“Now what shall we do?” he teased, returning his lips to her neck.
Helena didn’t know much of the mechanics of lovemaking, but she knew what came next. Slowly, she unfolded her body from his leg and slid to the floor. His hands caught her, easing her down, handling her with firm, lingering strokes.
She hit the fabric with a soft moan, his left hand hooked to the inside of her thigh. Helena gasped, pulsing a little in the direction of his wrist, his hand; he wasright there, so very near the most desperate part of her.
Declan chuckled and slid his hand away, grazing her as he let go.
Helena whimpered, but he placed his hands oneither side of her and stretched out, slowly lowering himself across her body.
“You’re alright?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Are you cold?”
She shook her head.
“Are you enjoying this?”
She nodded again.
“Will you remember it when I am in pris—”
“Do not,” she said, clamping a hand over his mouth. He pulled it away and kissed her—kissed her like she was accustomed to being kissed. But now there was the added pleasure of the weight of his body, the feel of his naked skin up and down her own nakedness; every nerve ending sung with the contact. His hardness, impossible to miss, nudged hotly in the precise spot she most needed heat and hardness.
And there was so much of him to touch. His broad back, rippled with muscles. His bottom, hard and round. His hair, his cheek, his back again.
“Are you—” he rasped, and Helena smiled, because he’d lost some of his teasing control. His voice was broken. He panted.
She arched her hips, wordlessly answering him.
“Yes,” he hissed, and reached between them, jerkily sliding away first her drawers and then his.
They were naked now, and when he laid back down across her, Helena spread her legs, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world. She could not imaginenotfalling open for him.
His answer was a growling sound, and he came up on one arm, staring down at her.
“Helena,” he whispered, all playfulness gone. “My love. I cannot believe that I’ve found you. That someone as singular in every way has been given to me.”
Her vision blurred; she saw only the shape and color of him through her tears.
“If you ever leave me...” he began.
“Declan,” she said, her voice clear. “Declan, I will never leave you.”
“I would understand,” he pressed. “I would be no different from my father. I would welcome you back, simply to be in your realm.”
“I don’t have a realm, Declan,” she said, cupping his cheek. “I will never leave you. And you willnotgo to jail. We will prevail.”
He nodded and lowered himself to kiss her. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered into his neck.
He moved then, entering her in one, forceful thrust.
Helena gasped, unprepared for the tension and pain and fullness of having him inside her.
He sucked in a breath and held very, very still, burying his face in her hair.
