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He didn’t hesitate. “Aye, I would.”
If she did that, Haydn would not be pleased. She put those more serious thoughts to the side for now. “I bid her leave knowing you would join me in our chamber.”
“You wanted privacy.”
“Aye.”
“Why?”
Oh, he was deplorable. “Why do you do that?”
He moved the sponge slowly up her inner thigh. “This?”
She clenched in anticipation. “Nay. Why do you force me to say things?”
Haydn’s hands froze. “I do not, nor will I, force you to do anything, Phillipa. You’ve your own mind, and will.”
“Cajole then,” she amended.
He resumed his illicit ministrations “Because, with every word you utter, without consequence, you learn I welcome your thoughts.”
“Even if they are ones you do not agree with?”
Haydn leaned forward in the tub. “Aye. Even those.”
Haydn would surely not welcome some of her thoughts. But when an incredibly seductive husband bathed you, as the water lapped each time he moved and the fire crackled its approval, ’twas not the time to share those thoughts.
“And yet, you so rarely share your own.”
Aye, she was the prey indeed. The look on Haydn’s face would scare virgin Phillipa. But no longer. Indeed, she welcomed it, knowing now what she did not two days before. Water splashed onto the floor as Haydn re-positioned himself, his body now covering hers, his manhood brushing her stomach, and Phillipa gripped the sides of the tub.
“Since you successfully evaded my question, let me tell you what I think, Phillipa.” Her name itself was a flirtation of its own. “I think you dismissed the maid because you wanted us to be alone. So that I might do this.” His hand reached between them. “Mmm.” He slipped one finger, and then two, inside. “So ready for me.” Her eyes closed as he touched her, but then his fingers were gone much too soon. “As I am for you.”
Taking her right hand and guiding it from the side of the tub, dipping it beneath the water, Haydn placed it on him, showing her what to do. He guided her up and down his length. More water escaped from the tub, and Phillipa reached down with her second hand.
Somehow, this felt more intimate than being in bed. Haydn’s eyes never left hers, and though she wanted him to kiss her, she very much enjoyed seeing his expression too as she mimicked the movements he’d shown her.
She was doing this to him. “This is why women are forbidden such acts.”
Haydn’s mouth opened but he said nothing. Phillipa was certain he didn’t understand her meaning. But she understood now the church’s stance. What power she held at this very moment.
Phillipa reached up, deciding not to wait for him, and kissed him. For a brief moment she panicked, thinking he might not respond. Or kiss her back, in turn. But her fears were for naught. Her hands forgot to keep moving as Haydn’s mouth covered hers, their tongues finding each other instantly.
She was so lost in the kiss that Phillipa only realized her hands had fallen from him and were now back to the side of the tub as Haydn guided himself into her. Welcoming him, indeed, thrusting her hips to meet his length, they created wave after wave, moving together in perfect rhythm.
She was surprised when he pulled his head back to look at her. Even more surprising, Phillipa was not embarrassed. Instead, she met his gaze. As his hips circled, and then slowed, she forgot to breathe.
“You are so very beautiful, Phillipa.”
Not expecting those words, she had no response. Phillipa could have just as easily complimented her husband in return. But the words did not come. Instead, she replayed his words in her mind as he increased the pace between them.
He thought her beautiful.
What a trivial thing to care about given what was between them. Given the treacherous purpose for their union. But she couldn’t pretend his words didn’t affect her. They did, signifying a vulnerability in Haydn she hadn’t been sure he possessed.
When he lowered his head again, the thought that he’d stopped kissing her to say those words to her. . . she began to spasm, every bit of her body shuddering with release. Haydn pulled away once more, cried out her name and pumped into her one last time.
They stayed that way for a long while, neither saying a word. Or even moving. Until her husband finally looked into her eyes once more.
