“Yes. Is this…all?”
He chuckled and gave her a swift kiss. “No. This is just the beginning. Wrap your legs around me.”
She did, curling her thighs against his.
“Higher,” he said. “Around my waist.”
Oh, that was better. She thought she was full before, but he seemed to slide even deeper. “Oh Lord,” she breathed.
“Lord Bodyguard,” he said with a smile just before he began to move.
He withdrew and thrust into her again, still moving incredibly slowly. She felt his body quiver, sensed the power that he kept under a tight rein. Though she’d never experienced this, she knew when he moved more quickly, they would both get where they wanted to be—to the brink as he’d said before when he’d cautioned her against going too fast.
She swept her hand down his back and settled her palm on his backside. “Are you going to speed up?”
“Siren,” he breathed. He did go faster, but only incrementally. “We’re doing this my way. Next time, you can be in control.”
Next time. And there would be a next time because they were getting married.
Joy and pleasure crashed over her at the same time. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the lead of his body. As he eventually moved faster and faster, the pressure inside her built. Until she quite suddenly plunged completely into ecstasy. Her sex tightened, and she gripped him with her legs and hands lest she lose herself completely.
She just began to rise to the surface when he cried out and drove into her. He kissed her neck and throat as she cast her head back and held him to her. He thrust a few more times, his body shuddering. She swept his hair back from his forehead and kissed his temple.
When his body stilled, he fell to the side, gathering her against his chest and bringing her with him. Stroking his arm, she listened to his breathing even out. He slid from her body and rolled to his back, holding her to his side.
“That was quite lovely,” she said, smiling as she put her hand on his chest. “Next time, I get to control things? I can’t quite envision how that can happen with you…doing what you do.”
“Well, you can tell me exactly what you want and what to do. You’ve never had a problem with that before.”
She laughed and felt his chest rumble gently beneath her hand.
“But I think maybe you’ll be on top, riding me.”
Pushing herself up on her elbow, she looked down at him. “Like a horse?”
“Somewhat. I can’t say because I don’t ride.”
She tried to envision it, straddling him with his cock inside her. Her legs would go around his hips. “Do you thrust up in that position?”
“Yes, but I can try not to, if you prefer.”
She thought of him moving beneath her and decided she wanted that very much. “I suppose I can’t say for certain right now, but the thought of you under me doing what you just did… I can hardly wait, honestly.”
He cupped her face and pulled her down for a long, lingering kiss. “You are an astonishing woman, Anne.”
“When will the wedding be? I suppose you’ll need to write to my father.” She made a face.
“You’re of age.”
She was, but it was the right thing to do. “Yes. We don’t need his permission. We must have the banns read, however.” She calculated in her head. “We can marry any time after the twenty-fifth.” She frowned. “That’s so far away.”
“It’s not as if you won’t see me before then.”
“But like this?”
“We’ve been…innovative on plenty of occasions.”
She laughed again as a joy she’d never imagined surged through her. “If you become the earl soon, you could just get a special license and we could marry right away. That’s what Anthony did when he wed Jane. They didn’t even get married in a church.”
He curled a lock of her hair around his fingers. “Is that what you’d like?”
“I like whatever allows me to be with you. And a special license means we wouldn’t have to be apart at all.”
“Then I shall get a special license as soon as I may.”
What if her godfather contested his claim? Uneasiness settled through her. She shivered.
“Are you cold?” he asked, pulling her more tightly against him.
“Yes. I should get dressed.” And cleaned up.
“I suppose we must. You need to get home. We’ve been gone too long.”
She should tell him that her godfather had doubts about him. Except she’d learned so much about him today, seen the goodness and generosity inside him. She’d convince her godfather that Rafe would bring honor and integrity to the earldom.
He kissed her forehead before sitting up and swinging his legs off the side of the bed. Anne touched his back. “You’ll be a wonderful earl.”
He looked at her over his shoulder. “You’re biased.”
“Because I know you, and I’m right.”
His lips parted as if he was going to respond, but he didn’t. Turning his head straight, he left the bed and went to a dresser.
A moment later, he returned with a cloth and gave it to her before gathering their clothing.
Yes, she knew him—the man who owned a bookshop and a house in Cheapside. The man who’d adored his wife and lost her and his unborn child. Her heart ached and longed for this man.
Even so, she couldn’t dismiss the persistent feeling that there was more of him that he kept concealed beneath the surface. The part of him that couldn’t love her—or that he wouldn’t allow to. Yet.
She pushed her apprehension away. There would be time to discover all his secrets.
A lifetime.
On the return drive to Mayfair, Rafe wondered if he’d made a
