Lady Guinevere and the Rogue with a Brogue - Julie Johnstone Page 0,90

left her lungs as exquisite pleasure ripped through her, making her tremble. She ran her hands up the muscles of his back and then down over his perfectly formed buttocks, and gave him a squeeze.

He paused in his ministrations to lift his head and offered her an arresting smile. “So ye want to get playful, aye, ye wee wicked lass?”

His brogue had turned heavy, and it made her belly flutter in anticipation. Asher may be a duke now, but he’d grown up having to fight to survive. He didn’t suppress his emotions as most Englishmen she knew did, which was what had first drawn her to him. There was nothing cool about him. He was an inferno, and she wanted him to burn her, brand her with his body and his love.

“I want to be wicked with you,” she confessed, heat singeing her cheeks at her bold words.

“Ah, lass.” He stroked a hand down between her breasts, across her belly, and to her skirts, which he slowly lifted with both hands. “I’m more than happy to oblige.” And as quick as a few breaths, he had her unmentionables off as well as his remaining clothing. She helped him, of course, with desperate tugs and pulls at his trousers, and when he stood before her, she stared at his beautiful body unabashedly. Every inch of him was virile and honed and hers.

He crooked a finger at her while smiling suggestively. She stepped toward him only to have him reach out and grasp her by the waist and tug her firmly against his body. Desire spiraled through her. His hand was on her thigh, then lifting it and hoisting her leg over his hip, and then her other foot left the ground as he drew her up, one hand under her buttocks and one still on her leg. He moved her backward with ease until her spine pressed against the wall. Her breath came out in harsh, uneven spurts, and his own breathing was ragged in her ear as he leaned forward. “Ye are my wife now, and ye are mine.”

He hesitated long enough for his eyes to meet hers. He hitched one eyebrow, and she knew he was making certain she was ready for him. “Yes,” she said, breathless, unable to manage more than that. “Yes. Yes.” And with that, he slid into her, filling her.

He began to move in a slow rhythm that built the heat within her until she was demanding, in a most unladylike voice, that he go faster. He obliged with a devilish grin, and everything faded but the two of them. The swell of his muscles under her fingertips. The heat of him. The dizzying motions that made her core tighten more and more until everything inside her felt as if it would burst, and her body coiled before wave after wave of ecstasy flowed through her.

Just when she thought she would never experience a greater pleasure in her life, he hoisted her higher and drove all the way into her as his own body tightened, his fingers curling into her skin, a guttural growl coming from him, and then he filled her with his seed as he captured her mouth for a long, sweet kiss.

“Ye are mine,” he said in her ear once more. The words reminded her of what her mother had said about even the most confident men needing reassurance.

Gathering her courage, she pressed her lips to his ear and said, “I am yours. Never doubt it. I love you.”

He stilled completely, and her heart skipped several beats as he drew back and their gazes collided. Would he tell her, as well? He set her on her feet and pressed her hand to his pounding heart. “Mo chridhe.” He cupped her face then, leaving her hand on his chest as his heart thumped against the tingling pads of her fingers. He gave her a soft, reverent kiss, and said, “If ye are giving yer love truly, I will take it, mo ghraidh.”

Truly? If?

Guinevere barely resisted the urge to bite her lip in consternation. He doubted her.

The realization struck her hard. Could she blame him when she coupled the things she’d said to him since his return to England about Kilgore with the skit she had foolishly gone along with and then her lady’s maid being at Kilgore’s house? She could try to explain, but however would she explain sending a note to Kilgore to meet her? Thank God Kilgore had been out of