Her expression softened, and she moved closer once more. She lifted her chin, examining his face closely. “Not always,” she whispered.
His breath came short now, a combination of high emotion and a desire for her that never seemed to fade. He realized now that it never would. Touching her wasn’t just about pleasure—in some ways it never had been. His body had craved what his mind would not accept until it was forced.
He wanted to be near her. He wanted to be connected with her. And when they made love, he was able to have that connection. She allowed it, and so he fed on it like he was starved.
Perhaps he had been. Until her.
“I need your light, Amelia,” he murmured. “I never knew how much.”
She was silent as she wound her arms around his neck, lifting up so her lips were close to his. “Then take it,” she whispered in the moment before she kissed him.
His mind emptied of his troubles and his fears, replaced by his desire and his passion and the love that now flowed like a river through it all. He gathered her closer, pressing their bodies until it felt like they were one. That she was truly his, at least in the fantasy world they would now enter.
“I need—” he panted, unable to finish the sentence.
She nodded because she understood. It was all the acquiescence he required. He lifted her feet off the ground, continuing to kiss her as he placed her back to the smooth bark of a nearby sweet chestnut tree. Leaning against the hard surface, he cupped her backside, grinding her against him as he kissed her like it was the last time.
Or the first time. And it almost was. This was the first time he’d kissed her when he knew he loved her. That made it different. Sweet and special and desperate and needy.
She moaned against his mouth, lifting into him with as much hunger as what was stoked in his body. His hands shook as he pushed her skirt up, his breath caught as he slid his fingers along her skin. She opened her legs, her mouth dragging along his jaw as he unfastened the placard of his trousers.
He lifted, she opened and he slid inside. Home, because it was her, and now he understood how much that meant. Would always mean, even if she never felt the same way. He thrust into her, their foreheads touching as he took and took and took, marking her, marking himself, claiming even if he did not yet say it out loud, that he would be hers until his last breath left his lungs.
She began to moan her pleasure, her hands digging into his shoulders, and then her pussy rippled around him as she orgasmed. He thrust harder, dragging them both through her pleasure, but he had no control left. Not after today. He grunted as heated sensation ricocheted through him, and then he cried out as his seed pumped hard and hot into her clenching body.
Her mouth found his again and he drowned in her taste, never wanting to part himself from her. Knowing that he had to. And knowing that once he did, the real work to win her would begin.
Chapter Seventeen
Something had changed in Hugh. Amelia couldn’t place it as she sat in the library, staring with unseeing eyes at the book in hand, but she felt it as strongly as if it were something palpable.
It had been two days since he took her to the playhouse in the woods and confessed the details of his childhood to her. And he had not been the same since. No, he wasn’t entirely open with her, she knew he held back, but he was trying. He shared his thoughts, asked her about hers. He told her more and more about his life, including how he’d come to be in his large group of friends and what that meant to him. About his mother, his father, their loss, and the weight of carrying a title and of becoming what amounted to a father at such a young age.
She was beginning to know him,trulyknow him, and it encouraged her to be more open, herself. Passionate nights would give over to hours of whispered confidences and private jokes.
And her feelings for the man grew with every day they spent together. The life she led with him, which had seemed like such a horror a month ago, was now something…well, she didn’t want to lose it. And she wondered what would change once they left for London the next morning.
The door to the library opened, and Amelia forced a smile as Lizzie entered the chamber.
“Hello, dearest,” she said, tossing her novel aside. “Coming to find a book?”
Lizzie shook her head. “Return one,” she said, and held up a slim volume in her hand. “I finished it last night.” She placed it on the shelf and then came to sit beside Amelia. “I cannot believe how quickly ten days has flown by.”
Amelia took her hands and squeezed them gently. “I know. It seems only yesterday that we arrived. I have adored my time here. I love that I get to return here again and again.”
Lizzie frowned slightly. “But tomorrow you’ll go. I hate that part.”
“Then why not come with us?” Amelia pressed. “Oh, Lizzie, how I’d love to have you in London. We could have such fun, and I know Hugh would adore having you near. The Season is coming to an end, but we could introduce you in a small way and then you could join us for parties and balls. I would love having my dear sister at my side.”
Lizzie turned her head, and Amelia saw the sparkle of tears in her bright eyes. She had pushed too hard, though she still had no idea why Lizzie was so opposed to taking her place in Society.
“I don’t want you to think it’s because of you or my brother,” Lizzie whispered. “It isn’t.”
Amelia put an arm around her. “I know. I never thought that. But I cannot help but wonder why it is that London and Society in general are so frightening to you. I know you are shy and reserved, but we would be with you. And Hugh’s friends have wonderful wives. You’d not be alone or forced to navigate your way without so many friends at your side.”
“Iamshy,” Lizzie admitted. “I’ve never liked being out and about very much. But I always knew that I’d have to come out at some point. Have to overcome the failing that makes me want to hide from others. No, it’s something…else that makes me hesitate.”
Amelia searched her face. Lizzie was not good at hiding her feelings, not like Hugh. Now her emotions were very clear and very painful. Amelia could almost taste them, they hung so heavy in the air.
