Page 58 of Earl for the Summer
As he slipped his tongue between her lips, he slid inside her. She was so aroused, so wet from his mouth and her release that he filled her easily. At first, the fullness felt strange, but only for a moment because as soon as he pulled back, she wanted more.
When she made a little mewling sound of need, Cassian stilled.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered with a smile, reaching up to stroke the hair from his forehead. “I trust you.”
“I’ll never stop loving you.” He smiled too, no doubt remembering the first time she’d said the words to him in Hillcrest’s hedge maze.
Then he filled her again, deeper, and she gasped at how right it felt. As he built a rhythm, she bent her knees, then reached down to grip his hip, as if she could pull him closer. Needing him closer. He captured her lips and kissed her fiercely, one hand tangled in her hair.
With every stroke, every kiss, he made her his. Whenever he looked at her, even as he seemed to struggle for control, she saw love in his eyes. Felt it in the way he touched her, kissed her, filled her.
The pull began anew, her body reaching for a pinnacle that made heart race and drew her muscles taut. Cassian lifted his head and watched her as he reached between their bodies, his fingers going unerringly to that sensitive flesh that pushed her higher and then tipped her over the edge.
She cried out his name, scraped her fingernails across his back, and then his mouth was on hers again as he found his own release.
He nuzzled her neck, kissed her heated skin, whispered, “My love” like a promise. Like a vow.
Then as he shifted to move away from her, Daphne immediately wanted the weight and warmth of him back, but he made no move to get out of bed or dress.
He settled next to her, then pulled her into his arms. They lay entangled, sated, wrapped in each other’s arms as their breathing slowed. Cassian reached down for a blanket to pull it up over her, but she didn’t need it. His body warmed her like a furnace, and she’d never felt more content.
“My sister will come looking for me eventually,” she said as she lay with her cheek against his chest, savoring the strong, steady beat of his heart.
“They went into the village with Edgerton to the local summer fair.”
Daphne grinned. “Did they indeed?” She stroked her fingers through the curly dark hair on his chest. “Then we have time for…” Lifting her head, she arched one brow at him. “More?”
He chuckled so low, it sounded smoky and utterly enticing. “My insatiable wife-to-be.”
Daphne inched up until they were face to face, then reached out to trace his lips with her fingertip. “Perhaps now is a good time to mention that I want a houseful of children.”
For a moment, his eyes grew serious.
“We’ll make sure they’re loved,” she whispered, fearing he was recalling his own childhood. She understood a bit of the horror of what his father had done to him and his brother, and she knew it had left him wounded inside, doubting himself.
But she knew how powerful a loving family could be, and she trusted they could build one together.
He reached down, stroking a hand down her back, then rolled their bodies until he arched over her again. “A whole houseful?”
“Can you bear it?”
He smiled. “I think I could, love.”
EPILOGUE
Three Years Later
Heveston Hall
Kent
Seagulls wheeled overhead, and Cassian held tight to his daughter’s hand as they walked along the seaside cliffs near Heveston. Little Portia had a passion for rocks, and by the time they took the path back home, she’d no doubt have one in hand and more in her pockets.
Daphne had begun collecting them and was determined to use them to create a little mosaic to put in the garden.
“We should wait for Mama,” he told his rambunctious child with hair the same gold shade as her mother’s.
Portia stopped and turned back immediately. “Leo!” she shouted into the wind.
