Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

"Look at you," he said in a reverent whisper. Alfie reached out and traced his finger slowly up her thigh to the swell of her hip.

It was a slow, tortuous touch. She sucked in a breath, wishing suddenly to cover herself. Afraid of what he might think of her body or her boldness at baring it.

He pressed the pad of his thumb into the indentation of her hipbone and shook his head.

"No more hiding, right, sweet?" His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he gazed up at her and hooked his other arm around her thighs. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"Alfie." She wasn't sure if she was pleading or begging.

"Open your eyes."

Slowly, she did, in time to feel him draw her close. The warmth of his fingers was a sharp contrast to the goosebumps scattering across her skin. Alfie kissed her inner thigh before his eyes connected with hers.

"We can stop whenever you want. Do you understand?"

Very well. She was begging. Marjorie nodded, finally reaching out to brace herself upright by placing a hand on his shoulder. She felt the corded muscles of his arm tense beneath her fingers.

"I am going to taste you again, give you pleasure until you scream out my name, and then, and only then will I lay you down and make you mine."

No words. Her throat was dry, but she felt the dull ache of desire between her legs, listening to him talk to her as though he wanted her and only her. Dear heaven, she craved every word of it.

"Good girl," he whispered against her skin. His lips moved closer to her core, softly circling her inner thigh and her hip but never where she wished for his lips the most. Never how he had touched her like that morning on the balcony.

Marjorie rocked her hips forward, desperate for his touch. He grazed his teeth on her delicate skin, then slowly moved his hands from his hips, up her stomach, and higher still to the swell of her full breasts.

"Ah, I think you're teasing me, Alfie." She pressed her nails into his shoulder, the desire to feel him inside her again almost unbearable. A wicked, sinful craving.

Alfie touched her as though she was precious. The soft grunts he made in the back of his throat as he touched her, cataloging every inch of her body, made her feel like a gift. Made her feel wanted and special.

Made her feel loved.

"Never teasing, sweet. I've dreamt of this… Christ , I'm afraid you'll still leave in the morning and never come back. This is all I've wanted and all I'll ever want."

The protest on her lips died as soon as he dropped his hand and brushed the soft curls between her legs, pressing his thumb against the small pearl there at her apex. She clenched her thighs together in a deep sigh.

Majorie still knelt before him, stuck between wanting more or falling back against the mattress. He gripped her hips and tugged her closer until she straddled him.

He drew one finger through her curls, dipping it inside of her, moving through her wetness in a slow exploration. Then added another.

"That feels… Yes." She couldn't think of anything else to say. Her head tilted up toward the glass ceiling as the candlelight danced over them, and she rolled her hips, greedy to feel him.

"Lie back, let me taste you."

Marjorie removed her legs from his waist and lay back, collapsing against the pillows, doing as she was told. Her heart thrummed in her chest, and she felt as though she were on fire, and yet something was still missing.

"Open your legs for me." He lifted her leg, kissed the inside of her knee, and pressed them wider. The cool air licked her skin. "Perfect."

He brushed his fingers over her curls again, before sliding his fingers against that small pearl. Her hips bucked at his touch. Alfie grinned, ducking down to finally taste her. She slammed her eyes shut.

"Open, sweet. Let me see you." His mouth hovered over her, his breath washing over her skin like a caress. "Don't look away now or I won't kiss you there." He slipped two fingers inside slowly, curling them against her channel until she moaned. "I can feel you, so close. So tight around my fingers." His tongue slid up her seam before he sucked on that one spot, and the fire which had been a low simmer suddenly flamed.

"Be greedy, Jo. Take it. I'll be here to catch you."

She shook her head, afraid, even as her body climbed higher still, and he slipped a third finger inside of her, and she screamed out his name into the rainy night.

A private moment, tucked away by the pond where he first asked her to be his wife.

The pleasure washed over her in waves, and she struggled to catch her breath, recognizing finally that she had fallen apart with his fingers still inside her, his mouth kissing her in the most intimate way.

"Beautiful, so damn beautiful," he whispered.

Slowly, he removed his fingers and pressed one last featherlight kiss to her mound before he climbed upward, kissing her in slow, equal measure as she gathered herself.

He sat up over her and raked his hands through his hair with a grin on his face. His curls bounced, and she thought for a moment she would say something. Did you say thank you to someone after an experience like that? Then she spotted the small markings below the waistband of his buckskins.

She reached closer and pulled it down, tracing her fingertip over the small M.M. at his hip.

The air crushed from her lungs.

"Harry and I were in London. Before he deployed with his regiment, we paid for an artist to tattoo us."

"Yes, but M. M ., Alfie?"

"It was always going to be us, Jo. Whether you were with me or not. I was always going to love you. I still love you. Let me show you."

She swallowed back the tears trying to fill her eyes. It wasn't a time to cry. And yet he always said the most beautiful things to her, as if he was just going about his day asking about the book she was reading, or what she wanted for dinner, or if she would like to take a ride through the park.

He told her he loved her so easily she was beginning to believe she was someone who could be loved.

And that would forever be the most precious gift she could have from the duke next door.

* * *

"You've had this for years, and you never said anything."

"I'm always thinking of you." He placed his hand over hers, stilling her touch. Something about revealing this secret was the crumbling of his defenses against this woman. Marjorie had crawled back into his room, crashed onto the floor, and then broke his heart all over again that morning when he saw her face for the first time in years.

Someday, he would tell her how after they shared dinner together and she rode home alone, he had stayed up and finally read every letter she had written him over the years. Each word a sharp blade to his heart. But here she was before him.

So damn perfect.

For him, and him alone.

"Don't leave me." He swallowed, waiting to feel her push him away, but she remained. Instead, shaking her head and sitting up to help remove his buckskins.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Not after… Did I really make all those sounds?"

He tucked his chin toward his chest to hide his grin. "This time louder, sweet."

"You've been alone too long. You can't just say things like that."

This time, they both laughed, but his cock ached, and he was desperate to feel her. To drive inside of her. To hear his name on those sweet lips of hers.

"I love it. A secret tattoo for me." Marjorie sat up and kissed the small reminder he had carried with him all these years, then tugged at his waistband once again. "Please, Alfie. Please don't stop."

The plea set off a whole new fire within, and he quickly stood and undressed, crawling back onto the bed. For all his bravado, he gathered she was nervous. Saw the way her eyes bulged at the sight of him.

Alfie pumped his hand over his cock, biting back a groan. "Are you ready for me?"

She bit her lip and spread her legs. The damn sight of her before him made him somehow harder.

"Good."

He crawled over her, teasing the head of his cock over her entrance. Her soft pants urged him on.

"There's no way you are going to fit." Her hands bracketed his face, the faint hint of worry in her declaration.

"I will, promise."

He kissed her, needing to feel all of her as he slowly pushed inside of her. Christ, she was so tight around him. "Breathe," he whispered against her mouth.

Marjorie nodded.

"Can you feel me? Do you want me to fill you up, sweet?"

"Please," she whimpered.

Damn, her breathy sighs were intoxicating.

"Tilt your hips up, and I'm going to move real slow." He slowly pushed forward, hanging on to all his control. He didn't want to be gentle, but for her, he would. For now, for as long as he could. "You're so damn perfect, Jo. Do you feel me?"

"So much talking," she groaned, arching her back off the mattress to press her hips against his.

Pleasure shot straight to his core as she raised her hips to meet him, and the chuckle that had been bubbling up in his chest turned primitive. Years, he had loved her. Years, and now she was here with him, sharing all of herself, urging him on. Giving him a reason when he had spent far too long searching for one outside of the dukedom.

He thrust once more, sinking in the rest of the way. Fire ignited down his spine, and he groaned. Then slowly, he drew back and feathered kisses down her neck before pulling back and driving back inside. Madness, this was pure madness, and he knew he wasn't dreaming, but he had certainly dreamt of this moment more than once. Had pleasured himself to the thought of her wrapped around him, and this… this was so much better.

"Do you like it when I move in and out like this? When I tease you with my cock?"

Red bloomed across her pale skin. "Alfie, your mouth…"

"What about it?"

"You keep speaking… you keep saying such vulgar things, but I don't want you to stop. I like that, too."

He felt her pulse race against the base of her throat. He nipped her skin with his teeth as his control slipped. Greedy, yes. He wanted to mark her as his, claim her completely.

Mine.

"You're taking me so well, sweet. Let me fill you up." He adjusted his hips and drove deeper. "Christ, I need you."

Alfie worked the head of his cock over her, teasing before he slipped back inside. He slid inside of her again, groaning and driving his hips against her, harder. Her body began to tense beneath him.

"You are so tight. Like that sweet, yes. Watch me. Eyes on me, then say my name." He pressed his hand above her mound, slowly driving himself deeper. Feeling her tighten against him. "I want you to shatter around me again. I won't stop until then. And then when you do, it'll be my turn."

He circled the pad of his thumb against that bud above her quim, feeling her tighten before her back arched off the bed, and she shattered around him, pulsing around his cock.

"You took me so well, Jo. Good girl. Let me…" He bent his head and kissed her, licking the seam of her mouth until she opened up to him. On her soft sigh, he thrust his hips harder, swallowing her gasp, and drove into her again.

"You like it when I say vulgar things? Your quim is perfect, so needy for me. I'm close now, Jo." He braced his arms on either side of her next to the pillow and chased his need, pushing until he felt himself about to burst.

"Next time, I'm going to spend inside you. Tonight, I'll keep true to my word." Alfie pulled out and gripped his cock, pumping his hand up and down his hard length until at last, he spent over her stomach.

Marjorie panted, her eyes wide before she glanced down at her stomach, then grinned up at him, suddenly smug.

"You'll be the death of me, Jo." He laughed, his voice rough before kissing her for a moment. Lost in the feel of her, riding the wave of his own pleasure. Of how completely…

"I can't think of anything more perfect than right now." He kissed her forehead, then rolled off the bed, grabbing a napkin from the picnic basket and wiping her clean. He braced his arms over her, staring down at her smile and the way her eyes sparkled back at him, as though he was finally home.

The moment was suddenly overwhelming. He ducked his head and kissed her throat before her hands circled his cheeks and drew him upward. "Eyes on me, Alfie."

He grinned.

"I love you. Thank you. You kept your word and ruined me like a perfect gentleman."

"Only fair. You've ruined me for everyone else, sweet. You are it for me, Marjorie Merryweather."

Marjorie giggled, then fell onto the bed, where they dozed off for a time before finding their way to one another again.

Like it always should have been.

Perfect.

Just like his Marjorie.