Page 52 of Surrendering to a Fiery Lady

“Yes, but I wish to say it again.”

“I have a good memory; I can remember it from the first time.”

“You’re teasing me!”

“Yes, it’s what we do. I rather like teasing you,” he said and moved toward her. Ophelia was still caught up in her guilt. She wanted to apologise for a third time but before the words could escape her lips, Elliot stepped so near to her that the words died in her throat.

“You’re rather close,” she whispered as his head bent towards hers.

“You don’t seem to mind it,” he observed slowly.

“I thought you…” She sighed deeply, thinking of how he had not come to her chamber of late.

“Thought I what?” he prompted her on.

“The other day, after we…” She struggled to say the words.

“You can say ‘made love,’ you know.” He reached for her hands. When the backs of his fingers brushed hers, she felt a jolt through her body. It was a spark, one of excitement that reminded her of all they had done a few days ago.

“You left so quickly.” The words escaped Ophelia in a rushed breath. The moment the words were out of her mouth, Elliot’s eyes widened, and he stood a little straighter.

“Ah. Is that what this is about?” he asked, chuckling a little. “Do you think I regretted what we shared?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” She fidgeted on her feet, finding the temptation to keep their fingers in this flirtatious touch a little too strong to resist. She maintained that touch, watching as his eyes kept flicking down to look at their hands. “I was rather surprised to wake up and find you gone.”

“I had things to do. Believe me, Ophelia, I did not regret it.”

He stepped closer to her, his lips finding their way to her cheek. The first kiss had her breath hitching before she angled her head and met his lips with her own. The kiss was instantly fierce, so full of passion that their hands no longer lightly touched one another’s but ended up clutched together.

With that kiss, Ophelia quite forgot the distance that was between them. She just had to say one more thing first. She pulled back from the kiss, making him growl a little.

“You don’t want the kiss to end?” she teased him.

“Was the noise I made a giveaway?” He laughed at himself.

“I just wanted to say, I am sorry,” she murmured the words, making him smile once again.

“Ophelia, please, stop apologising. Leaving a door unlocked is quite frankly one of the easiest things to do in this world.” He shrugged, showing how much it didn’t matter to him. “I am not angry. Would you forgive me my initial tenseness?”

“Tenseness?” She laughed at his choice of word. “I would have called it anger.”

“Maybe it was a little, but that was just at losing the horses, not at you. We found them all again, so there is no harm done.”

“Apart from this tiredness,” she gestured with the words to his face, “and the dirt to your trousers.” She pointed down at what he was wearing.

“I am not too tired,” he said, his smile beginning to grow.

“No? So, you don’t wish to sleep yet?” Ophelia couldn’t help the hope that spiked inside of her. It made her heart beat harder in her chest, echoing in her ears.

“I find I have no wish for sleep.” He moved closer.

“What do you wish for?” she teased him, just hovering back a little—a mere centimetre separating her from giving him another kiss.

“Let me show you.”

This time, she didn’t stay back. As Elliot kissed her, Ophelia forgot about all the odd things that had passed between them. She ignored the distance and the anger they had both felt earlier that evening. She thought only of the way he kissed her. It was full of passion as he explored her mouth, urging her to angle her head up toward him.

When he wrapped an arm around her waist, she moulded her body to his own, keeping their bodies flush together. The press of his body was enough to drive her wild, making her body remember the pleasure that she had felt a few days before. The mere memory of it had a pool of wetness building between her legs.

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