Finally, he settled between her legs, pushing them open wider as he looked at the sweet heaven of her wet sex. She glistened in the firelight, and he could scent her arousal, earthy and sweet. No wonder men did this. He hadn’t even begun yet and his mouth watered.
“Open me,” she murmured above him.
He glanced up to see her watching. Her face was lined with tension and flush with desire. He frowned and shook his head.
“Your way, is it?” she said with a laugh, reading his expression perfectly. “Very well, but know that you are likely going to kill me from waiting.”
He smiled as he returned his attention to her sex. He opened her wider, examining the flesh he revealed. Slowly, he leaned in and slid his tongue across her.
She was clean from her bath, slick from arousal. She cried out his name as he repeated the action, licking her from top to bottom in one swift swipe. Her flavor burst on his tongue, sweetness that was nothing he’d ever known. He dove into the act, stroking her with his tongue over and over as she writhed above him. He wanted to be lost in her, but fought to remain aware. To give her pleasure, he needed to mark every single reaction, to understand what made her moan and arch.
And he found it, after a long while of exploring every inch of her sheath. He found that nub of her clitoris and every time he sucked it, she let out a cry. He began to focus there, swirling his tongue around her, pushing hard with the flat of it, sucking it gently. Her legs began to shake and hands fisted in his hair as she lifted into him.
He felt the flutter of her orgasm just a fraction of a moment before she cried out, and licked her through it, never ceasing even as she thrashed and jolted and called out his name. Only when she collapsed back on the pillows, her glazed gaze unfocused, did he crawl up the length of her body.
She tugged him to her, crushing her mouth to his and grunting at the flavor of herself on his lips. She opened wider and he needed no further invitation. He sank into the wetness of her sex, shuddering as she gripped every inch of him. For a moment, he sat still that way, kissing her as her still-fluttering inner muscles massaged him lightly.
But it was too much and he could no longer hold back. He flexed his hips, rolling deep inside of her before he withdrew and repeated the action. She lifted beneath him, her breath short, her face twisting in pleasure all over again.
Their eyes were locked as he took her, and the intimacy revealed so much of her. He saw how deeply she cared for him, how much she wanted this to never end. He felt the same in himself, even if he knew it couldn’t be. That made these moments together even more powerful, more special. They couldn’t last and so he had to savor them.
He drove harder, sensation rushing up his cock, tightening his balls. He saw her inching toward release, too. He wanted to take her there, he wanted to give her that while their bodies were joined. He circled his hips and she gasped, her legs tightened around him, and she whispered, “Ewan, Ewan, I—”
He dropped his mouth to hers and her words were lost against his lips, as were her cries of release. Her body milked him and he pounded harder and harder until his balls tightened and his vision blurred. Only then did he withdraw and pump his seed away from her.
He collapsed down on the bed beside her, gathering her against his naked chest. Her arms came around him and she burrowed her head against his shoulder. They lay like that for what felt like an eternity.
And Ewan could think of only one thing. He had silenced Charlotte a moment before because he knew her. He knew what she was going to say was that she loved him.
And he couldn’t let her say it. He didn’t want her to feel it. It could lead to nothing except pain and heartbreak for them both. Things had already changed between them, he couldn’t allow them to change even more.
Somehow he had to distance himself from her. But not in this moment. Not right now.
Charlotte walked the perimeter of Ewan’s library, staring up at all the books with a smile. How anyone could ever assume he was anything but brilliant was impossible for her to understand. There were well-read tomes on his shelves on every possible subject, from science to astronomy to current novels of the day. And she knew he’d read them all. They’d spent many an hour discussing books in the years they’d known each other.
Just one more way they connected to each other.
“It was a wonderful supper,” she said, turning toward him.
He was standing at the sideboard, pouring them drinks, and he lifted his gaze with a smile and a nod.
“Don’t tell my staff, but I think you might just have the best cook in England. Perhaps in the entire empire.”
He handed over her sherry and signed, “I agree, but we shall keep it between ourselves or the entire world will know and someone will steal her away from me.”
She laughed and her heart was lighter. Although she was over the moon about the passionate connection she and Ewan had begun to share here, it was really this that she loved most about it. It was how easy their friendship was. It was how much she liked spending time with him. How much they had in common, but how much their differences complemented each other.
If only he could allow himself to see that.
“You must be looking forward to seeing Baldwin and your mother,” he signed, apparently oblivious to all that was in her heart.
She forced herself to focus on his statement. “I am. I left London over a month ago, to see Simon and Meg, so I have missed them both. It will be good to see them and share the holiday with them and with the Duke of Tydale and your aunt.”
He nodded, but she thought she saw a flicker of regret in his stare. Did it come from the fact that once the others arrived, this thing between them, whatever he wanted to call it, would change? Or was she reading too much into the twitch of his cheek or the flit of his eyes?
“Once they arrive,” she continued, carefully choosing her words. “I suppose things will be very different.”
He jerked his face toward hers. “We will have much holiday merry-making to do, yes,” he signed.
