“If I keep doing this,” she finally whispered. “Will you feel how I felt?”
Phillip couldn’t form a word. He could only give her a jerky nod.
“Well, I—”
Her thought was interrupted as Phillip’s hand covered hers, forcibly removing it from him. He pinned her hands over her head with his while his breathing settled back to rights.
“Why did you stop me?” she asked, mock-frowning up at him.
“Because, I—” He still needed a moment.
She waited patiently.
“It’s not quite the same for a man,” he finally managed. “If I feel how you felt, I’ll spend my seed and—”
“And?” she prompted, eyeing him carefully.
“And I want to do that inside of you,” he answered, nuzzling her neck.
Sophie’s mouth formed a wide O before a big smile replaced it.
“That’s how children are made,” he whispered.
“Oh, yes, of course,” she replied, feeling like a ninny for not having realized it before. Mama had died before Sophie had been of an age to discuss such things, and she’d never been able to ask Valentina for the information. Papa, of course, had never offered.
“We’re not trying to make a baby, of course,” Phillip continued. “But… But I want to feel you, Sophie. I want to be inside of you.” He let go of her hands.
“I want that too,” she breathed, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
Phillip kissed her again, before lowering himself over her and nudging her legs apart with his knee.
She closed her eyes tight, bracing herself for the uncomfortable part. But when Phillip slid inside of her, there was only heat and warmth and fullness and… He began to move, and she forgot her own name.
“Sophie,” he whispered into her ear, reminding her. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she promptly replied, her nails raking lightly across his bare back.
“Wrap your legs around me.”
Sophie didn’t hesitate. She clapped her legs around his lower back as he rocked back and forth inside of her, dragging out and sliding back in again and again. It wasn’t until he moved one of his hands down to rub her in that same spot where he’d licked her earlier that she realized she was going to feel that way all over again. The rocking of his hips, him rubbing against that spot, his finger nudging her in little circles as he moved in and out of her… It all combined to drive her wild. She clutched at his shoulders, whimpering slightly, feeling as if she was on the precipice of a mountaintop getting higher and higher, closer and closer to…
She let out a keening cry as ripples of pleasure spread through her entire body. Phillip stroked into her a few more times before he, too, shuddered and groaned and called her name into her ear as his entire world shattered into a thousand pieces of pleasure.
He lay atop her, slick and sated, breathing heavily for several moments before pulling out and using his strength to roll over, taking her with him. He cradled her against his chest, stroking her dark hair.
“That was…” she began, but soon realized she could not find the words.
“Yes, it was,” he agreed with a smile, still stroking her hair.
They laid there for several minutes, both reveling in their pleasure, before Phillip rolled out from under Sophie, stood, and made his way to the makeshift washstand in the corner. The few items Hugh had seen fit to provide them consisted of a pitcher of water, a bowl, and two cloths. Phillip moistened one of the cloths and brought it back to Sophie, cleaning her between her legs. She took it from him and finished, standing up and pulling her shift back over her head when she was done. Phillip pulled on his breeches but left off his shirt. They laid back down together, and Sophie cuddled against his chest.
“I will never regret that,” Sophie said.
“I won’t, either,” Phillip agreed, kissing the top of her head. “Not as long as I live.”
The last thought Sophie had before falling into a blissful, sated slumber was that if she was going to die tomorrow, at least she would have this memory to take to her grave.
Chapter Twenty-Six
