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When she was sure she could take no more, when the fire had become an inferno, she could feel his hard length starting to nudge at her opening. She lifted a leg and braced it against his lower back and thrust her hips forward in invitation. It was all the confirmation he needed to grasp her hips and plunge himself inside of her.
Stars danced before her vision, but not because of any pain she might have experienced since the first time. It was the sheer ecstasy of the moment, the joining of two souls that captured her in its grasp that made her soar toward the heavens. When he started to move, she closed her eyes as the pressure began to build. She was consumed by it as she clutched his damp shoulders. “Rem…”
She whispered his name and he increased his pace. She curled her fingers in his jacket and held on as he took her to the moon and beyond. Her legs shook as the pleasure washed over her in wave after wave. A breathy sigh escaped. After so many years of feeling as though she wasn’t enough, that she wasn’t worthy, she had found rapture at last.
He withdrew from her as the steady streams of his orgasm overtook him.
As her heart beat a steady staccato, she slowly opened her eyes and allowed her surroundings to come back into focus. One thing became clearer than all the rest.
The baron hadn’t even crossed her mind.
It was strange to imagine that for as long she’d held on to her devotion to Udell, the first time she was intimate with another man, she didn’t have any qualms about betraying his memory. Could it be that she was finally starting to heal from such devastating heartbreak?
She glanced at the marquess and he lifted his head to look deeply into her eyes.
And then he turned away and climbed out of the fountain.
Isadora blinked, not sure what to make of that slight, but she calmly put herself to rights and returned to solid ground. Her skirts were dripping wet and the sodden material made it difficult to walk, so she sat down on the hard stone of the lower basin and waited for Rem to speak.
He kept his back to her for an endless span of time. When he finally spun around to her, he was just as put together as before—other than the fact that his feet were likely squishing in his shoes. He didn’t seem to notice, or perhaps care, as he crossed his arms and regarded her with something of a frown. “Why did you do that?”
Her brow furrowed. “Do what?”
He sighed heavily and waved a hand at the fountain. “Allow me to take you against a stone pillar in broad daylight like some sort of doxy?”
She thought about this for a moment and then shrugged. “Would the outcome have been any different should it have taken place in a bedchamber under cover of darkness?”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “You didn’t deserve that swift, animalistic coupling.”
Isadora tilted her head to the side. “What if that’s what I wanted? I think we’ve already established that I wasn’t an innocent.”
This seemed to give him pause. “It still seems wrong.”
She stilled. “Are you still speaking of the manner in which we came together—or the deed itself?”
His frown grew darker. “I’m torn, because I feel compelled to do the honorable thing when your previous lover did not, and yet, I know that if I suggested it, you would turn me down.”
She nodded. “You’re correct. I would.”
“Then where does it go from here?”
A very good question.“I suppose any further intimacies end in this garden and we concentrate on our business acquaintance.”
His gaze narrowed. “And will you be satisfied with that arrangement? Because I’m not sure that I will.”
She stiffened slightly at his commanding tone. “It’s not solely your choice.”
“But Iaminvolved,” he countered. “So, I suggest a compromise.”
The breath in her lungs evaporated. “And what would that be?”
“Marry me.” He held up a hand before she could say anything. “But in keeping with your desire for independence, I won’t interfere in your affairs. Your dowry is yours to do with as you please. In the eyes of the law, we might be husband and wife, but our union will be only to satisfy my honor. We shall live apart until the need arises that we need to make a social appearance together. At that time, I’m sure something can be arranged to satisfy the gossips.”
Isadora considered this. “And what of your need for an heir? Shall I be expected to bear a son before this departure takes place?”
He shook his head. “As far as I’m concerned, the title can die with me.”
“Does your family legacy mean so little to you?” she asked softly.
