Their eyes locked on each other as she slowly lowered, and felt the silken tissues inside her give as he slid deeper. There was a sharp sting of pain as he penetrated her body.
“Christ, you feel good.” The muscles in his jaw bunched.
Liberty put her arms around his neck and held him tight. Toby, her friend, and now her love. Later she’d wonder at that. Wonder at how her feelings for this man had changed so rapidly. Or had they just lain dormant?
“Are you all right, Liberty?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Then when you can move, I beg of you to do so,” he gritted out.
The feel of him was wonderful, even as the pain lingered. She rose, and then down again, and his jaw clenched. She repeated the motion slowly, feeling the delicious tension rise inside her once more. His hands were on her hips, fingers gripping her tight.
“Next time, we will be in a bed,” he whispered, his hips thrusting up to meet hers.
A wave of pleasure hit her again as he continued to meet her as she rode him. Thrust after thrust, as the sensations became almost unbearable.
“Now, Liberty, I cannot wait much longer.”
She felt the tension peak, and then his thumb pressed inward, finding the small tight bud between her thighs and she scaled that pinnacle of pleasure once more. Her cries muffled in his shoulder as he moaned long and low.
The only sounds for long minutes were the clop of hooves and rasp of their breathing in the small space. He held her pressed to his chest. Arms banded around her back.
“I should not have done that, but I will never regret it,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re mine now, Liberty. For always.”
She had no problem with that, however, she had no energy to takehim to task for the high-handed way he’d spoken the words.
“And now we dress, in case the carriages have to stop,” he said, easing her off his body and on to the opposite seat. “Use this,” he handed her the handkerchief he got out of his jacket pocket, along with her glasses, which he pushed onto her face.
She cleaned and dressed, as did he, but the silence wasn’t tense and fraught as it had once been between them. Liberty felt no embarrassment, just a rightness that she was here with Toby. Only when they were both as presentable as they could make themselves did he pull her back onto his lap.
“We have so much to say to each other, and so many years have passed since we were friends, my sweet. But first I want to say that any future with me comes with Florence. She is mine now, as are you.”
“And I would have it no other way. I will love her as you do,” Liberty said.
He exhaled. “I knew you would, but I needed to ask. Now let me hold you in my arms for the remainder of our journey, where you will always be.”
“Yes.” Liberty laid her head on his chest as he turned slightly to rest his body more comfortably. “Toby?”
“Liberty?” His fingers stroked her neck.
“Do you speak of Mathew at all?”
He didn’t stiffen like he normally would at the mention of his brother, but he felt the heat of pain in his chest.
“I don’t think you have grieved properly for him, Toby. Will you let me help you do that? Your brother deserves that from you.”
“I know he does.” He buried his face in her hair. “I miss him so much still.”
“We will talk more about him in the future.”
“We will,” he said, feeling the rightness in the words. “And my mother deserves that from me as well.”
“Yes,” she whispered, feeling her eyelids droop. “I love you, Toby.” Liberty then closed her eyes and fell asleep in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Toby had reluctantlydropped Liberty at the front door of her family’s home yesterday and left. He’d fought the need to take her to Hawthorne with him, but not yet. That day would come soon.
