Her voice was ragged to her own ears, but she didn’t care if she sounded needy. Shewasneedy.
Eoin flushed, but he didn’t protest as he immediately shucked off the material, sending it to join the others on the floor. Hannah scooted back to admire the swell of his biceps and pectoral muscles. Even his stomach had firm ridges.
“How are you so exceedingly fit?” Hannah asked as she moved forward to trace the intriguing dips and swells. Although she’d suspected as much from how his clothes tugged and pulled, his body was magnificent and not one of a scholar.
Eoin’s mouth opened, and his throat worked, but no sound came out. Instead, he emitted a sound halfway between a growl and a groan.
“Never mind,” Hannah said, finding it rather hard to slip a word between her deep, rapid breaths. She had a much better use for her lips and tongue. She dipped her head and kissed Eoin’s chest, reveling in the warmth of his hard flesh. He emitted a rough sound and then buried his mouth against the juncture of her shoulder and neck. They sat pressed together, their teeth lightly scraping against the other’s skin as they drove themselves wild with yearning and delight.
Eoin’s hands slid under her shirt and swept in wide circles up her back. As soon as he reached the binding around her bosom, he immediately began to untuck the strip of material. He was defter this time. Within moments, her breasts were free, and his hands brushed along their sides. Sweet sensation shot through Hannah, and her head arched backward. Eoin pressed soft kisses along the column of her neck as his hands swept forward to cup her. She whimpered from the sharp shards of desire cascading through her as his thumbs toyed with her nipples.
Oh, she wanted this man. Utterly and completely.
She reached up and undid the tie on her own linen shirt. Pulling out the lacing entirely, she tossed it away. Eoin immediately took advantage of the opening to press his lips against her bosom. The stubble on his cheeks rubbed against her sensitive skin, triggering a wonderful cascade of shivers to course through her. Her breath came in wanton pants, and her body began to writhe as her every fiber begged for a release thatonly Eoin could give. She buried her fingers in his soft hair until they reached his hair tie. Wanting to stroke the silky smoothness of his locks, she quickly undid the ribbon.
Eoin shifted his head so that his mouth was no longer pressed against her. But his fingers gently massaged, and his cheek still rested on her chest. “The… ground… too… hard?”
It took Hannah a few passion-dazed moments to understand the question, and she likely only managed to divine the meaning because of how much she wanted what he offered. This time she was the one who couldn’t manage speech—even half coherent. She shook her head. Eoin smiled against her before he slowly began to lower both their bodies to the dirt floor. Hannah stroked her hand down his back, glorifying in how his muscles shifted. He cradled her head in one hand as her back touched the flagstone. The smooth rock felt cool against her heated flesh, even through the linen of her shirt. She shivered. Eoin pressed closer while still supporting most of his weight on his elbows. His mouth closed over hers again as his thighs bracketed her body.
“I… can’t… not… enough.” Eoin huffed out the words. Even though they were almost nonsensical, Hannah understood that he was trying to convey how badly he needed her. Part of her thrilled that she’d driven such an eloquent man to fragmented thoughts, but she too felt utterly undone.
Huck-chrrr-phew! Huck-chrrr-phew! Huck-chrr-phew!
Hannah froze. For a moment, she wondered wildly if she’d somehow cut off Eoin’s airway even though her arms and hands were nowhere near his neck. The horrid, grating sound was not one of pleasure. In fact, it sounded exactly like…
“Is that snoring?” Eoin asked as he raised his chin.
Hannah lifted her head as far as she could without whacking against Eoin’s temple. “It certainly sounds like it.”
Hannah’s gaze shot to the gosling nested in the corner. Although its head was still tucked beneath its fuzzy wing, the bird was not making a peep.
A different kind of energy shot through Hannah as she began to wiggle out from under Eoin. He immediately sprang away from her as he rose from the ground. By the time she’d scrambled to her own feet, he’d nearly reached the window.
“The bear is finally asleep,” Eoin said as he shielded his eyes. The sun had risen fully during their lovemaking, and light now poured inside, even reaching the spot where they’d taken shelter.
“I thought bruins slept at night.” Hannah vaguely recalled Matthew—who loved all animals—chattering about which animals were nocturnal and which weren’t.
“It’s most likely exhausted from prowling about,” Eoin said as he quickly peered out the opening.
“Well, I am actually feeling remarkably refreshed,” Hannah teased. Anxiety had begun to trickle through her again, and humor was the best way to ward off its potentially detrimental effects.
“So am I,” Eoin admitted as he stole another gaze outside the folly. This time he didn’t pull back. “It’s slumbering very soundly. You can look safely from the window next to me.”
Hannah quickly hurried over to the opening. And there in a sunny patch lay a great black shape. The beast had flattened a bed of overgrown honeysuckle to form a rather inviting-looking nest. It lay curled up with its light brown snout resting on pitch-colored paws. Each claw was trimmed, and Hannah recognized the scars along its muzzle and its patchy, mangy fur.
“That is most definitely Ursus,” Hannah said.
“Yes,” Eoin said darkly.
“We should talk about this with the others.” Hannahwatched the bear’s black nose twitch as loud snores escaped him. “It is a most unusual method to kill someone.”
“But first we must escape this folly.” Eoin stepped back from the outer wall and reached down to scoop up their clothes. “I am not sure how long the bear will rest.”
“Of course, the beast decided to bed down just when things had become the most interesting between us.” Hannah pretended to grumble as she yanked on her coat. She didn’t even bother with binding her breasts. Everyone in Eoin’s household knew that she was a woman. The disguise wasn’t that good that they wouldn’t recognize her in broad daylight.
Eoin cast a wary glance in the direction of the snoring as he buttoned up his coat. “I don’t know what to do with Ursus. It is not as if I can deliver him back to the Horse and Hen even if the Purveyor wasn’t attempting to engineer my death. That bear was suffering. But I cannot keep him in my garden. Perhaps he can join the other animals at the Tower, although I am not sure if King George will want to add a mangy, skinny bear to the collection. Do you think your friend with the menagerie would take him?”
“He would be delighted to do so,” Hannah promised as she finished fastening her clothing. She didn’t need to glance out the window to check if the bruin was still sleeping. She swore that his snores were loud enough to shake the stone walls of the folly.
