Page 40 of Lord Ramsey's Red-Headed Ruin
She put her forehead to his shoulder and spread little kisses on his throat. “You are my new obsession, Ram.”
As he reveled in her boldness, he sank his fingers in her hair. “We’ll see how well you like me when I never let you rest at night.”
“We’ll see how well you like me when I match you.”
But in one thing, he always exceeded her. He loved her.
To continue to bury himself deep inside her, he would give her all of him she wanted—and demand of himself he let go the fear that she would never love him in return.
*
Ram arranged aroom for them at an auberge on thequaiof the Meuse.
The inn was not only ancient, but smelled of old hay and mold. Ram groused that the place was not up to his standards of cleanliness. They accepted the faults because the inn was located in the center of town, and he wished to be there to overhear gossip in the streets.
Amber just wished to have him as soon as possible again. Eager for his affections, she felt the prickle of expectation whenever he looked at her. He hid nothing of his desire for her. The man made her feel free for the first time in years. To her surprise, she welcomed liberation from the cares and responsibilities that had always dogged her in Paris.
She certainly had become assertive in her desire for him. She’d never been that way with Maurice. Her husband had always initiated their sexual encounters. But then, this morningit occurred to her that if she did not show Ram how much she wanted him, he would not be the aggressor.
His sense of honor was greater than any other man she had ever known. For that, she admired him—and wanted him all the more.
*
Torrential rain keptthem inside that first afternoon. Amber told him she didn’t mind. To which Ram replied that they could take the opportunity to stay inside and work on their own special techniques.
She chuckled. “The weather cooperates.”
The next morning, he grinned as he rose from their bed. She openly admired his physique. His broad shoulders, slim hips, and muscular legs were almost as intriguing as his tight buttocks. Other parts of him appealed to her even more.
“The sun does shine today,” he told her with a peek out the window.
“Such a shame,” she said as she threw back the covers. “I was hoping to perfect our methods.”
He swung toward her, hands on his hips, and his body showed healthy signs that he agreed with her. “We don’t want to miss breakfast.”
“Think you’ll starve?” she purred, and bent one knee.
His shining blue eyes twinkled as they skimmed her naked form. “Not if we share a little apéritif.”
“Not little at all,” she joked with an eye on his eagerness. She opened her arms to him as he came to her and covered her with his warm iron body.
It was nine as they wended their way along the twisting corridors down the stone steps to the common room and took a bench in one corner. They relished their fare of oats, eggs, andsmoked sausage. Sated by their hearty meal, they gazed at each other so endearingly that the owner’s wife commented on it.
“Married recently, are you?” she asked in a mash of French and German.
“We are,” Ram replied in French.
“Enjoy it now,” she instructed them. “The years wear you down, like rain on rock.”
Amber smiled politely, but inside, she resented the woman’s dim view. She watched her leave them, wishing the woman would take her negativity with her. “I believe marriage can be joyous and loving for many years in a thousand ways.”
Ram reached across the top of the table and took Amber’s hand. “Don’t mind her.”
“I lived it with Maurice. Couples have problems, but isn’t it their duty to work them out, like wrinkles and tears in a yard of fabric? I realize many wed for all the wrong reasons. Money, position, power. But if two people begin well, if they admire each other, why can they not improve themselves as they improve the whole?”
Ram examined her frown. “Don’t allow her to sour your day.”
“You’re right.” She twirled her fingers on the table. “I am…opinionated. And irritable. But we have work to do.”
