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His hair tickled her nose as he lowered his head. When his teeth clamped softly over her other nipple, an inarticulate sound of awe escaped her. He suckled her through her gown, gently, reverently.

She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the wondrous, drugging sensations.

Each pull of his mouth tightened her insides in a conflagration of heat, and nameless need.

For Caden. Only Caden. It had only ever been Caden.

Her nails scored his nape and she arched upward inviting the delicious torture.

“More, minx?” He blew on the damp fabric.

She couldn’t speak. She shoved at his robe, baring his neck and back to her touch.

Abruptly, he propped himself onto his knees, tore off his robe, and flung it to the ground. The dying firelight reflected the blue heat swirling in his gaze as he stared down at her like a starving man eyeing a feast.

Wherever his gaze landed, his hands followed.

With maddening gentleness he traced a path down her center, from her breastbone to her belly button, as if she were naked before him rather than clothed in a prim white nightgown.

The area between her legs thrummed as if he’d touched her there. She wanted him to touch her there. She felt brazen and wicked, and didn’t care a jot.

“Mm,” he murmured, his hand cruising lower to cup her sex, depressing the fabric to burrow his fingers between the hot petals guarding her secrets.

She drew in a sharp breath at the unspeakable pleasure.

He dropped onto one elbow and stared down at her.

Biting her lip, she stared back, captivated by the desperation in his eyes.

Never shifting his gaze, his hand gripped fistfuls of her nightdress, bunching the material upward, ever upward. Cold night air brushed her calfs, then her knees, then her thighs. She shivered as goosebumps sprouted over her flesh, despite the red-hot flames of need licking at her insides.

“What have we here?” His gaze raked over her bared flesh, his fingertips tracing up her naked thigh, over her hip .

Uncontrollable tremors wracked her. She reached for him, cupping his nape to pull him toward her.

He acceded to her wordless demand, his mouth taking hers, his tongue slipping past her parted lips as his fingers explored—her belly, her curls, and finally, finally the aching flesh between her legs.

She moaned, enraptured by the molten thrill of his touch.

“Darling…darling,” he breathed, swallowing her choked pleas as his fingers found and lingered over one particularly sensitive spot.

She clutched at him, arching into the most intoxicating sensation she’d ever known. “ Caden. Oh, Caden .”

“You like this?” he whispered gruffly, his clever fingers playing over her.

Her insides went taut, like a spring coiled dangerously tight. She crooned, desperate, wordlessly begging for…she didn’t know.

But Caden knew. He drove her closer. Closer. So close she could almost taste it—and then she crested a rolling wave, crying out as she rode it higher, higher, finally reaching the pinacle where glorious glittering sensation exploded within her.

He swallowed her cries with his mouth, his fingers coaxing every last bit of pleasure from her body, until she lay limp and utterly replete.

She had no notion of Caden removing his trousers or easing atop her. She only knew the weight of him pressing her into the mattress felt right, his manhood nudging her opening righter still.

He shuddered, his face a rigid mask of, she’d swear, pain. The thick tip of his erection pulsed against her sensitive flesh. “Anna,” he choked.

She gazed up at him, understanding his unspoken need. “Make love to me.”

“Are…you…sure?” He gritted out the words, his face glistening with a feverish sheen.

“Make love to me,” she repeated softly .

A strangled whimper sounded in his throat and, with one slow thrust, he sank himself inexorably inside her.

She flinched as the unexpected pain pierced her core, but did not push him away. She sensed if she did, even a little, he would withdraw from her completely.

She wanted this. Wanted him inside her, wanted to be claimed by him, if only for tonight.

“Anna,” he breathed against her lips, her name a plea. He cupped her face and kissed her with a tender desperation that reached inside to capture her very heart.

His hips pumped into hers. Slow. Deep. Stretching and filling her. “You. Feel. So. Good.”

Everything in her gloried in his raw delight, somehow easing the sting within her. Her body softened, welcoming him, stretching to accommodate him. Her hips responded to his rhythm as if with a will of their own, lifting in a tempo matching his.

“Mine,” he whispered. “ Mine.”

An exquisite tightness coiled inside her. She clutched at him, lips parting in awe.

He kissed her, whispering praise and nonsensical words against her lips until, with no warning, glorious pleasure unfurled inside her, swift and lush, like an exotic flower, coming to sudden full bloom.

She’d wanted—needed—to hold him close, to feel him inside her, to be claimed by him. But this burst of dazzling sensation filling her felt like their souls joining. The ecstasy of emotion overflowed from within her and she sobbed out his name.

Her cries seemed to unleash something in him. With an exultant roar, he reared up. His hips pistoned into hers, faster, harder, deeper. A hoarse groan sounded in his throat a moment before he tore himself from her body and threw himself face down onto the mattress beside her.

Anna could only lay there, tingling with the aftershocks of their lovemaking, utterly awed. She wanted to giggle. To cry. To plaster herself onto Caden and profess…her love.

She loved him.

His lovemaking had knocked down all her walls. She was that love-addled girl from long ago all over again, vulnerable and bared. For tonight, at least, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Mmm. You’re too far away. Come here, minx."

He wrapped one steely arm around her and dragged her close, his hard body cocooning hers. One-handed, he grasped the bedcovers, somehow crumpled at their feet, and slung the mass atop them. Soon warmth from his body enveloped her, turning her boneless.

Replete, exactly where she ought to be, she closed her eyes, and slept.

***

Caden slept, too—for all of ten minutes. Then his eyes snapped open as the enormity of what he’d done slammed him into full wakefulness. His heart pounded so hard the rush of blood in his ears threatened to deafen him. Sweat dampened his brow and trickled down one temple.

And the soft, sweet smelling woman using his arm as a pillow sighed and snuggled closer, wriggling her soft bottom into his groin—which brought that part of his anatomy instantly awake, as well.

He considered sliding his arm free and vacating the warm bed. But, no. Gritting his teeth, he determined to suffer through his inconvenient arousal rather than wake her. His cock twitched with approval at his decision and he bit back a groan—or laughter—he couldn’t say which.

He needed to think. With his head.

One truth resounded inside him with the force of an anvil striking hot steel. He’d certainly proved his point. He was a cad. He’d taken advantage of her, again, gratifying his own selfish need to claim her as his. And, oh, how very satisfying the claiming had been.

He should have resisted his carnal urge. Should have shuffled Anna back to bed and refused to engage in the emotionally charged conversation until he had himself under control. Only, when it came to Anna, he had no self-control, and now the damage was completely, irrevocably done.

Which brought him to a second, unalterable truth. They’d have to marry.

The thought filled him with… peace of all things, which made no sense at all. Hadn’t he spent much of the night owning up to just how un -marriageable he was?

Irrelevant, at this point. Marriage it would be, as soon as he could manage the thing. Not that he had any notion of how to be a decent man, much less husband. But, perhaps he could make himself into the right sort of man. For Anna’s sake, he’d try.

He still had the hurdle of her current marital status to clear. He would secure her freedom from Bolton, by God.

After that, he’d convince her to marry him. He hadn’t a bloody thing to offer as an enticement. No house of his own. No lands. No rank.

He’d acquired a large nest egg thanks to his investments, which would be even larger once Zeke repaid him for his quarry expenses, but he had no steady source of income, thanks to his recent altercation with Zeke and the earl .

Damn . The earl. As usual, Caden was selfish to the bone. In his preoccupation with the soft, warm, utterly enticing woman curled into him, he’d forgotten about the earl’s plight for all intents and purposes.

The bottom line was he needed to hasten them to Chissington Hall, while avoiding at all cost Anna crossing paths with Bolton.

Bolton. How he managed not to smash the man’s face into oblivion tonight was beyond him. Even now everything in him tightened with impotent rage. A duel was called for. But not yet. Not till Anna’s safety was assured.

She sighed and rolled onto her side to face him. Her fingers curled into his chest and she snugged up against him, just like she belonged there.

Damn, but she felt good, and the intoxicating scent of her skin and hair was wreaking havoc on his already inflamed senses. His cock pulsed against her soft, warm belly as if the fine material of her nightshift didn’t exist.

It was going to be a long night.

***

Contrasting sharply with last night’s maelstrom, the morning boasted a cloudless sky. The sun’s rays beamed through the travel coach’s window panes, filling the well-appointed cabin with warmth.

With effort, Anna wore a placid smile. She perched across from Caden who lounged in a recumbent sprawl atop the cushioned bench. For the last quarter hour he’d gazed outside. Evidently the passing landscape held inordinate fascination for him.

She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to scream .