Page 30 of Winning the Wallflower's Heart
But he knew, without a doubt, he loved his wife—Lady Linfield.
There was a soft knock at the door. He spun around just in time to see Georgiana slip through. A click followed, and she turned, holding up a key.
“Marjorie doesn’t like to be disturbed when she’s writing. She always makes a habit to leave a key by the library door wherever she stays,” she explained, placing it back in the tiny porcelain dish on the shelf.
His heart pounded as she moved toward him, the soft rustle of her skirts unbearably loud in the silence. The world could have been ending outside that door, but it wouldn’t have stopped him. He strode up to her, curling one hand around her waist to pull her close, the other to cradle her face.
“Georgiana.” He held her gaze, giving her one last chance to stop him.
She didn’t. Instead, she tilted her chin up, her lips parting in invitation.
His restraint snapped. With a low groan, he kissed her, slow and deep, pouring every ounce of feeling he’d bottled up into that single touch. Her hands fisted in his jacket, holding him tight, and she let out a small moan that undid him. He needed more—needed her—but he forced himself to draw back, breaking the kiss just enough to speak.
“We can’t stay here long,” he murmured, brushing his lips over her jaw, down to the sensitive spot just beneath her ear. “But I can’t wait until we’re home either.”
The sound of her breath hitching, the way she swayed into him—he’d remember this moment forever.
“For a moment, though, can you show me what is behind those eyes of yours tonight, Ellis?”
“A moment? I’d give my soul to hear you beg one more time, and it still wouldn’t be enough. You’ve wrecked me, Georgie. I can’t think… can’t sleep. I need you and still…”
She pressed her palm to his cheek, her eyes so full of adoration. For him.
At least he’d go to hell satisfied. “Damn it, Kitten. You’re perfection.”
The soft breathy chuckle that fell from her lips went straight to his cock.
“I love when you…” her voice dropped to a whisper, “when you say things like that to me.”
Her hand curled back to his nape, and she flexed her fingers, dragging her nails against his skin and sending a shiver of anticipation up his spine.
Desperate to taste her, he bent forward and licked a line up her neck and chased it with the press of his nose until he kissed the corner of her jaw. Georgiana melted back against the wall, clutching his jacket.
“You love when I say what?”
“Don’t tease.”
“You? I’d never imagine it. I’m a man who delivers, sweet. You tell me what you…”Lovesat heavy in his mouth, and he swallowed, tamping down the panic sweeping over him. “Tell me what you want.”
Her fingers trailed down his jacket, playing with the buttons of his waistcoat. “Are you going to ruin me here in this library like some hidden tryst, Ellis? Like I was any other debutante in London who recklessly caved to the handsome rake?”
Oh, but she was as frustrating as she was gorgeous. “You’re my wife.”
“Say it again.”
“Mine.Mywife, Georgie. No one is ruining you except me, understood?”
She slipped a button free on his vest, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “Can a husband ruin his wife? I thought that was only for unmarried debutantes.”
“Make no mistake, Kitten, I plan to ruin you for the sake of all others. You will want me and only me. Like you’ve ruined me. I am hopelessly?—”
Then, she fisted his shirt and pulled him down to her mouth. “I already am yours,” she whispered against his lips.
Georgiana’s heartbeatthrummed in her ears.
There, the truth of it was out. For years she had been his, even if she had never caught his notice. She had hopelessly loved him since that evening at the stable, then just a young girl at fifteen. And she had carried that love for him around for years when the rest of the world had gone dark.
Panic surged through her body as his mouth crashed against hers in a desperate, frantic kiss. All teeth and tongue and worry and promise.
