“I will. But first, I have to do something.”
He reached out to a drawer in his desk (truly, the cabin wasn’t that spacious). A second later, he had a small envelope in his hands. He pulled out what looked at first like a strip of parchment, though she realized a second later what it was meant for. (This knowledge was also the result of reading things she was not permitted to read.)
“Is that…typical to use?” she asked, watching as he slid it on.
“It is when you don’t want unwelcome consequences,” he told her. “Now, where was I? Oh yes.”
He used his mouth to kiss her senseless, used his hands to wreak havoc in her body again, bringing her to near-ecstasy, and then teasing her until she begged him to end it. By that point, her legs were wrapped around his waist, and she was feverish with desire for him.
So when he eased into her, all that hardness pushing against her body, Poppy was more than ready. She clutched his shoulders and buried her head in his chest, moaning his name with every thrust.
It took almost no time for her to come undone once more, and she melted under him while the pleasure shot through her. He came a scant moment later, with a guttural shout that sounded totally primitive and utterly right.
* * * *
Poppy didn’t know how much time had passed….evidently enough for her to have outgrown any sense of shame, because she lay on the floor of the cabin, her naked body draped over his.
Carlos had found another blanket at some point, and she was quite warm and comfortable, enjoying the rise and fall of his chest beneath her cheek.
“Well?” he asked then, the sound of his voice rumbling in her ear. “How does it feel to be ruined?”
“Wonderful,” Poppy replied. “I can understand why everyone makes such a fuss about it. And with your, erm, precautions, I don’t have to spend the next month in utter fear that I’ll be carrying a child.”
“It reduces the chances,” he cautioned. “It doesn’t eliminate them.”
“Hmmm. Well, I’ve been taking risks ever since I got to Pencliff House…though really ever since I saw you again.”
“I tried to warn you to stay out of it. I don’t want you to get hurt, Poppy.”
“So what do you want me to do if I find out I’m pregnant?”
He looked at her in exasperation. “I want you to tell me!”
“Carlos,” she said reasonably. “You live on the other side of the ocean.”
His arms tightened around her. “I’m here now.”
“But will you be here in several weeks? A few months? Who knows when I’ll know?”
“I’ll live wherever I need to.”
“Oh, please. You’d wither away and die if you couldn’t be part of your country and your revolution. And honestly, there’s only a small chance that this will become an issue. So let’s not worry about it.” Privately, Poppy was a little annoyed that he’d suggested he’d stay in England for his yet-to-exist child, but he hadn’t bothered to do so last year for her. Indeed, once she could confidently say that she wasn’t pregnant, he’d probably sail with the next tide.
“You will tell me, yes? Perhaps we should have discussed this before.” He looked concerned, and Poppy reminded herself that for all his bravado and pretense of being a rogue, he was ultimately the sort of person who cared deeply about doing the right thing.
“It’s very difficult to ponder all possible outcomes when you’ve got me naked on the floor of your ship cabin. I was a little distracted!”
He frowned. “Only a little?”
“God, you’re so arrogant.”
Carlos laughed, and reached for her again. Poppy sighed under his touch. It was difficult to maintain an argument with him when he was making her feel so delightful. Before she knew it, her body was responding to his attention, clamoring for a repeat of the ecstasy before.
“No,” he said when she urged him to do exactly that.
“No?” But she was getting so impatient with desire again.
“It’s too soon. I don’t want you to associate sex with pain.” He kissed her, then slid his hand between her legs. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll neglect you.”
