Page 51 of The Duchess Debt

A whimpering cry tore from her as the wave of pleasure broke through her. She threw back her head and shivered with joy, her fingers clenching hard into his scalp, and every muscle in her body clenched and released like a loaded spring. Dark spots flashed before her eyes, and electricity shot out through the ends of her hair, making her feel impossibly both numb and overwhelmingly alive at the same time. Her wet folds quivered against his mouth as her body shamelessly revealed the bliss he had brought to her, and her heart felt so full she feared it might simply explode.

But even as the wave of pleasure swept over her and then receded, leaving her awash in tingling heat, her body craved even more from him. So much more of him that she desperatelyneeded and knew he could provide. So much more of herself she wanted to give to him.

“Take me,” she pleaded in breathless permission. “Please.” She wanted to give herself completely to him, right here, right now. Her hand reached down to pull her skirts impossibly higher—

“No,” he answered as he rose to his feet between her thighs, his voice a pained rasp. “No more than this, for now.”

He took her hand, guided it down to his crotch, and placed it on the hard bulge straining against his work trousers. A shaking breath poured from her as she caressed him lovingly through the rough material, thrilling in the physical evidence of his desire for her, hoping the encounter would still end with joined bodies, despite his answer. He fumbled between them to unbutton his fall and shoved away the long tail of his shirt to bring her trembling fingers against his erection. His skin was hot and soft over the hardness beneath, and she boldly explored him, drawing low groans of pleasure from his throat while unsuccessfully attempting to stifle her own. Her trembling fingers fumbled with his fall’s buttons until a sigh of surrender escaped him, and he reached down to help her free himself from the confines of his trousers.

A thrill raced through her, and she couldn’t stop herself from caressing along his length, daring to cup his bollocks against her palm, and reveling in the heavy heat of him in her hand. When she gently squeezed, a harsh shudder gripped him.

“Helena.” Her name was little more than a strained rasp, and she desperately wanted his hard-fought restraint to snap.

Instead, with a fierce and possessive kiss to her mouth, he tore off his neckcloth and wadded it into her hand. He closed her fingers around his length, clasping him tightly, and his hands went to her hips. He began to pulse his pelvis to thrust himself into her grip. Her hand tightened around him even as his paceincreased. Then his body tensed, freezing for a moment before he arched his back and strained into her. A guttural groan of pleasure ripped from the back of his throat, and with a jerk against her palm, he spilled himself into the neckcloth.

He collapsed forward between her spread thighs, utterly spent, his palms flat on the table on either side of her hips and his head hanging between his shoulders. For a long moment, he didn’t move except to pant hard to regain his breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly as his body trembled from experiencing the same waves of tension and release that he’d sent roiling through her only moments before.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face against his neck to hide a stab of disappointment. Instantly, guilt filled her chest that she was being so ungrateful. After all, what they’d just shared was wonderful and the most vulnerable moment of her life. He’d brought her such joy…but her heart knew he’d denied her even more.

I love you, she wanted to shout across the fields.I’ve always loved you. I never stopped loving you…

Yet she didn’t dare to even whisper the words aloud. Her heart was simply too afraid it would shatter if he didn’t say them back.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

9 Days Until the Wedding

Gabe glanced toward the ceiling and grimaced at the long peal of thunder spreading overhead. Raindrops pelted the tall study window where he stood with Caleb Parker, looking out at the black and ominous day, and the rainwater ran down the glass in such thick rivulets as to obscure whatever little they were able to discern beyond the window.

“Better send someone to the barns to check on the animals,” Caleb mumbled as a flash of lightening streaked over the distant hills. “If they’ve started lining up two by two, we’re in trouble.”

Gabe forced a tight smile but didn’t laugh at Caleb’s attempted humor. His mood was as glum as the weather.

“Giving the workers the day off was the right decision,” Caleb said, as if reading Gabe’s mind.

Gabe nodded. They were ahead of schedule, and standing around in the cold rain while the ground turned to mud and the mortar refused to set would have done no good at all. It also gave the two men time to go over the project’s details again, look at supplies, and gauge the timeline. Yet the delay still gnawed at his gut. It seemed as if everything did these days. He knew the approaching wedding was the cause, and every day that brought him closer only worked to make him fret more. He would be beyond happy once the vows were taken, the register signed, Helena his wife…and the past finally set to rights.

Until then, the waiting might just kill him.

“Hopefully, the weather will clear by morning.” Gabe sank into his leather chair behind his desk as a familiar gnawing returned to his belly. He nodded at the table where all theplanning documents were currently spread out. “By the way,” he asked, stretching out his long legs beneath the desk, “how’s the new school coming along?”

The glimmer of amusement in Caleb’s eyes showed he wasn’t fooled at all by Gabe’s nonchalance. “Very well. In fact, I’m beginning to think we should put the women in charge of all the building projects.”

He blew out a breath. “Don’t give them any ideas.”

The entire school project had been turned over to the ladies. Gabe had given Helena final say in decisions, right down to the budget and supplies, and Caleb had handed over most of the building decisions—and workmen leadership—to his wife Maggie. The school was emerging as a parallel project to the men’s, and in no small part a competition to see which construction site would be finished first and best.

As of right then, the women seemed to be winning, especially as their men could continue to work inside in the dry and with villagers stopping by to help as they could. Truly, though, the two had done wonders in such a short time, he had to admit, and the villagers themselves had begun to recognize Helena’s dedication to them and their children. Despite being busy with all the plans for the wedding and breakfast, she was still somehow spending hours turning the old building into something approaching a real school, with more ideas for improvements most likely on the way.

He felt proud of her, he had to admit, even if he didn’t dare say it aloud. Damnation, he felt a hell of a lot more than proud, and their encounter in the cottage confirmed it.

He should never have touched her like that, should never have let her touch him—but he’d been too wound up over Adam’s return, the threats to Alice’s security, and once again the necessity to protect his family from one of its own to tamp downthe need for comfort that had flared inside him…and the simple need forher.

Thank God he’d had the restraint to stop things when he had. He foresaw nothing that would prevent their marriage in a little over a week’s time, but he’d never been friends with fate. He couldn’t risk Helena getting with child before they were irrevocably wed.

“The school building is coming along nicely,” Caleb admitted. “The walls have been replastered, the leaks around the windows fixed, the uneven floorboards replaced… Structurally, it’s sound. Starting off in an existing building rather than creating a new one from the ground up was certainly the right decision.”

“And the furnishings?” Even now, receipts for new desks, books, and all kinds of other teaching supplies that Helena had ordered sat in a pile on his desk, waiting to be paid.