How to Catch an Elusive Earl (Romancing the Rake 2)

She smiled at him, pulling him in for a playful kiss that made him tremble with need. “You’ve done other things to me. They didn’t take my maidenhead?”

“No,” his voice came out rough and craggy.

“Surely, then, there is something I can do to you?”

The idea of her small hands on his member made him swell with need and his jaw clenched in his attempt to maintain control. “Adrianna.”

But she was already sliding her hands down his back, around the waist of his trousers as she worked the stays.

Frantic need overrode his good sense and he stood up, pulling at the complicated stays until he got them undone and shoved the garment down to his knees. Her eyes went wide as she stared and then, lord help him, she licked her lips. He nearly came undone. Briefly, he marveled at how much better this experience was than all the others that had come before it but then she reached out and took his staff in her soft delicate fingers, grasping around him.

He groaned out his pleasure. “Adrianna…please.”

She looked up at him. “Tell me what to do.”

Words choked in his throat. It didn’t matter what she did. But then, she scrambled up on her knees and leaned down, that mane of blonde hair brushing his hips and legs as she placed a soft kiss on his tip. He wound his hands into her hair and his head fell back. “Yes.”

In response, she kissed him there again and again. “Open your mouth,” he said, the visual nearly as satisfying as the feel.

And when those soft lips opened and sucked him in, he came undone, growling out his finish. The next time would be long and slow but this time, he’d needed her in a way he couldn’t express.

Pulling her up his body, he gave her a full kiss, wrapping her naked body in his embrace. “I’ll never let you go, sweetheart. I’m yours forever.”

She wound her hands about his neck, sighing into his mouth. “That’s good. I’d prefer not to have my father force you to our wedding with a shotgun.”

He chuckled against her lips as he pulled back the covers and carefully tucked them both into her bed. “I love you,” he whispered as he held her close.

“I love you, too,” she said snuggling into his neck. A soft meow called from the dressing room door. “Mittens?”

He lifted his head. How fitting. Then, drawing in a deep breath, Luke got up and crossed the room opening the door. Sure enough, Mittens and all three of her kittens were on the other side.

Mittens raced across the room and jumped up onto the bed with Adrianna, meowing for her kittens to follow. Without a word, Luke scooped them up and carried them to the bed.

“Aren’t they precious?” Adrianna patted the bed, all three babies scurrying toward her hand.

“We’re adopting the kittens, aren’t we?” he asked as he settled back under the covers.

“Just one.” She grinned, lifting Socks up to him. “I think she claimed you even before I did.”

He chuckled as the little black-and-white ball settled into his neck. “Do you think I’ll turn into your father? Prone to intense optimism, quoting sonnets at every turn?”

She raised up, wrinkling her nose. “I hope not.” Then she giggled. “Though I suppose there are worse men than my father.”

Luke leaned over and kissed her lips, kittens purring between them. “Far worse.”

He settled back into the bed, stroking Adrianna’s hair with one hand as he pet Socks with the other. This was where he belonged and where he intended to stay forever.

Epilogue

Two months later…

The sun shone brightly in the summer sky even as the dew still burned off the grass. The early morning air held just a touch of coolness even as it promised to be a beautifully hot day. Luke stood in a large clearing where the grass had been cut short. Tomorrow, they’d break ground on their new home.

He’d bought the Haversham property the day after he’d proposed and then, with help from much of the village, erected a small cottage to house him and Adrianna while they built their home. He loved this place nearly as much as he loved the woman he was about to marry.

Technically, he could move Adrianna into his ancestral home. Miranda, upon hearing he was marrying another, had left. She had a baron who’d been courting her and, realizing an earl was no longer in the cards, she’d accepted his offer. He sighed, the truth somehow so clear since he’d met Adrianna. Miranda had only wanted status all along. She’d never cared for any of them, not even his brother.

Which made his bride-to-be all the more lovely. Her heart was even prettier than that angelic face of hers.