Page 126 of How the Belle Stole Christmas

It was strange that, for the first time in years, since he’d returned to English soil and lamented the man he used to be, Ethan hadn’t given his past troubles a single thought.

The moment he’d begun to twirl Claire lightly across the floor, it was as though something…

magical had taken place. While he was realistic enough to know that such things didn’t exist, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was more than just a regular woman.

She was too remarkable to be merely human.

She had pulled him out of the darkest of days and showed him what it meant to live again—to love again.

He stopped to consider if he’d ever really loved Margo.

His sister had claimed that it wasn’t the all-abiding adoration that she shared with the duke, and until now, he had fought against the possibility.

But now he realized it made a lot of sense.

He had never felt this pulse pounding need to possess someone as he did toward Claire.

If she would have him, he would take her over the border to Gretna Green and marry her without hesitation.

With Margo, she’d insisted on a lengthy engagement and he hadn’t thought to argue.

From the top of her ebony hair to the bottom of this woman’s feet, he was devoted to every single inch of Claire. He yearned to worship her body, but it would have to be her choice if things went any further than this night.

As the dance slowly ended, she glanced at his leg. “How are you feeling?”

He moved it, relieved when there was hardly any pain and his movements were still relatively fluid. “Nary a concern.”

She released a breath. “I’m glad.”

There was a slight pause, and then he started to draw back. “No doubt you’re tired. It’s been a long day. I won’t take up any more of your time—”

“Wait.”

That simple word nearly made Ethan’s head spin. He could see the pulse beat move swiftly at the base of her neck.

“I don’t want to be alone tonight. Everything has been so perfect, like a dream. I’m not ready for it to end.”

His lungs tightened. “Do you realize what you’re asking?”

She paused and then gave a light nod. “No matter what happens, I have decided I want to remember this night as something special, something unforgettable.” She stepped closer to him. Lowering her hand, she rubbed her palm gently over his growing erection. “I want you, Ethan.”

That was all the incentive that he needed.

Gathering her up in his arms, he ignored her gasp of protest, taking her mouth in a bruising kiss instead.

When they parted, he ignored the protest in his leg as he made his way up the stairs and entered his chamber, kicking the door shut behind them with his booted foot.

He laid her down on the bed and her brow immediately creased in concern. “Your leg—”

“Be damned,” he dismissed on a growl. As he began to tear off his jacket, waistcoat and cravat, he added, “Nothing else matters but you and the pleasure I want to give you.”

She visibly shivered from his words and his cock pressed urgently against his trousers, eager to fulfill the promise that Ethan made.

He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside, his muscles bunching and flexing with the desire pumping through his veins. He took off his boots and pitched them across the room and then started for her. “You seem a bit overdressed.”

She sat up and lifted her arms like an obedient child.

He was humbled by the look of absolute trust on her face—mixed with a bit of deviltry flashing in her blue eyes.

He had to remind himself that she was an innocent and he had to take his time when all he wanted to do was sink himself into her wet heat.

He made short work of her gown and underclothes until nothing remained but her thin cotton shift, stockings, and boots.

“I don’t know whether to be horrified or impressed that you removed all those layers so quickly.”

He lifted a brow. “I had incentive to do so.” His appreciative gaze traveled down her body and slowly back upward until he saw a becoming flush travel up her neck and settle in her cheeks.

He placed gentle hands on her boots and began to unlace them.

“I am going to take great pleasure in tossing these in the rubbish bin when I replace them with the proper sort of shoes you deserve.”

She glanced at the offending items in question. “They serve a purpose.”

“That may be,” he said, as he threw them to the side. “But that doesn’t mean I intend to attire you in the latest fashions, until you have so many gowns that the wardrobe won’t close and so many shoes you will have a new pair to don for an entire month.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Do you think I am so concerned about such material things?”

She inhaled sharply as his fingers trailed up her thighs to reach the top of her stockings. He rolled them down her shapely legs and murmured, “I know you’re not. But that is how you deserve to be treated. Like a queen.”

She shook her head slowly as he removed the second stocking, her breathing becoming more shallow. “I don’t want to be a queen. I just want to be—”

As she cut off abruptly, Ethan could only wonder what she’d been about to say. However, he knew what he wanted her to say.

By the end of the night, he intended for her to finish that statement.

I just want to be your wife. Claire had been surprised at how easily those words had nearly tumbled from her lips.

She had no idea what the earl’s plans were for her.

He might speak eloquently now that they were in his bedchamber, but with the light of a new day, would the same sentiments ring true?

The doubts were swimming in her mind, but at the first touch of his fingertips sliding up her naked thigh and the feel of his mouth sucking gently at the curve of her neck, anything else suddenly didn’t seem very important after all.

He caressed her and kissed her, teasing until her legs were starting to shake.

It was the anticipation of his touch in previously forbidden areas of her body that was driving her mad.

And he hadn’t kissed her again. Every time she thought he might, he would merely turn his attentions to the line of her collarbone, the top of her shoulder, but nowhere she really wanted his mouth—on her lips, on her breast—there was so many other tantalizing possibilities.

And his hand, which had paused just inches from her aching core. It was torture. Pure and simple.

Frustration began to bubble up within her.

“Is something wrong, my dear?” he murmured huskily near her ear, causing her body to tremble.

She opened her mouth and suddenly, she was overset from every direction.

His lips captured hers in a bruising kiss, his tongue delving into her mouth at the same time as his wicked fingers slid into her center.

The combination of two separate invasions made her dizzy with desire.

He tormented her until she began to come close to a sweet release and then just as abruptly withdrew his attentions.

She gasped. “Why did you stop?”

“Do you want more?” he asked, almost darkly.

She blinked. “Yes.”

“A lot more?” he prodded as he removed the last layer of her clothing.

Sitting in full vulnerability should have made Claire urge to cover herself, but her flesh was on fire, her blood flaming within her. The only thing she cared about at that moment was the end to this coiled tension. “Yes.”

He smiled in a wolfish manner and then set her legs over his shoulders.

As his dark head lowered to her center, Claire’s head fell back in pure abandon.

She should be shocked, aghast at what he was doing to her, but instead, she couldn’t think of anything but how blissfully good it felt to have his mouth on her.

With each swipe of his tongue, she started to fall a bit further beneath the waves.

When the flood finally came, her hips lifted and she threaded her fingers through his hair.

She sobbed his name as her body convulsed and shook.

Time itself seemed to stop as the tide of ecstasy rolled over her in excruciating intensity.

When she finally began to settle, she found that the energy she required to remain upright had deserted her.

She fell back against the bed and that is when Ethan began to massage her flesh.

He toyed with her nipples and when he began to suck on each of the tight peaks, her body began to stir with additional interest. She wasn’t certain how it was possible to survive something so…

exquisite and return to the same plane just as quickly.

It was apparent that Lord Darville was an excellent lover, and as he moved away to strip off his trousers and she saw his impressive manhood bobbing proud and erect jutting at his center, she couldn’t imagine why any woman would let such a magnificent man go.

He crawled on top of her and she wondered why she didn’t feel any sort of maidenly apprehension as she could feel the tip of his cock nudging at her entrance. But then, she spied the twisted remains of his right leg, and she lifted her legs to hook her ankles around his hips.

He seemed to approve of her actions and lifted a coy brow. “You learn quickly.”

“I want it all,” she returned softly.

He pushed forward with a light groan that touched her heart, and when he broke the barrier and seated himself fully inside of her, Claire knew that they weren’t just making love. They were mating their souls.

She gasped when he started to move inside of her, the sensation foreign.

But as he began to move faster and her body acclimated to him, an inferno that paled in comparison to the one she’d previously experienced started to rise within her.

She was almost frightened from the sheer complexity, but as it began to bathe her in its warm, carnal glow, she found herself floating upward, the sensation of swirling through the air like nothing she’d ever experienced before.

It was glorious.

She was still dancing in the clouds when Ethan’s body tightened and he gave one last jerk of his hips. She was fascinated by the play of sheer elation that passed over his face as he found his release. To know that she was responsible for it made her head spin and her body tingle with appreciation.

In the aftermath, Ethan rolled to his side and pulled her close to him.

They both seemed to need time to comprehend the enormity of what had just happened.

Or perhaps that was just Claire. It had been a monumental experience for her, likely something that would never be duplicated.

She couldn’t imagine sharing such intimacy with anyone other than Ethan.

And she didn’t want to share it with anyone but him.

“From the instant I saw you, I knew you were different.” Ethan’s voice rumbled next to her ear.

“But I had no idea how much. Until now.” He moved back far enough so she could see the sincerity in his green gaze.

“I have had lovers, partners that meant nothing but a mutual gratification. I have had a fiancée who left me and nearly destroyed what pride I had left, but I see now that was all it was. She didn’t shatter my heart, break it into a thousand shards that would never be repaired.

” He reached out and ran his thumb lightly over her lower lip.

“But I know if you were to leave me, that is what would happen. I would surely die slowly.”

She closed her eyes, the raw emotion coming from him touching her deeply. “Ethan…”

“No. Let me finish.” He exhaled heavily, as if trying to find the words to describe what he was feeling.

“I have been a fool for so long, allowing my vanity and my disdain to push away anything that might mean something to me. I didn’t want to admit that I had anything genuine in my life, because then I would see myself as a failure.

I hated what I’d become but I couldn’t seem to find my way back to the surface. ”

Claire’s eyes filled with moisture when she saw the same sheen mirrored in his gaze.

“I will admit that I no longer cared about anything, about anyone. I was ready to put myself into an early grave and consequences be damned, but you showed me that hope never dies. It lives within us. All it takes is the right moment and the right person for it to flare and burn brighter than ever.” He laid his forehead against hers and she felt a small drop splash her cheek.

It was soon followed by a torrent of silent tears of her own.

“Save me from a lifetime of misery and regret. I know I don’t deserve your love, but I promise that I will spend the rest of my life ensuring that you want for nothing.

I will not stand in the way of your healing work and will gladly support you, take you to the farthest ends of the world if need be.

Just say that you’ll be mine forever. I love you. Marry me, Claire.”

It took a moment for her sobs to subside enough for her to speak, but she nodded her head fervently. “Yes. Oh, my darling, Ethan. I love you so much that it hurts to think of being parted from you. I was so scared to leave you and face the rest of my days without seeing you again.”

He kissed her lightly on the nose. “My Claire. My heart. My everything.”