Page 99 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

“Colin…” she gasped after he pushed her to the edge a third time. “Please… oh, Colin—ah!”

He felt his body respond to her feminine cries, could feel himself losing control. Holding her hips tightly in his hands, he surged into her. His hips snapped up to meet hers as her wet warmth clung to him, her hot sheath nearly driving him out of his mind.

He reached his peak with a roar of triumph, his voice mingling with Alice’s delighted cry. His seed burst into her as she held him tightly, milking him so deliciously until he had spent all of himself into her.

“I love you,” he told her, his voice hoarse. His arms wrapped around her still-shaking body, and he pressed a soft kiss to her brow. “I love you so much, Alice. My little lamb.”

“I love you, too,” she murmured sweetly. “Even though you can be such a beast.”

He laughed and held her close to him, their bodies still joined. “Do you know how much of a beast I can be, little lamb?”

She shook her head and laughed, but shining in her eyes was her response.

He groaned. “Sleep now. There will be time enough later for more.”

Alice let out a soft yawn and nuzzled into his chest. Moments later, he could feel her body relaxing against his, her breaths becoming more regular and even.

A serenity unlike anything he had ever known began to settle into Colin. As his eyes fluttered shut, he could not help but smile to himself.

He had been wrong about a great many things in his life, his parents included, but at least he got one thing right.

And he was holding her in his arms.

I hope you know what you are signing up for, little lamb. Because I am never letting you go again.

* * *

It was already daybreak when Colin awoke to a soft but persistent knocking on the door. In his arms, Alice began to stir before she nuzzled her nose into his chest again.

“Alice!” a fretful voice called insistently from the other side of the door. “Alice!”

At that sound, her beautiful green eyes flew open, and Colin sucked in a harsh breath at the sight. It was the most wondrous thing he had ever seen.

Alice, however, was in a right state of panic.

“Is that my mother at the door?” she gasped, instantly pulling the covers to her chest.

“Don’t!” Colin warned her, tugging at the other end of the sheet. “It has taken us such a convoluted way to get here. I shall not have you hide yourself from me.”

A delicate blush bloomed in her cheeks, and he had to resist the urge to kiss her once more.

“But my mother…” she trailed off.

But then the knocking stopped, and then Lady Brandon called out, her voice hesitant, “Your Grace?”

“She knows!” Alice moaned in abject misery. “She knows you are here!”

Colin laughed and held her close. “Fear not, my love. I am right here with you.”

“Well then,” Lady Brandon declared from the other side of the door, “I sincerely hope you will marry my daughter!”

Colin laughed as Alice buried her face in her hands in mortification. He pressed an ecstatic kiss to her head as he called out to the Marchioness, “Rest assured, Lady Brandon, I have every intention to!”

“Splendid!” the Marchioness exclaimed in satisfaction. “When you are—ahem!—so inclined, do inform the Dowager Countess of your intentions. We have a great deal of planning to do.”

“I shall do that as soon as possible, My Lady,” he replied with a grin.

“Well then, I shall excuse myself while you… discuss this with my daughter at greater length.”

---