“You smell like lavender,” he murmured. “It is intoxicating.”

Then, he took her lips in a searing kiss. His hand ran over her side as his fingers caressed her slowly, giving her time to get used to his attention.

She gasped, and he thrust his tongue into her mouth, their lips colliding and connecting in an endless dance as his hand slowly trailed down her body.

He pulled back, trying to see if there was any hesitation in her expression.

“Are you sure?” he asked, stilling above her.

She nodded, her eyes glassy.

Christian lowered his hand, running it down her stomach and her mound until his fingers slid into the juncture of her thighs.

Louise’s hands were clenched in the covers, her breasts rising and falling rhythmically as she panted beneath him.

“I shall show you how I can give you pleasure without breaking my word, Louise, and it will bemypleasure to watch you come undone at my hand.”

Slowly, he began to move his finger against her wet heat, circling the sensitive nub with minimal pressure at first. Louise closed her eyes and let out a quiet moan, her legs falling open as the tip of his finger prodded her entrance.

Her eyes opened as she looked down at him.

“All right?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “Keep going.”

She moaned as he slid his finger into her, and he felt her walls clench around him. She swallowed, her hands gripping the covers harder as her back arched off the bed, her breasts rising into the air—a perfect image that he knew he would never forget.

He withdrew his finger and slid it back into her, curling the tip as her body quivered with pleasure. Moans escaped her lips as he began to thrust into her, gently at first and then faster as her body came alive for him.

Unable to resist any longer, Christian lowered himself between her legs, withdrawing his finger and lapping at her entrance instead.

Louise covered her face with her hands, her legs opening further as he pushed his tongue against her repeatedly until she was screaming in ecstasy.

Christian continued to pleasure her, watching as she reached her peak with a stuttering, jerky movement that he wished to see again and again.

He collapsed to the floor, staring at the marvel that was his wife. She had come alive for him, her body writhing and singing beneath him just as he had imagined it.

I never knew taming the Iron Harridan would elicit such exquisite pleasure.

CHAPTER 19

Louise lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to catch her breath. Her body was pliant and soft, the curve of her back smooth against the cool sheets.

She looked down her still naked body to Christian, who was leaning against the bed, his head turned away from her.

Slowly, she pulled her robe around herself again and sat up. Christian rose also and turned to her with a soft smile, holding out his hand. She took it, and he pulled her out of bed, before tenderly wrapping her robe around her.

“Are you well?” he asked.

Louise watched him carefully, sensing a change in him that she wasn’t certain what it meant. “Quite well. Are you?”

He kissed her cheek. It was strangely formal, and she felt a shiver that had nothing to do with pleasure run down her spine.

“I amverywell, I assure you,” he said casually and went to the chair beside the bed to fetch her nightgown.

Louise watched his lazy movements. Without his coat on, he looked disheveled and informal, but his expression made her uneasy.

He seems dismissive suddenly, as though he already got what he wanted and now he will move on.