Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

C harlotte arrived home from the Stuart ball well after two in the morning. She had her maid quickly help her undress out of her heavy, cumbersome gown, change into her nightdress, take her hair down, and brush it through before wishing her goodnight.

Upon arriving home, she looked into Alexander's office and noticed it was dark. Not even a fire burned in the hearth.

He was probably asleep, yet the thought of going to him, lying next to him, and being held secure and loved in his arms was too much to deny herself. With each step toward her door, her heart beat fast, her breath quickened, and her longing intensified.

But before Charlotte could reach for the door handle, Alexander slipped into her room, snicking the lock behind him and enclosing them alone. His eyes devoured her from head to toe, his inspection of her person like a physical caress she felt along every inch of her body.

"You're here. I was about to come see you," she said.

He reached for her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. His embrace was warm and comforting, a familiar feeling she relished.

"I've missed you. I'm glad you're home earlier than I expected."

Her pulse quickened, and she held him fiercely, warmth pooling at her core, her heart hammering in her chest. "I don't want to live this way any longer, Alexander. I want to marry you and be your wife, no matter what society says. Let us run away to Gretna and marry. I do not care if society shuns me. I do not even care if my parents never wish to speak to me again, although I do believe, in time, that they will change their minds once they see how in love we are."

Alexander's eyes bored into her, questioning her declaration. "Are you certain? There will be no turning back if we travel north."

"I've never been more certain in my life." She reached for him with trembling hands, needing him with an appetite that was beyond control.

He took her lips in a kiss that stole her breath. He walked them over to the bed, tumbling them together onto the soft, silk sheets.

Alexander's piercing eyes darkened with desire, and Charlotte bit her lip, enjoying the heat that ignited within her soul. The soft candlelight flickered against the walls as he slipped her nightgown free, lifting it over her head and leaving her exposed.

His to admire.

The warmth of his body ignited every nerve in her skin. He was so beautiful in the candlelight. His muscular form tightened and flexed with each breath, with each movement he made to take her.

The tension between them broke with a muffled curse, and his lips found hers in a fierce, consuming embrace. Instinctively, she reached for the buttons of his breeches, trembling as she ripped his falls open with haste. He tore his breeches down his hips, revealing his cock, which stood erect.

Instinctively, she reached to touch the hard, yet silky skin covering his manhood, reveling in its magnificence.

"Charlotte, you'll undo me."

She lay back, wiggling under his intense stare. His hands traced the sensitive skin between her thighs, spreading her wide. He lifted her legs to sit about his waist and pressed into her sex.

With a shared urgency, they came together, the softness of the sheets cool against their heated bodies. Every lingering restraint was cast aside as they surrendered to the intensity of their joining, the need to be as one, together and alone.

Charlotte moaned, breathless and lost in his taking of her. Time seemed to blur, and the world and all the troubles that kept them apart were forgotten as they took one another with fervor.

"I adore you," he whispered against her lips, his thrusts driving her toward a pinnacle of pleasure she could not reach soon enough.

There was no choice now, nothing she could do. Her heart belonged to the man in her arms, and they had to marry. No one else would do.

"I adore you." She clung to him, the tremors of pleasure taking her by surprise and shooting through her body. She moaned his name, holding him against her as he rocked into her. Her release rippled through her like waves, and he pressed on, wringing her climax out of her to the very end.

"I'm going to come, Charlotte."

She locked her legs behind his bottom, forcing him to stay inside of her. They would be married, and he would be her husband. It would be an honor to bear his child, and she didn't want him to spend on the bedding like he had in the past.

"Charlotte." She heard the plea in his voice, not wanting to put her at risk, and she shook her head, denying him.

"No, I want you with me."

He groaned, his cock straining as he came. "Charlotte," he moaned, her name a plea, a promise on his lips.

She kissed him, needing to be close and wanting to be consumed by his love. He kissed her back, chuckling when their bodies returned to earth from the shattering pinnacle of their release.

He slumped beside her, pulling her close. "I do not want to leave you."

"Leave me?" She leaned over his chest and frowned. "Leave me where?"

"Back to my room." He smiled and chucked her under her chin. "I wouldn't go anywhere else. They would have to drag me away from you now."

She sighed, beyond content and unable to comprehend how much she was in love with the man in her arms. "For a gentleman who was determined to remain aloof and to keep your hands off my person, you've certainly changed your ways. One may even call you a little wicked." She waggled her brows, and he laughed.

"I tried so long to keep from you, to not let what I felt for you show, but I can no sooner deny you than I can deny myself the air that I breathe."

"And I'm glad of it. I was starting to wonder if I'd ever tempt you enough."

"Oh, you tempted me."

"I did? Tell me how often."

"All the time." He sat up and flipped her onto her stomach. Charlotte gasped when he lifted her bottom into the air and pulled her against his manhood. "Sometimes, I'd catch a glimpse of you bending over to pick up one of your books or embroidery, and I'd have to look away and force myself not to imagine what I'd do if you were mine."

A shiver of anticipation ran through her, and she glanced over her shoulder, unable to remove the sensual smirk on her lips. "And what did you wish to do to me?" Without thought, she rubbed against him, heat pooling at her core.

He pressed his cock against her cunny, and she gasped, the hunger she thought he'd eased returning with a vengeance.

He growled, his fingers tightening on her hips as he pressed his hardened cock into her with slow torture. "I imagined bending you over the nearest settee, lifting your pretty skirts, and taking you." He thrust into her, and she rocked forward, moaning.

"Alexander…" She arched into him, mewled her enjoyment of being taken from behind, deep and fulfilling.

He sucked in a breath and thrust into her again. "I've wanted to be yours. I've adored you for so long, and with that adoration came a fierceness that never abated. I wanted to fuck you so badly, Charlotte. Some nights I ached with want of you and had to stroke my cock to find release."

She moaned at the image his words conjured. "I touched myself too when I thought of you. I've wanted you for so many months."

"Yes." He took her with a ferocity that stole her breath.

Her pleasure ripped through her with no warning, and she reached for a pillow to muffle her screams. Alexander hardened and came, his chiseled chest pressing against her back as he spent inside her.

They collapsed onto the bed, their breathing ragged, their hearts racing as they lay entangled in the aftermath of their coupling. Time stood still as they lingered there, wrapped in the warmth of each other, both lost in a haze of ecstasy and daydreams, their minds drifting between reality and the sweet intoxication of the moment.

And the beautiful thoughts that they would see each other again tomorrow.