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Her eyes widened in startled wonder. And now she did. “You’re inside me?”

Ian growled, “Me and no other, ever.” He flexed his hips again.

She groaned, arching her back, and pushing her hips flush to his. “It doesn’t hurt,” she gasped.

Sliding his hands beneath her buttocks, he tilted her hips, relishing in her cries of renewed bliss. He bent to claim her lips once more, promising, “You’ve had a mere sampling of passion’s rapture this night, my love.” He withdrew, his distended tip hovering at her womanhood. “Now, you’ll experience the wholeness of ecstasy.”

Plunging into her, Ian fulfilled his pledge. She crested the pinnacle, her euphoric cry mingling with his moan of ecstasy. One stroke later, he toppled into the abyss of consummate bliss. Several moments passed before he stirred, withdrawing from his satiated wife.

She lay sprawled beneath him, making no attempt to put her gown aright or cover herself. Lifting a hand, she traced the line of his jaw before placing a kiss on his lips. Her voice husky, she whispered, “Thank you.”

Overcome, Ian lifted his head and gazed into her sincere eyes. “It’s I who should be thanking you. I treated you appallingly—”

“Shh.” Vangie placed a finger over his lips. “That’s behind us. I much prefer what we just shared.” She frowned, the slightest furrowing of her smooth brow and downward tilting of her perfect mouth. “Except…”

He stiffened, uncertainty adding a sharp edge of fear to what she was about to say.

Lifting wanton eyes to his, a siren’s invitation curving her lips, she suggested throatily, “I should like to try coupling again, entirely naked in bed.”

Before she finished speaking, he’d risen and scooped her into his arms.