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She ground into him as she seemed to lose herself to the demands of her body. He watched the loveliness of her face as her mouth opened and a flush spread over her skin and then—
She came, her body tensing around him. And unlike the last time they’d done this, she freed herself to cry out fully. The sound was gorgeous, throaty and abandoned. Nothing on this Earth held the beauty of her noise of total surrender to pleasure.
Yet he wanted more. More for her. For him. So he worked his hand between them to stroke her clitoris. She went taut as another climax hit her.
“This is what I want,” he rumbled. “Only this. My cock in you as you come.”
“I—” Whatever she intended to say was lost as yet one more orgasm shook her. It went on and on, until she tipped her head so that their foreheads touched and her breath was warm over his face.
His whole body shuddered, demanding release.
“Come,” she gasped. “Come in me, Sebastian.”
The last filament of his restraint snapped. He thrust hard, making her cry out, and then release exploded. He growled her name as he was caught in the tempest of pleasure, letting its storm course through him without cessation.
He couldn’t stop moving his hips, even after he’d spent the last droplets of his seed. But then his body surrendered, and he and Grace sank down to lie upon the bed. They wrapped themselves together tightly as vines.
Surely, he’d never known such happiness. This was the upper extent of its limit.
“Marry me,” she whispered.
He was wrong. Because now, he reached the pinnacle of bliss.
But he must have fallen silent, stunned into muteness by joy, because a moment later she asked, “Sebastian? Say something. You’re worrying me.”
“Nothing to fear, love.” He kissed her, long and deep. “The answer is yes. From the moment I first saw you at the library with your head bent over a book and a smile on your face, my answer has always been yes.”
Epilogue
Three months later
“Let me see the list again.” Grace reached across the table for the notebook and Sebastian placed it immediately in her hand. She scanned the names, nodding with satisfaction.
Everyone on the list was the top in their field. They were the best natural philosophers with areas of expertise in flora, fauna, geography, geology, and, since Sebastian was himself on the list, anthropology. Jane and Douglas would represent the study of astronomy.
More than half of their upcoming expedition to South America would include female natural philosophers. Sebastian and Grace had been approached by the Dowager Countess of Farris, searching them out to head the field division of her new foundation. It was Lady Farris’s intention that her foundation would serve as a kind of watchdog, to report on damage done by England’s fervor for empire and expansion.
The countess had provided funds for Grace and Sebastian to lead their own expedition, and was quite encouraging of the fact that many women would be part of the group. In addition to supplying funding from her own coffers, Lady Farris had quietly located a number of wealthy women to contribute more capital.
The expedition’s intention was to report on indigenous cultures, as well as to make recommendations on the preservation of the habitats and creatures it encountered.
“I believe that’s everyone,” Sebastian murmured. He kept his voice low out of consideration for the other patrons of the Benezra Library, which had just recently added the volumes she and Sebastian had published about their findings about declining traditions and habitations. Only last week, they had been invited to speak at three private gatherings of those with an interest in the sciences.
Sebastian said, “You’ve done your work well.”
“We have.” She smiled at her husband, seated across from her. “It’s always been something we’ve shared.”
“There’s something I’d like to show you in the stacks.” He removed his spectacles and tucked them into his coat pocket.
“Mr. Holloway,” she said crisply. “Do put your spectacles back on.”
“Why, Mrs. Holloway?” Yet even as he asked this, he replaced his glasses.
“Because, my beloved husband, I adore you when you don’t wear them, and I love you even more when you do.”
