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She yelped into the pillow as her legs clamped around him, and he sucked harder.

He could feel the pulsation building within her once again as he gently thrust his finger in and out, curving it just a bit when it was fully seated to intensify the sensation for her.

Her reaction was the most perfect thing he’d ever experienced.

She was the wild and untamed creature that he had suspected lived beneath her skin from their very first meeting.

All that fire, all that passion was at his command, and he was humbled to bear witness to it.

“Thirty-four,” he murmured, pulling away for a moment to look up at her.

Her fingers twisted in his hair. “More. Now,” she commanded in a hoarse whisper.

“Are you sure you can take it?”

An inarticulate groan resonated through her as she pulled on his hair, the pain sending little shocks of pleasure straight to his poor, straining cock. He squeezed himself again, desperate for some relief.

“Now,” she ordered again.

“As you wish.”

He sucked her into his mouth again and licked around her bud, continuing to pleasure her with his finger, until she was frantic beneath him.

Christ, it was too much! He was losing his ability to concentrate.

This had to be good for her. With difficulty he reined himself in and focused on serving his beautiful queen as she deserved.

Carefully, he kept her on the edge, teasing her as he counted. “Thirty-five… Thirty-six… Thirty-seven… Thirty-eight… Thirty-nine…”

So close. So very close. She moaned into the pillow and pulled on his hair, pressing herself against him. God’s bones! How he loved this wild woman! If this was what she was like now, just imagine how she would react to being filled by him.

“Final one,” he murmured against her swollen flesh.

Sucking her bud into his mouth one last time, he flicked her fast and hard, over and over with his tongue, pumping in and out of her with his finger until she fell apart completely beneath him, crying out into the pillow with an uncontrolled wail.

The sight before him was holy, as she was transported in ecstasy. It was too much. Too beautiful. Too awe inspiring.

Grasping himself helplessly, he burst, unable to contain himself any longer. He came so hard it hurt, everything in him pouring out as his vision went momentarily black. Holy Jesus. If it felt like that when she hadn’t even touched him…

As the world around him came back into focus, he wiped off his mess in the sheets and climbed back up to lie beside her, pushing aside the pillow so that he could see her face.

She looked as dazed and addled as he felt, utterly boneless in his arms. He kissed her tenderly, and she didn’t balk as she tasted herself on his lips.

They lay together in companionable silence for a long moment, as he gently stroked her back.

There was no doubt that Isabella owned him heart and soul.

He was as far gone as any man could be. Any further, and he would surely lose his mind entirely.

But they were far from safe in this chamber, and he needed to keep his head.

“You should get back to your room before we are found out,” he said, reluctantly. Someday soon, he would be able to keep her with him and cherish her all night long, but they were still in danger, still under Lord James’s thumb. Loath though he was to let her go, he knew he must.

He tried not to wince at the look of disappointment that crossed her features. “I wish you could stay, and soon enough we’ll have all the time together we could dream of. But tonight, you must go.”

“You’re right, of course,” she said, sitting up slowly and fixing her dress.

“That was…” She trailed off as if unable to find the right words.

He couldn’t wait until the day when she found them.

He looked forward to her putting her wicked tongue to use for something other than roasting him over a spit.

“It was,” he agreed. “Go to bed, Isabella, and dream of me. Tomorrow, we rescue Adelaide and then leave this place forever. You need your sleep.”

She kissed him on the forehead and took the letters to King Stephen and Lord Henry, leaving the false letter from Eleanor behind. “Don’t forget to send a servant to me with the letter from Her Grace first thing tomorrow. It needs to look as if you’re taking my sister to punish me for disloyalty.”

“I will,” he whispered. “Sleep well, my love. Tomorrow, we escape.”

“Goodnight.” The warmth in her candlelit smile completely undid him. If he’d been able to walk, he would have pulled her back into bed at once. Danger be damned.

But before he could so much as move, she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head, opened the door, and tiptoed past the sleeping guard.

When the door snicked shut behind her, he finally let out his breath.

This had been a night to remember. What the morrow would bring, none could say, but he would do everything in his power to ensure they all escaped so that he could spend the rest of his life showing Isabella how grateful he was for her trust and affection.

Perhaps someday, she might even grow to love him. He hardly dared hope.

It was no good thinking that far ahead when they still had to escape Lord James. He prayed their plan would work and that before the sun set again, they would be on their way to Winchelsea once more.