“I just thought of my third rule,” she managed, trying to control the panic rising in her throat.
“Too late,” he breathed hotly against her inner thigh before bending to his task.
“What? Why?” But her hands were already fisting the sheets and she didn’t give a toss about the third rule.
Sebastian lifted his dark head. “My third rule is that you cannot make your third rule while we’re in the middle of, ahem, this.”
Veronica’s head fell back onto the pillow. His breath was at the juncture between her hips. His arms wrapped around her thighs, and he pulled her legs apart, opening her for him. Then his hot tongue lavished her. She whimpered in the back of her throat, unable to stop herself from making the noise. This, this had been something she’d tried to forget, tried and failed. The man could do things with his tongue that made her positively wild with wanting. There was a part of her that realized she hadn’t used one of her rules to stop this before because she’d known deep down how much she wanted it, how much she’d missed it.
The third rule should be that he could never stop.
He licked her in long, commanding strokes, all the while holding her thighs apart so she couldn’t close herself to him. Not that she wanted to. On the contrary, she wanted exactly what he was giving her, building her toward a climax unlike one she’d had in…far too long.
He sucked her, drawing the small nub into his scorching mouth, and licking it again and again, rolling his tongue over it until her back arched off the bed and her hands clawed at his shoulders, demanding her release.
It came with a force she wasn’t prepared for, ripping a keening cry from her throat as her hips fell back to the mattress.
A few moments later, in a delicious fog, she looked down to see Sebastian staring up at her with a smug smile on his lips. He moved back up her body, taking her shift with him. He pulled it over her head and tossed it on the floor. He paused, letting his eyes skim over her naked form. Then he pushed her legs apart with a strong knee and entered her in one swift thrust that made Veronica cry out again in pleasure.
“Tell me you want me,” he demanded in her ear as he slowly pulled out and thrust in again.
“I want you,” she admitted, already feeling the pressure build again as he slowly maneuvered his hips against hers.
“I want you, too. So much,” he groaned as he increased the tempo.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and her hips met his, thrust for thrust, until she was wild again. His hand moved swiftly between their bodies to find that sweet spot once more. He rubbed her, sending her over the edge for the second time before he took his pleasure, thrusting into her one last time before shuddering inside of her, her name a growl in his throat.
Sebastian rolled away from her, but he grabbed her hand, holding it and bringing it to his lips to kiss in a sweet gesture that made unexpected tears spring to her eyes. How was he able to break through her defenses so easily? So quickly? So completely?
“You’re holding my hand?” she finally ventured once their breathing had returned to rights.
“Yes, do you object?” came his reply in the candlelight.
“No,” she said simply, not entirely certain how she felt about it…or how she should feel.
“I’ve missed you, Veronica.”
Her breath caught. What was he doing? The sex had been intimate enough. But this…this. Why was he doing this?
“I want you by my side,” he continued.
The lump that had formed in her throat was so large she couldn’t swallow. She lay there, staring unseeing at the shadowy ceiling, thinking of the lovely dream that had shattered so many months ago. She closed her eyes, the pain nearly palpable. He missed her? He wanted her by his side? His words made her wish for things, wish it could be as simple and lovely as the picture he painted with those two short sentences. As if they could just pretend none of it had happened and they were still the couple they had briefly been once. But his words were too similar to the ones she’d heard Father say to Mama a hundred times. They couldn’t just pretend none of it had happened…could they? She closed her eyes and just for a moment, a second or two, she let herself pretend she was already with child from their lovemaking. What if they truly had the family and the life she’d thought they would have when they first married? What if they weren’t pretending? How wonderful would that be?
“It’s difficult to navigate social obligations without my duchess.” His voice came out of the shadows, dragging her back to reality.
Anger slowly seeped through Veronica’s body, quickly replacing all the delicious pings from moments before. Social obligations? Ah, yes. How could she forget? That’s what he cared about? Not her. Just ‘his duchess.’ The woman he’d installed in that role just happened to be her. Veronica pushed herself up against the pillows, pulling the covers over her body. “How unfortunate that it’s difficult for you to live with the consequences of your actions,” she said, pressing her lips together tightly.
“The consequences of my actions?” Frowning, he pulled himself up to sit against the pillows on his side of the bed. “Damn it, Veronica, I told you I did not bed Melissa that night. I—”
“You’ve never understood.” Veronica’s voice shook with anger. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders. “Even if I believed you, which I don’t. You lied to me. You broke your word. Trust is important in a relationship. You heard my grandparents say so tonight. How could I ever trust you again?”
Sebastian cursed under his breath. His gaze caught hers and held for a few silent moments. Finally, he tossed back the covers, stood, and grabbed his sapphire robe from the back of a nearby chair. Pulling on the garment and belting it, he stalked from the room.
Veronica sat in silence, staring at the door that had just closed behind him. Why was everything between them so complicated? Why couldn’t he understand that trust was the foundation of a good marriage and he’d broken that foundation…taken an ax to it? The worst part was, she should have known better. She’d been told plainly enough. She had only herself to blame for not listening.
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headboard. The memory of the morning after her wedding overtook her. She’d been filled with joy that morning. She’d climbed out of bed, where she and Sebastian had made love all night, and hurried downstairs to see the sunrise over the gardens at Whitmore Manor.
It was her favorite spot and her favorite time of day. Only that morning…she hadn’t been alone. Her mother-in-law, the dowager Duchess of Edgefield, had materialized beside her in the early morning light.
