Her eyes widened and she stalled underneath his hand. “You’ve been with a great many women. Haven’t you?”
He could have cursed himself out as he felt her start to pull away. He held her hand in his. “Eliza,” he rasped, trying to keep a clear head. “Not like this. Not like you.”
She softened and her hand began to move again. “You mean that?”
“Every word and a great deal more that I am not saying because…” He stopped, realizing how much he was revealing. But with her touching him like thi
s, he couldn’t hold back.
“What aren’t you saying?” she gasped. Their hands were moving together again, and a buzzing kept his brain foggy. He couldn’t think.
“That I don’t want a sham marriage.”
“Oh,” she said, stilling again.
A protest rumbled in his chest. “I want a real one. With you.”
“Oh!” she said again. “Well that does change things.”
How? How did it change things precisely? Was he a fool?
Chapter Fourteen
Eliza stared at him as warmth spread through her. She was holding his manhood in her hand as he confessed that he wished for more out of their relationship. “I want more too.”
She felt him swell in her hand, her fingers barely able to fit all the way around him. Excitement pulsed through her at the feel of him in her hand. So warm and hard and vibrant.
“What do you want?” he asked and began moving her hand along his staff once again. Slowly this time.
She straightened, not letting go, but wanting to be level with his eyes when she said the next words. “I want to explore…” She drew in a deep breath as she felt him tense. Her legs had settled on either side of his as their chests touched, both their hands still on his staff between their bodies. “You.”
That made him chuckle. Low and deep, it rumbled through her. Delicious. “I want to explore you too. But Eliza, it’s more than just physically. That’s what I meant when I said you were different. I feel things for you that…”
“Really?” Her other hand came to his cheek, cupping his face in her palm. “You do?”
“I do.”
“I feel things for you too,” she sighed, touching her forehead to his. “I think that I’m in love—”
He pulled her closer, kissing her with a fire that left her breathless. “You stole my line.”
Her breath caught as the carriage rolled to a stop. “What?”
“Eliza,” he whispered against her lips. “I’m in love with you too. I can’t say when it happened, but I know that I feel it.”
Her heart pounded against his chest matching his beat for beat. This was what she had wanted. She smiled to herself. Well, to be honest, she’d wanted something different entirely, but since meeting him, her goals had changed. And he suited them perfectly. He was a partner. A man who wanted her, loved her, and who understood she didn’t wish to be left in the background but by his side on the forefront. “I feel it too.”
The carriage rolled to a stop. He heard the footman jump down and give a theatrical cough outside the door. “We’re here, my lord.”
He slid her hand off his member and closed the falls of his breeches.
Eliza frowned. She didn’t want to leave him now. They hadn’t finished their conversation and she certainly wasn’t done touching him.
He snapped the door open and then helped her out, following behind her. Then he turned to the driver. “Return just before dawn, if you please.”
“Of course, my lord,” the man answered and to his credit, his eyebrows only rose the smallest bit. Then he snapped the reins and drove off into the night.
“Dawn?” she asked, wrapping her arms about his waist.