“Yes, Theodore.”
“Promise me.”
“I-I will.”
He began moving in a slow, gentle glide that rocked Lauren’s body. She felt the same ricocheting pangs of pleasure as before, but they were muted for some odd reason. Perhaps it was an overabundance of sensations? She couldn’t be sure.
Theodore was attentive to the nuances of her body, to her expression, and his mood was somber as he plunged with growing urgency. His hands tightened, keeping hers pinned to the mattress, his other urging her leg to ride higher upon his hip, opening her even more for the taking.
The pleasure spiked and receded until Theodore seemed to realize she needed something more. Something erotic and sure. Releasing her hands, he moved to a position that placed him on his haunches.
“Put both your hands on your breasts, love. Imagine I am touching you there and don’t move them unless I say,” he instructed darkly. When she hesitated, his brow rose high as if daring her to defy him.
Shyly, she did as he asked, splaying her fingers across the white flesh, her pink nipples peeking through. Theodore’s eyes closed for a moment as if the sight was more than he could bear, then he pinned her with a stare so full of emotion, Lauren felt it in her very bones.
“You are so goddamn beautiful,” he muttered.
Rolling his hips in the most wicked of fashions, he reared back and reached between her thighs where their bodies were joined.
A steady forefinger and thumb tweaked the button of nerves, and Lauren cried out loud. It felt too good, too raw and overwhelming. There was the pain of being filled by him, her heated flesh stretching and molding around him, then the lavish, sweetly agonizing beauty of his hand touching her, gliding, plucking, rubbing until she was on the verge of something unknown. A cliff of sorts that beckoned her to plunge over.
“Come for me, love,” Theodore commanded, his eyes glittering fiercely as he watched her writhe helplessly below him. “Come for me now.”
Lauren felt her body change in that moment, a startling transformation that should have frightened her rather than thrilled her. Her body, instead of instinctively rejecting his cock, surrendered at last, the tissues and internal muscles sucking at him so he could not withdraw.
The pain, still lurking there in the background, receded. Where his fingers played her, the sensations collided with the spot where his cock hit deep. Another deliberate rotation and plunge of his hips, a firmer press of his fingers, and everything merged and melted. An inferno of bliss and love and pleasure that sent Lauren flying over that cliff and through the heavens.
She barely heard Theodore’s muffled shout of release as he climaxed moments later. The stunning beauty of it all was still too new as he thrust one last time inside her with a satisfied, hoarse groan.
He collapsed atop her, breathing heavily. It was a welcome weight, necessary to ground her because she was floating on waves of color, lost in a paradise she never wanted to leave.
“Mine,” he whispered in her ear. “Mine at last. My heart. My love. My life.” He sought and found her lips.
Lauren smiled. “Mine.”
Sometime later, Theodore stirred.
Rising from the bed, he located a soft cloth, dipped it in cool water, and set about cleansing the blood and fluid from Lauren’s thighs. She squirmed a bit, embarrassed by the attention, but a few soothing words settled her. Relaxing against the pillows, she allowed him to do as he wished, and when he was done, she watched as he tossed the cloth into the fire so it would burn away.
Once back at her side, he gathered her close, tucking her beneath his arm, her head under his chin. When her arm wrapped around his waist, he felt his heart swell until he thought it might burst from his chest.
“I remember the first moment I saw you.” The rumble of his words stirred her silky brown hair, and he tucked a stray strand of it behind her delicate ear. “I did not even know your name, had not the faintest idea who your family was, but I said to myself, that is the girl I will marry. I fell in love with you that very moment.”
Lauren snuggled closer. “At the Clarita Musicale.”
“Yes. You were standing on the garden terrace. It was before Lady Monica began playing, and you were consoling a child. Lady Monica’s little sister, I believe it was.”
“Lillith. She’d dropped her doll, and the porcelain head broke on the tiles. Poor dear was inconsolable.” Lauren frowned at the remembrance. “Lady Monica accused her of dropping the doll on purpose to gain attention. Said she was a baby for bringing the doll to a musicale in the first place. Then Lady Monica stomped her foot and stormed off, calling for a servant to clean up the mess while poor little Lillith stood there, bewildered and embarrassed.”
“You hurried over to her, bent down, and spoke gently to her while picking up the pieces before a servant came. By the end, you had coaxed a smile from her and dried her tears. Then you didn’t even blink an eye when the girl insisted on sitting beside you with Lady Monica glaring at you the entire time she played her piece.”
“You remember all of that?” Lauren leaned back, looking at him in surprise.
“Of course, I do. I told you I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. It stands to reason I would remember every detail of the occasion. You wore a powder blue gown with white lace trim, and when we were introduced, I thought your eyes were the shade of moonstones. Grey and silver bright. You were the most gorgeous creature I’d ever laid eyes upon. Still are.”
“I barely recall our meeting,” Lauren teased.
“Liar,” Theodore breathed against her hair. “You could not hide your interest in me, either.”
“It’s true. When you began your pursuit of me, I was so happy.” She hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry we wasted so much time apart. But never again.”
Theodore pulled her up until she was sprawled across his chest and they were eye to eye. “Never again,” he agreed, burying his hands in her hair and cradling her face. “Nothing will keep us apart from this moment on. I plan on marrying you as quickly as possible to make sure that is a reality.”
Chapter 19
“We shall wed in the chapel at Hawthorne Greene,” Theodore told Lauren in the early morning hours as he delivered her safely to her room under the cover of darkness. “I’ll leave today for London, collect my mother and yours, provided she is well enough to travel, and secure a special license enabling us to wed. There are also a few legalities I must handle with my barrister and your own.”
Lauren stood on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I still don’t understand why I can’t go with you.”
Theodore grinned and tweaked her nose. “Reputations, love. I’m desperately trying to keep yours lily-white. Trust me on this.”
“I do trust you, Theo, and I love you.”
“Then be ready to say ‘I do’ when I see you in Kent.”
That afternoon, Settleton was abuzz over the news the Earl of Hawthorne and Lady Lauren Kendall had renewed their engagement and would be married within days.
“I’m so happy for you both, darling,” Penelope embraced Lauren, “and so happy you gave Hawthorne another chance.”