He pulled away far enough to haul his shirt over his head. She gave a soft growl of appreciation and ran her hands over his chest. The rasp of crisp dark hair beneath her palms was one more glorious sensation.
He kissed her again. She shivered with anticipation when she felt the slow upward slide of her silk skirts.
His hands reached her thighs and he paused. Then he released a soft exclamation of surprise against her lips. “By heaven, I love you.”
A breathless giggle emerged. “Now you know I arrived with wicked intentions.”
“Do your worst,” he said, stroking along her bare legs and making her shiver.
Deciding not to wear drawers tonight had seemed like boneheaded optimism when she’d left her house. She hadn’t even been sure Charles would see her, let alone want to touch her. Now the glitter in his eyes made her glad she’d chosen such a brazen course.
His seeking fingers found her cleft, and she shuddered as he explored her with sensual purpose. She trembled when he slid one long finger into her, then two. As liquid female pleasure greeted his incursions, she tugged his trousers open and closed her hand around rampant flesh.
He groaned and bent his head to her neck, scraping his teeth across her skin until she cried out and tightened her grip on him. The combination of the sting with the rhythmic thrust of his fingers sent her toppling over into a climax that left her knees like water.
“Charles…” she breathed, clinging to him and tracing a line of kisses across his collarbone. “Oh, Charles.”
“I love it when you say my name,” he gritted out. “I thought you’d call me Sir Charles until the day I died.”
“Sir Charles was too much of a gentleman to do this.”
“Don’t you believe it, darling,” he said. “Lift your leg and hook it behind my hips.”
“Yes, Charles.”
A soft huff of laughter escaped him. “You’ve become very biddable lately.”
She gave a choked giggle as she curled her leg around him, allowing him wanton access. “If you keep me feeling like this, I suspect I’ll always be biddable.”
“Now there’s a delightful challenge,” he murmured.
He caught her under her buttocks and lifted her into his body. She strained toward him as need blazed through her, incinerating everything but love.
She gasped as he pushed forward, and her grip on his shoulders tightened. The pressure between her legs turned into a rapturous fullness.
Once they were fully joined, he went still and lifted his head to stare down into her face. His eyes blazed brilliant in his face, and he looked breathtakingly fierce. “Say you’re mine.”
She met that uncompromising gaze and read an unconditional love she’d never until this moment believed existed. “I’m yours.”
“Always remember that.” He drew out so slowly that she saw stars. Then he slid forward with a ruthlessness that left her gasping. The torrent of thrills rippling through her began to build into a tidal wave.
She closed her eyes and joined Charles on the journey to bliss. Just before the sensations inside her exploded into dazzling release, she opened her eyes. “I love you, Charles.”
“Sally…” he said on a long groan and thrust into her hard, sending her soaring into a realm of fire.
As the tremors subsided and she drifted down from the stellar heights, she felt wrung out, complete, sated.
Loved.
Poignant gratitude welled inside her, made speech impossible. To think, she’d nearly let her fears deny her this ecstasy, this unearthly closeness.
Well, she was no longer frightened. She was brave and forthright, and confident that she’d found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
She hid her flushed face in his bare shoulder and kissed his skin, the tang of his clean sweat sharp in her nostrils. And she spoke again the words she’d never said to anyone until tonight. She was surprised how easily they emerged.
“I love you, Charles.”
“And I love you,” he said. When his arms closed around her, she knew she’d reached safe harbor at last.