Page 14

At that, she laughed aloud. “Douglas has three and yet…”

Atlas wrapped his hand down her arm, and her smile turned to something more heated. “No more talk of Douglas. At least not until I confess what I was seeking you out to say.”

She nodded, and Atlas reached down to clasp her hand. He lifted it up to place a kiss against her knuckles.

“I was a fool not to tell you that night, Pip.” His voice emerged rough, husky with desire, raw with emotion. “But I hope you felt it then, and I certainly want you to feel it now. I love you, Philippa.”

For a moment, she stiffened. Her eyes flicked wide, and she looked as if she was holding her breath. He couldn’t have misread everything between them? Or had he?

“You…love me?” she finally whispered.

Atlas smiled. “Yes. Did you never suspect?”

“I hoped, but then…”

“I know. I was an unmitigated arse. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

She lifted her arms and twined them around his neck, drawing so close, their bodies seamed together. “I have already forgiven you, Atlas.”

He wrapped her in his arms and bent to brush his lips against hers. Sparks lit across his skin; a trickle of anticipation slid down his spine. He’d dreamed of this, but the taste of her was sweeter than any dream.

And neither of them could go slowly. Just as it had been that night, once his lips touched hers, a hunger seemed to consume them both. She slid her fingers into his hair. He pulled her in tighter, running his hands along her back, then up to cup her nape.

She opened to him and he licked into her mouth, kissing her deeply as he tugged at the pins in her hair. He moaned as the soft strands tumbled over his hand and slid beneath his fingers.

He turned them and walked backwards until the bed was at the back of his knees.

“You’re certain?” he whispered against her cheek.

“Yes, Atlas. Please.”

The please threatened to melt all his self-control, but he wanted nothing as much as he wanted to take this slow for her sake.

He slipped the first button on her gown. They marched in a line down her back, but by some blessing, there weren’t many of them. She seemed to understand and reached up to pull the pins from her hair.

Once her gown was unbuttoned, she freed the hooks at her waist and shimmied out of it.

Atlas stifled a groan at the sight of her in her pale pink corset and drawers.

She watched him, beautiful green eyes fixed on him as she undid the fastenings of her corset. He shed his waistcoat and shirt. She drank him in, her eyes tracing over his chest, all the way down to the line of hair that led below his waistband.

Then, eyes fixed on his again, she reached down to untie the lace of her drawers. When the corset fell away, the perfect swell of her breasts made his mouth water, and he couldn’t resist drawing a finger along each nipple. They were pebbled and flushed as they pushed against the soft cotton fabric of her chemise

Philippa pulled up the hem of her chemise, and Atlas helped her lift the gauzy garment over her head. Then he helped slide her drawers down over her hips.

“You’re so beautiful, love,” he whispered as got down on his haunches, tracing his fingertips along her hip and then down her legs to unlace each of her boots and pull them from her feet. Then he carefully rolled down each stocking, bending to kiss her skin along the way.

She’d sunk her fingers into his hair and braced another hand on his shoulder, kneading his muscles and letting out breathy little gasps each time he kissed her.

When she was standing bare before him, he knew that he was the luckiest man alive. Touching her felt like a privilege he wasn’t certain he deserved, and the look of desire in her eyes felt like a gift.

Slowly, he trailed his hand up her leg, tracing along her calf, her knee, and then up along her inner thigh until he slipped his finger through her damp curls.

“Atlas,” she hissed.

He stilled and looked up, needing to know she wanted him to continue.

Her pupils had widened, darkened, and she whispered, “Please don’t stop.”