“To match my Lady Lucas.” Luke liked the sound of that.
“What did Blackheart say about it?”
“My brother... simply asked what was needed from him to fix up my estate. He wishes us well.” Luke swallowed emotion that welled at the mention of that conversation. “Said he was proud of me.”
“He is a good man.”
Luke closed his eyes. “He is.”
As much as Luke esteemed his brother, he didn’t wish to speak of Blackheart in that moment. Not when he had Naomi in his arms. He’d waited a lifetime to have her.
He slid his hands down her arms, embracing her from behind. “God, Naomi, I missed you.” First, they had been friends, then they’d become lovers, and for a brief moment, they had stood in a church together as man and wife.
And then… nothing. He’d gone away and, on his return, had hardly even been allowed to acknowledge her.
He’d been unable to bask in her smile, to talk with her privately, to listen to her laugh. It had been impossible to touch his lips to hers or openly show her affection in any way.
And he hadn’t made love to her in nearly ten months.
It was time, and he would reveal the depths of his emotions to her in the best way he knew how—the way he’d ached to. It had been so long for both of them. Too long.
She made a mewling sound, one he remembered from sharing her bed and burrowed into him. “There is nothing between us now.” She murmured.
“Nothing.”
But he was surprised when she giggled. “I mean.” She drew one of his hands lower, to her midsection. “No little cantaloupe.”
He hadn’t even noticed the difference. But now, the joyful ring of her laughter had him chuckling. He had craved her voice, her touch, her smile—he had cravedthis joy. Awed at what life had in store for him, he opened his hand and covered her belly. Not at all as he remembered from before. Slightly rounded though, and soft. He palmed his way upward and cradled the weight of her breast. Heavier. Her uniquely feminine flesh filled his hand, giving him all sorts of carnal ideas. “I have the opportunity to learn your body all over again.”
As he watched her neck and cheeks flush a pretty pink, blood surged to his groin.
Ten monthshad passed since he’d made love to her.Ten monthsof waiting, of worrying.
Of wanting.
The thought of being with her again sent his heart racing. “Are you still nervous?”
“No.” And then, “A little.”
Luke dropped his legs and lifted her onto his lap, sideways. “I believe then, Lady Lucas, that we must reacquaint ourselves with one another.”
Staring into his eyes, she nodded. “I am being silly.”
“You are being honest.” She never need hide anything from him. “Your feelings aren’t silly, love. They are yours, your truth. Never apologize for sharing them with me, never.”
* * *
Naomi gazed back at Luke and was reminded of how he’d assured her that she must grieve in her own way. Despite the mistakes she’d made last year, he’d done nothing but provide his support, his protection, and then later, his love.
“I’m not nervous anymore, Luke.” She took it upon herself to reassure him this time, reaching her arms up to twine around his neck. All she wanted in that moment was to be as close to him as possible.
Pressing her mouth against his, her first thought was that he tasted of the outdoors. Firm, but then his lips softened and parted, and the familiarity of his taste both comforted and excited her.
Without breaking the kiss, Luke grasped hold of her thigh and shifted her so that she straddled him.
He’d said they needed to reacquaint themselves with one another. He was correct. She loved him with every fiber of her being despite the distance of the past year or the pain of his absence. Perhaps she loved him even more for having suffered it.
But they would come to know one another, as only husband and wife are privy to. They would share their thoughts, their emotions. Their bodies. One flesh.
