“And I want you inside me.” So that I can call you all mine, if only for a few moments.

Smiling wolfishly down at her, he inhaled audibly, stroked her cheek, then penetrated her in one smooth thrust.

“Glorious!” he muttered, frowning as if he were in pain as he began to pound.

Glorious. She whispered the word inside.

It was glorious to feel his energy.

Glorious to be joined as one. Those had been the words of the priest who might really have married them under different circumstances.

She cast away the gloomy reflection, and her heart blossomed. This was for her as much as for him.

Deep. Intense. Strong and masterful. Each thrust unleashing peaks of exquisite pleasure that rose in upward escalations.

Beloved Max. She ran her fingers through his soft, light-brown hair, arching her body, tensing to receive him with each thrust, her body revelling in the act.

He was a king amongst lovers, and he was hers for just tonight.

She would wring from him everything she could—for this was all she could have.

She ran her hands up his flanks and over his hard buttocks while the roiling sensation in her body moved higher. It took possession of her mind, so she was sensible only to the man joined with her. Within her.

Tonight, he was hers alone. He’d pledged himself to her and in return, she was his forever. Not under the law but in her own mind.

Her mind hazed over. She could see only blazing red and stars while every inch of her body buzzed with sensation.

“Oh Max!” With a cry of release, she shattered around him, waves of ecstasy keeping her afloat, otherwise she’d have drowned in wantonness.

Her climax was, it seemed, all that Max needed. With a moan that sounded more anguished than ecstatic, the escalation of his thrusts increased until, with a final cry, he collapsed on top of her, slick with sweat and breathing heavily.

For a long moment he lay there, spent. Heavy, and she loved it. Until, finally, he rolled off her and lay beside her, still breathing heavily.

“Zounds, Violet, that was the best tupping I’ve ever enjoyed,” he gasped, drawing her laughingly within the crook of his arm.

Violet smiled. What else could she do? She was happy in a sense. He cared for her. She knew he did, and that his feelings went deeper and were more sincere than she’d experienced from any man.

She was happy that she’d given him pleasure, and that he’d given her the opportunity to give pleasure to his aunt in a less sullied sense. Miss Thistlethwaite had shown the kind of simple affection that was only a far-distant memory for Violet.

But it had been an important reminder of the goodness of ordinary people when Violet only existed in a world where hearts, minds, and bodies were traded for coin.

“Violet, you’re crying.”

He sounded genuinely distressed as he raised himself on one elbow and touched his forefinger to the dampness that streamed down her cheeks.

“Please, I want us to be happy together this last night.” He tucked his hands beneath her knees and sat up, cradling her like a baby. “Is it the restrictions? The corset? Did I hurt you?” Feverishly he began to unlace her until the heavily boned garment fell away.

And while Violet could breathe more easily, it did nothing to bring her comfort.

“You know perfectly well while I’m crying. You’re leaving me. You’re going away, and I’ll never see you again.” She gasped in a breath and put her hands to her eyes. “I can’t pretend not to feel what I do feel so deeply for you, Max.”

He pressed her face against his chest and stroked her hair. “Violet, I don’t know what to say. I’ve been honest with you from the start.”

She scrunched up her eyes, forcing a smile as she opened them, pushing back to look at him. “These are not recriminations, Max. Yes, you’ve been honest from the start, as I have.” She tried to breathe evenly but her emotions would not allow it. “Oh, you’ve not misled me at all.” She raised a hand to stay his words. “I know you have to leave me. I just…” She heaved in another shaky breath. “I just didn’t think I’d grow so fond of you.”

“Fond of me, are you, eh? Well, I’d hope so in view of all this.” He tried to make it into a joke, but he sounded strained. And was quick to realise even he couldn’t make light of the affair.

He swallowed. Gravely, he said, “I’ve just gained my freedom, Violet. After Mabel left me at the altar, I visited you to celebrate the fact that at last my life was my own.”

Tags: Beverley Oakley Fair Cyprians of London Historical
Source: readsnovelonline.net