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One of his legs rested along the back of the settee and the other dangled toward the floor. Claire was nestled between his thighs, and she wiggled to get more comfortable.
“Be still,” he warned.
A hard lump pressed into her belly and she suppressed a grin as she realized what it was. She’d held him in her hand last night, and he’d spent himself all over he
r fingers. The thought of doing it again was maddening. She liked pleasing him. And he obviously liked being pleased. She moved to the side to slide a hand down his leg.
“Careful down there,” he grumbled.
“I’ll be very careful,” she whispered as she leaned up and touched her lips to his. He sipped at her lips softly, and she touched her tongue to his.
“Claire,” he growled. “Don’t play games with me.” He lifted her hand from where she’d gripped him through his trousers and pushed her head back down to lie on his chest. “Just let me hold you for a bit, will you?”
But Claire just hitched herself higher, until the vee of her thighs was directly over his manhood.
“Claire,” he groaned. He threaded his hands into her hair and forced her to look up at him. “Don’t start something you don’t want to finish. I’ve been hard for hours. I won’t be satisfied with what we did last night.”
“Thank goodness,” she whispered. Then she leaned in to kiss him again.
Eighteen
“Marry me, Claire,” he said, pulling back from her lips in tiny increments, saying one word at a time. She didn’t even hear him until he repeated it more clearly. “Marry me, Claire?” he asked.
She stilled on top of him. “You know I can’t,” she said, and then she sat up with her elbows on his chest, looking down at him. She looked like a rumpled angel, lying there with her cheeks all rosy and her hair all a mess. The print from the buttons of his waistcoat was etched onto her cheek. His heart squeezed in his chest. Is this what love felt like? If so, he liked it. He wanted to wake up to her looking like this every day for the rest of his life.
“Why can’t you?” he asked.
“Because it’s forbidden.”
“Yet others have done it.” He jostled her shoulder. “You can’t use that excuse. Give me a better reason.”
“The children,” she finally said, sitting up and moving off him. “It’s because of the children, all right?” She suddenly sounded peevish.
“I don’t understand.” Thoughts roiled in his head like a boiling cauldron, yet he couldn’t make sense of any of them. “Why would children be a problem? Your kind and my kind can procreate. That has been proven. Look at you. Look at your brother and sister.”
“And look at what happened to us. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. It’s not an easy life, Finn, not knowing where you came from. It’s damn hard.”
He reached over and pulled her back into his arms. She went, but not willingly, until at last she softened against him. “Can we table this discussion and go back to it later?” he asked.
“I will not change my mind.”
“I think I liked it more when you were asleep,” he said, as he pulled her head back down to his chest. “Go back to sleep, and then let’s wake up and do this all over again with a different outcome.”
“What kind of outcome did you have in mind?”
“The kind where you scream my name and swear you can see God.”
She chuckled against his chest. It was a lovely sound, really. Like the bells of St. Andrews. She didn’t do it often, but when she did, the effect was jarring. “I could make you happy, Claire,” he said softly.
“I have no doubt that you could, Finn.” She stilled against him, until suddenly he flipped their positions. She seemed surprised to find herself beneath him. “Goodness, Finn, that was fast.”
“I do everything fast, apparently. Think back to that first night.” He kissed her softly as he settled between her thighs, pushing her knees apart with his legs in her skirts. He rocked against the center of her, and she arched to meet him, a moan leaving her lips to tickle the air between them. “Does that feel nice?” he asked as he adjusted to rock a little harder against her. Her mouth fell open and she nodded.
“Just imagine how it would feel if I was inside you again,” he said, punctuating his words with short licks across her lips.
“Remind me,” she urged.
But he did something he’d never done before. He stood up and moved away from her. “We had better get back. People will be looking for you.” He adjusted his clothing.
