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“I never stopped loving you,” he said seriously, watching her eyes as he said it. Conrad had known the truth of his feelings from the very moment he saw her in his courtyard. She thought he had saved her that day, but really, it was the opposite. His life had been all training. And duty. Lessons for the future earl. His only real friends, scattered throughout the country, only to be seen once a year at the Tournament of the North.
Until a missive from Cait arrived. And with it, hope for a future that was more than acquired estates and praying for a good harvest. A future filled with the same abiding love his parents had felt for each other. A smile in the darkness that his country had descended into.
If he’d taken up its cause so fully, it was because he’d needed something to replace the hole Cait had left.
Aye, he’d loved her always. But that did not mean he could be persuaded to dishonor her now.
When she leaned into the bed, Conrad thought to pull away. But she was too quick. Grabbing his shoulder, she didn’t hesitate. Cait kissed him. Her lips were on his before he could form another thought.
He’d taught her well.
Her mouth glided over his, her tongue insistent, sweeping inside with the expertise she’d only just acquired.
And the minx thought to use her knowledge to overcome the barrier he’d placed between them. Except Conrad had been seduced before, by women who hoped to claim their place as his countess, and he’d learned to control his baser impulses.
So he kissed her but restrained himself too.
Proud of his efforts, Conrad smiled into her lips, until he felt it . . .
Her hand.
On his cock.
He’d not even felt her reach beneath the coverlet, so busy he’d been congratulating himself on the small, fleeting victory.
How did she know . . .
She wrapped her hands around him before he could stop her. Cait’s small, unsure hands were actually stroking him.
Nay, it could not be.
“Once”—she pulled away to whisper into his ear, although she continued to move her hands—“I snuck into the stables at night, defying my parents’ orders to do otherwise. My mare was due to give birth, and I worried for her.”
Ah, God. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to feel.
“Thankfully, I never saw them. My brother Rory’s moans stopped me before I’d turned the corner. But I could hear his words easily. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Wrap your hand around me like that. Up and down, love. That’s right.’”
He really, really did not want to hear this.
“I fled, of course, and never spoke of it. But I didn’t forget it, and after I overheard a few other conversations between Rory and Terric, between some of the maids . . .”
Her movements, coupled with Cait’s breath tickling his ear and the knowledge that, if he reached down and pulled her atop him, she might very well lose her virginity tonight . . .
She was moving much too quickly. He would spill his seed if she continued.
Thinking to stop her, Conrad placed his hand over hers.
And then she kissed him again. Deeply.
His body took over, guiding her hand as he claimed her mouth. Her moan, coupled with their hands working together . . .
What am I doing?
Tearing her hand from him was as difficult as sliding a sword into a man’s flesh. Painful, but necessary.
He’d meant to pull away completely, but the sight of her stunned faced stopped him. He hauled her up with him, despite the height of the bed. Pulling Cait next to him, then atop him, the coverlet was now flung fully off.
She sat on his legs, looking down the length of him as if she’d never seen a man this way before, and he supposed she likely hadn’t. The unbridled appreciation in her gaze did nothing to calm his desire for her as she stared directly at his cock.
