“I need you.” He groaned as he spoke, and with his cheek pressed against her, he felt her nod.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Please.”
They were the words he needed, the acknowledgment that she felt the same unshakable desire. He lowered his hips, positioning the tip of his cock at her entrance. Damnation, she was so hot and so wet.
Beneath him, she stiffened slightly. Her fingers, which had been gripping his forearms, tightened a fraction. She needed a momentary distraction. He leaned forward and captured a breast in his mouth.
“Oh,” she gasped as he suckled on her nipple. Her hands reached for the sheets and gathered them firmly in her fists.
He sucked harder and as he did so, he inched forward so the head of his cock slid inside her. Spasms of pleasure shot through his entire body. His own fingertips curled into the sheet by her shoulders.
He forced himself to keep his eyes open, to watch the awe on her face as he moved forward another inch. “Is it all right?” he asked, fully preparing to withdraw but praying to God he wouldn’t have to.
“Yes,” she breathed. “It’s odd. I don’t know quite what it feels like. But good.”
He swallowed back a chuckle. Ever the scientist trying to observe and classify. But if she had room in her brain to think, then he wasn’t doing his job well enough. He returned his attention to her breasts, this time using his teeth to graze the nipple, taking deep satisfaction in the way they peaked into firm nubs between his lips.
He gently bit her again and her body arched, bringing him deeper within her. That was the edge of his resolve. In fact, it was a step past it. He buried his head into her soft hair, the scent of jasmine and honey his only earthly connection. The rest of his senses were lost into the feeling of her, the tightness of her as he slid all the way in, burying himself within her.
She felt so damn good. It wasn’t just his cock or the wave of physical pleasure that crested over him. It was the way the cracked pieces of his heart seemed to heal. It was the foreign sense of fullness, as though for the first time in his life, nothing in his soul was missing.
Slowly, careful to ease her body into the experience, he pulled back. She gasped on the withdrawal and he paused, but the look on her face was one of bliss. Before his body could fully leave hers, she pressed her hips toward him, grabbing his waist as though to keep him from leaving.
Edward had never experienced the animal need that he did as her hands grabbed him. Faster this time, he entered her. Faster, he withdrew. And then again.
Instinctually, she met him thrust for thrust. Their bodies established a rhythm and he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into her. With every drive forward, the tension inside him grew until each muscle in his body was rigid with raw need.
“Edward.” Half spoken, half moaned, the word undid him. When she reached up to grab his hand with hers, his climax, which he’d been holding at bay through sheer bloody-mindedness, began. His thrusts became harder, faster, frenzied, and her moans deepened.
Just as he was about to peak, he pulled himself away, collapsing onto the bed next to her, spilling his seed on the sheets. This time. Once they were married, he’d relish every opportunity to finish inside of her.
Every muscle in him was weak and useless. Just throwing an arm across her required the effort of a sparring match. But he managed to pull her close to him, cradling her body with his, curling a hand around her stomach, and breathing the scent of her.
“I’ve dreamt of having you beneath me,” he murmured, arm squeezing. “My imagination was colorless in comparison.”
“I dreamt of this too,” she whispered, running her fingers in swirls across his arm. “As much as I could, given the limitations of my knowledge.” The words were enough to rally him. His cock began to harden once more at the thought of her, dreaming of him. Goose bumps ran along his flesh and his hands pulled her tighter against him, all of their own accord.
But she was new to this and he wouldn’t risk her comfort by going again tonight. Besides, they would have a lifetime to experience each other. Despite Graham’s warnings, Luella’s threats, and his mother’s expectations, she was going to be his duchess.
And Fiona was not a gentle, sheltered, naïve bookshop assistant like Graham’s wife. She was fire and steel. She’d been forged by experiences unimaginable and had endured more than most. She’d not faltered once as she strode through society as Finley.
She was an intelligent, strong woman. She would make an uncommon but excellent duchess. Her care for the working classes would translate into empathetic service of their tenants. Her passion and understanding of politics would make her a hostess whose value went beyond the menu and instead helped establish effective change.
Most important, she would be here beside him as a sounding board for ideas or an avenue to express his frustrations. She could support him where he truly needed it—helping to guide and protect his headstrong siblings.
She would not be a duchess in the usual sense. She would be so, so much more.
Five years ago he had proposed to Fiona in an abandoned church, no ring, no flowers, no planning at all. It had been a spontaneous suggestion made by an infatuated boy with no sense. This time, as much as he wanted to call the archbishop tonight and be married in the morning, he would propose properly, with all the care and thoughtfulness she deserved.
After all, they had a lifetime together. As long as they could put an end to her deception quickly and keep the charade a secret, the only controversy they faced was her birth. There would be scandal, but he would see his family through it. He would protect them. After his father’s death there had been no one to shield him from society’s venom. But he was not his parents. He would not abandon his family to it. Together, they would come through unscathed.
Chapter 21
Fiona lay on her side, Edward’s body pressed against her back, one of his arms thrown across her waist, a thumb gently stroking her midsection. The warmth and smell of him enveloped her, and she could feel her heart rate slow to match the steady, calmthump,thump,thumpof his.
She could fall asleep like this. Tonight. Every night.
She hadn’t felt this safe since her mother passed. There was something about his slow breath in her hair that created a sense of comfort and peace. It was the very opposite of the lively, bubbly infatuation she felt five years ago. That had been a girlish reaction to a man she barely knew. This was her entire body calm, complete in their connection.
