Page 79 of A Rogue's Rules for Seduction
She turned her face into his chest, overwhelmed, heart full to brimming, joyous. And afraid.
Chapter 25
The silence woke him. They were in bed, his body curved around Willa as she slept, one of his arms draped over her protectively. He must have shifted slightly, because she murmured something indecipherable before nestling deeper into the shelter he provided.
Soft gray light seeped into the cabin—it was shortly after sunrise. But the lack of sound made him lift up onto an elbow and cock his head, trying to discern what, exactly, was happening.
The rain had stopped. The storm was over. And instead of the roaring of the swollen river, he could just make out the quieter trickling noise of a much smaller creek.
Disappointment hit him, hard and sharp. There was no denying the truth of it: their time in the cabin would have to end soon.
Not yet, not yet, his heart demanded. He lay back down, staring at the timbered ceiling.
It didn’t have to happen right away. They could enjoy these last few hours, wringing joy out of what they did have left.
He’d never let anyone strike him with a crop or tie him up before—it was exactly right that she was the one person he’d permitted to do it. And she’d been perfect.
Then, to give him such complete trust to bind her, to let him use her and pleasure her in new and forbidden ways...God, had anyone ever been given such a gift? One he’d cherish forever, as if she’d handed him his own missing heart.
He cradled her closer.
“...have to be here...” a man’s voice said.
“...no other logical place...” a woman added.
Dom bolted upright.Fuck.
He knew those voices. Finn and Tabitha. Growing closer.
“...never built a bridge before...” That was Kieran.
“...did a lovely job, notwithstanding...”Celeste.
Dom leapt from the bed and tugged on his breeches. “Shit, shit, shit.”
He ran to the window to see his two friends and their wives setting a roughly constructed short wooden bridge over the now diminished creek. Once the structure was in place, Kieran stepped onto it first, testing it beneath his weight. Unfortunately, the damned bridge held, and in a moment,he was on the near side of the bank, waving for the others to join him.
Dom spun away from the window and sprinted to where Willa’s shift and gown were draped over a chair. He snatched up the garments on his way to the bed, where she still slept.
“Willa,” he said, then, more insistently,“Willa. Get up. Get dressed.Now.”
She barely stirred, and the blame was his, really, for wearing her out with bout after bout of lovemaking.
Though he hated to do it, he shook her. “Willa, you have to wake up.”
One of her eyes cracked open. “Whass goin’ on?”
“Kieran and Finn and their wives are here.”
She closed her eye and nestled deeper beneath the blanket. “Thass nice.”
“Willa.”
Before he could do something drastic, like drag her from the bed and shove her clothes on, the Ransome brothers’ voices grew nearer. In a minute, they’d be on the front porch. There wasn’t bloody time.
He strode to the door just as a knock sounded.
Pulling it open, he did his best to try to block the view of inside the cabin, using his body as a shield. Finn, Kieran, Tabitha, and Celeste all stood on the porch, looking at him with bewildered expressions. Only when Tabitha reddened and turnedaway did Dom realize that he’d neglected to put on a shirt. All he had on was a pair of breeches, and since they’d been hastily fastened, they hung low on his hips. Celeste became very interested in the construction of the porch’s roof.
