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“I do hope not,” he replied softly, though a flicker of shadow crossed his features.

Sensing the storm behind his eyes, Davina cupped his cheeks and gently drew his brow down to meet her lips, kissing away the furrows creasing his skin. “I will never regret,” she whispered between kisses, “becoming your wife,” another kiss to his neck, “no matter the world you belong to.”

She pressed her hands to his shoulders, urging him to sit on the edge of the bed. Standing between his thighs, she ghosted her lips along his temple, planting feather-light kisses along his cheekbones, his jaw, the corner of his mouth. Slowly, sensuously, she worshipped him with her mouth, each kiss a vow.

“I adore you, my love,” she thought as she opened her mind to him. “You are my protector, my champion, my husband, my sweet lover…and I am eternally yours.”

Possessing her mouth with his, Broderick returned her affections, his hands and lips worshiping every inch of her flesh.“And I adore ye, Blossom. I vow tae protect ye and all those ye love with everything in my power, for all eternity.”

The fantasies she had harbored since first meeting Broderick spilled forth like a dam broken, fierce and unrelenting. She couldn’t get enough of him, couldn’t consume him fast enough. Her hands clawed at his shirt, tearing through the fastenings to bare his chest to her hungry gaze. Broderick unbuckled and dropped his sporran, then shrugged off his shirt, letting it fall, forgotten to the floor. Golden lamplight kissed the rugged planes of his torso, gilding him in firelight.

Together they fumbled with the laced kirtle of her gown, their fingers tangling in a fevered rush. Frustration mounted as the stubborn stays defied their efforts, a barrier between them that would not relent.

Broderick stilled her hands with his own, a devilish dimple creasing his cheek as he smirked. Raising a brow in challenge, he gripped the fabric and, with a firm tug, tore the gown open, baring her to the waist in one swift, decisive motion. The ruined dress pooled at her feet, leaving her in nothing but her thin chemise.

She had no time to protest—no desire to—before Broderick’s mouth claimed hers once more, devouring her in a kiss that set her blood aflame. Davina’s fingers found the fastening of his breeches, but he caught her wrists and pulled back just enough to cage her face in his hands.

“Nay,” he said, breath ragged, eyes burning with fervor. “I want tae savor every moment.”

Rising from the bed, Broderick drew her to stand with him. He held her hands out to her sides, as though she were a vision of flight, a living prayer spread before him. His gaze roamed her body, slow and reverent, as though memorizing every curve andhollow beneath the sheer chemise. She felt the weight of that look, the way it seared her skin like a brand.

His eyes fixed on her breasts, her nipples tightening beneath the linen in helpless response. Broderick brushed the back of his knuckles over her left peak, and a sigh slipped free of her lips. He did the same to the right, and she arched into his touch, offering herself to his hunger.

A low, guttural sound rumbled from his chest. In one swift motion, he swept his arm around her back, drawing her flush against him. His mouth descended to the swell of her breast, pulling back the linen to expose her aching bud before closing his lips over it. Heat engulfed her as he suckled and laved her sensitive flesh.

Davina’s fingers tangled in the silken strands of his hair, anchoring herself as waves of pleasure crashed over her. Her knees trembled beneath the onslaught of sensation, and she knew if not for his hold, she would have crumpled beneath the intensity of his touch.

Breathing her name against her skin, Broderick suckled, licked, and nibbled his way to her other breast. Davina’s knees buckled under the sweet torment of his mouth. With a growl of satisfaction, Broderick swept her off her feet and laid her gently upon the bed, his lips never ceasing their worship of her flesh. The pulsing heat between her thighs intensified as he eased his knee between her legs, parting them with hunger in his gaze.

“Let me touch you,” she breathed, her voice thick with desire, her hands seeking the laces of his breeches once more.

Broderick drew back just enough to meet her gaze, a wicked smile curling his lips. “Explore me, Davina. I am yours to command.”

He rose onto his knees, towering above her, the firelightcasting golden shadows over the sculpted planes of his body. Davina pushed herself upright, hunger sparking in her belly as she drank him in. The man was sheer perfection. The form-fitting trews clung to his powerful legs and hips, doing little to conceal the proud, straining outline of his arousal.

Panting, she eased the fabric down, her breath hitching as his erection sprang free—thick, hard, and hot with need. Her gaze flicked up to find Broderick’s smoldering stare before returning to the sight of him. Her lips parted, breath quickening with anticipation.

Tentatively, she wrapped her fingers around him, marveling at the contrast of silky skin over iron hardness. Her heart thundered in her chest as his cock pulsed in her grasp.

Broderick moaned low, his hand closing over hers, guiding her movements. “Harder,” he rasped, squeezing with her as he taught her the rhythm that made his breath hitch. Together they stroked him, and a bead of moisture pearled at his tip, glistening in the firelight. Heat coiled tight in her belly, pulsing deep within her core.

Her eyes traced the taut ridges of his abdomen, the carved lines of muscle that led to the tempting vee at his hips. Her tongue ached to follow those lines, to taste every inch of him. “I want to see all of you,” she whispered, tugging insistently at the breeches still hugging his hips.

Broderick bent to claim her mouth in a searing kiss, then rose and stepped from the bed, stripping to expose his mouth-watering nakedness. His gaze never left her as he drew her from the bed, turning her toward the flickering firelight.

With reverent hands, he slipped the chemise from her shoulders, kissing each new inch of exposed skin as the garment slid away, removing the last barrier between them. When his lipsreached her hips and the linen puddled at her feet, his fingers found the slick heat between her thighs. Davina’s head fell back on a gasp, her hands clutching his shoulders as he knelt before her.

His touch was achingly gentle as he explored her folds, teasing her sensitive nub until her knees trembled beneath the rising tide of pleasure.

Broderick eased her onto the bed, lying beside her. His mouth found hers, and their tongues danced in a slow, silken rhythm—a sensual weave of tenderness and devotion. His fingers returned to the swollen bud of her slick heat, coaxing her need into a frenzy. She surrendered to the urge to grind against his hand, panting softly as she clung to him.

“Aye, blossom,” he murmured against her lips, his voice rough with hunger. “Let yerself go.”

Her entire world narrowed to the slide of his fingers caressing her quim. The tension coiled low in her belly, a promise poised on the cusp of release. In a rush of breathless urgency, that promise shattered into bliss, crashing through her as wave after wave of pleasure rippled down her limbs. She trembled in his arms, her breath caught in her throat, her body undone.

With a wicked smile, Broderick trailed hot, wet kisses down her body—across her breasts, her ribs, the gentle curve of her belly—until he reached the apex of her thighs. Hooking her bottom to the edge of the bed, he coaxed her legs over his broad shoulders and knelt before her like a worshiper at the altar of his desire.

The rough scrape of his stubble against her inner thighs made her shudder. His mouth claimed her, his tongue teasing her tender sensitive flesh with languid strokes. His moans mingled with hers as he savored her, his grip firm on her hips as hedevoured her pleasure. His tongue danced faster over her sensitive bud, relentless, until she writhed beneath him, her cries echoing off the chamber walls as climax took her once more.