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He slid his palm between her legs, over her inner thigh. “Unconscionably soft,” he murmured, dizzy with the dewey feel of her satin skin. He cruised higher, reaching her cruchless undergarments and pressing the sheer fabric aside.

He groaned. Warm, wet, plump flesh.

He took his time exploring her exquisite petals. Beneath his touch her sweet flesh quivered. Little by little, her legs parted for him, inviting his intimate touch.

“ Caden. ”

“Darling.” He pulled her, pliant, onto his lap, her back to his chest, her legs straddling his.

Her head fell back on his shoulder and shivers of pleasure vibrated through her as his fingers danced over her. She was so wet. So hot. So open. Completely his.

She came apart under his touch, sobbing his name.

Her release and the delicious friction of her hips, pressing and sliding over his erection flared his own passions to the point of agony.

Grasping her waist, he lifted her and turned her to face him, settling her with her skirts bunched around her hips and her legs astride his.

She looked like a goddess, eyes dazed, cheeks flushed, lips parted, her chemise hanging low, exposing the creamy swell of her breasts.

With one arm around her waist, he held her close. He feasted on her lips and used his free hand to rip open the fly of his trousers. Unerringly, his raging cock found her opening, and in one thrust, he filled her hot, silken channel.

She closed around him like a glove. Sweet heaven on earth.

She cupped his cheeks with damp palms and kissed him, her lips clinging to his as he plunged into her, again and again.

He heard a moan, or a growl, or a groan and realized the sound came from him.

“Caden, darling, yes ,” she murmured against his lips.

It undid him. He erupted, his hot seed spilling into her. He couldn’t stop himself if he wanted to. Like jumping off a cliff into endless heaven.

When he was truly spent, he flopped onto his back dragging Anna with him. His legs hung over one side, Anna still straddling his hips, their bodies joined in the most intimate way possible. Their hearts pounded into each others so he couldn’t tell whose was whose. It felt right. She felt right.

She was his. His.

She had agreed to marry him. Their lovemaking, as far as he was concerned, sealed the promise. God help anyone who tried to take her from him now.

Contentment like he’d never known filled him.

He could lay like this, listening to the fountain softly gurgling, the birds cooing, the wind whispering through the trees beyond the garden walls forever, so long as Anna lay with him, her cheek nestled into the curve of his neck.

Her fingers toyed with his hair brushing his collar. She sighed and nestled closer. Yes, he could stay like this forever, Anna in his arms.

***

“Do you remember the two of us, whiling away those long summer days along the river bank? You dictating the rules of the game and never relenting? When I rescued my stolen princess, I had to bestow a kiss on her. Always.”

His question came out of nowhere. Spoken in a soft voice that felt like a caress, it nevertheless dragged her from the near idyllic state she’d been in.

She stirred in his arms, lifting her head to look at him.

A small smile played at his lips and his eyelids were open a mere crack.

She traced her fingers over his jaw, her heart overflowing with love. “So I did, as you’ve already established many times. You recently admitted you liked kissing me. Too much, you said. Or will you deny that now? ”

“I will not. Do you recall the last time we saw each other? In Derby, I mean.”

She folded her hands on his chest and rested her chin on them. “I do.”

“What do you recall, Anna?”

She licked her lips, suspecting he meant garner her admission she wanted his kisses more than he wanted hers, yet unable to work up any heat at the moment.

“I was moping about, our day of departure looming ever closer. You said you felt sorry for me, and offered to play Prince Charming rescues the stolen princess as a way to cheer me. I agreed.”

“Agreed? You leapt at the chance,” he teased and tugged a lock of her hair. “What else do you remember?”

She closed her eyes, feigning concentration. In reality, she remembered every detail. Lying at the base of that large yew tree, ignoring the knotted roots poking into her back, pretending to be in a dead faint.

Caden swooped her up in his arms and carried her to a shaded, grassy knoll overlooking the river bank. She could still feel the warmth of his firm, lithe body as he held her. Could hear the gentle cascade of water flowing, smell the foliage, and damp earth as he laid her on his coat.

She could see the blue of his eyes as, slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers.

He’d kissed her before. Hard, quick presses of his lips that left her giddy and giggling for days. This time was different. He kissed her so gently, so tenderly, her heart threatened to burst from her ribs. Rather like it had a few minutes ago.

Unlike today, he ended the kiss with an abruptness akin to a bucket of ice-cold water dumped over her head .

Before she could open her eyes, he was on his feet, grabbing her hand, all but dragging her to the path leading to her family’s cottage, where he left her to take off in the opposite direction.

His apparent anger baffled her—and grew into a hurt more painful than she could have imagined. Especially as she never saw him again.

She had no intention of telling him any of those things.

Instead, she opened her eyes and sent him a studious look. “We were in the forest clearing, equidistant between our homes. You rescued me, delivered me to safety, and then…kissed me.”

He nodded. “I see. Not such a momentous occasion for you, then. For me it was,” he paused, blew air out his cheeks, “…beyond anything.”

Her pretense of indifference vanished. She stared at him, heart in her throat.

“Before that summer, you were a playmate, a younger one at that whom I needed to protect. That summer, the moment I saw you, I knew things had changed. You seemed different. Not only the bullying termagant from the years before, but…”

She could not speak, much less work up any heat at his less than flattering description. Butterflies swarmed her belly, squeezing in around her heart.

He huffed out a self-conscious laugh. “You were all girl, with eyes that seemed to see through me, and a mouth that…I thought about way too often. That day, that kiss . It left me—” He raked a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know whether I wanted to throttle you or kiss you again.”

He slid her a wry glance. “That’s not true. I wanted to kiss you again, and touch you, and touch myself , for God’s sake.”

He snorted and looked up at the dome. “Meanwhile I didn’t understand any of my feelings, other than to know being with you left me restless and murderously desirous of something I was sure I should not want.

“One minute you were the demanding little girl down the lane, and the next you were…” He shook his head.

“… always on my mind. The first person I thought of when I woke, and the last before I slept. Practically my obsession, I’m embarrassed to admit.

” His expression turned somber. “And then you were gone.”

Her heart lodged so tightly in her throat it threatened to choke her. When she found her voice, it echoed all the emotions swirling within her.

“Maybe you didn’t understand your feelings for me, Caden Thurgood, but I knew mine. I was mad for you. From the moment you told your brother and his mate to fob off, I was putty in your hands.”

His face went ruddy but he barked out a laugh. “Putty? More like porcupine.”

They grinned at each other, until, gradually the humor of the moment faded, becoming at once achingly poignant.

She felt herself ridiculously on the verge of tears. She— who never cried.

“I never thought I’d see you again, Caden Thurgood. Imagine my shock when I discovered you face down at the one and only social event Lady Wentworth deigned to attend since employing me.”

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his finger tips lingering over her cheek. “Shocked and appalled and clearly not overjoyed at the reunion.”

Her mouth curved upward. “Not precisely true.”

A voice sounded in the not too far distance, crashing into Anna’s dreamlike state with the force of an anvil. With a yelp, she sprang off of him, yanking down her skirts, and attempting to right her bodice.

“Caden? Who is that? ”

He grinned at her. Grinned , despite the very real danger someone would discover them here. Like this.

In seemingly no hurry, he unfolded himself from the bench, tucked in his shirt and refastened his trousers.

Turning to face her, he shifted his stance, positioning his body to conceal her from anyone who might happen through the gate. “Probably just a groundskeeper.”

“Groundskeeper?” she squeaked. “Don’t I look as if…” As if she’d been recently tumbled, she left unsaid. She stared at him, horrified.

His gaze assessed her and his expression of amusement vanished. He swallowed audibly. “You look like a goddess,” he breathed. “Come here.”

Delight over the emotion he did not bother to hide overrode her anxiety. She hurled herself into his arms.

Her face pressing into his chest, she heard him mutter under his breath. She could not quite make out the words. It sounded as if he’d said, Will I ever not react to you this way?

“Caden? Are you here? Is Anna with you?” came the deep, rich voice of Zeke.

She groaned in dismay.

“We’re here, Zeke,” he called in a loud voice. “What in God’s name are you doing here?”

The hidden door swung open.

Anna sprang away from Caden, putting a good two feet between them just as Zeke’s head bobbed inside.

His eyes went from Caden, to Anna, then back to Caden. He almost managed to hide his smile.

“Sorry to interrupt your…er…tour of the grounds. Miss Masters has a visitor.”“A visitor? At this hour?” Caden sent Anna a bemused look.

She shook her head .

“My sentiments exactly.” Zeke remarked. “If not for the identity of her visitor, I might’ve refused her.”

“Who is it?” Caden asked, sounding more curious than annoyed.

“The Dowager Duchess of Wentworth, and to say she’s impatient for Miss Masters to return from her walk would be putting it mildly.”

***

Zeke departed ahead of them, allowing them a few minutes to, as he put it, finish their tour of the garden.

Wearing an indulgent grin, Caden smoothed and tucked her mussed hair ’til she was forced to swat his hands away. She did allow him to amend her efforts at tying the bow at her bodice so that it resembled an actual bow rather than the knot she’d accomplished in her haste to cover herself.

She would never recover from her embarrassment over Zeke discovering she and Caden in such flagrante dishabille .

Not that she had time to worry over his opinion of her. She had bigger problems to sort.

“Are you looking forward to reuniting with your ex-employer? You appear to be in quite a hurry.” Caden spoke in a neutral tone.

His long legged stride kept pace with Anna’s trot with seeming no difficulty at all.

“I am. Although…” She paused, unable to put into words the sudden anxiety racking her. “I’m unsure what to expect from her.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, has she come to collect me to resume my duties?”

Caden slammed to a halt, his hands grasping Anna’s shoulders, turning her to face him .

“You’re not going anywhere.” His voice brooked no dissension. Still, faint worry lines etched his forehead.

Did he fear she might choose Lady Wentworth over him? She did care for the woman, a great deal. But her heart belonged to Caden. Had it escaped his notice she agreed to marry him before their magical lovemaking in the garden?

“I’m not, no,” she agreed softly.

His expression relaxed, but he lifted one hand to rub the pad of his thumb between her brows.

“What on earth? Do I have a smudge of dirt between my eyes?”

“You’re scowling so hard you’re in danger of giving yourself a permanent crinkle. What are you afraid of, if not that?”

“I’m not afraid.” She bit her lower lip, then stopped when his gaze tracked to her mouth.

“The truth is, I don’t know why she’s come. Now, I mean. And why so anxious to lay eyes on me? I can’t help feeling…” she shrugged, helpless to explain. “As if everything in my life is about to change.”

He wrapped her in his arms. He was warm and solid and, despite what he thought of himself, everything good in a man.

“The grande dame probably wants to see for herself you made it, safe and sound. Or mayhap she has news of Bolton. Either way, we’ll hear her out together.”

Together. The word sent a little thrill of happiness through her, dispelling her sense of doom. “I am glad she’s here. I owe her so much and have so many questions.”

He sent her his most devastating smile. “Let us go get your questions answered.”