“Mmm.” She’d need time to absorb that more fully, but for now it soothed her frayed nerves and brought her back to her need for him to move. “Thank you. I meant what I said about your turn. Although, if you don’t start moving soon, I might have to take over.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” His lips met hers, all ravenous aggression.
She met them with equal greed, skill long forgotten in her quest for ecstasy.
When she shoved at his hips, he knelt up and thrust, holding her waist and tucking an extra pillow between her head and the bedframe.
A strangled noise sounded in her throat. The angle of his cock in this position hit a spot on her inner front wall that was just shy of painful.
A few more drives and she was clutching his forearms and shoving back in counterpoint.
He sped up, grunting.
Her nipples, belly, and internal muscles tightened, straining. Heat built to an inferno in her core. One more, one more. She screamed.
He shouted and pistoned even faster as she thrashed under him, keening.
She dug her nails into his arms, arching her back. The spiral of pleasure kept circling, spiking every time his cock pulsed in her, his pubis hitting her hardened quivering nub.
After a handful more thrusts he slowed, and she relaxed against the bed.
“Belle, perhaps you could sheath your claws?”
It took her a moment to get the message from her ears to her muscles, but she loosened her fingers on his arms, dropping her arms to the bed.
She couldn’t have him forever, but the next fortnight was going to be amazing.
As was herusual habit, Belle was up early. She snuck out of the bedroom with her clothes in hand, asking her maid to help her with her hair in the room Luke had been using. However, by the time she entered the dining room, Luke was waiting for her.
He poured tea for both of them as she joined him at the table. “Now, shall we talk about the Black Widow’s mandate?”
She balked, unprepared for the topic. She’d hoped to put that conversation off until she’d at least enjoyed his rather surprising skills and less surprising enthusiasm a few more times. Past lovers had stayed the night, of course, but their mornings had been spent discussing the newspaper or whatever social engagements they shared. She’d anticipated that marriage would feel different than her previous engagements, but she found herself wishing for a set of rules. Perhaps the Ton had it right with their betrothal contracts, even if they were wrong to negotiate them between men.
“Luke, I cannot believe you’re even considering this. I am in no way an appropriate marriage prospect for you.”
“Why not? As Mrs. Dove-Lyon said, I fit your specifications.”
“What of yours? Have you even given a thought to what you’d want in a wife?”
His shoulders dropped. “I am younger than you, yes. I had my head up my arse for the past year or more. I understand yourconcern. I cannot change the past, but those things helped me see what I want to change for the future.”
She smothered her surprise, as she hadn’t believed he’d given marriage much thought. Now, though, he seemed prepared to discuss it.
He continued, “We’ve already discussed how I’d like to help others, and I’ve told you that you inspired me. I meant what I said to the widow. A hostess and supportive partner are very much traits I want in a wife. Like you, I also want someone I can converse with. Lastly, I think last night showed yet another layer of extreme compatibility. I am wildly attracted to you, Belle.”
“I know ’tis unfashionable, but as William went that route, I must ask. Do you not care about love, then?”
One well-muscled shoulder rose, then dropped. “I have never felt it, at least since my mother died. I think my parents were in love, but look where that got them. The other attributes are not only more attainable, they are also here in front of me in a rather delicious package. Many a marriage has been built on less.”
She pressed her lips together.
“Come now. Never say you were looking for a declaration of undying adoration. You’d gone to a matchmaker out of practicality.”
No, she wasn’t, but it still was strangely sad to not hear one from him.
Moving on to her biggest concern, she asked, “What of children? An heir?”
He took a moment to answer.
