Page 90 of How to Fall for a Scoundrel
His hand cupped the back of her head, tilting it back until she gazed into his extraordinary eyes.
“I love you,” he breathed harshly, as if it were somehow a punishment and not a blessing, and she laughed with sheer joy.
“I love you too.”
She held her breath, reaching for that ultimate prize, and then it happened. Her head tipped back, her eyes fluttered closed, and pleasure claimed her, hot and deep and sweet. She gave herself up to it with complete abandon, letting it fill her, loving the physical connection of their bodies and the merging of their souls.
Harry kissed her again, his lips hard against hers, and with one last thrust he withdrew from her body. As soon as her feet touched the ground again she reached between them, determined to help him. He was fisting his cock, and she placed her hand over his.
He slammed his free hand against the wall next to her head and buried his face in her neck, and a moment later found his own release. His guttural groan reverberated through her and she reveled in the way his big body shuddered and flexed.
For a moment they simply stood together, panting, utterly spent. And then he lifted his head and stroked his fingers over her jaw. He pressed soft kisses to her cheek, her nose, the corner of her eye, and she smiled in exhausted contentment.
He gazed deep into her eyes, and those beloved dimples creased his cheeks.
“What are you smiling about?” she demanded.
“Just remembering rule number eight.”
She wrinkled her nose and tried to think, but her brain was still a nebulous mess thanks to his marvelous debauchery. He’d made good on his promise to stop her thinking straight.
“Remind me which one that is again.”
“What you take, you sell. What you’re given, you keep.”
She raised her brows, demanding a silent explanation, and his smile widened.
“I’m going to keepyou,Eleanor Law. You’ve given yourself to me. Freely. And I’m never going to let you go.” He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Do you remember that tale I told you, the one about the thief who stole the bluestocking’s heart? I didn’t tell you the whole story.”
“Fancy that, you omitting certain pertinent facts,” she said drily, and he mock-scowled at her sarcasm.
“After the thief stole her heart,” he chided, “she stolehisright back, in the ultimate revenge. They kept each other’s hearts forever, and never returned them.”
“Sounds like they deserved each other,” she said.
“Sounds like they met their perfect match.”
He straightened, and they spent a moment rearranging their clothing. Ellie crossed to the bed and sat on the edge, while he bent and rescued his poor coat from the floor and shook his head in mock despair at the creases. “At least we’ll keep the tailors of Cork Street and Bond Street in business.”
He glanced at her. “Are you happy for me to speak to your father tomorrow?”
She nodded, her heart almost overflowing. “Yes. And then I suppose an announcement inThe Times? Unlessyou’d like to marry by special license, we’ll have to wait for three weeks until the banns are read.”
He groaned. “It will feel like a lifetime, but I’m sure we’ll be able to find some time to be together like this in private. I happen to beextremely goodat planning clandestine activities. Especially when I have such excellent motivation.”
She chuckled. “Finally, a way to use your skills that I can approve of.”
He caught her hand and kissed it, as he’d done the very first night they’d met. “I live only to please you, my love.”
Epilogue
“Excellent cake,” Daisy mumbled through a mouthful of icing. “I love weddings.”
Tess sent her a fond smile and turned to Ellie. “Especially when it’s for someone we adore. Congratulations, Lady Cobham.”
Ellie put her hands to her warm cheeks. “That sounds so strange. I’ve been ‘Miss Law’ for so long.”
“It took me months not to turn around and look behind me whenever someone called me Your Grace. Don’t you remember?” Tess chuckled. “You’ll get used to it.”