My One and Only Earl (Forever Yours #12) - Stacy Reid Page 0,51

I promise it,” he said gruffly.

The clenching emptiness and the aloneness she had endured for so long were filled. A long sigh of pleasure escaped her, and she wrapped her hands around his neck. “I trust you, James.”

He jolted in her arms, then, with a harsh groan, buried his face in the curve of her neck. James withdrew from her and thrust deep. Poppy cried out at the overwhelming sensation of his manhood filling her once more. He lifted his face from her neck, held her gaze, refusing to release her, and began to ride her in a deep, hard, beautiful rhythm.

Pleasure mingled with pain with each deep erotic plunge and retreat. Poppy wrapped her legs high around his hips, her arousal deepening despite lifting her legs, clasped him even deeper inside her body and making the aching pressure in her sex more overwhelming.

It was ecstasy. She writhed beneath him, hips arching, craving to get closer. The coil in her belly drew tighter and tighter, and the pleasure burned hotter. Distantly she became aware of her thighs trembling, of her wetness, of the almost painful need closing around her entire body. That coil burst, and Poppy could only gasp as the most nerve-wracking pleasure she had ever felt tore through her body, leaving her drained and sated.

James kissed her, and seconds later, he hugged her into a tight embrace, and with a groan, found his own release.

“Bloody hell,” she said against his mouth. “That was beautiful.”

James laughed, his shoulders shaking. “You perfectly echoed my sentiments.”

He gently withdrew from her and gathered her into the curve of his arms.

“Why would you run from this?” she asked after a breathless moment.

He stiffened. “Poppy—”

“I know,” she said gently and with soft humor.

“I can only offer you now…this moment. It is the reason I tried to stay away from you because I know I am not able to make you promises. Promises you so richly deserve.”

She shifted in his arms, turning onto his chest so she could see his face. Poppy touched his mouth with trembling fingers. “I am not a debutante that was ruthlessly seduced by a bounder. I allowed you to ravage me because I wanted you…I wanted this. No other reason.”

They stared at each other for long moments before he slowly nodded. “I am going to clean us up, and then….”

“Yes?”

“We are going to do this all over again.”

Poppy’s laugh was swallowed by his tender kiss against her bruised and well-ravished mouth. Oh yes, she most definitely wanted to do this again.

Chapter 14

I’ll be sure to marry you, Poppy Ashford. Somehow I’ll find a way.

Had Poppy heard those words when she drifted off into exhausted slumber snuggled inside James’s arms? When he had roused her from her sleep only an hour later, it had been to get her to dress hurriedly, and then they bundled into his carriage to take her home. He had even alighted from the equipage some houses down from her sister’s townhome, ensured her veil was fixed and assured her he would call on her soon. It wasn’t until Poppy had sneaked inside the home through the kitchens and run to her room that she recalled that faint promise at her temple.

Poppy was not sure what to call what they had done three times last night. She had been thoroughly ravished. It had been perfectly wonderful and breathlessly pleasurable. Her cheeks heated, and Poppy did her best to direct her thoughts to memories that did not cause her heart to stutter and her entire body to flush.

She had to come up with a plan once again. She could not marry another when she was in love with James. He might never marry her or anyone else until three years had passed. Poppy needed to understand the fullness of that oath. And she was almost certain she could not remain living with her stepmother and stepsisters anymore. It also felt wrong to take any money from James, knowing how hard he worked, and that his estates were still in the red.

Poppy was not afraid of working as a governess. A rueful smile curved her mouth that she had come full circle.

A sharp knock sounded, and she lifted her fingers from the piano keys. Her gentle playing over the last thirty minutes was perhaps irritating her stepmother as it always did, and the butler was here to inform her of it.

“Yes?”

The butler opened the door. “A Mr. Winters has called for you, Miss Poppy. He awaits you in the