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As soon as they reached her rooms and the door to her bedchamber clicked shut behind them, Sebastian turned to her, his eyes dark with desire. Harriet swallowed, heat coiling low in her belly as she reached for the buttons of her pelisse.

But Sebastian was faster, flicking them open. Then his hands came to her shoulders, slipping beneath the heavy fabric to ease it from her body. The wool slid down her arms, pooling at her feet in a whisper of fabric.

“You are wearing too much,” he murmured, his voice rough as he traced the line of buttons down the front of her gown.

Harriet shivered, her breath catching as he worked each one free, baring inch by inch of the fine chemise beneath.

The moment the last button gave way, Sebastian pushed the gown from her shoulders, leaving her in only the whisper-thin undergarment.

He took a step back, his gaze devouring her with such adoration that Harriet felt her knees weaken.

“You are glorious,” he said, his voice barely above a breath.

She reached for him, fingers fumbling at the fastenings of his coat. “So are you.”

Sebastian let her work, his breath coming heavier as she pushed the fine garment from his shoulders.

Then, in one fluid movement, he lifted her into his arms.

Harriet gasped, her fingers digging into the firm expanse of his shoulders as he strode toward the bed, his grip on her effortless.

She had always known he was strong. But now, cradled against him, she could feel it in every inch of his body—the raw, restrained power beneath the fine tailoring.

And yet, he handled her as though she were precious. As though she were everything.

He lowered her onto the mattress, face down, following her down with aching slowness, his weight settling over her back like the most exquisite cage.

Harriet’s breath caught, her hand coming up to trace the sharp line of his jaw, and relish the roughness of his stubble that he had shaved many hours earlier.

Sebastian caught her hand, pressing a lingering kiss to her palm.

“I love you, Harriet,” he whispered.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Instead, she whispered back the only words that had ever mattered.

“I love you, too.”

Sebastian traced his fingertips down the curve of Harriet’s back, murmuring about starlight and silk. She lay beneath him, breathless and warm, her auburn hair spilling across the pillows.

Slowly, deliberately, he shifted, pressing a lingering kiss to the slope of her shoulder. Harriet shivered beneath his lips, her breath catching as he continued, his mouth traveling down the line of her spine.

His lips were fire against her skin, heated and sensitive to his touch. He followed the curving dip of her back, his palms smoothing over the curve of her waist as his kisses deepened, tasting as if worshipping her essence.

Harriet trembled, turning her head to the side as if to grant him better access, and he smiled against her lower back. She was helpless like this, unguarded, lost in the moment.

“Sebastian,” she breathed, her voice hushed.

His name on her lips sent a fresh wave of longing coursing through her. Pressing one final kiss to the base of her spine, he whispered against her skin, “I will never tire of this.”

He slid his hands back up, caressing her shoulders, drawing her close once more, ready to savor every moment between them.

Then she felt him leave the bed, and the sound of his clothing being removed made her shiver in anticipation.

“Take off your chemise,” he commanded. Between her legs a thick sensation began to pulse as she struggled with the garment, eventually rolling off the bed in frustration to rip it off.

Sebastian chuckled, pulling her in for a deep kiss as Harriet grew ever more aroused, taking in his male scent and wondering what he would do next.

His mouth moved over her cheek to her ear, where he whispered, his warm breath stirring her hair, “Get on your knees.”

Startled, she turned her head to stare up into his molten eyes.

“Get on your knees,” he coaxed, his expression pure mischief.

Harriet licked her lips, the flames in her lower belly licking up until her entire body was on fire. Slowly, she turned to the bed and did as he had instructed, using her hands to brace against the mattress and revealing her naked buttocks to his gaze.

Sebastian approached, caressing his hands down her spine and down to cup her rounded cheeks. Then she nearly swooned when his blunt tip nudged against her swollen, throbbing womanhood, before sliding inside her with one smooth motion.

She gasped out loud, stunned by the size of him, how much she could feel him in the position, how deep he was buried, as if they were truly one organism.

As he began to rock his hips and thrust into her, the sensation mounted.

Each thrust was so glorious, so overwhelming, that it took all her willpower to push back against him instead of collapsing in a moaning heap of mindless pleasure.

When his hand came sliding around, seeking the center of her pleasure to touch her exactly the way she liked it, she bucked, ecstasy shooting out through every nerve as she rode the white-hot waves to her peak.

But even when she shrieked her surrender, her feet arching in tortured pleasure, he was not done.

As he gripped her hip firmly with his large hand, his pace grew more frantic.

Pounding into her to seek his own summit, his stamina and his strength were to be admired for their pure, powerful masculinity.

Until finally he surged into her with one last thrust, a loud groan, and froze, his shoulders arched back as she felt the warm wetness of him spending deep inside her.

She moaned anew as she took his seed and thought of the children she would bear him.

They would enjoy a true marriage, the kind she had been so envious of.

Then he wrapped a muscular arm around her waist and rolled them as one into the bed.

There they lay together gasping for breath, wrapped in each other’s arms, and Harriet marveled at how close she felt to the wonderful man at her side.

Her engaging in bed sport with the man she truly admired, whom she had revealed her inner secrets to, was beyond comparison to anything she had ever experienced.

Even better than her first time with him years before because there were no more deceits between them.

They had laid their souls bare to one another and accepted the virtues and the flaws to form a true partnership. And maybe this was what fate had intended all along. To bring them back together where they belonged.