“Oh, all right.” She lifted her hips and centered herself over his manhood as he held it in place.
“You can go as slowly as you...oomph,” he managed before she slid down partway on him. “You may wish to lean forward and... maybe place your hands on my shoulders,” he suggested.
She inhaled. “I don’t think it’s going to fit,” she whispered. Although Anthony expected her to claim it was uncomfortable, she seemed determined to make it work.
Anthony lifted her hips slightly and then pulled her down, his eyes closing as his manhood slid inside her as far as it would go. “Your horse is ready whenever you are, my lady,” he said on a happy sigh.
Dahlia’s gaze raked down his torso, from his face to where their bodies were joined. She bent her arms until her breasts were pressed onto his chest, and she studied how he reacted. When she used her tongue to lick one of his nipples, he jerked beneath her and his eyes rounded.
“You know how to make your horse happy,” he said on a chuckle. When she bit his nipple, he bucked. “You minx!”
She moved then, lifting her hips and lowering them as she gripped his shoulders. “Are you ready to go faster?”
He nodded. “I am.”
Once she established a tentative rhythm, Anthony gripped her hips to help guide her. “Ride me,” he begged. “Harder.”
He watched as Dahlia’s expression displayed her determination, watched as she increased her rhythm as he began thrusting up with his hips. When he was sure he could no longer hold back his ecstasy, he rubbed a thumb along the space where their bodies met.
Dahlia’s eyes rounded and her breath caught, and from the way she clenched on him, he knew her ecstasy had begun.
When his body seized and he held his breath, she straightened and leaned back slightly. Both lost to the after effects of their race, there was a moment when time seemed to stop, when Dahlia seemed to stay suspended above him. Then all at once, she flattened her torso onto his and moved her hands to grip the sides of his body.
“Oh,” she said between gasps for air.
“Don’t you mean ‘whoa, pony’?” he countered, attempting to catch his own breath.
She grinned into the side of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her back. “It’s not exactly like riding Vindication,” she murmured. “But I do believe I enjoyed it more.”
Anthony allowed a sigh of relief. “I’ll be your pony whenever you’d like,” he whispered.
She lifted her head to regard him with a wistful expression. “As long as you’re my husband the rest of the time,” she replied.
“Always, my sweet,” he assured her. “I can be both at the same time.” He held her face between his hands and kissed her until the mantel clock chimed eleven times. “Speaking of time, I need to take you home.”
Dahlia moaned her disappointment.
“I’ll help you dress,” he offered.
“How do I dismount?”
Anthony chuckled as he moved his hands to her hips and lifted her until his softened manhood was free of her. He twisted and lowered her until she was on her back. “Stay there while I see to finding a cloth for you in the bathing chamber.”
About to protest, Dahlia instead settled onto the bed and closed her eyes. She wondered what he had done to her. What he had touched to set off such intense sensations. Such sharp darts and rolling waves of pleasure. Although the pleasure had subsided, in its place, her body seemed wide awake. Sensitive. Tingly.
She was reveling in the aftermath when she felt a bath linen drape over her thighs and a kiss on her forehead.
“Come, my beautiful betrothed. Time to get dressed.”
Although she didn’t like it, Dahlia allowed him to lift her to her feet. He helped with her corset and tied the petticoats once she’d had them pulled up. Buttoned up her gown and saw to his own clothes, although he skipped pulling on the cravat.
At a quarter of twelve, he escorted her to the front door of Norwick House. He kissed her on the lips and the back of the hand and reminded her to grant him both waltzes at the Weatherstone’s ball. The moment before he departed, he said, “Whatever you do, Davy, please don’t change your mind about marrying me.”
As Belvedere opened the door, Dahlia gave Anthony a wink. She disappeared into the house without a word.
