“I’d almost forgotten I was dressed like this,” Lenore said once Freddy and Reese were gone and Phin had shut the door behind them.
“You look a fright,” Phin said, his grin heating. He adjusted his glasses and swept her with a look. “It’s highly improper for a woman to dress in men’s clothes.”
“Oh, is it?” Lenore crossed her arms, even though she knew he was joking.
“Yes. Which is why we should get you out of them as quickly as possible.”
Lenore laughed as Phin took her hand and marched across the hall and up the stairs, leading her along. “Good Lord, Phin. Not more than an hour ago, our lives were in mortal danger, and now you want to go to bed with me?”
“Love,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at her as they reached the top of the stairs and slipped into his bedroom. He closed the door behind him, finishing with, “I need to go to bed with you right now precisely because our lives were in mortal danger not more than an hour ago.”
He had a very good point. If she were honest, her heart was still racing and her body buzzing in such a way that she couldn’t have simply flopped into bed and fallen asleep, no matter how tired she was. She needed a way to expend her excess energy and to feel safe and loved in Phin’s arms.
Fortunately, he seemed to feel the same way about things as she did. He closed his arms around her with a deep sigh, pressing her body flush against his and leaning in to capture her mouth with a kiss. It was exactly what she needed, firm but tender, encompassing, and full of promise. She opened up to him, wanting nothing more than to lose herself in his embrace and to feel as though her heart had a home.
“I think we can dispense with formalities,” Phin said in a low, tempting voice, making quick work of the buttons of the waistcoat she’d donned. “Though I must say, you look utterly charming in my clothes.”
“I’ll have to wear them more often,” she said in return, flashing him an amorous smile as she mirrored his movements and peeled off his clothes. “And perhaps one of these days you can try wearing my clothes.”
Phin laughed out loud, pausing halfway through pushing the waistcoat off her shoulders and unbuckling her belt. “It wouldn’t be the first time I wore women’s clothes.”
“What?” Lenore’s hands froze in the middle of undoing the buttons of his shirt. She gaped up at him, barely able to contain her laughter.
Phin chuckled and shook his head. “It’s a long story that involves Lionel luring me into a theatrical production when we were in university.”
“Oh yes,” Lenore went on with a pretend sage look as she tugged his shirt out of his trousers and wrestled with their fastenings. “I’ve heard all about you theater people.”
“The theater is positively scandalous,” Phin agreed in a gruff voice, pulling her shirt up over her head in one, swift gesture. “Everyone knows that.”
Their silly conversation came to a quick end as he leaned in and slanted his mouth over hers once more. His kiss hit her with just enough force to leave her head spinning and her knees weak enough that she threw her arms over his shoulders for balance. That left her able to run her fingers through his hair and to lift one leg over his hip. He caught it and hitched it higher, brushing his hand along her thigh to her backside and squeezing. The gesture was heated and perfect and left her roiling with impatience to be under him in bed.
“Enough of this,” Phin growled at last, letting her leg go and stepping away from her long enough to lead her the short distance across the room to the bed. “You’re mine, and I intend to prove it to you.”
Lenore’s insides quivered at the determination in his voice. “I do believe I’ll pretend that I don’t already know we belong to each other so that you put extra effort into proving it to me,” she said breathlessly.
The hunger in his eyes cracked just long enough for Lenore to see the joy and the humor of their game before a smoldering look of intensity made him wolfish all over again. They shed the rest of their clothes with lightning rapidity—Lenore truly was impressed by how easy it was to undress while wearing men’s clothes and vowed to do it more often—and tumbled into Phin’s bed.
As soon as he set his glasses aside, he reached into the drawer of the bedside table and took out a French letter. Before he could open it, Lenore stayed his hand.
“I don’t think we’ll need that,” she said, fire and excitement in her eyes as she grinned up at him.
“Are you certain?” he asked, one eyebrow raised doubtfully.
“Is it usual for married people to use them?” she asked in return, her smile growing.
Another flash of joy lit Phin’s face. The intensity of the love in his eyes was enough to take Lenore’s breath away.
Before he could answer, she went on with, “You asked me in Yorkshire, but I don’t feel as though I gave you a proper answer. Does the question still stand?”
“Of course, it does,” he answered with a rush of breath. He leaned down to kiss her before she could say more, though. His body pressed into hers, his hips grinding against her sex as she wriggled into the perfect position under him. She wanted him so desperately that she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to wait for all of the legalities to be settled before marrying him.
“In that
