He cupped the back of her head, tilting her mouth for better access. He drove his tongue past her lips, tasting her unique flavor as her body began to shake beneath his. He gripped her hip, grinding harder over her, forcing her pleasure until she bucked beneath him, her pussy gripping him as waves of release rolled between them.
She milked his cock, driving him toward home, toward her, toward that blinding moment of perfect pleasure that always existed between them. He thrust harder, shutting his eyes, sucking her tongue, feeling the intense sensation grow until his balls tightened. Biting back his roar, he withdrew, pumping his hand over his cock as he came between them, then flopped forward to cover her body with his as he rained gentle kisses down the slope of her neck and shoulders.
She wrapped her arms around him, cradling his body against hers, her legs tucked around his waist, her soft sounds of pleasure still warm and incoherent against his neck.
And in that moment everything in his world, his life, his riotous mind, was perfect.
Thatwas what she did for him. Adelaide. Lydia. Both. The same. And that thought drew him from the hazy pleasure.
He lifted his head and stared down at her. She was looking straight back at him, not flinching, not hiding. Not anymore. Everything had been laid bare and her secrets would soon merge with the ones he’d confessed so recently.
If she wanted to tell them, that was. Becauseshehadn’t forcedhim. And as much as he wanted to do so, he refused to force her.
He stroked the back of his hand along her cheek, tracing the soft lines there as he whispered, “Tell me?”
She stiffened just a fraction, and her gaze slid away from his. He mourned the connection that had been broken. He mourned that she felt she had to break it. That she couldn’t fully trust him. Hadn’t trusted him. Might not trust him still.
“I-I owe you that,” she said with a nod of what could only be described as resigned surrender.
He cupped her chin and lifted it, forcing her to look at him. Her blue eyes widened, pupils dilating as she met his stare. He shook his head slowly.
“Youoweme nothing,” he whispered. “I’m asking you for the truth, but if you want to protect your secrets I, of all people, would never force them from you.”
His answer seemed to shock her, for she was silent for what felt like an eternity. Then she swallowed hard. “No, Graham. I was always going to tell you. And it’s time. It’s time for the truth.”
Adelaide groaned as Graham gently lifted his weight from her. She prepared for him to get up and walk away, to dress, so there would be a barrier between them. But just as he had been from the moment he entered the room, he surprised her. He didn’t leave her, but merely shifted them both into a seated position. He tucked her against him, his arms around her, and she rested her head against his bare chest with a shuddering sigh.
She felt safe in his arms. An illusion, she knew, but one she chose to cling to in this moment of vulnerability and fear. He hadn’t abandoned her yet, and he already knew the worst of her lies.
“What I told you about the first night we made love when you thought I was Lydia, it was true,” she began, surprised she could make coherent speech when she was shaking so hard. “Three years ago a gentleman began to show interest in me. No one of any real consequence, but he seemed to like me. And no one had ever liked me before. He seduced me. I shouldn’t have allowed him to…to take me, but I thought he cared. It seems he didn’t, for he disappeared soon after.”
She felt Graham’s jaw tighten and looked up to see anger on his face. At her? But no, it didn’t seem to be. “Who?”
“It doesn’t matter now. He ran off to the Americas, his father has said publicly. No one has seen or heard from him in years.” She sighed. “He would rather run than marry me, it seemed. At the time, it was devastating, for I knew I’d destroyed any small chance I had at a future. My aunt found out and was enraged, so it made my life at home even harder.”
“It changed you,” he said softly.
She nodded. “As all experience does, I suppose. I coiled further into myself. Into books. Into the wall. I didn’twantto be seen.”
He looked down into her face and she saw his empathy and understanding slashed across his handsome face. In that moment, her sense of safety grew, despite having told him a fact that could easily change what he thought of her. Lydia’s fall was one thing to process. Lady Adelaide’s was quite another. Two different worlds, two different feelings on the same subject.
And yet Graham didn’t seem fazed by the truth.
“How did it lead you to Lydia?” he pressed gently.
She drew a ragged breath. “I was not happy. As I said, my aunt didn’t react well when she discovered I’d been ruined. She would screech the most vile things at me. She would—” She broke off, thinking of Opal’s harsh slap during that terrible time. Of the way she’d choked Adelaide just that very day.
“What did she do?” Graham asked, his body stiffening as if he already knew. But perhaps he did, he would know the signs better than most, she would wager.
“She was cruel,” Adelaide said softly. “And I was unhappy and trapped. But she got a head cold a year and a half ago. She was bedridden for almost three weeks, and suddenly I had this tiny taste of freedom again. My maid, Rebecca, who knew how unhappy I was, suggested I sneak out with her and go see a play. It was so wicked, so entirely against character, but I did it.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Quite a jump from seeing a play to performing on stage at one of the most popular theatres in London.”
She nodded. “It was. You see, Rebecca had a friend backstage, and suddenly we were there. The actress in one of the supporting roles got violently sick and I looked a bit like her. I got pushed out onto the stage with three lines to say and I-I…” She hesitated even as joy flooded her. “Ilovedit. When they applauded, it was like someone had…had turned a light on that I didn’t even know existed.”
“You are very good, Adelaide,” Graham said softly.
She smiled up at him. “Thank you. It snowballed from there. I was asked to do another part and another. Lydia was born, for I certainly couldn’t perform as Adelaide. Rebecca and I have an elaborate system for my sneaking out and in. Aunt Opal hasn’t suspected…yet.”
