She nodded, staring down at their beautiful boy. “I want to give that to Gabriel, that sense of family, of not being alone in the world. And now, thanks to you, I can.”
He remained pensive and quiet for the rest of the ride home, and she didn’t push him, knowing she’d given him a lot to think about. She hoped he’d started to realize that she did care for him and that everything he’d thought about her reasons for blackmailing him had been wrong.
At last, they reached the house, and she was thrilled when Adrian took Gabriel in his arms and carried him up the stairs to his bedroom instead of leaving it to the coachman as most men of his class would have. She trailed behind him, butterflies in her stomach.
Tenderly laying Gabriel upon his bed, Adrian surprised her further by taking off the child’s socks and shoes and then tenderly tucking him in, placing a kiss upon his forehead.
She kissed the boy as well, and then they stole out into the dark hall. She held her breath, desperate to ask him to her room but determined to give him space if he needed it.
Wordlessly, he reached out and took her hand, pulling her to his bedroom door. She looked up at him, a question in her eyes. He answered it by pulling her inside, shutting the door behind him, and pressing her against the wall, kissing her wildly.
She melted beneath him, returning his passion in equal measure, thrilled to be in his arms once again.
After a long while, he finally lifted his head, staring down at her. “I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he whispered. “My God, Vanessa, you’ve bewitched me.”
She gave him a sultry smile, giddy with happiness. “You’ve put a spell on me as well.”
He tugged her toward the big bed, unfastening her gown as they went. “Too many clothes,” he growled. “Why do they make women wear so many damned clothes?”
She shook her head, laughing, and helped him, until she stood at the foot of the bed in nothing but her chemise.
“Your turn,” she breathed, lifting her hand to his fancy cravat and making short work of it. He shed his clothes even faster than they’d divested her of hers, and it warmed her heart that tonight he seemed far less concerned about his scars. One day, she promised herself, he would be comfortable baring himself to her, heart and soul. She somehow had to make herself worthy of that sort of trust.
“Hold on one moment,” she said, suddenly remembering the almond oil the footman had brought back for her earlier in the day. He gave a soft murmur of dissent and tried to grab her, but she laughed and danced away from him. “When I get back, I want you laying on that bed on your stomach,” she ordered, and then sprinted to her room and grabbed the salve.
When she returned, he was spread out upon the bed as she’d asked, a feast for her hungry eyes. She climbed up beside him, the bed dipping beneath her as she crawled toward him. His rear end was truly a sight to behold, powerfully muscled and sweetly round, his waist trim and his back and shoulders sculpted by a master’s hand. Her gaze landed at last upon the scars that marred his shoulder.
“This may be cold for a second,” she warned, dipping her fingertips in the tin of salve and then rubbing it across the puckered skin.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, tensing beneath her hands, his old self-consciousness returning.
She calmed him with a sweet kiss at the nape of his neck. “This will make the skin suppler, and eventually, it might even fade the scars a bit. But more than that, I just want to touch you, give you comfort.”
“It feels good,” he admitted grudgingly, obviously not comfortable with her touching the parts of him he thought ruined so intimately but enjoying the way it felt.
Smiling at her success, she continued to work the oil into his skin, not just the burned areas but his entire back, and even his buttocks. He gradually relaxed, and soon soft pleased sounds were escaping him. She loved the way he became pliant beneath her hands, the heat of his skin and the beauty of his form.
“Turn over,” she murmured softly, arousal pulsing through her. “I want to touch the front of you.”
“Mmmm,” he sighed, twisting sinuously and rather magnificently displaying the fact that he, too, was highly aroused.
She applied more oil to her trembling hands, placing them upon his chest. He closed his eyes and let her continue her ministrations, but a renewed tension had filled him. His powerful body coiled tightly beneath her, and she knew he wanted her to touch him even more intimately.
Teasing him a bit, she took her time, rubbing the oil everywhere but where he needed it most. Finally, when she sensed he could not take it anymore, she closed her hand around his silky hardness, stroking him with her warm, well-oiled palm. He moaned, a deep, sexy rumble that took her breath away. She couldn’t believe her own daring, but nothing had ever thrilled her more. She loved to give him pleasure.
After several minutes of her hands upon him, he suddenly surged up, wrapping his arms around her and flipping her to her back upon the soft mattress. He devoured her mouth with his own as he ripped the flimsy chemise she wore and then closed his hands around her breasts.
Breaking the kiss, he trailed his mouth down her throat and chest before lightly biting one of her nipples as his hand trailed down her stomach.
“My darling,” he breathed against her skin. “Your touch drives me insane. No one has ever done anything like that for me before.”
“I love touching you,” she assured him, burying her hands in his dark hair as he parted her thighs and slid his fingers along her cleft, his thumb circling the tender bud. She convulsed with pleasure, and he thrust his thick length deep within her while she was still in the throes of her orgasm.
He remained still within her, his big body trembling, until she’d come back to herself enough to meet his fierce gaze. She brushed her fingertips along his rigid jaw, and she knew her heart was in her eyes.
“I love you,” she told him. “I love you so much, Adrian.”
With a groan, he let go of his rigid control and began to thrust wildly within her, building the pressure inside her until she shattered once again, the pleasure so intense she could not even describe it. He gave a hoarse cry and followed her into bliss, then collapsed beside her, pulling her into his arms and sweeping the heavy quilt over both of them.
