“Sounds good to me,” Victor announced as he joined them. “I had some of the furniture I ordered delivered to my new townhouse just this morning and am looking forward to spending the rest of the evening in my new bed.”
“You needn’t move out, you know. The house here is more than large enough to accommodate the four of us,” Kolton reminded him.
“Quite right, you know, but there comes a time when a man needs to launch his own ship, so to speak.”
Kolton raised a wry brow. He had a pretty good idea what ‘ship’ his brother wanted to launch, and why his sibling was not anxious to readily have the rest of the family privy to which ports he chose to ‘dock’ it in.
“Yes, well,” Kolton said clearing his throat, “Just remember to visit your family on occasion.”
“Do not fret, dear brother. I intend to make it a point to be quite the nuisance when the spirit moves me.”
“Well, I, for one, will miss you terribly,” Pru informed him as the group headed for the door after they bid their hostess good evening.
“Ah, sweet cousin, you warm my heart,” Victor replied, placing his hand over his heart with exaggerated emotion.
Pru sighed and shook her head. “Honestly, Victor, I will need boots and a shovel if you don’t stop layering it on so thick.”
“I quite agree,” Victoria chimed in as their carriage pulled up.
Victor sighed dramatically as he handed his stepmother into the waiting coach. “You will miss my complimentary disposition when I am gone, just you wait and see.”
Kolton helped Pru enter the coach after Victoria. He then turned to his brother and gave him a hearty slap on the back. “That, brother, remains to be seen.”
***
Kolton finished the last of his scotch and set the empty glass aside. He’d dismissed Rupert an hour ago, and was now seated in his private sitting room waiting for enough time to pass so he could safely go to Pru.
It felt like forever since he’d held her in his arms. He couldn’t wait for the blasted wedding to be done with. He hated sneaking about his own house in order to be with the woman he loved.
Kolton shook his head. Loved? Did he
love
Pru?
There was really no sense in denying it. He did love her. When had it started? When she turned his first proposal down flat? Or had it been during their time in the cabin when he got his first glimpse of the real Pru, the beautiful woman with a quixotic sense of humor?
He’d never met a woman like her. She asked nothing from him. Didn’t care about money or title, and they could spend time together without the need to fill lulls in conversation with idle chatter. She didn’t toady to him, but stood her ground. Pru was passionate, beautiful, and made him feel...whole.
But what of her feelings for him? Did she love him? He thought she might be beginning to. He couldn’t say why he felt that way; it was just something he sensed. She said she wasn’t looking for love, but that didn’t me she
couldn’t
love him.
He drummed his fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair and looked at the clock on the mantle. He would give it another ten minutes . . .
The hell he would.
Kolton stood and strode purposely to the door.
Chapter Seventeen
Prudence put down the book she was reading when she heard the light knock on her door. She hadn’t been able to concentrate on it anyway. She couldn’t stop thinking about her feelings for Kolton and what to do about them.
He’d said that he wanted a real marriage with love, affection, trust, and fidelity. She wanted that as well, but could he provide it for her? Would it last? What if something happened to test that love?
She climbed out of bed and checked herself over briefly in the mirror. She’d been expecting him, even put on her best nightgown and brushed her hair until it shined. She had also prepared herself for their lovemaking with the contents of the little box.
Satisfied with what she saw in the mirror – or at least as satisfied as she could get – Prudence crossed the room and opened the door. Kolton entered without a word and shut the door behind him. He turned the key in the lock before taking her in his arms and kissing her senseless.
“I’ve missed you, Pru,” he said with a sigh as he loosened his hold and gazed down at her. There was something different about the way he looked at her. His eyes traveled intently over her features, his expression filled with desire, but there was something else there, something softer.
“You silly man,” she said with a smile, sliding her arms around his neck and running her fingers through his silky brown hair, “We were together but two hours ago.”
“Not like this,” he answered, nuzzling her neck. “Not as closely, and especially not with so little between us.” He flexed his hips, sliding his hard member against her belly, his robe providing little barrier between them. She shivered, her body responding at once as arousal licked at her womb, the apex of her thighs growing moist, drenched with desire.
“You know, we really shouldn’t do this, we are bound to be found out,” she reminded him without much conviction as she tilted her head to the side, giving him easier access to her neck.
“You are most assuredly correct,” he agreed, his lips traveling along her jaw. “But it appears I am not the most patient of men. Waiting weeks to be with you again is something which seems beyond my ability to endure.”
He took her mouth with his. Instead of the hungry, plundering kiss she expected, his lips were gentle and persuasive, as if she were something fragile and cherished he was afraid might shatter. Prudence felt a surge of emotion well up inside her, a sense of warmth that wanted to overflow and wrap Kolton in its embrace. She pressed her body against him, unable to get close enough as she poured all her love into her kiss.
Kolton gave a soft groan and deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping past her lips to stroke hers gently. His hands traveled over her back, reaching down to clasp her bottom and pull her against his flexing hips. Prudence’s heart rate accelerated and her breathing grew light and rapid.
Kolton pulled back panting. “I need you now Pru, all of you,” he said in a husky voice. Prudence looked into his eyes and was shocked by what she saw. It wasn’t the heated, hungry look she’d seen before. She struggled to put her finger on exactly what it was, something needy, almost desperate; something that pulled at her heart.
He swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed where he laid her down and stripped her of her nightgown. He unbelted his robe, tossing it aside, and stretched his hard length atop her.
He groaned as he slid his arms around her and molded her body against him. “You feel so good. I don’t think I will ever be able to get enough of you,” he whispered before he lowered his head and kissed her deeply.
Little whimpers and sighs escaped her as he ran his hands and lips over her, making her blood boil as it raced through her veins and the area between her legs burn with need.
“Kolton, please,” she begged breathlessly when she could take no more.
“Yes, love, yes.” He parted her thighs, positioning himself at her entrance, and entered her in one long deep thrust.
He paused when he was fully seated inside her, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “Oh, God, sweetheart, the feel of you…what you do to me…” He opened his eyes and gazed down at her with tender possessiveness as he began moving his hips, sliding his hard staff in and out of her, setting a slow deliberate pace.
Prudence wrapped her arms around him and matched his movements with her own, her eyes never leaving his. She couldn’t look away, his expression captivated her, made her heart race and sweet pleasure unfurl within her.
His hips moved faster, his brows furrowing, his expression turning urgent and raw. “God, Pru,” he rasped his voice heavy with emotion, “I love you.” He lowered his head and took her mouth in a hungry kiss.
Prudence’s eyes flew wide open.
Oh my God! He said he loved me.
The realization sent her spinning out of control. Her body suddenly was not her own, but his—she was his. Her climax seized her with a strength she’d never experienced before. She writhed and arched beneath him, grinding her hips against his as spasms of pleasure wracked her body.
***
Kolton groaned loudly, thrusting harder, his sacks heavy and tight with unspent passion. He crushed her to him, burying his face in her shoulder. “Pru. Oh, Pru,” he choked as every muscle stiffened and strained toward his own release. His control evaporated; his body no longer under his control. Pumping his cock madly in and out of her, he flew over the edge. Throwing back his head, he gave a choked cry. He dropped his head and kissed her with all the wild passion seizing every fiber of his being as his seed shot from him in forceful jets.
As the shudders of pleasure wracking his body slowly eased, Kolton collapsed. He kissed her over and over. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t get enough, couldn’t keep his hips from continuing to move against her. His chest felt full to bursting with a myriad of emotions; love, tenderness, protectiveness, joy.
His movements soon slowed to a stop and he raised himself to his elbows and gazed down into her face. Her eyes were wide, filled with wonder and surprise as she stared back at him.
He’d said it. Said he loved her. He had not really meant to tell her so soon, but hadn’t been able to help himself. How would she react?
“W-What? Did you say what I think you did, Kolton?”
Not with tears of joy and immediate confession of love in return, apparently.
Not that he had really expected it, but it would have been nice.
Kolton brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear with an unsteady hand. “Yes.”
Pru pushed at his chest. He slid off her and propped himself on his side next to her. She sat up and pulled the blankets up, covering her breasts in a protective gesture before her lids lowered and she turned away from him.
Not the reaction I hoped for
, he thought, fighting the urge to squirm nervously.
“You don’t have to—you know, say that—if you don’t really feel that way. I mean, things can be said in the heat of passion—”
“No, Pru,” he interrupted, deciding not to hide his feelings. This was the most important moment of his life, and he was not going to equivocate simply to protect himself. “I meant what I said.”
“Honestly, Kolton, you don’t have to try to make me feel better. I—”
Kolton sat up abruptly startling her into silence. He leaned forward and cupped her cheek, turning her head to face him, his eyes locking with hers. “Sweetheart, I am a grown man who knows his own mind. Yes, I did say it in the heat of the moment, but it is true nonetheless,” he stated tenderly as he dropped his hand and ran it along her arm. He kissed her shoulder. “I love you. I have never said those words before. I have never felt this way, Pru.”
She turned her head and looked over her shoulder at him, her aqua eyes wide as they roamed his face.
“Are you sure what you feel is not simply...not something i-in the moment . . .?”
Kolton wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest, and kissed her temple. He sighed. “I told you, sweetheart, I know my own mind. This is something rare and special. I love you. I adore your sense of humor, the way you put me in my place when I need it, your quick mind, and your passionate nature. When you walk through the doorway, the room suddenly seems brighter. Your laughter causes a flutter in my chest. I think of you constantly, and miss you like hell when we are apart. When I am with you, I feel...filled. Like something has been missing—you were missing.”
He hoped he hadn’t pushed too far. What would she think of such a declaration? It was nothing but the truth, but was she ready to hear it?
She lowered her eyes to her hands, which were fidgeting nervously in her lap. “I never expected...I don’t know what to say,” she said quietly.
“You could say you have some feelings for me as well? Perhaps a strong fondness?” he ventured.
She turned her head and looked up at him, her manner a bit hesitant. “No,” she replied softly.
Kolton’s heart plummeted.
“What I feel is more than just a strong fondness for you,” she confessed, her cheeks blossoming with color.
The constriction in his chest suddenly eased and he was the one smiling with joy. “You do? How much more?” He knew he sounded like a child hoping to get a bit of candy, but he didn’t care.
Pru smiled and turned her body to face him. “Very much more,” she confirmed. “I-I love you, too. How long have you known you care for me?”
“Love you,” he corrected. “I am not sure when it started exactly. But, I know it is real, Pru. And you?”
Pru ducked her head, avoiding his expectant gaze and looking for all the world like a child ready to confess her transgressions. “I think there is a part of me that has always been half in love with you. It’s just grown so much stronger over the years—especially so in the last few weeks. I have fought it, but tonight I realized there is nothing I can do to stop it.”
Kolton blinked.
Fought it? Why? Especially these last few weeks?
“You don’t
want
to love me? Is that what you are trying to say? Why? Didn’t I say in the beginning I hoped we would grow to love each other?”
“Yes,” she nodded, still not meeting his eyes. “But I didn’t really think it would happen. I didn’t want to fall in love with you only to find you couldn’t return my feelings.”
A logical fear, but what of now? “Do you still wish you didn’t have these feelings? Do you not believe I am sincere?”
She shrugged. “I want to, but I’m...I’m scared.”
He was scared, too. It was a bit frightening placing such a fragile thing as one’s heart in another’s hands.
He placed a finger under her chin, lifting it until she met his eyes. “I promise you I will do everything in my power never to cause you pain.”