She lifted her lashes to stare into his eyes, her lids heavy as she struggled to focus.
“But…” Was that her making that whining sound?
His gaze pinned on her, he jerked his hips up and prodded… Precisely where she ached to be prodded.
“Like this.”
She could barely hold her head up.
He pulsed upward again, and then again, building on the friction she’d been chasing.
“Jeremy.” Her head fell back this time, and she would have fallen off his lap if his hands weren’t gripping her waist. He’d located her center and felt harder than before. Like wood, like steel, he ignited more heat—more wanting. White light danced over her skin at the same time little bursts of lightning sped through her veins.
“Let go, sweet, like that.”
Let go.
Let go?
Wasn’t that what she was doing?
The settee was shaking now, knocking against the table behind it. His butler or housekeeper could come along any moment, wanting to know what on earth was happening in here.
She allowed herself a split second to glance toward the closed door and when she swung her gaze back to him, she was surprised to see a bead of perspiration dotting his brow.
“What if someone comes?” she asked.
“Precisely what I’m hoping for.” His eyes flashed teasingly but then closed again, and squeezing her hips tightly, he growled.
The knocking sounds grew louder as his thrusts carried her closer…
Closer to… something.
And then she doubted she’d care if the king himself strode through the door.
Jeremy shuttered, something shattered, and then the most compelling feeling of completion rolled over her. At some point, she’d fallen forward, and they were all but gasping into one another’s mouths.
“Jeremy.”
“Are you all right, sweets?”
“I am, but…”
“What is it?” He stared at her in concern.
“The vase. I think we broke the vase.”
And in that moment, her hope that everything was going to turn out perfectly fine grew even stronger.
Because Jeremy Gilcrest threw back his head and laughed.
THE ACQUISITION
“Lord Tempest, Baxter.” The younger of the two elderly Ludwig brothers stepped forward, hand outstretched as Jeremy and Baxter, as well as their men of business, entered the spacious but shabby meeting room housed in the Ludwig Bros. Shipping offices. If everything went as planned, the sale would be finalized by the end of this meeting.
Both Ludwig brothers were well beyond their seventies, and Jeremy knew that neither of them had any family other than one another. Despite the fact that one was considerably plumper than the other, they were nearly identical. Both were balding with white hair, parchment-like complexions, and watery blue eyes.
Seeing the brothers together elicited a painful twisting in Jeremy’s heart. It was a reminder that Arthur would never work beside him in business like he’d once hoped. They wouldn’t grow old together. His own brother would forever be a young man in his memory.
