Page 135 of Outrageous

“No. Are you?” She shifted slightly, the movement jostling his sensitive, softening prick, which was still inside her.

He kissed and nuzzled the damp, hot skin of her throat. “Darling?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you ever going to untie me?”

Eva laughed. “Perhaps.”

Godric grinned, in spite of himself. He lifted his hips suggestively. “Didn’t I just earn my freedom?”

“Oh, no. That was all my work, if I recall correctly.”

“If you were to release me, I might be able to settle my debt.”

“Ohh, that sounds promising. But I think I’d like to hear you beg. Again.”

He felt her smiling lips as she nuzzled the sensitive skin beneath his ear.

“Please, my darling, my only love?”

She shivered. “I love hearing you call me that.” The humor had gone from her voice, replaced by a fierceness that wrapped around him like a fist.

“I love you,” he whispered, and then added, “If you untie me, I can show you how much.”

She laughed and slid off him, both of them making interesting noises when they uncoupled.

“All right, you are most persuasive. But first I am putting on my clothing.”

“That is an excellent idea,” he said. He felt a lingering concern at the back of his mind that the carriage could stop anytime, the door could open, and—

“Where do you think they are taking us?” she asked as the sounds of boots sliding and scuffing filled the coach.

Godric closed his eyes and imagined what she would look like. “I haven’t the faintest idea, nor do I care.” And then something occurred to him. “But do you need to go back? I know the letter I read”—his face flamed at the admission—“said you were hiring a stud. I know it’s the tail end of breeding season. Do you need to get back?”

There was a long pause before she said. “Thank you.”

Godric squinted into the darkness, as if squinting would improve comprehension. “Sorry, darling, but what are you thanking me for?”

“For caring about my business.”

“Oh. Well, of course I care. I know how much you wanted it.”

“And you don’t find my interest in breeding and training horses, er, unfeminine?”

Godric grinned. “Believe me, sweetheart, I heartily approve of your interest in breeding of any sort.”

Something hit him in the shoulder. “Did you just throw something at me?”

“Yes, my hat. Now, scoot to the other side and turn.”

Godric complied and she went back to work on the Byzantine knot.

He recalled something she’d said earlier. “You said you thought the two boys wouldn’t have come up with this on their own?”

She snorted. “No. I smell the work of my stepmamma.”

Godric’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? But I thought she hated me.”