Page 29

“Audrey. Stop unless—”

"Please. Now," she breathed.

"Now what?" He kissed her across the swell of her breast above her stays.

"You."

He raised his head and held her gaze. His heart thumped against his ribs.

"You mean to say..."

"Yes. You. Inside me."

He straightened. "Are you certain?"

"Yes."

"But if I get you with child…"

"Not likely," she said, turning her head away from him. "Useless, remember?"

He caught her chin and brought her face back to his.

"He has no place here. Not in your thoughts. Not between us. Not anymore." His voice was rough and entirely without gentleness. "You are worth more than a thousand men like him, Audrey. Your courage, your stubborn, maddening heart."

"Kit."

"Yes."

"That is lovely. But I would rather have something else from you."

He eased her backward on the mound until she was lying down, the sacking rough beneath her, the earth shaped to the curve of her spine. He shrugged off his shirt and folded it and tucked it beneath her head.

He freed himself from his trousers and gripped himself loosely. Her eyes sharpened on his hand. She sat up and reached out, her hand hovering. He guided it and let her feel the weight and the heat and the way he thickened further under her touch.

He closed his eyes and his head fell back. Her hand was rough from the weeks of work, but it did not matter. Her touch was hesitant. Her thumb circled the tip, spreading the slickness of him.

"Stop."

"Did I do wrong?"

"No." He leaned closer. "I need to be inside you before I lose myself entirely." He kissed her, rough and deep. "Tell me if it hurts," he said against her mouth.

"Yes."

He lifted her hips and guided himself to her entrance and paused with a grunt. She was wet, swollen, still trembling from what he had done with his mouth.

"You're beautiful," he said. "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Do you believe me?"

"Yes."

He pushed forward. An inch. Her eyes went wide, her mouth opening around a breath she could not release. She lay back and gripped his shoulders.

"Breathe," he said.

She breathed.

Another inch. She gasped. Her body squeezed around him. She was impossibly tight, impossibly hot, and every fibre of him demanded he bury himself and drive into her without mercy. He would not.