Immediately, he began pumping into her body, filling her over and over again, the angle allowing the head of his cock to rub her in just the right way. The sight of him penetrating her glistening pink body, his member coated in her nectar, the flush on her creamy skin, was nearly his undoing. Telltale tingling began at the base of his spine and he gritted his teeth against it. He wasn’t ready for this to end just yet.
Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her torso and instructed a nearly-delirious Nora to wrap her arms and legs around him. “I want to try something,” he gritted out.
As soon as she did as he instructed, Thomas leaned back and took Nora with him, suspending her in the air as she clung to him.
“Christ,” he groaned as she sank lower on him. Together, they were eventually able to find a rhythm where she rocked and he thrust up with his hips, impaling her deeply. Panting and sweat-slicked, they kissed, tongues vying for supremacy as their bodies fought for any shred of control to be found. Ragged breathing and slick collisions of flesh rapidly devolved into something more primal and less controlled. Just as Thomas’s orgasm began, he felt Nora’s entire body clench and she screamed through the blinding passion. His own vision blackened around the edges as he thrust up into her once more, allowing her body to wring him dry until he felt as if his legs might give out.
Heaven.
Every moment spent in Nora’s arms was Heaven, and he’d be damned before he lost her again.
Chapter Nine
"How hard can this be?” said Nora optimistically as she stood with her hands on her hips, surveying Ivy House’s library. They’d gotten a later start in the day than anticipated, but she could not find it within herself to regret it as much as she probably should have.
After their frantic coupling in the kitchens, she and Thomas had returned to her bedchamber where they grazed on the platter she’d prepared, taking turns popping morsels between one another’s lips. This had lasted about an hour or so before she could wait no more and had pounced on his beautiful, naked form like some sort of jungle cat. There, he’d brought her to another screaming, shuddering climax before finding and taking his pleasure in her body. His well-sculpted back now looked as if he’d lost a battle with a vindictive tomcat, but he’d assured her as he dressed that morning that he didn’t mind. The smug smile he’d shot her made her knees weak.
After washing and fixing her hair, his extra set of hands had been much appreciated as he assisted her (with some trialand error) in dressing in a navy-blue gown with lace-trimmed sleeves and a deeply scooped neckline. Strictly speaking, it was not appropriate mourning attire, but she knew Beth would forgive her and her wardrobe was running quite low at that point.
They’d departed her Townhouse early enough that there was no fear that they would be seen in a compromising situation. Nora had wanted to immediately begin her search of the library upon arrival, but Thomas begged for a brief opportunity to change his clothes. Her cheeks had burned when he said, as much as he enjoyed her scent all over him, he couldn’t very well be seen in public with his clothing as rumpled as it was. She drew the line at waiting for him to shave. “Besides,” she’d said, tickling the silver-and-black-stubble on his lean cheek; “I quite like how rugged you are.”
He very thoughtfully had a light meal of tea and pastries prepared for her while she waited. Nora couldn’t help but pace as she ate, her stomach flipping and soaring with the certainty that Beth’s next clue waited just down the hall.
Only a quarter-hour later, Thomas joined her. He’d donned fresh buckskin breeches, polished black Hessians, and a dark gray patterned waistcoat. The crisp white of his cravat stood in brilliant contrast to the midnight black of his well-fitted coat. Though he’d obeyed her and hadn’t scraped the stubble from his chiseled jaw, his dark hair was damp and brushed back from his face, the silver streaks at his temples lending him an air of sophisticated danger. Why did any man working on such little sleep have any right to look as delicious as he did?
As if reading her mind, he shot her a wolfish smile, grabbed a pastry for himself, and took her elbow to guide her to the library.
Now, together, they surveyed the room, eyes dancing from one piece of furniture to the other.
“Leave it to Beth to select two places with the most books,” Thomas grumbled goodnaturedly as he brushed the crumbs of his flaky pastry from his palms.
Nora cast him a sidelong glance.
“Let’s get started, shall we?”
Each of them started at a different end of the room. They scoured high and low, peering into glass bottles at delicate miniature warships and schooners assembled by Thomas’s grandfather. Thomas reached the shelves and spaces too high for Nora’s reach, even standing on a chair to examine the sword of a long ago admiral ancestor mounted above the mantle. Nora was thrilled to discover the enormous globe in the corner possessed a secret hinge so it could flip in half and offer up crystal decanters of brandy, whiskey, and other spirits.
“Did you know it did this?”
“Only since I was fourteen,” he replied with a smirk as he stood from where he’d crouched to examine a large ship’s compass mounted on a brass stand.
“Hellraiser.” She rolled her eyes and replaced the top of the globe.
An hour after they began their search, Thomas and Nora dropped side-by-side onto the sofa—the very one they’d had their passionate interlude on two days prior.
“Not so much as a scrap of a note,” Thomas sighed.
Nora tilted her head back to rest on the sofa. Then, she caught sight of the painting hung near the hearth. Her heart began to sing.
“Thomas…”
“Hm?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger.
“Did you check the painting?”
He dropped his hand and followed her gaze.
“I did not….”
