“You have everything planned out, haven’t you?” Arabella teased. “It would have been amazing if you had told me so, because I would have prepared accordingly.”
“I will buy you everything you need. All I need is for you to be there.”
She was still giggling when he helped her up the steps into his carriage and closed the door behind him. He signaled the driver to return to the estate. When the wheels started spinning over the gravel, muting any other noise, he pulled closer.
Suddenly, in the small confines of the luxurious carriage, it was as if they had shut the whole world outside. For a while, they justlooked at each other, both weighing the silence and the closeness as if it was the first time they found themselves alone.
He knew deep down that he needed to take this slow, but it was simply impossible. He couldn’t even wait for them to go back home. He almost lost her, and he just wanted to make sure that she was his in every way that mattered. And he needed to feel her.
His pulse was racing, and his heart was hammering. He had never desired anything more in his life. When their eyes met, he knew that he was regarding her with longing. Arabella softly and gracefully nodded to his unspoken request.
“Arabella,” he growled. “You are mine.”
He sounded like a madman, but there was no way of stopping himself. He placed both hands on her waist. Arabella’s hand landed on his chest, and she started exploring his body underneath his clothes, waking up desire in him, unstoppable and flammable.
He pulled her in for another kiss, slow and lingering. His tongue licked her lips, and she responded immediately, giving him access. She was so warm, or perhaps he was too cold away from her, but he felt alive after all.
He reached and took her hand in his. She was still wearing her gloves. Very slowly, looking into her eyes, he took those gloves off one finger at a time. It was such a simple act, and yetunraveling her hands made his body tighten with desire. When they were off, he threw them at the seat beside her.
Then his hands skimmed higher until they reached the top of the sleeve, right where her neck met her shoulder. His fingers traced the skin under the dress, and he did so as if touching precious silk.
What his fingers touched, it was the turn of his lips to taste. He peppered open-mouthed kisses on her shoulder and her collarbone, and then he used his teeth to pull down the sleeves of her dress.
Arabella arched into his touch, her breathing already ragged. Slowly, his hands traveled over her shoulders down her back. He wanted to feel that she was truly here, his to touch. He cupped her face and cradled it in his hands.
“I thought I had lost you,” he said, clearly overwhelmed.
“I don’t think you can ever lose me, no matter what happens,” Arabella declared.
His heart filled with joy upon hearing those words. He didn’t know how much he needed that reassurance. Still, Arabella put words to his desires.
“Do you want this, Arabella?” he breathed over her ear.
“Yes, please.”
He smiled and licked that sensitive spot behind her ear, his fingers brushing over her neck, and some of her carefully tucked-away curls escaped to tease him.
“I want this too,” he groaned into her skin. “Like I never wanted anything more in my life. Let me show you, please.”
His lips trailed down her neck, nibbling and kissing. Arabella’s hands gripped him, and her fingers tangled in his hair. He became more impatient, taking off his coat and waistcoat, pulling off his cravat while his lips never left hers.
Her fingers went for his shirt, unbuttoning each button while he kissed her collarbone. They were frantic, making up for the hurt and the time apart, unable to stop for one moment. She threw the shirt on the floor of the carriage.
He kneeled in front of her, this supplicate position the one that really reflected his emotions. Both hands went up her legs, over her silk socks, till his hands found the exposed skin of her thighs.
“Oh, Bella,” he moaned shamelessly. “I want you so much. I can’t stop.”
“Don’t stop,” she gasped. “I thought I would never see you again, never touch and kiss you again.”
He heard the hurt in her voice. He stopped and held her face, making her look into his eyes.
“I won’t ever let you go,” he promised. “I am yours, Arabella. Forever.”
“And I am yours. Forever.”
He felt as if something inside him was complete. He took her lips in a desperate, profound kiss, pouring all his emotions into it. His hands went frantically into her skirts, lifting them up around her waist. Perhaps he should have been more gentle, but he couldn’t hold back anymore. If he didn’t feel her, all of her, he would simply lose his mind.
Her kiss became hot, demanding, frenzied, her need matching his. He responded tenfold, his fingers digging into her thighs, pulling her closer to him. He ground against her once. He could feel the heat of her core through the fabric of his breeches. That first connection made her head fall back, craning her neck bare.
