“Never forget it.”
A wealth of emotion flooded his chest when she came apart for the second time, when her body hugged him and refused to let go. It took great effort to withdraw, but fear and habit made him finish with his own hand and pump his hot seed over her stomach.
Exhausted, he collapsed on the bed beside her, captured her hand and twined their fingers.
This was a first for him on many levels.
Usually, he would be washing, dressing. Within five minutes he would be at the door, promising another liaison soon, the vow forgotten before he’d reached his carriage. And yet he was ready to gather this woman into his arms and sleep for an eternity.
He stared at her as she lay with her eyes closed, a light sheen of perspiration coating her skin, watched her until her ragged breathing turned light and even.
“Tell me you’re not asleep.”
A smile brightened her face, but she did not open her eyes. “No, I’m not asleep. I’m floating on a heavenly plane.”
Masculine pride made him grin. He drank in the sight of her magnificent body until his gaze fell to the scar marring her breast. Guilt’s sharp talons pierced his chest, ready to rip out his heart. It wasn’t his fault, he knew, but he would give anything to go back in time and erase her pain.
He contemplated jumping out of bed, locating Joshua Steele and beating a confession from his quivering lips. Instead, he went to the washstand, wrung out a cloth and came back to the bed.
The first wipe over her stomach reminded him of the many times she had attended to his ablutions. “It makes a change for me to wash your body with a cold cloth.”
Still wearing her satisfied smile, she looked at him and said, “It’s about time you repaid your debt. By rights, I must be entitled to hours of pampering.”
He laughed—he never laughed with any of the women he’d bedded. “What do I owe? An hour a day for three days?”
Her eyes grew round. “An hour? I spent the best part of three hours wiping your brow. And it’s six days, not three.”
“Eighteen hours, then.”
“Agreed.”
“When shall I begin?”
“You may wash me now, as I should retire to my bed. We must rise early in the morning and focus our attention on examining the notebook.”
“You are in bed.”
“I meant the bed next door.”
The sudden thought that he did not want her to leave stole his breath. He was a man who craved privacy. “Stay here, in bed with me.”
I don’t want to be without you tonight.
She arched a brow. “I doubt either of us would get much sleep.”
His cock jerked to life at the prospect of plunging into her wet body again. “Let’s not make any plans. We’ll settle beneath the sheets and see where the mood takes us.”
She stared at him for a moment, as if the decision had more serious implications. “I have never slept in bed with a man, other than that one time with you.”
“And I have never slept in bed with a woman, except for that one time with you.”
She bit down on her bottom lip, just like she did on that night three years ago. “Will you hold me in your arms to banish the cold?”
“Will you lay your hands on my chest while you sleep?”
Neither answered the other’s question. They did not need to.
They settled into bed, lay huddled together on their sides despite the excessive space.