Page 63 of To Follow her Heart

“Come to bed,” he said, and the words were rough and unsteady.

The look in his eyes made her insides feel as if they were melting with the heat she saw there. She turned, eager to obey him and then stared at the bed, piled high with mattresses.

“How?” she asked, turning to him with sudden anxiety.

His lips quirked and took her hand. “There are steps,” he said, as she followed him and climbed up, aware of the weight of his gaze on her as she went ahead of him and bounced as she laid back. She moved to the edge of the mattress and looked over, grinning as he leaned in and kissed her.

“Don’t move,” he warned, as he began to undress.

“I wouldn’t dare,” she murmured, too intrigued to see what lay beneath the layers of clothing he was discarding at speed. She’d seen he’d grown into a fine, athletic figure of a man from the cut of those clothes. It had been clear he was a superb horseman too, and she’d admired his skill in the saddle, and the way his breeches clung to his strong thighs as he’d controlled his horse with ease and finesse.

As the trappings of a gentleman fell away, however, the body beneath was revealed and she felt her breath catch, anticipation making her impatient as she longed to put her hands on him.

“Hurry up,” she urged as fumbled with the buttons on the fall of his trousers. “Oh, do hurry up!”

He stared up at her and gave a bark of laughter before pushing his trousers and drawers down in one smooth movement and then kicking his legs free of them.

“Yes, Kitty, at once,” he said, his voice grave though his eyes danced with amusement.

He scrambled onto the bed and pushed her down, kissing her hard but giving her no opportunity to touch him before he spread her legs and moved down her body, returning his mouth to the wicked task he’d begun earlier.

Kitty was beside herself, drowning in pleasure and just a little shocked that his mouth was becoming so familiar such an intimate part of her. Yet he was murmuring endearments, whispering encouragement, so clearly delighted with her that she forgot to feel embarrassed. She’d wanted an adventure with him, a lifetime of them.

For once, he’d chosen the path, and this was the most delightful escapade they’d ever had together. His mouth was hot and sinful and beyond anything she’d ever dreamed of. The pleasure he’d shown her last night began to crest once more, to tug her towards that exquisite oblivion. She rushed towards it, almost laughing as it tumbled her into a glittering world, a joy so absolute surging through her that she never wanted it to end. She sighed as it ebbed and faded, and left her in a sated puddle of abandoned delight.

***

Luke sat back, well pleased with himself as he regarded the wanton figure of his wife, spread out atop a dozen mattresses in The Swan’s best bed chamber. She looked dazed, her dark eyes unfocused as she blinked up at him, finding her way through the haze of pleasure.

“Oh my,” she said, with a happy sigh. “Oh my.”

“How’s married life, Mrs Baxter?” he asked, aware of the smug grin on his face as he stared down at her.

“Marvellous,” she purred, stretching in a slow sinuous movement that made his pulse thunder in his ears.

Deciding he’d reached the limits of his endurance, he moved over her, settling between her legs and smiling as she gasped at the feel of his arousal sliding against her so intimately.

“Oh,” she said, arching as he slid back and forth. “Oh!”

“Kitty,” he said, a sudden surge of emotion catching at his heart. “Oh, Kitty, thank God, thank God you were there… I was dying without you.”

She wrapped herself about him, her arms pulling him tight against her, her legs sliding over his as he pushed into her.

Kitty gasped at the sudden invasion and he hesitated, but she arched her hips, tugging him closer and he could not help but thrust deeper. He groaned as she caught her breath again and then laughed, because this was Kitty and of course she would laugh at such a moment.

He gazed down at her, at the joy in her eyes, and he was lost and found all at once. She was the wild adventure and the comfort of home all tangled together, and he didn’t know how he’d endured the past years without her.

“I love you,” he said, helpless to do anything but love her as his body moved inside her. “I always have, I always will.”

“Yes,” she said, pulling his head down to kiss her. “Yes, and yes, and a thousand times yes, my Luke, my husband.”

She laughed again, and he swallowed the sound of it as he kissed her and chased the happiness he’d longed for, and found, with her.

Chapter 17

Dearest Matilda,

I have so much to tell you!