She turned around so he could loosen her corset while she fumbled with the fastenings in the front. Her corset came away, as he kissed the crook of her neck and slid his arms around her. She leant backwards against his chest, glorying in his touch.
‘I’ve thought of you often. Just like this. I don’t deserve you.’
‘Hush, Drake,’ soothed Evelyn, turning in his arms. ‘Such thoughts have kept us apart.’
‘Nothing will keep us apart. Nothing.’
His next kiss was as determined as his promise. It left her breathless and shaking, as he lifted her chemise from her body and pulled her close before it touched the floor. They knelt before the fire, both naked to the waist, skin on skin, whilst the gentle warmth of the fire warmed their bodies.
She felt his hand trace the curve of her spine and finally come to rest on her drawers trimmed with lace. The hand stilled and she wondered what he was thinking.
She loved this man so much. How could one night ever be enough? How could she live without him in her life? She felt the waist of her drawers loosen and his hands begin to ease them over her hips. She sat back on her heels, halting the fabric from falling lower.
‘Promise me you will never leave me again, Drake. I couldn’t bear it again.’
He looked at her, surprised. He saw her fear and his eyes filled with tenderness.
‘I promise, Evie. I love you. Always have. Always will.’
She reached to touch his cheek, but he took her hand instead and pulled her gently towards his embrace. They were together, skin on skin, with a mutual desire for more and prepared to damn the consequences. Her worries were forgotten, her bad memories laid to rest. All that mattered was the present, where sight captured memories and touch, whether by hand, tongue or breath, awakened intoxicating sensations. Finally, when she felt there was no more to be discovered, Drake took her to a world beyond her imagination, where she felt powerful, yet powerless, enslaved, yet free, and when she felt she could take no more, yet fearful that it would end — he joined her.
* * *
Evelyn woke to find Drake lying beside her, his head resting on the heel of his hand, his dark eyes tracing the length of herhair. Whatever he was thinking had brought a slight curve to his lips. He sensed he was being watched and looked at her. ‘I love the colour of your hair. It glistens in the sun.’
Evelyn lifted her hand and brushed one of his stray black curls away from his cheek. ‘And I love yours.’
‘My hair is not like a gentleman’s. It is too wild and long.’
She smiled. ‘Which is why I love it. It will not be tamed. Just like you.’
‘You could tame me.’
‘I don’t want to. Perhaps I want you to un-tame me.’ Drake threw his head back and laughed. Evelyn watched, fascinated. It had been years since she had last heard him laugh and told him so. ‘I am falling in love with you all over again,’ she teased.
‘I have fallen in love with you a hundred times,’ said Drake, turning onto his back and using his bent arm as a pillow.
Evelyn rolled over onto her front and look down on him. ‘Tell me. What makes you fall in love with me again and again?’
‘Each time I discover there is something new to love.’
‘Such as?’
He looked up at her. His penetrating gaze tugged at something deep inside her. ‘The crease that forms between your eyebrows when you are puzzled.’
Evelyn touched her forehead. He raised an eyebrow when she found what she was searching for. She vowed to herself to make a concerted effort not to frown so much.
‘What else?’
‘The way your lips tighten when you are holding back from speaking your mind.’
‘You make me sound horrid.’
‘And the way your voice rises when you feel misjudged.’
‘You are teasing me now.’ She wasn’t so sure that he was, his face had suddenly grown serious.
‘The way your breath catches when you are about to be kissed . . .’
