He grinned and thrust. One push of his hips and he was fully seated. She gasped at the feeling of fullness, of being taken this way by a man she loved. It made her smile as she opened herself to him. It made her arch into him, wanting to take him deeper, fuller, and more wholly inside her body. As deep here as he was in her heart.
And while he worked above her, she watched the muscles of his throat ripple with every contraction. She held his gaze and whispered everything she felt in an unending litany.
“I love you,” she said. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
The words were a wonder to her, the feelings wholly new. And with every whisper, his movements became faster, harder, and wilder until he was lost in her body, and she was carried away on his passion.
Climax came with a rush. Pleasure burst through her awareness. He tumbled soon afterward, releasing into her with a triumphant growl.
They clung together, riding the waves, thrilled with every pulse.
And when they tumbled back to earth, he collapsed beside her on the bed. She wove lazy fingers through his hair. And he murmured something incoherent into her shoulder. She didn’t know what he said, but she felt his lips press tiny kisses there. And she reveled in the way his arm lay heavy across her belly.
It took a long time before she gathered herself to ask her question. Eventually, she managed it. “Can we stay here tonight?”
He frowned. “Below a gaming hell? Are you mad?”
“Yes, completely mad for you.” She turned to face him more squarely. “Just tonight. We’ll leave the rest for tomorrow. I am completely safe here.”
“Not your reputation. That will be in tatters should anyone talk.”
She arched a brow. “They won’t. Most don’t even know I’m back yet. Besides, I’m a wealthy widow. I can do as I want.” She sobered. “Or I can if you want it as well.”
He slowly pushed up onto an elbow. She thought he would answer then, but instead, he leaned forward to kiss her. A slow, heady kiss that had her loins stirring again. And when they separated, she smiled coyly at him. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
Yes!
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Morning came witha stretch of sore muscles and lingering happiness that made Lucas smile.
He didn’t fool himself into believing that Diana had agreed to marry him. Last night had been about emotions unfettered from the usual constraints. The morning came with responsibilities and second thoughts.
Still, he couldn’t regret a moment of their time together. Not the way she came apart in his arms, not the fevered way she whispered she loved him, nor the sweet way she nuzzled against him in her sleep. He was alive with joy this morning, for all that he had not furthered his goals of getting his ring on her finger. And because he still worried about her reputation, he woke them both early enough to get her home before most of the house realized she’d been gone.
He would protect her honor even if she cared nothing for it. If the situation with Geoffrey ever went to court, she would need every scrap of respectability she could muster.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon loaned him a carriage to get her quietly home. They came in the back and tiptoed upstairs. She was sleepy as he helped her into bed. Her expression was soft, her hair in disarray, and when she looked at him, his heart overflowed with need. He wanted her as his own—forever. But she was not a woman who could be caught in the usual ways. After he kissed her one last time, he whispered the question that had plagued him the night through.
“How can I get you to say yes to me?”
She sighed. “Realize that you don’t need me as your wife.”
A seemingly profound statement that made no sense to him. “I don’t need you to live,” he lied. “I want you by my side, honorably. I don’t want to sneak in and out of your bed as if we were ashamed.”
“I’m not ashamed.”
“I am. I will not treat you so shabbily.”
She stared at the ceiling. “I do not feel abused! This was my choice.” She touched his cheek. “Why can’t a woman choose just as a man does? Why can’t I have pleasure in my life without giving up everything to a husband?”
He blew out a breath. They were going in circles, and yet he couldn’t stop. “I don’t want to take anything from you.”
“And yet, you would. As my husband, you would take everything, and I would become nothing.”
The statement was so absurd as to be laughable. The idea that she would ever be less than the amazing woman he saw before him struck him as ridiculous. And yet she obviously believed it. So he pressed his lips to her forehead and then whispered, “I need to go for a few hours. You are well protected here so long as you don’t leave.”
