Page 64 of A Kiss Of Lies

“Then we will retreat to Henslowe Court and live our lives in secret. I’m not giving you up, not ever. If we have to flee to the ends of the earth in order to stay together, we will. You, me, and Lily.”

“You would do that for me?”

“I’d die for you!” he exclaimed passionately.

“Even knowing what I have done and that I deceived you?”

“Yes,” he answered. “You’re not a murderess. You’re a survivor. A woman who was brave enough, and clever enough, to escape her fate. For I’m sure that had you stayed with Peter Dennett, he would have eventually killed you, just like my father killed my mother.”

“Brave? I’m not brave. I was petrified of him. The things I let him do to me . . .”

She looked at him with overwhelming self-hatred burning in her eyes.

“You’re brave because you took the risk of trusting again. You trusted me. I’m still humbled by that honor. You didn’t let a man like Peter Dennett destroy you or your life. What’s more, you have faced your fears. You let me into your bed. You trusted me with your body, and after what you’ve been through, that is quite an accomplishment. It’s something I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.”

“Thank you. Thank you for believing in me.” She hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry I’ve put you in this position. Perhaps it would be better if I left, just walked away forever. What will Lily think when she hears I killed my husband?”

“We will explain everything to her. Like you say, women should not be kept in the dark about men such as your husband. A woman shouldn’t have to defend herself against such violence. There is no excuse for Dennett’s actions, but there is for yours.” They held each other tightly. “You gave yourself to me and you are mine, mine to protect and to love.”

She leaned closer and kissed his brow. “I don’t deserve you, sweetheart.” She trailed soft fluttering kisses across his forehead, his eyelids, and his aristocratic nose. “I love you, Christian Trent. I hope you won’t live to regret this.”

“I’d regret it more if I let you go. I’ve wanted you so badly these last few days, I thought I’d combust.”

She moved to sit astride his lap. He’d believed her without any proof. He had accepted her deception as her right, given her situation. He still offered her his protection, and, most of all, he’d told her he still loved her. She wanted to prove how much his love and support meant to her. He had healed her and she was going to spend her life healing him and proving to him just how attracted she was to his radiant beauty, both internal and external. No man had moved her as much as he had. And no man had made desire flare with simply a smile. The pleasure he gave her when he worshiped her with his body, she would never take for granted. Tonight she wanted to make love to him. She wanted to give him untold pleasure with no thought to hers.

She captured his glittering gaze and with trembling hands freed his thick straining phallus from the confines of his breeches. His breathing grew ragged as she stroked him in her hands. She briefly left off her ministrations and untied her robe, shaking it off. Grabbing her night rail, she lifted it over her head.

He groaned and lowered his mouth to her breasts. She quivered as his warm hands clamped atop her thighs. She rose to her knees and guided him into her body. Her instigation of lovemaking, her willingness to take the lead, ignited something wild in him, just as his passion had set her soul on fire.

“I would never let any other man be where you are now. I’ll never love anyone the way I love you.” She set about proving how much he meant to her. She hoped by demonstrating how willing she was to make love with him, by loving him utterly, he would feel like a whole man again after the shattering blows to his pride of having not only his body but his face mocked and pitied by others. Each time she said she loved him she saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes. She wanted him to know her heart and know she spoke the truth.

She rocked slowly upon him watching the emotions play across his face. She loved the way he cupped her breasts; they fitted his hands perfectly. When he stroked her hardened nipples, she shuddered. He leaned forward and suckled each breast reverently. She rose to tease the tip of his cock before plunging down until he was buried to the hilt inside her.

He leaned back, his head resting on the back of the chair, and closed his eyes in bliss. “This is heaven. I never want to be anywhere else.”

His hand sought for the space between their bodies to find some part of her to pleasure, but she wouldn’t let him. “This is for you. I want you to enjoy me and think of yourself only for a change.” With lowered lashes, he accepted his gift.

His hands gripped her hips, and he couldn’t help but begin to thrust up into her. He let out a deep groan. After a few more slow teasing strokes, he gripped her harder, holding her so he could thrust just the way he wanted. She let him take control, for this was for him.

She could feel his breeches rubbing against her bare skin but did not dream of stopping him. Never in her life had she imagined that giving herself so completely to a man in this way—body and mind, heart and soul—could feel so wondrous.

She watched him, drinking in the beauty of his tense face, observing how the muscles in his neck corded with the tension of his desire, and how his eyes were hazed with passion and need.

His hunger for release grew and he thrust hot and hard between her legs, urgent and commanding with long, deep thrusts, almost dislodging her from his lap. She could feel her breasts bouncing with each deepening thrust.

His eyes flew open and he clutched one of her breasts in his hand. “Oh, God, Serena!” he gasped harshly, then went rigid and on the next mighty thrust he was seized by his climax with thunderous force. She leaned forward to clutch his shoulders in order to stay seated. His groan was long and penetrated to her very soul.

Afterward, only his panting filled the silence. He pulled her against him and hugged her tightly. She stroked his head. “I love you,” she whispered.

Still holding her close, he answered, “I hope you always will.”

She smiled into the dimly lit room at his pensive murmur. “I’ll keep saying it all my life until you believe it.”

Christian’s hand splayed against her back, a finger stroking her spine. “Are you going to marry me, then?”

She leaned back, disentangling from his warmth, and shivered. “Do you still want me, knowing you may never be able to tell the world about me and knowing you may be unable to ever acknowledge our children?”

“I don’t care about any of that. I just want to know that you’ll always be mine.”

---