“Sweets, what’s the frown for?”
He pulled her down on top of him and gently took her face in his hands, holding her in place while he kissed her.
“It’s too long a time to bear,” she said when he, at last, let her breathe.
“I know.” And he held her close. “When I’m out at sea with a bunch of rude sailors, I’ll think on this moment and try to recall how it feels to have you in my arms.” He kissed the top of her head, his warm breath on her hair. “I know my memories won’t come close to this. You are my heaven, Rose, and I’ll leave my heart with you.”
She didn’t want to cry, didn’t want to leave him with that image of her, red nosed and teary eyed. So she lifted her head and gave him her brightest smile.
“I’ll keep your heart safe for you, Finn. I promise.”
He kissed her again, and she felt him move under her, felt the familiar sensations of her mouth going dry as her body went soft and hot for him.
Suddenly, she couldn’t wait another moment to join with her husband. Sending her own tongue darting into his mouth, she slid her hands down the length of his torso, stopping at his waist. She slipped her fingers into the band of his trousers and tried to touch his skin.
He froze while she struggled with the layers of his shirt and unmentionables, eventually able to stroke the skin across his hips.
“Rose,” he warned, and she felt his own hands take a journey down to her backside, which he then cradled in his palms.
“Finn,” she teased back, but then she pushed against him and sat up. Looking down at this comely man, it didn’t matter a whit that their love was a secret. Before the eyes of God and the Massachusetts legal system, he was hers and she, his.
In short order, she slipped off her jacket and began on the buttons of her blouse.Forget her shoes.Leave her stockings. Though maybe she should have started with —
His hands closed over hers, stopping her movements.
“What are you doing, love?”
She stared into his gray-blue eyes. “Undressing. For you.”
He swallowed, blinked, then gave her a wry smile. “Like a sacrificial lamb?”
“No.” Her voice had turned husky. “Because I want you.”
That wiped the smile off his face. In about half a second, she found herself rolled under him with Finn looking down at her. The expression on his face warred between uncertainty and desire.
“Rose, why now? I’m so used to your resisting me with all the stubbornness of a Johnny Reb.” His gaze dropped to her lips, then back to her eyes. “You’ve thrown me off-kilter, like a sailor on his maiden voyage.”
He lowered his head and put his mouth to hers until she parted her lips. The weight of him upon her soft body was delightful as he seemed to fit into the cradle of her hips and sink into the sensitive place between her legs. Finn was careful not to crush her breasts as he plundered her mouth. Her body pressed up against him of its own accord, until finally, he lifted his head and gazed into her eyes.
“I want to be really and truly your wife. Right this very moment,” she added, lifting her hips as much as she could under him, which was barely at all.
“Sweet girl. Youaremy real wife, and you’ll always be mine regardless. And we’ll keep you as a virgin bride until I return.”
He looked to where the neckline of her gown gaped slightly and lowered his head to place a kiss on the upper swell of her breast.
She gasped, wishing he would do more, perhaps draw down the bodice of her gown. Instead, he trailed his kisses upward to her collarbone and her throat, up her slender neck, along her chin line and back to her mouth. She enjoyed every single kiss, every rasp of the faint stubble on his face, as it ran over her sensitive skin.
Then, to her surprise, he slipped his hand into the top of her gown and ran the back of his knuckles across one of her breasts, brushing her peaked nipple.
She moaned and heard him echo the sound.
“If we continue to lie here like this,” Finn added, “I fear you won’t be a virgin much longer.” He sat up, pulling her gently to a seated position. “Come on, love, I’ll walk you home.”
She shook her head. “I have a carriage. I want five more minutes in your arms. That’s not too much to ask, is it?” She stretched out in the warm place he had just vacated, offering him her most pleading pout and come-hither gaze. He looked down at her and sighed.
“Rose, you’re not playing fair.”
“Whatever do you mean?” she asked, fluttering her lashes at him.
