Only then did he roll above her, moved beyond recognition by the gift she had bestowed upon him, yet still desperate for everything and needing to know her completely. As he kissed her, she stretched her limbs contentedly, opening her long legs in welcome and sighed as she kissed him back.
He tried to take things slowly, but his body was possessed and desperate to be in hers.
He tried to bring her to the cusp of oblivion again before he intruded, but his gloriously wanton and voluptuous new fiancée was having none of it. She reached between their bodies to stroke him too, smiling triumphantly at the profound effect her touch had on him, then when he could obviously bear no more, guided him to her entrance. Inviting him in. Those siren’s hips again rising to meet him until he couldn’t wait a second longer. It took every ounce of strength he had not to plunge mindlessly into her wet heat, to gently inch himself inside, only to stop short when he reached the barrier of her virginity and the barrage of intense, possessive emotions which assaulted him as he did.
He would be her first and her last. Her one and only. No one would ever know her as completely and intimately. He was humbled and elated, and so filled with love it felt as though his heart might burst.
They held each other tight as he pushed past and slowly began to move. Tentatively at first so she could get used to the size and shape of him, but as passion began to build again, she soon dictated the rhythm, enthusiastically meeting him thrust for thrust. As the walls of her body caressed him from root to tip, those long legs hooked around his hips and her fingers traced his face, more words of devotion spilled unbidden from his lips. Eyes locked, bodies joined, souls in perfect tempo, the need for words was gone and he lost himself in her entirely and all was unimaginable pleasure and exquisite pain.
Nothing existed except them and that moment. The tangled limbs. The knotted sheets. Breathless, joyous, wonderous oblivion. Total trust. Complete surrender.
A climatic explosion of light and stars and happiness.
All wrapped tight and comforting in love.
Chapter Twenty-One
They didn’t waste the final hours of the night on sleep, even though they were both thoroughly sated and exhausted. Instead they talked and made plans. Hope sat propped against a nest of several pillows and Luke staring up at her, his head in her lap and his face mere inches from her shamelessly still-bare bosoms.
Bosoms which she had more affection for now that she knew they could bring her so much pleasure and because he adored them so very much.
‘I think it makes sense to offload the bulk of your shares. Especially as owning them in the first place causes you undue worry.’ He had just outlined his plan to simplify his estate to make running it more manageable.
‘It’s not worry, exactly...more that I much prefer to fully understand it all. Which I can’t when all those separate businesses are run by faceless others who own more of a stake in the outcome than I do.’
‘You need to be in control.’ She understood that about him know. Luke had to be master of his own destiny because for so many years he had been at the mercy of others. ‘I cannot say I blame you. What will you do with the equity? Or will it sit in the bank with all the rest of the money?’ Another thing he wasn’t easy with. He had worked hard to be financially comfortable and independent, but to be now so rich that money was no object didn’t sit right with him. ‘Unless you intend to become philanthropic.’
‘I’ve thought of that and it goes without saying that some institutions should benefit from it. Like Dr Long Fox and Brislington House. I would trust him implicitly after he helped my mother. But others that I know precious little about and have no relationship with...’ He idly tugged one of her curls as he frowned. ‘Again—the lack of control would keep me awake at night. How do I ensure my charitable gift gets used in the right way and goes to the right people?’ He rolled his big body so that he could face her, propping himself up on one elbow, as unashamedly naked as the day he was born, rumpled from their lovemaking and as sinfully handsome as she had ever seen him. ‘I’ve been thinking about duplicating his ideas and those of others like him, and perhaps setting up my own hospitals around the country and here in the capital. I keep reading about the horror stories of the York Asylum and Bedlam, so similar to the atrocities of Mill House, and feel obligated to rectify them in some small way. If I cannot shut them down, at least I would like to offer an alternative. I certainly have the money and with all the property in my portfolio, there has to be some place suitable to make a start. What do you think?’
That she had picked the very best man in the world to fall head over heels in love with. ‘I think, as a marquess who now has a voice in Parliament and bizarrely seems to be earning the respect of everyone despite your annoying roguishness, you could do both. Open hospitals and use your dazzling Duff charm to align others to your cause to change the law. I suspect you’d have a lot of support for it. There have been rumblings of concern for years.’
His expression was thoughtful as he let that sink in. ‘I never thought of that but it’s a good idea. There is no earthly reason why I couldn’t do both. It would be good to put this damn title to use too.’
‘Then here’s another idea to consider—involve your mother. For who better to spearhead your crusade than one who has suffered it?’
‘Oh, I couldn’t do that.’ He didn’t bother giving that a second’s thought. ‘She isn’t strong enough.’ He tapped his forehead. ‘Too much stress might cause a relapse.’
Overprotective to the bitter end. ‘I think she might surprise you.’ She had certainly surprised Hope.
‘She’s been through too much.’
‘I know she has. We had a long chat about it all last night in the garden.’ She wouldn’t mention Maria’s brief moment of panic. A promise was a promise after all, even if it meant keeping it from Luke. ‘She told me everything and has quite an interesting perspective of it all now that she is out the other side. She even suggested I should write a novel based on the way the supposed lunatics are treated. You should talk to her about it too. At least gauge her opinions on the idea before you run ahead in your own well-intentioned, over-protective and cloddish Cornish way. To do this properly, to do your brilliant future hospitals justice, you need to be able to see both sides of the coin.’
His eyes narrowed playfully. ‘Is this what I have to look forward to? A lifetime of nagging, logic and sensible ideas which stop me from making a ham-fisted hash of things.’
‘Among other things.’ She kissed him and sighed as it inevitably made her want more. ‘I’d better go. The sun is coming up. My mother will kill us both if she discovers I’m missing.’
‘Or we could make a mad dash for Gretna Green instead? I could have my wicked way with you all the way there and all the way back...’
‘Tempting—but I fear my mother will definitely murder us then. She’s waited twenty-three years to see me married, and, after Faith, adores being the mother of the bride. If she doesn’t get to crow about it from the rooftops, there will be hell to pay so best to stick to our original plan of September.’
He watched her stuff herself into her dress, an odd experience when she had never done anything like that in front of a man before, and helped her roll undergarments into her stays. He would have followed her stark naked out on the balcony too if she hadn’t insisted he put something on in case one of the other residents of Bloomsbury happened to see him. And because he had a flimsy relationship with propriety at the best of times, he insisted on giving her a searing kiss before he helped her back to her own. As he handed her the bundle of unmentionables, his eyes raked her possessively one last time.
‘Will you lie with me tonight?’
‘I might.’
‘That’s a resounding yes then because you, madam, cannot keep your hands off me. And who can blame you? I am irresistible and quite the catch.’ The cocky, lopsided grin was back with a vengeance.
