Chapter Nineteen

P eyton caught her breath at the raw hunger she tasted in Devlin's kiss, coupled with a fierce need that matched her own. They both knew their time together was growing short and that moments alone like this would prove increasingly rare—if they ever came again. She wasn't foolish enough to let this opportunity pass by untaken and shamelessly arched against him.

Years from now, when she lived alone in France and reflected on this time when her life changed forever, she would have this moment to sustain her, this one moment of perfection before her life irrevocably changed again. This last moment with the man she loved.

The tip of his tongue traced the seam of her lips in silent cajoling for her to open, and with a soft sigh, she did just that, allowing him inside. His tongue took long, seductive licks that explored the recesses of her mouth and then transformed into insistent and steady thrusts. She suddenly felt so weak that she sagged against the table behind her. The sensation of falling away completely overcame her, stopped only by the solidity of his hard shoulders beneath her hands.

As she closed her lips around his tongue and sucked, a groan rose from the back of his throat. The low sound vibrated into her mouth and sent a delicious thrill spiraling through her, one that landed with an aching thud between her legs.

"Touch me," she ordered softly and raked her fingers through the silky hair at his nape.

He obliged and swept his large hands up the sides of her body. Heat penetrated her dress and underclothes as if they weren't even there, and goosebumps shivered across her skin in his wake. When he paused to cup her breasts in his hands, her confining stays kept him from giving her the kinds of touches she craved, so she twisted away from him to reach behind her back in an attempt to unbutton her bodice. But her fingers couldn't reach the little buttons, and a whimper of frustration escaped her.

"Let me," he insisted hotly as he moved his mouth away from hers, along her jaw to her ear. The tip of his tongue traced the outer curl as his hands made swift work of unbuttoning her dress. She gasped when his tongue plunged inside her ear with the same swirling motion, for one delicious heartbeat not noticing that he'd pulled loose her bodice and untied her stays until they hung loose between her gown and her shift.

His hands slipped under the back of her gown and slid across the thin cotton of her shift to her breasts, as if nothing at all existed between them and her flesh. He strummed his thumbs over her aching nipples, teasing them into hard little nubs, and she arched her back to bring his hands harder against her.

When he gave her nipples a sharp squeeze between his fingers, Peyton nearly burst out of her skin. "Devlin!"

The frustrating devil had the nerve to chuckle as he tugged down the front of her clothes and revealed her bare breasts to his eyes. Shamelessly, she let him look, reveling in the hungry expression that gripped his face. Finally, he dipped his head to take her nipple between his lips, and the pull of his lips drew a low moan from her. She dug her fingers into his hair as his mouth worshipped at her, licking and suckling and nipping gently with his teeth in a sweet torment that made her shake.

But their clothes were still frustratingly in the way. She slid her hand between them. "Let me," she repeated his words and quickly unbuttoned his fall.

She pushed herself away from the table and onto her tiptoes as she rose up to claim his mouth in a blistering kiss that ripped away his breath—or perhaps he lost his breath because she also slipped her hand into his trousers and cupped him, hot and heavy, against her palm.

She smiled against his mouth as she began to fondle him, her fingers teasing and caressing along his hardening shaft. She gave him a tender yet possessive squeeze, then pulled him free of his trousers. His erection stood thick and hard, and the steely length flexed against her hand as she rubbed her palm over this round head and claimed the wet drop that formed at its tip. He belonged to her, every last bit of him, for now at least. She refused to surrender that.

His thighs clenched as he leaned into her hand, his hands now gripping the table on both sides of her and his eyes squeezed shut. But she wanted him to look at her, for him to remember this wonderful coming together as much as she would. And she knew exactly what to do to make that happen.

Slowly, she lowered onto her knees and took him between her lips.

His eyes flew open, and he uttered a guttural sound of surprise that turned into a shuddering growl as she began to move her mouth over him. In turns, she took him deep and then pulled back to let him nearly slip free of her lips before plunging down over him again. Always, she kept a firm suction around him, even as she lifted her eyes to watch him watching her as she gave him this primal pleasure.

"That feels… Sweet Jesus," he muttered. Unable to find the words, he reached down to stroke his knuckles over her cheek. "So good….so damn good…"

Spurred on by the hot desire she glimpsed in his eyes, she increased the pace of her mouth bobbing against him, of her lips pumping along his length.

Devlin groaned and plunged his hands into her hair. He held her head still and began to pulse his hips lightly against her.

"Mmm mmm," she purred, her own need for him growing with every pounding heartbeat. The sound vibrated along his length, and he flexed inside her mouth, giving her the first salty-sweet taste of his male essence as a drop escaped him.

Quickly, the intensity grew until he thrust eagerly between her lips, and she thrilled at the electric spark that surged through her. Heat throbbed wantonly between her legs, and she felt herself grow wet, even though he'd yet to touch her there. Bringing him this pleasure stirred her own, and even now, as he closed his eyes and hung his head between his shoulders, she felt herself nearing the edge.

With a lingering kiss to his hot tip, she rose to her feet, brushing her breasts against his chest as she slid up his body to kiss him.

"Take me," she whispered against his lips. She needed him the way she'd never needed any other man, the way she knew she'd never need anyone else. "Here." Her hands grabbed at her skirts and yanked them up. "Now."

With a growl, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto the edge of the table. He guided his erection toward her center, then took her hips in both hands. He thrust forward while his hands yanked her toward him, plunging himself deep inside her tight warmth, filling her so completely that a cry of joy tore from her. The sound transformed into a low moan as he began to thrust inside her, and she could do nothing more than cling to him and fight to keep her breath.

"You are amazing, Peyton," he murmured against her temple as he circled his hips against her, the teasing sensation simply torturous. "Brilliant." He retreated from her body's tight hold on him. "Beautiful." He plunged deep and pulsed a jolt of electricity through her as his pelvis ground against her clitoris. "Utterly delicious in every way."

"Prove it," she taunted breathlessly.

He answered by thrusting into her so hard that her bottom lifted off the table, and stars flashed before her eyes. Never… never had she experienced such desire as this before, such raw pleasure.

Yet somehow, it still wasn't enough. He'd freed her from the darkness of the past, and she wanted to show him how much he meant to her.

"Stop," she choked out and placed her hands flat against his chest to push him away. "Devlin—stop."

He halted instantly. Slowly, he stepped back and slipped himself from her warmth, his chest heaving with stolen breath as he stared down at her, puzzled. "You don't want—"

"God yes!" She cupped his face between her hands and showed him with a hot, open-mouthed kiss exactly how much. "But not like that." She slipped off the table and turned her back toward him. "New life, new future…"

She placed her hands on the table, stepped her legs apart, and gazed at him invitingly over her shoulder.

She whispered tremulously, "New everything."

Devlin stepped forward and entered her from behind.

Peyton tensed at the unfamiliar angle. As if he understood she needed a moment to become used to this new intimacy, he stood perfectly still, doing nothing more than holding himself inside her and letting her catch her breath. Then, when she couldn't bear the stillness a moment longer, she began to rock herself back against him.

The teasing little pulses of her bottom against him soon grew bolder, and she pushed away against the table in hard, smacking thrusts of her bottom against his pelvis. A rollicking, rocking rhythm formed between them, and she realized again how perfectly their bodies fit together, their needs and desires matching in a way that moved past the physical and down to their souls.

He reached around her and nestled his hand between her legs.

"Devlin," she forced out breathlessly between thrusts. "What are you—"

His thumb found her clitoris and rubbed it. He caressed her intimately even as his hard length continued to thrust into her, and she shuddered at the spark of pleasure that heated through her, shooting out to the tips of her fingers and toes. She closed her eyes, licked her lips, and gave over to the sensation that consumed her, a mix of being alive tempered by the overwhelming trust between them. What they were doing was both animalistic and the most tender, loving melding of bodies imaginable, and a choking sob tore from her.

Beneath a rush of emotions, she arched her back and broke with a shuddering cry. He thrust deep into her tight warmth and held himself there. His body tensed against hers, and she felt his thighs clench as the rush of his release surged inside her, as her body quivered around his to milk every sweet drop from him. A second pulse of joy gripped her.

Devlin lay over her, his spent length still buried inside her, as he fought to regain his breath. He gathered her into his arms beneath him and nuzzled the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into her hair. "I didn't mean to come inside you like that." He placed an apologetic kiss to her nape and explained simply, "I lost control."

The happiness that rose inside her at his quiet confession thrilled her as much as their joining of bodies—no. More. This happiness filled her heart until the foolish thing wanted to burst from her chest. She, alone, had the power to destroy the hard-won control he'd fought so hard for so long to manage, just as he was the only man capable of melting her heart. She held no regrets about giving herself to him. And never would.

"You don't have to be in control," she whispered into the shadows around them. "Not with me."

He nuzzled her shoulder. Neither of them was in a hurry to release the other and end the moment. Then she felt him tense, and she held her breath—

"Don't go to France. When all this is over, stay here." He placed a kiss to her shoulder so tenderly that she ached from it. "With me." He murmured breathlessly into her ear, "I'll tell my mother and sisters the truth about what our fathers did, once Horrender's caught and can't harm any of us ever again."

He was giving her what she wanted. But what he expected in return…could she do it? Could she stay in England and begin a new life in the place that had taken the old one?

A hot tear slid down her cheek, and she whispered the only consolation she could offer, "I love you, Devlin."

His arms tightened around her. "I love you, too."

A long breath eased from her. There were no secrets left between them now. She was drained, physically and emotionally, and what she knew, without any doubt as he held her safe within his arms, was more than that he'd finally agreed to tell the truth about his father, more than that she could trust in him and take comfort in his strength and solidity—

She knew she had to find a way to put the past behind them. Once and for all.