“Then what are we going to do?”
The plate they were both holding now sagged a little and Felicity took it entirely away and put it down beside her on the low wall, drawing Robert to sit beside her. Their difference in height wasn’t as marked when they were sitting as it was when they were standing. Their legs were warm together, and she wasn’t sure who had reached for who, but their fingers were intertwined. His thumb was making little circles on the back of her hand.
“Tell me about your life,” Felicity commanded, swinging her legs. “Where would I fit in it?”
Robert stared forward as Felicity memorized his dear profile. “What I have isn’t my life. It’s a life I’ve been moving through like a ghost. It’s a life Isettled forwhen I lost all of mine.”
“Do you miss your old life?” Felicity asked practically.
Robert turned to look at her, his brow furrowed. “I miss having one, but I’m not sure if I missit.”
“Then tell me about the life you want to have!”
Robert blinked at her. He was just as handsome from the front view. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“Well, you should,” Felicity said firmly. “It’s very important to have a game plan. I’ll be happy anywhere I go, but I think you are the type who needs to figure out what will make you happy anddothat.”
“You make it sound like happiness is a choice.”
“It’s a journey,” Felicity corrected. “And some parts of the journey are losing your luggage in Mexico City and some parts are lying on the beach watching stars with your new best friend and some are meeting your mate when you cover him in moldy strawberries. It might help to have an itinerary so you know what to pack.”
“I want to be here, with you, forever,” Robert said promptly. “This is where I want to be. This is who I want to be with. You are my happiness. I chooseyou.”
She couldn’tnotkiss him again after that, and Felicity thought that was probably enough talk about futures before they did more than kiss, so she was quite glad when Robert broke off and in a husky voice suggested, “Let’s finish this conversation at my cottage.”
Felicity knew it was safe for her to carry the platter of food, and then Robert scooped her up with it like she weighed absolutely nothing, even though she had probably gained ten pounds that week because the food here was so good.
He carried her easily down the crunching gravel path, and Felicity lost a strawberry off the plate that neither of them cared enough to go back for.
Scarlet had spared no expense on Robert’s cottage, and had even had it decorated for Christmas with twinkle lights all around the outside and a wreath at the front door. The inside managed to have a perfect balance of austere and cozy, with potted plants in the corners, tasteful artwork that was neutral without being bland, and a mix of comfortable seating and useful surfaces.
Felicity wasn’t there for the décor, she was there for Robert’s kisses, and to get him out of that shirt and see if he was sunburned underneath it like his nose.
He was happy to help her unbutton—he started at the top, she started at the bottom, and they met in the middle. She got to run her hands up his chest and out across his shoulders as his shirt came off, standing on her tip-toes to reach.
He picked her up again and sat her on the bed so he could pull her shirt off over her head. They were both desperate for more, but taking it slow. Felicity found ticklish spots and sensitive skin, kissing deeply, scratching lightly, and relished every tantalizing moment of undressing each other, until they were both naked and vulnerable and she was trembling a little in anticipation and uncertainty.
Robert noticed and drew her close, cuddling him in her arms. “I love you, Felicity,” he murmured in her hair. Felicity wasn’t sure he even knew what he was saying. “My love, myone.”
Did she lovehim? Felicity drew back and gazed into his ice-blue eyes. She was hismate. He accepted that fact, and it thrilled her to her toes to think that this guy, this gorgeous, great guy, washers. She was wildly attracted to him, and she trusted him completely. She genuinely believed that they had a happy ever after waiting for them, and if she didn’t know exactly what that looked like, she knew they could find it together. If that wasn’t love, whatwas?
“I love you,” she said, and it tasted truthful in her mouth. “I love you!” It was dizzying and terrifying and daring, and when Robert caught her close again, she kissed him with all the passion it raised in her.
He didn’t hesitate, the way she feared he might, but met her willingly with everything that he was. “Felicity. My happiness.”
CHAPTER16
Robert had made love to plenty of women; he didn’t consider himself a novice at pleasing them. But he’d never felt like this before, full of love in all the cold places that had been bare of emotion before, and it colored the entire act. He’d been afraid of feeling again, of suffering more pain by opening himself up to the possibility of joy, and realized that he had never known feeling like this before. He knew what pain was, but he’d never known what bliss could be.
It wasn’t just that he loved her, but that he loved her more deeply than he had imagined possible. It was that he hadn’t even realized what love might be. He felt things about her that had been abstract concepts he’d always been distant from, even before he’d been captured and caged.
Even his ordinary senses were keener now. He could feel the texture of her skin and the warmth of her body and smell the bread from the platter forgotten on a small table like it had just come out of the oven. He could hear every little breath that she took, each gasp and hitch. When he gathered her up in his arms, he could feel and hear her heartbeat like it was his own.
They kissed and touched, and whispered little confessions of pleasure to each other—Yes, that! There! More! Lower… Harder…
He certainly couldn’t get much harder, having his mate in his arms, all of their skin together at last. She was so soft, and when she ran fingers over his chest and down his hips, he felt his last defenses crumble at her touch.
“Please,” she begged, as she tugged him to the bed. “Please…”
