“Christ, you smell good.”
Her lips arched in a smile against his. “Not as good as you.”
“I smell like sweat.”
“I like it.” She sniffed before inhaling deeply. “As astonishing as it sounds, your smell is quite alluring.”
Will cursed. “You can’t say things like that, love.”
“Why not?” she whispered, stroking his jaw.
“Because... God, Harriet, love, you are the very bloody heart of me. You control every beat.” A word from her and all of him would evaporate as though he never existed. That was her power. But sweet words? How could his heart handle the frenzy they provoked?
Her hands shoved in his hair. “Then don’t stop kissing me.”
Will didn’t deny her. He leaned to capture her lips again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth. Soft. Sweet.
Addictive.
Hehadto occupy every corner of his wife’s heart. Hehadto claim every inch of her skin. Hehadto wake up to her each morning. He would never get enough of her. So in every touch, he confessed the intentions of his heart, his soul.
Her hands passed down his back, stopping at his buttocks.
When had they left his hair?
Bloody hell.
“Love.” He reached down and bunched her skirts up, his hands trailing over the silky stockings on her legs until he reached her thighs. “Can I?”
She pulled back to look at him. “Aren’t you?”
“I... I... am?” Will suddenly doubted his intellect. His entire brain froze up. Yes, hewas, but he wanted to know what she...was? See? It didn’t make any sense. “I want you.”
“I can feel that,” she murmured.
Will looked down. He didn’t know why, but he lookeddown. As if to somehow see that shecouldfeel. And when he did see, he wished he hadn’t. Because he hardened. Un-bloody-comfortably hardened. He was so uncomfortable he wanted to undo his breeches right then and there.
“Do you want me to stop?” Will slowly retracted his hand, releasing her dress.
“Don’t,” she reached out to snatch his wrist, keeping his hand locked on her leg. “If you stop now I might just bash you over the head with a Charles Griffin.” She thrust her hips against him, accepting,owning, his desire. Her desire. “I don’t want you to stop.”
Will’s pulse leaped. “You know what this will lead to?”
“I know. And I want all of you.”
Will almost choked on emotion, the words finally rolling off his tongue. “You belong with me. And I with you.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” She looked up at him, revealing the pale arc of her neck. She smiled. “I’m in your arms, yet you still doubt what I want?”
“Then I shall be more frank,” Will breathed, trailing his mouth along the column of her neck. “This will consummate the marriage. This will make our marriagereal.”
She framed his face in her hands. “I want real, Leeds.”
“Will. Call me Will.”
She beamed at him. “I want real, Will. A real marriage. With you.”
He rested his head on her shoulder. “Who am I to stand in the way of such resolve, love?” He breathed in deeply. “I am not that strong of a man.”
