She gazed down at him, still kneeling at her feet, his green eyes dark in the muted light. At that moment, she cared for nothing else but him. For the way he brought happiness and brilliance to her life once more, for how his lopsided smiles set her heart pounding, for the way he trusted her when his past was obviously not something he often shared. For the scorching sensations that he sent spiraling through her.
After a lifetime of always putting aside her own needs, always setting propriety and obligation above all else, she finally wanted something for herself. And she was not above asking to receive it.
“Quite the opposite, actually,” she said softly. “I…I want you to touch me.” She swallowed. “Please.”
He hesitated. “Cecelia…”
She licked her lips, finding them suddenly dry. “I’ve been good for so long…always doing what’s expected of me…”
He shifted closer. “You’re certain?”
Unable to even think to form words, she simply nodded.
“I don’t want to ruin you.” A muscle worked in his jaw. “I’m not the rake everyone believes me to be. At least not now. Cecelia, we could marry and wait until—”
She shook her head. “I want this now. I want you.”
His hand laid on her thigh, just above her knee, and she inhaled sharply. A tremble of anticipations started low in her core.
He trailed his touch upward as he fanned his fingers over her skin where he brushed her inner thigh, so near to the source of her need, her legs threatened to buckle. She reached for the mantle and clung on as he eased his hand higher still, up to where her thighs met.
It was just a swift connection of his finger to her sex, but it put her whole world on its side in the most wonderful ways. He got to his feet and pulled her toward him, his body strong and sure as it had been when he led her in the waltz the first night they had danced. He led her in this now too as his mouth closed over hers and his fingers settled more firmly upon her, stroking, teasing, gently probing.
The heat inside her built up to a crescendo she could scarcely control. As if sensing this, his touch eased deeper, while his ministrations over the wonderfully sensitive place his fingers fluttered over quickened.
Fireworks appeared behind her closed lids, like those at Vauxhall Gardens, but more magical in the way the incredible bliss echoed through her entire body. As if she were an explosion of light and fire and wonder herself.
But even as she floated back toward the rain-battered cottage, she was very aware that fireworks were not the whole show. And she wanted it all.
Never had Philip craved a woman more than he did Lady Cecelia Stopford. His cock raged with need, his ears echoing with the sweet cries of her climax.
He kissed her with abandon, his longing out of control as their mouths slanted against one another. Her hand moved over his chest, boldly exploring him as his finger continued to slowly pump inside her, mirroring the act he so longed to do himself.
Cecelia’s touch wandered lower to where his prick strained against his fall. White-hot pleasure sizzled through him. A groan rumbled from his chest.
“Cecelia…”
“I want you,” she moaned into his mouth. “All of you.”
“You’re innocent,” he growled.
“I’m tired of rules and being told what I should do,” she said between kisses.
Her hand rubbed over the column of his arousal, making it damn near impossible to think. Clearly, it had been too bloody long since he’d been with a woman.
“I know what goes on between a man and woman.” She popped open the first button on his placket. “I’ve heard the servants and new wives talking. I want to know for myself.”
He withdrew from her and eased back. “Cecelia, you don’t know what you’re asking for.”
“I assure you, I do.” Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes gleamed with a need he felt to the depths of his soul, not simply for her body, but for all of her. The way she smiled when she saw him and how that made him feel like the luckiest chap in England. The way she encouraged him to speak and truly listened to him—the memories they shared and the new ones he wanted to make.
Good God. He loved this woman.
And perhaps that was why he could not summon speech as she released the last button of his falls and clasped her hand around his naked cock. All thoughts, save her, fell from his mind.
“Love me, Philip,” she said softly.
“I do,” he groaned.
