“I’m inclined to agree with him.” Luke’s expression grew somewhat fierce. “Promise me you won’t stay here alone after I’ve left. If anything were to happen to you…” A protective determination burned in his gaze and she could easily imagine him in battle, fighting to defend his men, his territory. A shiver ran through her and she nodded.
“I promise.” She flicked a glance toward the opened envelope and letter resting on a table. “When?”
When he didn’t answer right away, she swallowed hard.
“First thing tomorrow.” His voice came out gravelly but determined. “But I can’t stay with you tonight.”
Suddenly, she wondered why they had wasted so much of their time together.
“Come upstairs with me,” Naomi gasped and clutched an arm around his neck when, with one hand around her back, Luke slid his other one behind her knees and lifted her into the air.
“Yes.”
Society had certain expectations of a grieving widow. They prescribed that she should wear black for a year, that she not make visits or mingle in society for that same period. And they most definitely would place prohibitions on sexual congress with men who were not her husband.
None of this mattered. Luke was here, today, and although she’d always been an optimistic person, she could not be sure he’d come back to her whole, if at all. She would celebrate what they’d found together.
“We have approximately sixty minutes until Cromwell returns and I’m going to make the most of every second.” He climbed the stairs holding her almost effortlessly. Which she considered something of an impressive feat, in that her little potato was now more or less a large cantaloupe.
“How do you do that? Read my mind?” She leaned her head on his shoulder.
He only paused an instant to answer. “How can Inotwhen you are the other half of my soul?” His words sent love rushing through her.
Yes.Love.
“I’m going to touch you everywhere.” He nipped at the skin behind her ear. “I’m going to taste every inch of your body.” Naomi’s skin came alive in anticipation as he carried her effortlessly up the narrow staircase.
His eyes locked with hers when he lowered her onto the bed. “I’m going to memorize every inch so that when I’m alone on one of those inevitable cold and tedious nights, I can imagine you in my tent, lying beside me.”
He unfastened his breeches and drew his shirt over his head. Naomi rose to her knees and turned her back so he could undo the hooks that had given her so much trouble earlier.
The sun slanted inside, and, large with child, she would have thought she’d have a need to feel modest while wearing nothing but an almost transparent chemise. But not with Luke. The two of them fit. Everything about them simplyfit.
She glanced over her shoulder, excited by his words.
“And what will you do when you think of me?” She, too, would make the most of these sixty minutes.
His eyes flared.
“This.”
She lowered her gaze to where his hand, darkened from working outdoors, gripped his member, and then moved down the shaft, revealing the tip. The light coming into the room reflected off one pearly bead of his liquid seed and Naomi clenched her thighs.
And then she licked her lips.
“What willyoudo?” he dared back.
“I will imagine this.” She walked across the bed on her knees, her face even with his. Just as he moved to claim her lips, she slipped away and dropped her feet over the edge of the bed. Emboldened by the nights they’d shared and even more so by his wicked words, she lowered herself to her knees before him.
He inhaled. “You don’t have to—” But he cut himself off with a hiss when she pushed his hand away and grasped him with her own. “Naomi,” he groaned when she flicked her tongue out and captured that pearly bead. He tasted salty—earthy. It made her hungry for more.
She’d craved this in her marriage but never felt welcome to do it. She licked the tip again.
She wouldn’t think about that now, Arthur was her past.
Luke was her future. He was her present. Eternity. Infinity.
She squeezed his thickness in her palm and massaged him with her thumb. His skin was softer than silk, warmer than satin, and gloriously unique. As she took more of him into her mouth, he moved his hips forward and back. His hands were in her hair and his shaking, gasping breaths encouraged her.
