Rebecca wasn’t quitecertain when he lifted her or how he carried her, but she found her back pressing into the bed, his weight making her sink in.
Naturally, her legs parted, his manhood pressed into her folds, parting them, the head of his member slipping inside her slickness.
She gasped. Partially in surprise, but also with both need and nerves. They’d waited for so long for this moment, part of her couldn’t believe it was really happening. Would it hurt?
But he eased back out of her, smiling against her lips. “I know we want to do this tonight, but perhaps it does not have to be right this very moment.” And then his lips slid across her cheek and down her neck in a chain of kisses that left her breathless.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he nipped her collarbone and then slid lower, kissing around her breast until he made his way to the peak, sucking her nipple between his lips.
She gasped, desire pulsing through her as she slid her fingers into his hair, grasping at the strands.
His hand slid down her belly, brushing through her curls until they skimmed along her seam, making her moan as she spread wider for him.
He smiled as his lips followed the same path as his hand.
“Bennet.” She shook her head. “No.”
He looked up at her, his eyes dark with desire. “I have heard that a woman’s first time isn’t that pleasant. I would know that you had your pleasure before I take mine.”
She nipped at her lip as her finger traced the shell of his ear, coming to his cheek. “I love you,” she whispered as their eyes held.
“I love you too, Rebecca. I always have. I…” But his face spasmed. “I am sorry for all the pain I caused you.”
She shook her head. After all that had happened today, she understood. Better than she ever had. “I nearly died today. If you hadn’t stopped him…”
Some sort of luck or fate, coupled with Bennet’s skill, had saved her today, but she knew now just how real the danger had been. “I will always protect you. I promise.”
“I know,” she said, and swallowed. “And that’s what you were trying to do when you left. I understand now why you left—and why you came back. And why you’ll never leave again.”
He pressed his cheek to the flat of her belly, holding her waist with his hands. “Rebecca,” he groaned, his eyes squeezing shut. “You have no idea how much I hoped to hear you say that.”
She cradled his head with one hand while the other stroked his hair. “Some people are meant for simple love stories. But not us. Ours was always going to be…more.”
“More…” he said as he looked up at her, their eyes locking again. “You’re not wrong there.”
“Do you really mean to retire and help me with investigations when you’re not busy with the title?”
“I do.” His grip tightened. “But for the next year, I imagine the title is going to take up a great deal of my time. I’m glad you’ll have your own adventure. But I beg you to take some easy, not dangerous, cases to start.”
She smiled down at him. She understood that too. “You’ll be glad to know that the very first case I am considering is a death that happened over a decade ago.”
“What?”
“Laurel and Dillan’s sister.”
His eyes widened. “For what purpose?” But his hands were already sliding over her hips.
“Laurel is having nightmares…”
He kissed a trail from her belly, lower, and she forgot the words she’d been going to say. Forgot everything as his mouth brushed across her slick flesh. “Bennet,” she gasped as he repeated the soft stroke.
“Yes, my love,” he murmured against her flesh, repeating the soft touch over and over until she was half mad with wanting more.
And then he increased the pressure. Her head thrashed as she pulled him closer still, wanting desperately to reach her end.
Just as she was close, he inserted not one but two fingers into her, stretching her but also increasing her pleasure so that she exploded around him, her cries reverberating through the room.
He hardly waited for her body to settle before he was kissing up her abdomen again. She stroked his silky hair, her body so relaxed that she was like clay in his hands.