Her gaze flew back to his face. She wasn’t sure she did. But neither would she say no with his brows lifted in such a hopeful fashion.
Slowly, uncertainly, she nodded.
If he noticed hesitation, he didn’t let her reluctance influence his speed. Before she could avert her gaze, his nightshirt was fluttering to the floor, and he was kneeling in front of her in all his Grecian-statue glory.
He was…different from her, to say the least.
“Too much?” he asked.
Her mouth quirked. “A little.”
“Then”—he rose to his knees and lifted her back into his arms—“let us concentrate not on sight but on touch.”
One more bone-melting, twisting kiss and she found herself back in the position they’d been. His weight, all his delicious weight, pressed her down into the mattress.
She turned her face into his shoulder, attempting to avoid another startling look at his manhood. She expected him to proceed directly to the bedding, just as he had before. Instead, his soothing strokes migrated upward to her breasts.
“May I?”
Though his gaze was fixed on her nipples, she wasn’t sure why he was asking permission until he dipped his head. When his mouth closed around the peak, she stiffened in shock. Then, as his tongue swirled, she sighed.
Trusting him to be her guide, she gave up the last of her resistance.
He sucked gently, then more insistently. When she couldn’t take anymore, he transferred his attention to the other nipple and began the process anew. She relaxed enough for her hands to wander. They found their way back into the soft curls just above base of his skull. Gradually, however, the need building between her legs became so acute, she stiffened.
By the time his hands drifted lower, she was near out of her mindwith want. So out of her mind, she didn’t protest at all when he put his hand between her thighs. She expected the contact to be brief—the same brief “check” he’d done before.
If she’d been “ready” on their wedding night, she was certainly ready now.
Instead, his hand lingered, hovering just above her folds while he moved his fingers in ways that left her legs shivering. She hovered beyond control, in a state of pure sensation, until something inside her cracked, drawing from her a guttural moan. Behind her closed eyes, a blinding light ushered in a feeling of unfathomable closeness, complete connection.
His breath heated her neck as he positioned himself above her. She clung to him as he entered her. She felt no pain, only fullness, and she moved to meet each of his thrusts. Stars lingered beneath her lids, and then her body trembled with yet another, deeper release.
Soon, he was shuddering too. Shuddering and calling her name.
“Cassie,” he said.
Not Cassandra. Not Duchess. But Cassie.
A name only used by those she loved and who loved her in return. Even as her heartbeat quieted, her emotions continued to mount.
Mindless of his damp hair and the sweat dotting his brow, she clutched him against her breast and softly kissed his crown.
Everything could work. Everything could, in fact, turn out far better than her wildest, most ardent dream. One day, he might even confess his love. One day, he might tell her Viv no longer mattered to him. One day he might confess he’d been a fool to mistake youthful love for what he had with Cassie, for what, together, they could build.
Once he did, only then would she be able to fully unburden her heart.
Only then could she tell him how much she loved him, how much she loved him now, and how much she would love him for the rest of her days.
Chapter Eleven
When Harbury awokean hour later, Cassandra was gone. He smoothed his hand over the empty place where she’d lain; the sheets were already cool to the touch, but the bedside lantern still burned. He rolled onto his back, stretched out his legs, and pillowed his head with his arm.
After the lingering shudder of hislittle deathhad ended, Cassandra continued to hold him softly against her breasts—a heavenly, erotic sensation.
Bewildering, too.
His wife’s sweet ministrations ushered him into a deep and restful sleep. He’d felt safe. Perhaps for the first time in his life.
