But in pure love and welcome. She was home, and he covered her with his body, setting in the V of her legs where he fit so perfectly. She smiled against his neck.
“You are too dressed,” she whispered, tugging at his pants.
He smiled. “I am, I know. But I am too comfortable to ever leave.”
She laughed, a happy sound, a beautiful sound that filled his ears with pleasure. “Take them off and I will find you a more comfortable spot to rest.”
He chuckled as he got up. “Who knew you were such a negotiator?” he asked as he kicked off his boots and pushed his trousers off in record speed.
She leaned up on her elbows to watch him, licking her lips as his erection bobbed free and he stood before her naked.
“You are too beautiful,” she muttered as she reached for him.
She caught his length and he sucked in a breath. “Isn’t that my line?”
“I’ll steal it,” she purred, drawing him closer and rubbing her thumb over the sensitive head of his cock. Pleasure poured through him, making his cock twitch even as his whole body relaxed into liquid pleasure.
“Steal all you like. Everything of mine is yours now.”
“I only want this,” she said.
He lowered himself back over her and she opened her legs wider, watching him carefully as he positioned himself at her dripping entrance.
Their gazes held as he slid inside, inch by inch, take by take. When he was fully seated, her body shuddered around him and she gripped him with her internal muscles.
“Great God,” he moaned as he began to rotate his hips above her. She lifted into him, her body clinging to him, but she never looked away, holding him hostage with her hooded, heated stare.
He drove harder, judging his motions by the catch of her breath, the way her skin flushed. She was close to the brink and he couldn’t wait to join her, especially since his body was so very ready to claim her,trulyclaim her, at long last.
He slid a hand between them and found her clitoris. With a flick of his thumb, he tossed her over the edge and she screamed as she fell, her nails digging into him, her body milking him.
He couldn’t wait any longer. He felt the impending release and growled out her name as he poured himself deep within her, drawing both their orgasms out as long as he could.
Then he collapsed to the floor beside her and gathered her to his chest.
“Now,” he panted. “You are truly mine.”
“I was yours the moment I saw you,” she gasped back. “And I will be yours until the stars die out.”
He looked down at her, fitted comfortably in his arms, and knew she meant it. All of it. He knew, and it gave him strength and power and all the hope in the world for tomorrow and the rest of his life.
EPILOGUE
June 1811
Celia had only been a wife for a short time, and she still loved to see her husband come down the stairs to breakfast. His hair had grown out in the month since they reunited. He’d also grown a beard. She loved them both, loved that he looked a new man as well as acted and spoke as a new man.
And yet John was still, at his core, the person she’d fallen in love with. His gaze found hers and his hooded expression spoke of all the pleasures they had shared the night before in their bedroom above.
A smaller bedroom than the one she’d shared with him when he was still pretending to be a duke. In actuality, everything was smaller now. Their home, their staff, her wardrobe—all had shrunk as they began together. Yet her life feltbigger. Fuller.
“Rosalinde and Gray return to London today, yes?” he asked as he took a spot at the table beside her and grabbed her hand to lift it to his lips.
She smiled as a maid brought him a plate of food. “They do. We’ll see them off in about an hour.”
“Do you wish you were going with them?” he asked, his tone even but his eyes concerned.
She shook her head. “Not at all. London holds no sway for me. I’m happy here in my home. We’re close to Gray and Rosalinde and you’re in it, so that’s all I need. Honestly, I don’t think Gray would go, himself, except that he seems concerned for his brother. Something is going on with Stenfax, I fear.”
