“Not as much as I do you.” She looped her arms about his shoulders to hold him closer. Then she bumped his hips with hers. “Now, do hurry, my lord. I am in great need.”
“We can’t have that.” Then he set about bringing his wife to release.
Over and over he moved into her with slow, gentle strokes while he held his weight on his forearms. She watched him, canted her hips, and matched his rhythm. All too soon they fairly danced together, in a waltz as old as time itself. Then her eyes shuttered closed and she simply held onto him as he worked his length in and out of her sweet, tight passage.
Heat buzzed through him. Anticipation tingled at the base of his spine. Need roiled through his stones, pulling them tight to his body. His member pulsed with each thrust. His control shattered. Faster and faster he speared into her. Deeper and deeper he went in the attempt to join with her. Harder and harder he worked to bring her over the edge before he went too.
Heated need consumed him, and he shifted his angle, so the root of his member brushed her nubbin. A moan wrenched from her throat, and he fractured. Frenzied cries came from her as she dug her fingernails into his shoulders. Then she screamed. The walls of her passage fluttered greedily about his prick. His thrusts were frantic, and on a particular deep one, he broke into a million shards of white light as he fell into bliss and took her with him.
As he marveled over how this former straightlaced governess was a screamer during intercourse, he ground his pelvis into hers while his length emptied. With a sigh, he collapsed on top of her and wrapped his arms around her. What a novel experience feeling her heartbeat racing against his, her breathing as ragged as his own. If she weren’t already increasing, he would have a wonderful time putting her in that state over the next few months.
Eventually, as his overheated body cooled and his breathing returned to normal, he rolled off her and onto his back. “Woman, you wear me out, and I’m not a young man any longer.”
“That’s too bad.” She yawned, nestling into his side with a hand on his chest. “For I’ll want another go ‘round soon.”
God, but she’d be the death of him. “Give me an hour or so and I’ll let you have your wicked way with me.” And gladly. He grinned into the darkness. Had he ever been so happy in his life? All too soon, he sobered. Turning his head, he found her gaze in the inky shadows. “I’m glad you rescued your flute.”
“I couldn’t leave it behind. It’s the most valuable thing I own, excepting everything you’ve given me.” Her spectacle lenses were smudged, and they sat at an awkward angle on her nose, but it was the most adorable thing.
“Darling.” He took her hand, entwining their fingers. “I’ve asked my mother to handle the planning for this, but I want to have a recital or musicale evening at my townhouse in London for you. Sometime next month if you agree. This way you can see if playing in front of a crowd is what you’d like to do.” The surprise in her eyes gave him pause. “But only if you’re willing. It’ll be a good way to introduce you to society as my countess, and you can come to know my family.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
She squeezed his fingers. “You believe in my talent that much?”
“Oh, yes. You tamed this wild beast with it, did you not?”
“Perhaps.” The smile she gifted him with had the power to light the shadows. “I would like that.”
“Good.” For long moments, he remained silent. The sound of their breathing blended with the summer insect and animal life that teemed outside the open window. As his eyelids were fluttering closed, he roused himself, for there was something he needed to say. “Before you came into my life and upended it—”
“Reordered it so you could see what mattered,” she interrupted softly.
“All I had left of any of my family—Father, Finn, Brand—was my anger toward them,” he continued as if she’d not spoken. “I wrongly told myself that if I let go of my anger, I’d have nothing left of them.” It had taken days for him to come to such a realization, but looking at it now, it made complete sense.
“Anger is not the same as fond memories.”
“I know that now.” A tiny grin curved his lips. “In my father’s case, nothing can bring him back. I realize that now as well, and while in London, I made my peace with that. But my brothers are still lost, not dead, but lost to me…” He would always worry about them because that’s what the oldest son did. It didn’t mean he wanted to manage them, it merely meant he cared. “I love them, but don’t know how to say it.”
“I’m proud of you.” Her eyes lit with happiness. “There is time to make things right by them, Andrew.”
“I don’t know how.” Admitting to things beyond his ken was difficult, but if she were there, he could tackle it.
“None of us do; we go by faith.” She brought his hand to her lips and kissed a finger. “Yes, the war damaged them, and yes, they will need to navigate their new realities by themselves, but you can make a fresh start with them, heal the rifts like you did with me.”
“How?” He was at a loss.
“Leave your ego and arrogance behind and lead with your heart. Show them that you love them but let them spread their wings.” She smiled. “They’ll soar if you allow them to.”
After a few seconds rumination, he nodded. “Will you stand with me when that happens?”
“Of course, I will.” When he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, the tiny squeal she uttered sent tingling awareness through his shaft. “I’ll do whatever is needed, because you are worth saving too.”
“I love you.” His chest swelled with affection while his heart skipped a beat. “I can’t wait to see where our path leads next.” For now that he’d found his, he would never walk alone.
“You’re learning, changing, evolving into the man you needed years ago, and that is quite an aphrodisiac.” She snuggled into him and dropped a kiss to his lips. “I wouldn’t have married you otherwise.”
“Ha!” He snorted in mirth. “I’m fairly certain you married me to keep your cute little arse out of the gutter and away from your great uncle’s children. A business arrangement, remember?”
“Do shut up, Hadleigh. It’s not well done of you to bring up such unsavory things to a lady.” The fondness in her dulcet tones continued to cultivate a sense of peace within him.
Sometimes, calming the storm meant suffering through it until he came out the other side into clear skies, and he couldn’t be happier with that outcome, all due to the woman in his arms. Perhaps in this he’d succeeded where his father had failed. Would that there be more moments like that in his future. “Ah, but it’s such fun to tease you, countess.” He looked forward to more of that for as many years as they had together.
The End