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He lifted her skirts higher and moved downward to taste her.

“No, Edward, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s… it’s…”

“I told you, nothing we do can be deemed inappropriate,” he reminded her. “We’re married now.”

“But—”

“Tell me, Ara mine.” He slid a finger inside her, lust ripping through him at how tight she was. “Have you ever touched yourself here?”

“No,” she cried.

“Why not?” He kissed her there, and she jolted, trying to sit upright, but he pushed her back down with a hand on her stomach. “Rest, love. Let me take care of you.”

He tasted her and groaned at her sweet nectar. Then he plundered her with his tongue so she’d know what a delicacy she was.

She writhed and mewled beneath him, her arousal leaking out of her when he slid another finger deep inside her.

He held her as she climaxed, savoring how beautiful she looked flushed and spent beneath him.

“Edward,” she gasped.

“I’m right here, love.”

“I… I feel…”

“I know.”

He helped her dress and held her while she slept. He felt so content at that moment that he couldn’t even believe he had been averse to marriage before. She made him feel things he’d never thought he’d feel, and it scared him how much he could imagine spending the rest of his life with her.

When she awoke hours later, he helped her onto her horse, and they rode beside each other in companionable silence.

“I… I thank you for today,” Arabella said, surprising him. “I feel… good.”

He beamed, glad that she was now comfortable enough to discuss topics she had found otherwise improper before.

“I’m glad you do.” He nodded.

“Would you mind if we walked the rest of the way home?”

He looked ahead, noting they were only a thirty-minute walk away from the castle, and then dismounted. He reached his arms out to her and helped her dismount her horse.

He began to turn around, but she stunned him when she pulled him back and kissed him on the lips. He didn’t move, sensing she wasn’t looking to deepen it, and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

“What was that for?” he asked.

She turned red, and he decided he’d never seen her look more beautiful.

“I just wanted to do that again.” She blushed.

He tilted her face up to his and kissed her long and deep this time.

“You can do it as many times as you want.”

ChapterFifteen