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“Mmm. That does sound nice.” But she didn’t resume moving.

A growl fled him.

“Nn-mm,” she chastised. “That most definitely will not work. Use your manners.” She kissed along his jaw until she reached his ear. “The sweeter you beg, Duke, the sweeter the reward.”

A wash of gooseflesh rose on his skin. Bloody hell. This woman was like no other. She was pure sin. She was whip smart. She was incredibly strong.

She was unrivaled.

He flattened his palm against her back, holding her tight against him, chest to chest. “I need you. Desperately. I need that pretty cunt swallowing me. I need the feel of you fluttering around me when pleasure overtakes you. I need the moan that bliss steals from you when you come. I need you hard and fast. I need you close.” Emotion balled in his throat, and he forced it down. “I need you,” he said hoarsely. So much that it terrified him. “Please.”

Her lips dragged over his. “Who am I to deny a duke?” And then she sank down on him. Their moans pierced the quiet of the bedchamber. Her thighs flexed as she lifted again. “With me, Rafe. Let go.”

So he did. He thrust into her every time she slammed down on him. Every drive pulled a strangled cry from her. He wanted to embed the sound in his memory. Each one of his grunts was met with one of her cries, swirling around them and mixing with the slapping of skin. He drowned in the sound of their sex. In the taste of her lips. In the feel of her taking him deep into her body. It was heaven. It was ecstasy. He never wanted to let it go.

He never wanted to let her go.

And it was that thought that had him tumbling over the edge. His hands gripped her arse as he drove into her one final time, holding him to her as he ground out every last trace of his orgasm. His body shook, and he buried his tortured yell into her shoulder. Emotion instantly assaulted him, pressure building behind his eyes, and he buried himself deeper, in every way he could, into her. Her body shook, her cry of pleasure rebounding around them. And then she went lax, her body sinking into his.

His arms snaked around her, and he held her tight. Let her melt into him. Until there wasn’t a her and a him. Just a them.

That was when it came to him in perfect clarity. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

Not right now. But soon.

Very soon.

34

Theo

Something soft grazed over Theo’s cheek. Back and forth. Her eyelids fluttered open, clashing with the silver ones that hovered over her.

Rafe’s lips curved the smallest amount.

Watching her while she slept? An amused breath fell from her. “Good morning.”

His fingers didn’t stop stroking, flitting over her cheek, down her jawline. His gaze touched every inch of her face, something glinting in those grey eyes she couldn’t put her finger on. But it was as tender as his touch.

“Marry me?” he whispered.

Her heart stopped.

She blinked as her world spun. The touch on her face slowed.

His gaze searched hers.

She finally found her voice. “Apologies, but what?”

His fingers fell away, his grey eyes closing off. “I was asking if you would marry me…”

Oh my God.

She jumped out of bed and started grabbing new garments for the day. Marry him? What on earth was the man thinking? He wasn’t. What he’d done was lost his wits.

Theo stuffed her legs into her trousers, then glanced where he sat in her bed, dark eyebrows slowly drawing closer and closer together. She opened her mouth, everything inside her falling. This ruined everything.

“No, Rafe. I won’t marry you.” She slipped on her half stays and began tying them.