see this ingenious contraption.”
Finlay grinned and pulled down the blinds. He rose to her challenge in more ways than one. With masculine arrogance, he unbuttoned the placket of his breeches and let his throbbing manhood spring free.
“Definitely hard, and more than substantial,” she hummed.
“Perhaps you’d like to test if it’s fit for purpose.”
“I’m confident it is, Mr Cole. But in the interest of safety, I feel an evaluation is in order.”
Sophia wasted no time. She hiked her skirts to her waist and straddled his muscular thighs.
The first delicious slide down onto his shaft tore a moan from her throat.
“Yes, Finlay,” she panted as she took every irresistible inch of him. He was so thick and hot. She closed her eyes and let the love in her heart mingle with the lust in her veins.
“Damn, love, you feel so good.”
She forced her eyes open, needing to witness the hunger in his midnight eyes, needing to see his jaw clenched in lustful savagery.
“To conduct a proper test, I must mimic the bumps in the road.” She inhaled deeply, came up on her knees and then sank slowly back down.
“Mmm. You’re as wet as I expected, but the ride is somewhat bumpier than that, love.”
He smoothed his hands down her back, edged under her skirts and gripped her bare buttocks. The devil parted her cheeks, opening her sex as he jerked his hips and guided her up and down the length of his erection.
Heavens above. Maybe Finlay knew a spell to make a woman climax quickly in a moving carriage. Every time he squeezed and parted her buttocks, her sex pulsed.
“Yes, we need a little more bounce,” she breathed, her thoughts lost in a haze of desire. She obliged by grabbing the lapels of his coat as if they were reins, by finding a faster rhythm that had Finlay’s breath coming as hard as hers.
“That’s it,” he growled. “Ride the hell out of me.”
The rhythmical rocking of the carriage served to heighten their pleasure.
The tightening of her stomach muscles, and the wild thrusting of his manhood, pushed her closer to the edge of something spectacular. Her nipples ached for his mouth. Her sex welcomed the constant pounding.
He must have sensed her sudden desperation because he whispered, “Come for me, Sophia.”
His mouth settled on the swell of her breasts. One hand left her buttock to grip his manhood and pull himself free from her body. She almost groaned with frustration, until he rubbed the head over her clitoris and they both found their release.
The pleasure was explosive.
It left them gasping and panting.
Lord, six hours confined to a carriage suddenly seemed no hardship.
As they came down from the heady heights of ecstasy, he stroked her cheek. “I believe you enjoy seducing me, madam.”
Sophia pressed her lips to his, so utterly captivated by this man. “I enjoy showing you how it feels to be alive, Finlay.”
Chapter 14
Dr Goodwin lived between Wolvercote and Godstow in a large thatched house with sprawling gardens overlooking the Thames. Indeed, his ancestors had owned the house for two hundred years, and the doctor inherited the property upon his father’s death five years ago.
“Have you ever offered the doctor a room for the night?” Finlay climbed out of the conveyance at the gate leading to the doctor’s house and stared at the picturesque scene.
“Of course. I offered him the use of the cottage when I first brought Jessica to Blackborne.” She accepted Finlay’s proffered hand and stepped down to the ground. “Though I get the sense he dislikes the house. He’s a busy man, I know, but he is always in a hurry to leave.”
“One presumes he’s good friends with Mr Archer. The weekly journey must be taxing, and he has kept Jessica’s secret for years.”
Sophia brushed her skirts, her pulse racing when she recalled the reason for the creases. “They grew up together, though the doctor is a few years older. Mr Archer’s parents lived in a manor house in Wolvercote.”
“Are his parents alive?”
“No. Mr Archer sold the house and used the funds to set up business in India.”
There had been whisperings the Archers weren’t as affluent as they portrayed. But the gentleman hadn’t needed to marry for a dowry—he had happily married Maud.
“Is there another doctor in the area?” Finlay removed his hat briefly and combed his hair with his fingers. “With Oxford being five miles away, there must be a few medical men willing to cover the surrounding villages.”
Sophia shrugged. “From what he told me, Dr Goodwin replaced Dr