The fingers on his back slackened.
No.
Not yet.
He didn’t want her touch to be over.
He rested his head in her shoulder for a moment to catch his breath before he flipped over, drawing her atop him, still inside her, while he waited for his—their—breathing to calm.
“Rose . . .”
“—ilee...” She lifted her head to look at him. “A simple name.”
“There is nothing simple about it.” She would never understand just how much her name represented to him. It was a beacon of light. Perhaps the only one in his life, and no matter how faint, it always served as a reminder that he hadn’t totally succumbed to darkness.
She wiggled. “You are still inside me.”
He shifted beneath her, but didn’t pull out. “Does that bother you? I can remove myself.”
Her head nestled on his chest. “Don’t. I like it.”
He held her a bit tighter.
“This spot must be bewitched,” she muttered after a while, chuckling. “It’s where we first met, then kissed, and now this.”
“Strictly speaking, we didn’t meet here.”
She rested her chin on her hands, which were splayed on his chest, and stared at him. “It’s still the garden. Close enough.”
“Close enough,” he agreed. His hands smoothed down her down her body and back up again. “I met my brother tonight.”
Her eyes widened. “You have a brother?”
“Half-brother. Seven of them, actually,” he admitted. “Tonight was the first time I met one of them. He looks just like me. Like my father.”
“That must have been such a shock.”
“No,” Blake murmured. “I’ve always known about their existence. Baston wanted him to nab you.”
She rose a bit. “What? He knew I was at the ball?”
Blake nodded.
“How?”
“It seems the man is more connected than I first thought. He seems to be no ordinary mercenary.”
She snorted, settling down again. “A man for hire never is. He has probably done countless horrible things for people. What about your brother? He is not going to cause trouble, is he?”
“No,” Blake said darkly, recalling his half-brother’s arrogant mug. “He knows not to make an enemy of me.”
“But then, Baston must know I am with you.”
“Yes, but I cannot be entirely sure how.” He should have handled the man back at the inn. But he had wanted to be good. He’d wanted to follow Rosilee’s guidance. That way, he could stay with her a little bit longer.
Selfish blackguard.
That he was. But any man who had been drowning in darkness and was given the rare opportunity to temporarily dance with a sliver of light would strive to make that dance last just a moment more.
