“I never stopped.” He watched her throat tighten as she swallowed. “And I know I never will.”
Nora rolled into him and wrapped him in her arms. Her plush breasts pressed against his chest as she squeezed him, sending ripples of fresh awareness through his body.
“Oh, Thomas,” she whispered, what sounded like tears constricting her voice. He closed his eyes and savored the way she stroked the back of his head, how neatly their bodies connected, her soft breath in his jaw as she pressed a lingering kiss there with parted lips.
“You needn’t say anything just now,” Thomas murmured, his own heart threatening to burst through his chest.
“You cannot be insinuating that your affections toward me have prevented you from marrying elsewhere?” Awe colored her words and his smile broadened.
“Absolutely.” The word was said with a little scoff, as if to consider otherwise were laughable.
“All this time?”
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
“It is the truth, Princess,” he chuffed and gave her an affectionate squeeze with his entire body until she giggled like a girl. “When I say no other woman has tempted me, I am utterly sincere. You are the only woman I desire. There have been no others.” He watched with amusement when Nora’s brows rose nearly to her hairline.
“Meaning—”
“Meaning you are the only woman I have ever lain with, that I will ever lay with. As far as I am convinced, you have had every part of me since the day we met and I simply refuse to belong to anyone else.”
Nora’s eyes began to glitter suspiciously.
Time had changed them both, but she had loved him at one time. Perhaps she might fall in love with him again. He was determined to stay by her side until she made her decision. For his part, Thomas knew he’d never want another.
He reached over her and pulled the coverlet over them both, snuggling in with her held securely in the crook of his body. “Sleep now. We will rest and return to search the library at Ivy House in the morning.”
“You will stay?” she asked, a hopeful note to her voice.
“Princess, nothing in this world could entice me from your bed or your arms.” He placed a tender kiss upon her forehead and they held each other as they drifted off to sleep, Nora’s nails trailing gently up and down along the length of his back.
Thomas woke with a start in Nora’s darkened bedchamber. The curtains had yet to be drawn, so he could see the inky night and hazy golden glow of street lamps below. Waking in Nora’s bed, surrounded by her sweet, intoxicating scent was a luxury beyond imagining. He’d easily have given his right arm in exchange for the privilege to do this for the rest of his days. An insistent throb immediately heated his groin. God, this woman had him addled by her mere scent.
Stretching from head to toe, he slid an arm out only to discover he was alone. The spot beside him where Nora had been was still slightly warm, so she hadn’t been gone long. He sat up, coverlet falling from his naked body, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He frowned and slipped from the bed to discover that her small dressing room was empty. He slipped on his breeches and fastened them loosely around his hips before punching his arms through the sleeves of his white linen shirt. He didn’t bother to tuck it in as he exited the room and began his search for Nora.
He learned one of the benefits to having a home devoid of staff was it was much easier to locate one’s wayward lover by sound alone. He discovered Nora back in the kitchens, humming to herself as she prepared a plate of bread, cheese, and fat red grapes. Propping his shoulder against the doorway, he crossed his arms and silently watched her as she flitted back and forth. She’d donned a dressing gown of cream silk and her bare toes peeked out from beneath the hem with every step. He found that last bit unbearably charming. His lips lifted in the most wistful of smiles, his heart swelling with contentment.
“Where do you get off abandoning me like that?”
“Good Lord!” Nora jumped and pressed a hand to her breast. “You startled me!”
“Serves you right for leaving me alone in your bed,” Thomas murmured and closed the space between them in two long strides before cupping her cheeks in his hands and pressing his lips to hers.
Her eyes possessed a dreamy haze when he pulled away. “I was hungry,” she explained in an airy voice. “And I thought you might be as well.” She inclined her head toward the plate. “I was going to bring it back upstairs and feed you.”
Thomas’s heart lurched—both at her tenderness and the thought of her feeding him from her fingers as they reclined together naked in bed. The lust that blossomed in his loins began to rage into an inferno that, left unchecked, would devour them both.
“I appreciate that sentiment,” he murmured against her ear, savoring her shudder when he caught the lobe between his teeth and gave it a gentle tug. “But I have another meal in mind.” His low voice still vibrated in the air as he lifted her to the table and pressed her to lie back. The length of her dressing gown was pushed up and she was completely exposed before her mouth could form a protest. Hands positioned behind her knees, he bent them toward her ribs until she nearly folded in two and was utterly helpless and exposed to him.
He fell upon her, ravenous and feral, licking her from front to back, and back again with long sweeps of his tongue. She was musky, sweet, and salty—the perfectly heady blend of both their orgasms. She was delicious.
He used his tongue and lips to bring her to the brink of a climax, her fingers tearing at his hair and his name on her lips. Her legs fought him and twitched against his grip, but he was relentless in his onslaught, spearing his tongue deep insideher slick channel before teasing her clitorus with relentless determination.
Just when she was about to lose control, Thomas straightened, flipped up the hem of his loose shirt, tore open the remaining fastenings of his breeches to allow them to fall to the floor, and shoved his turgid, aching cock deep inside her, throwing his head back and reveling in Nora’s cry of ecstasy.
