Rose had been afraid he wouldn’t come, but now that he was here, she could not think of what to do or say. She’d been so bold on the stairs, when it had just been an idea. The reality of his presence in her room held her immobile. She gazed up into his eyes, her throat tight with anticipation.
Then he touched her hair, his fingers twining in it, pushing it over her shoulder.
“Do you know why I’m here?”
She nodded.
His gaze burned through her, made her knees weak. “I don’t think you do. I’m here because I didn’t have any other choice.”
She blinked up at him. “You didn’t have to come if you didn’t want.”
“It’s not about wanting anymore. Before, I was afraid of having to choose…but it’s out of my hands now. I choose you.”
What was he saying? She was afraid to ask. Her hands came up, curling into the snowy linen of his shirt. She whispered his name, pulling him down to kiss her. His mouth met hers in a searing kiss that deepened immediately, his tongue exploring, then demanding. He tasted rich and forbidding. Instant fire raced across her senses, leaving her breathless with want. She twined her arms around his neck, savoring his mouth, eager to finishwhat they’d begun on the battlements. He pressed her back, but there was nothing there but the open door. They stumbled backward, into the dark and fragrant room. The small of her back bumped into the table. His hands slid to her waist and lifted her, setting her on the table. Rose carelessly pushed her instruments and books aside, and some of them fell to the ground.
“That’s better,” he said, his voice rough as he moved between her welcoming thighs. He was so warm and big. She pulled him into her, hooking her calf behind his leg as he set his mouth on hers again. Her heart beat thick and painful, her body alive everywhere he touched her. She felt faint from his mouth, kissing and kissing her until all will and thought dissipated into sweet sensation.
He touched her through her shift, his palms sliding sensuously over ribs and breasts before fumbling with the ties and finally ripping them. The shift slipped from her shoulders. She pulled at the ties on his shirt until he shrugged out of it and his chest was bared to her. She brushed the warm curve of muscle and smooth skin with her fingertips. He made a soft, rough sound and drove her head back in another kiss, long and hot, as he pressed himself hard between her thighs. He pushed her night rail up, stroking her thighs, so all that separated them was the wool of his trews, sparking a melting, urgent pain at her center. Her breath caught and her hips rolled hard into him, wanting more.
He murmured her name as he rained fervent kisses over her eyes and nose and cheeks. His hands roved over the bare skin of her shoulders and back. She shuddered against him, trying to press closer, to reclaim his mouthon hers, but he’d moved lower, licking and sucking at her neck as his hands slid around to her breasts.
Her head fell back, her hands threading through his hair as the tip of his tongue played with her nipple. Her breath hitched, the heat swirling through her, urgent now. She pressed his head closer. He complied with her silent request and drew deep on her nipple. Pleasure speared to her core. She arched into him with a breathless cry. He lavished more attention on her breasts, until she moaned her need, her hands working at his belt until it fell to the floor with a thump.
He caught her wrists when she tried to unlace his trews. Thwarted at her task, she gazed up at him hungrily. His eyes blazed his desire. So why did he stop her? She pulled her hand away and stroked her palm against the hard bulge. He groaned and pressed his forehead against hers, his hands gripping her shoulders.
“Not here,” he said. His hands spanned her waist to lift her off the table.
“Aye, right here,” she whispered, and when she pulled at the ties again, he let her, his chest straining, sweat gleaming on the hard, tense muscles of his shoulders. It was perfect here, a longed-for moment with the man she loved, imprinted forever in this dark, fragrant room, surrounded by the comforting scents of bittersweet and mallow, horehound and lavender.
She rubbed her hand over him until his body shuddered and he made a raw, wordless sound in his chest. His mouth sought hers again, hands sliding beneath her shift, touching the damp curls between her thighs. She jerked at the sudden contact, the bliss of it nearly blindingher. His wicked fingers stroked and probed until she thought she’d die from the desperate throbbing. Her breath came in little pants. She wanted him inside her. She pressed her palm hard against his erection and he grew wild, pulling her hard against his chest. Rose’s thighs gripped him as she moved her hips against him, urging him to take her, to fill her, to complete her.
The head of him pushed against her damp curls and her breath caught, exquisite need spiraling through her, the promise of sweet oblivion, and she wanted more. She moved again so the tip of him pressed against her entrance. But he held back, the muscles all along his arms and shoulders bunched with strain.
“God, Rose…”
“Please,” she whispered. Then she took his earlobe between her teeth. He tasted good, salt and spice, and she wanted all of him. He shuddered violently but still didn’t move—his hands braced against the table’s edge, as if holding himself back, ready to push away, but arrested in the moment.
“Our first time shouldn’t be like this.” His breath blew hot against her neck.
“Aye, it should be just like this,” she whispered in his ear. “I’m no innocent, William—I know what I want and I want this.”
He made a harsh sound behind his gritted teeth, then the fine thread of his control snapped and he pressed into her.
She cried his name on an exhalation as he entered her, the sweetness of it already pulsing through her. His hands moved beneath her knees, lifting them higher overhis hips before sliding under her buttocks so she could take him deeper.
He kissed her hard as he drove into her again and again, touching something deep, sending pleasure beating through her, swelling tighter. She thought her heart would burst from it as she moved with him, her breath burning her throat. She tore her mouth away as her crisis was wrenched from her, wave after wave flowing over her.
“Oh God, Rose…” His voice was raw. He ground his hips into hers, his teeth sinking into the tender skin of her neck as deep tremors racked him. Rose held him tightly to her until the desperate passion began to fade.
His forehead pressed into her shoulder and his hands still gripped her thighs. Their sweat mingled where their bodies touched. The sound of his breathing was loud in her ear, and then his hands tightened on her. He swore—a vile word that caused her to wince.
He swore again, pulling gingerly away from her and yanking his trews closed. He ran a hand through his damp hair.
She felt exposed suddenly and pushed her night rail down, sliding off the table. The top hung around her waist and she pulled it up, holding it closed with her hand to hide her nakedness. She felt cold and weak and uncertain. She could feel the remnants of their passion between her thighs, and her stomach took a sharp dip at the knowledge it could result in a child. She shouldn’t hope for it, but she did.
He covered his face with his hands, his shoulders rising and falling heavily. Finally he turned to her, dropping his hands to his sides. “I’m sorry, Rose…Jesus God, I know not what I was thinking…I wasn’t thinking…ruled by my god damned cock.”
Rose stared at him, her bafflement growing. “What do you mean? It’s what I wanted. It’s why I asked you to come to me.”
