Anne sucked in a gasping breath, her head tipping back from the force of it. Then she wept. All her heartache, all her regret, all her pain burst out of her in torrents.
Ten years wasted. Ten years heartsick and lonely andbroken.
But she also sobbed with…Joywas too small a word to describe how his words made her feel. He loved her.
At last.
Frederick was by her side so quickly that it seemed as if he’d flown to her. Because anything was possible. If they could be together,anythingwas possible. Crouching in front of her, he cupped her face like he was afraid of breaking her, and his warm, brown eyes grew wet with his own tears.
“Anne, what is it? Is it my letter?” Anguish rippled off him ashis gaze searched her tearstained face for answers. “I’m so sorry. Please stop crying. I’ll do anything.Anything.I’ll…” His voice cracked, but he continued in a rasp, “I’llleaveif that’s what you need. Just tell me what to do.”
“Frederick.” She cried as though she were breaking in half.
“Yes, Anne?” He smoothed her hair off her damp forehead. “What do you need? Tell me.”
“You.I’ve only ever needed you.” The words tore out of her, raw and true. “I love you, Frederick.”
He turned to stone, then came back to life with a shuddering breath. “You love me?”
She nodded, the storm inside her quieting at last. “So much.”
“When?” A single tear fell from his eyes.
“Always.” Anne reached out and wiped it away. He grabbed her hand and planted a fervent kiss on her palm. “I never stopped loving you.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m scared that I’m dreaming.”
“If you are, then we’re having the same dream.” Anne wrapped her arms around his neck. “And we’ll wake up together.”
“To a life where we’re together?” He gathered her against him.
“Yes,” she whispered into the crook of his neck. “We’ll always be together.”
“Thank God.” He scooped her off her chair and rose to his feet. “Because I don’t plan on ever letting you go.”
“Good.” She brushed her lips against his cheek and felt a muscle jump in his jaw.
“Anne.” He lowered her onto the bed and lay down beside her. Rising onto an elbow, he leaned over and traced the lines of her face. “I need to kiss you.”
“I need that, too.” She placed her hand on his chest. He was shaking, and her heart cracked a little. “Kiss me, Frederick.”
He brushed his lips across hers and exhaled tremulouslyagainst them. They held still for a moment, allowing the barely-there touch to ground them. He was real. This was real. They were together, and the topsy-turvy world—a world that hadn’t made sense in a decade—finally righted itself.
Anne returned his featherlight kiss and felt her insides turn molten. She traced her tongue across the seam of his mouth, and a groan rumbled in his chest. She deepened the kiss, needing to take more of him and needing to give more of herself. She wanted to blur the line between where she ended and where he started. She pushed him onto his back and kissed him with growing desperation.
“Frederick,” she whispered.
With no further prompting, he lifted her by the waist and settled her on top of him so her legs straddled his hips. He was already so hard, and she pressed her hot, wet core against him. His fingers dug into her hips, and he urged her to rock against his rigid length.
Frederick surged up and crushed his lips against hers in a possessive kiss. God, she wanted to be claimed by him, to be bound to him. She fisted one hand in his hair and tugged his head to the side to kiss him more fully—binding him to her, claiming him as hers. Her tongue plunged into his mouth, took, and plundered. She wanted him. All of him.
Anne pulled back a few inches to tug her top and bra off and kissed him again, clawing at the buttons of his shirt. Frederick shrugged his shirt over his shoulders and threw it to the side without once taking his mouth off hers. He planted his hands on her back, fingers spread wide, and pressed her flush against him. Her hips bucked as the sensitive peaks of her breasts rubbed against the smooth heat of his chest, skin against skin.
Sliding his hand over her ass, he gripped the bottom of her thigh and toppled her onto her back. With frantic fingers, he tore at her jeans and tugged them off, along with her soaked panties.Before she could catch her breath, he buried his face between her legs like a man starved and slid his tongue between her seam. She cried out, arching her hips off the bed. He glanced up at her and draped her legs over his shoulders one at a time.
“Is this okay?” He kissed the inside of her thigh, spreading her folds with his thumbs. “Can I taste you?”
“Please.” She moaned, and he rewarded her with a rough swipe of his tongue.
