatives stopped in again.
Full of energy, she washed up and donned one of her dyed gowns, chopped vegetables to begin some broth, swept the kitchen, and then made the bed in Luke’s chamber. By the time she entered her own, she realized she’d been procrastinating looking through Arthur’s belongings.
This time, she carried the satchel downstairs to the table in the kitchen and dumped the contents out, spreading everything out on the long table.
