Dear God, the woman was discussing role play. She really was perfect. “Grace.” He pushed the word out through gritted teeth. “I will do whatever you ask if you just move your hips like that again.”
“Hmmmm,” she answered. “Like this?” And she swirled her hips making pleasure rock through his body.
“Yes,” he hissed, holding onto her hips. “Again.”
“So bossy,” she murmured, slowing the pace further. It only heightened his pleasure. “As your queen, I demand you lay quietly.”
A laugh nearly burst from his lips, but he clamped his mouth closed. His sassy woman could say whatever she wanted. “Yes, my love.”
And suddenly, she stopped moving slow and began to take him faster and faster, her hands planted on either side of his head, her hair creating a glorious tent about their faces that shut out the rest of the world so it was only them.
He dug his fingers into her soft flesh, helping her to move over him until they were both breathless with desire.
His body was taut as a bowstring as he tingled with the need to release his seed. He held on until she spasmed over him, crying out his name.
Only then did he let his own pleasure go.
They lay there together, wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing and murmuring softly until finally Grace lay her head on his chest. He was still inside her and it occurred to him that he had never, in his entire life, been this satisfied, felt so complete.
“Ben,” she murmured, her middle finger skimming over his nipple. “Is it always like this?”
“I’ve never felt this way before,” he answered. The words were true but he took extra satisfaction in saying them. “What we have is special.”
“I assumed as much,” she replied, her voice sleepy. “If every coupling was like this, no one would do anything else.”
He choked on a laugh, but her soft sigh of sleep told him she hadn’t heard it. His little minx was sound asleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Two days later…
Grace stepped off the boat, drinking in the lovely landscape that greeted her. Beyond the village where they’d docked lay craggy cliffs and green fields as far as her eye could see. She drew in a deep breath of the ocean air, so fresh and clean after London.
“Have you ever lived anywhere else besides the city?” she asked Ben, whose hand was firmly about her waist exactly where it was meant to be.
He shook his head. “I haven’t. Not that I remember anyway. I’ve visited the country estate entailed with my lands but didn’t stay long.”
She nodded. “I always thought I preferred London. More exciting. But standing here…”
He brushed a kiss across her temple like a painter might brush his canvas. “You see the beauty of the landscape, the quiet repose we might have together in such a place.”
“Yes.” She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. “How did you know I was going to say that?”
“I was thinking it too,” he answered, squeezing her closer. “Two days together and I feel as though…” He paused.
“We grow more connected.” Grace picked up his thought.
“Yes,” he said, touching his forehead to hers. “After we return to your family, it might be nice to spend the summer away from the crowds. Spend time just being together.”
“I agree,” she said, love swelling her chest. “Though we should likely marry first.”
He smiled. “That we can do. Although…”
For the first time in two days, she felt out of touch with what he was thinking and a bit of fear tingled through her fingertips. “I’ve left London with you. You’re not changing your mind now, are you?”
He straightened, his eyebrows drawing together. “Of course not. How could you even think such a thing?”
She reached for his biceps, holding them in her hands. “My old fears, I suppose.”