The haze around Diana faded and a throbbing pain took its place. She focused on the voices around her and pulled herself out of the fog. Blinking through the heaviness of her eyelids, Diana forced herself to wake.
She moved her arm. Pain scorched through the right side of her body, taking her breath away.
Jacques’s handsome face came into focus. There were dark rings under his eyes and his hair hung loose instead of being pulled back in a neat queue. Lines formed around his frown. “Be still, Diana. You are all right, but you should try to relax.”
“Jacques.” Her dry throat wouldn’t allow much more.
“I am here. We have been very worried about you.” He ran his fingers down her cheek.
Memories bounced around the periphery of her mind. Walking in the snow, Victor, danger, pain. “I was shot?”
Honoria leaned over her. “Yes, but you’re going to be fine. Dr. Page said the fever is abated and your blood is clean. He wanted to bleed you, but Jacques wouldn’t have it after you’d lost so much blood.”
“Fever?” Had she been ill? “I don’t remember.”
“I am very angry with you.” He didn’t look angry. Tired, relieved, and maybe loving, but not angry. Pushing her hair from her face, he said, “You should not have tried to protect me, but we will talk about that when you are stronger.”
Exhausted and still foggy-brained, Diana closed her eyes. “Good, because I have a thing or two to say about that.”
Honoria laughed. “Oh, thank heavens, there she is. She really is going to be all right.”
It was an effort not to fall asleep. Diana opened her eyes again. Jacques still hovered over her, his face just inches from hers. She needed to touch him but moving hurt too much. “How long?”
“You were injured five days ago. You lost consciousness almost immediately, then took a fever. It broke last night. We’ve been very worried. Do you think you might take a few spoons of broth?”
Had his eyes not been filled with pain and worry, she would have said no to any food. “I will try.”
“I’m going to lift you to sitting. Do you think you can wrap your left arm around my neck?”
The scent of him filled her as he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her lower back. As if her arm weighed twenty pounds, she heaved it over his shoulder and gripped his neck.
Jacques whispered, “Are you ready?”
“Can’t we just stay like this?”
Honoria cleared her throat.
“I would not mind, my love, but the room is less than private.” He chuckled near her ear.
She gripped him tight as he hauled her to a sitting position. Pain forced a cry from her lips.
Jacques held her close until the agony declined to a throb. “Is it better?”
“Yes. You can let go, if you must.” Brazen words flew from her mouth. Perhaps she was delirious from lack of food or some draught she’d been given.
For an instant, he tightened his hug before releasing her. Despite him looking done in, he gave her a smile before backing away.
Cecilia stepped forward with a steaming bowl in her hands. She put a napkin under Diana’s chin and sat at the edge of the bed. “I’m so happy you’re awake, miss.”
“Thank you.” Diana took a spoon of soup, and while she didn’t much like being fed like a baby, she could not have lifted the bowl and managed the spoon. Her right arm was strapped to her side with her hand free but unable to move beyond an inch off her middle.
Honoria stepped to the bed and sat on the chair. “It has been a difficult few days.” She turned to Jacques. “Take yourself to bed, Mr. Laurent. If you fall ill, we’ll all be lost.”
Worry pressed his brows together. He met Diana’s gaze. “I will be back in a few hours. If you need me, send for me.”
“I will. Go and rest.” She drank another spoon of soup. It was bland but warm as it slid down to her stomach.
Once Jacques was gone, Honoria said, “He has barely left your side through all of this. I don’t think he’s had three hours sleep in five days. The rest of them have had little sleep, what with that man in the dungeon, but Jacques refused to leave you.”
Lids heavy, Diana tried to process everything Honoria said. “I couldn’t let him be killed.”
“Of course, you couldn’t. He’s rather angry at you about it, though. Still, he watched you like a hawk and insisted on caring for you. He even held you while that Dr. Page removed the ball from your shoulder.” Honoria cringed at the memory.
Jacques’s whispered words of love echoed inside Diana. She tried to pull the memory forward, but only hazy sounds of his voice remained. Managing another spoonful, she forced it down. “I think I’ve had enough for now, Cecilia. I’m very tired.”
Putting the bowl aside, Cecilia smiled. “You can drink some more when you wake. I’m happy you took a little nourishment.” She poured a spoon of something and held it out for Diana to drink. “Dr. Page said you’d need the laudanum for a few days more.”
Diana took the medicine and winced at the sweetness covering the bitter drug. “That is terrible.”
“It will keep the pain manageable so you can rest.” Honoria sat back, smiling.
Cecilia helped Diana lay back, then covered her to her chin.
Honoria said, “Cecilia, you can take the bowl down. I’ll stay with Miss MacLeod.”
With a nod, Cecilia gathered the napkin and bowl on a tray and left.
“My lady, I have many questions, but I’m afraid I cannot remain awake to ask them.” Diana’s lids closed despite her efforts to remain lucid.
“That’s all right, my dear. You may ask them later when you wake up. I will be here or close by. Sleep now.”
* * * *
Waking the next time was far easier. The sun shone through the westerly windows of Diana’s room. She was still on her back and her muscles ached from inactivity. Jacques sat to her right. “You look better.”
He smiled. “As do you.”
Using her left arm, she pushed herself to sitting.
Jacques jumped up and added his strength while propping her pillows up behind her. He frowned as he returned to the chair.
Heart pounding, she broached the subject haunting her dreams. “Victor lied. I never betrayed you. I never betrayed England.”
Letting out a long sigh, he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Diana, I have never thought you had, not even for one moment.”
“But why, Jacques? I don’t know if I could believe me after all that has happened.” Besides the throbbing of her shoulder, her chest ached with emotion.
“Because I know your heart. You are everything to me, my goddess of the moon.”
A knock on the door ended the conversation and preceded Preston Knowles’s entry. As a duke, he generally looked proud and poised. Today his expression was contrite. “You’re awake. I’m very glad to see you, Miss MacLeod.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Preston rounded the bed and knelt beside her.
Stunned to silence, Diana could only stare at him. Dukes did not kneel, and this duke didn’t like her very much. She looked to Jacques for some explanation, but he only shrugged and grinned.
Preston looked at the floor and then up at her. “You must forgive me.” He stopped and turned his gaze down again. “No. I’m sorry. I’m begging you to forgive me.”
“Your Grace? I don’t know what you should be forgiven for.”
“Preston or Pres, please. I need no titles when with true friends. I doubted you, Miss MacLeod. I thought you might be using my friend, my brother, to get information, or trying to get him sent back to France to save yourself. I was a fool.”
It was not a revelation. She’d heard him say as much in the parlor, yet her heart pounded. “And now?”
“I was wrong. No one jumps in front of a bullet unless they have love in their heart for the person they’ve saved.”
Truth or not, it was not enough. “I could love him and still be a traitor.”
Nodding, Preston acknowledged her logic. “That is true. Still, I was convinced by your noble act. However, the Horsemen have had five days with Victor Caron and he has confessed to more things than he was asked. Of course, he’s completely mad and obsessed with you to the point where we can no longer mention your name without sending him into hours of incoherent babble.”
Sweat beaded on her forehead and upper lip. “He’s still here?”
Jacques stood and hovered over her. “He is shackled in the dungeon. He will never harm you again. Word has been sent to France that he will face trial in London. We await Napoleon’s response, but we assume he will deny any part in Caron’s actions.”
“Does that mean I am free from them?”
Jacques looked at Preston then back at her. “I do not know, my love. We will have to wait for a response and gauge the answer.”
The idea that this might never be over churned her stomach. Living the rest of her life with the fear of being captured was no life at all. She returned her gaze to Preston still kneeling on the floor. “Of course, I forgive you. There is nothing to forgive. You wanted to protect your friend, and no one can fault you for that.”
He leaned forward, took her hand and kissed it. “Thank you. I’ve been distraught with the notion that you would never forgive me for being such an ass. I’ve written to my wife. She has been very worried about you and sends you prayers for a quick recovery, Miss MacLeod. I think she will join us here at Buckrose soon.”
“Diana. You must call me Diana. I will be happy when I can walk out of this castle on my own feet. Now, please, get off the floor before you damage yourself.”
Jacques laughed. “It is good for dukes to kneel from time to time. It keeps them humble.”
A loud rumble of Diana’s stomach shot Preston to his feet. “I will send for something for you to eat. Thank you, Diana.”
She smiled as he left. “Jacques, it is a very strange day.”
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. “It is a great day. You are alive and will recover.”
The fact that the Duchess of Middleton was coming didn’t bode well. “When can I leave here?”
He frowned and sat back in the chair. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at her. “You have to heal that bone. It will be a few weeks. I am curious, where will you go?”
It was a fair question. She had no family, but she did have a home—or whatever was left of one—in Scotland. “I will go and check on my parents’ house and find out what happened to the servants. Of course, that will have to wait until the snow melts a bit. Traveling to Scotland would be difficult for me with the harsh winter.”
“I see.” His frown deepened.
At least she would have a few more weeks with Jacques while she healed. She picked up her chin, but her voice remained small. “When will you leave Buckrose?”
“You are the most infuriating woman.” He stood and stormed across the room, grabbed a fire iron and poked at the fire.
“I am? What did I do?”
The flames grew, and Jacques put another log on. “First you step in front of a bullet and get yourself injured, nearly killed. Totally unacceptable behavior, you should know better.”
“I saved your life.” She shook her head. “I assume there is a second reason.”
He turned, and while his lips were pulled in a tight line, his eyes had filled with admiration as he approached the bed. “Second, you still assume I will leave you after I have told you I never will.”
Emotion pushed up from her throat. “You also told me you were not the marrying kind of man.”
“I also told you I have changed.” He sat on the edge of her mattress.
“In my experience, people don’t change.” She tried to stay the stream of tears, but they still dripped down her cheeks.
He leaned in with a hand on either side of her head. Very careful not to touch her right side, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “Diana, perhaps I have not changed. Perhaps I have always been the marrying kind, but a bad experience sent me down another path. It is not a path I am particularly proud of, but it is the path that brought me to you, so I shall always cherish its memory. I love you, not just for today, or next week, or a year. I love you for all time. I want to marry you and make a life and family with you. You are the smartest, kindest, bravest and most beautiful woman I have ever known. Tell me you will be mine.”
His declaration rolled through her and settled in her heart. “You still want to marry me?”
“More than anything.” He kissed her cheek.
She couldn’t stop her tears. Pure joy was impossible to contain. If she could have jumped up and down, she would have. “I can think of nothing I want more than to be your wife, but what of your business? There are many people who will always think the worst of me.”
“I do not want to marry them. I only care about what you think.” He kissed one eyelid then the other.
A swift knock on the door, and Cecilia brought in a tray. Spices and chicken scented the room.
Jacques stood and moved away from the bed.
Cecilia blushed at having caught them during an intimate moment.
“I will return when you have finished eating.” Jacques’s smile simmered with promise.
Spotting the brown bottle on the nightstand, Diana stopped him. “One thing more, Jacques. And this is for you too, Cecilia. I do not want any more of that.”
“But, miss, the doctor said the laudanum would help you get better.” Cecilia put the tray down on the table and carried the soup bowl over with the spoon and napkin.
“It will not make me better. It just makes it so I don’t care about the pain. I would rather suffer than feel like I’m in a fog. No more.” As if in defiance, her shoulder pain increased. She relaxed and the pain eased.
Jacques took the bottle. “You are a grown woman. If you do not want the laudanum, you shall not be given it. If you change your mind, you need only say so.”
“Thank you.” So many more things needed saying. He treated her like an equal, he loved her, he wanted to marry her. She wanted to jump into his arms and never let go. “I’m relieved you didn’t make me fight you on this.”
With a smile that melted her heart and a brief nod, he left the room.
Cecilia sat with the bowl of soup and gave her a lecture about following the doctor’s orders, but she also told her about how Jacques had been with her the entire time she was unconscious. She went on and on until Diana was convinced the maid was as in love with him as she was.
Still grinning after her bowl of soup was empty, Diana drifted back to sleep.
Several times in the night, she rolled over the wrong way and the pain was excruciating. Honoria was there once and Mrs. Fallcraft another time. She never woke and found the room empty. She had many people to thank when she recovered.
Mrs. Fallcraft said, “I know it is uncomfortable to lie on your back, but that shoulder will require it for a while.”
“I think I forgot while I slept,” Diana offered in explanation, which was probably unnecessary.
* * * *
A commotion in the hall woke her. Sunshine shone bright through the window. It was the first time she’d woken up with no one watching over her.
Men were shouting, and the door burst open.
Victor Caron ran through the door. Drool ran from his mouth and sores marred his lips. Red-rimmed, sunken eyes sparked with madness and malice. “I will kill you.”
Rolling to her left, she put the bed between herself and the madman coming for her. Her feet hit the floor hard, and her legs shook from lack of use. Screaming pain shot through her shoulder. She grabbed the glass from the bedside table and threw it left handed. She hit Victor on the forehead, but the shattering glass had no effect on him.
Skirting the bed, Victor kept coming, with his arms outstretched and hands like claws.
Alex and Jacques rushed in.
Grabbing the candlestick, Diana backed into the corner.
Screaming her name, Victor rushed forward and wrapped his hands around her throat.
Diana bashed his head with the candlestick, but her airway closed. She gagged. Pain racked her body. She beat his head and back, but it had little effect.
Alex grabbed Victor and pulled him away.
The sight of Jacques renewed Victor’s madness. He charged forward.
Jacques grabbed for something on the washstand. He lunged back to avoid Victor’s punch.
Undaunted, Victor raged forward, pinning Jacques to the wall.
Diana screamed.
Victor collapsed on the floor with a pair of scissors lodged in his chest.
Jacques ran over and lifted Diana from the corner. He took her out of the room, stepping over Cecilia, who was just rising from the floor, and Sebastian who remained still in the hallway.
She hugged him around the neck and a wave of nausea overtook her. “Jacques, I think I may be sick.”
Picking up his pace, he turned into his room. He put her down on the bed, grabbed a washbasin from the washstand and held her while she retched.
Heaving made the pain worse, which made the nausea worse. Diana wondered if dying at Victor’s hand wouldn’t have been better. Finally, the room stilled, and the queasiness subsided. She allowed Jacques to wipe her face and ease her back on the bed.
He went to the table and brought her something to drink. “Just a sip, then spit it in the bowl.”
How would she ever face him again? She did as he said, but wiped her own face this time. “Is he dead?”
Jacques pushed her hair back and dabbed her forehead with a cool towel. “I certainly hope so.”
“What happened?” Her stomach settled, but the pain from her shoulder stabbed like a knife and radiated across her back and down her arm.
“The Horsemen were ordered to transport Caron to London. He broke free, determined to get to you.”
“Is Mr. Turril badly hurt? How is Cecilia?” More people hurt on her account. Diana wanted to scream.
“I do not know, but I will find out. This is not your fault, Diana.”
“Perhaps not, but I feel responsible.”
“We’re going to have to look at that wound. I fear your stitches could not survive the last few minutes.” Jacques got up and grabbed another towel from his washstand.
“You are quite good at nursing.” Despite all that had happened, a little giggle emerged. Perhaps she was becoming hysterical like one of those ladies one read about. It was possible she’d lost her mind.
His wry little smile said he appreciated a bit of levity after what had come before. “Nursing you is my honor, Diana. Do you think you can lean forward?”
Nodding, she did as he asked.
Jacques sat behind her. “I am going to pull the ribbon at the top of your gown.”
Why she should feel embarrassed when he had seen her completely naked, she didn’t know, but heat flushed her skin from head to toe. “I understand.”
She gripped the top of her nightgown while he pulled the back low. He cut the bandage away and let out a breath. “The stitches held. It is a miracle. There’s just a little bleeding.”
A cool towel soothed the ache in her shoulder.
Mrs. Fallcraft rushed in, out of breath. “How are you?”
It seemed the fact that her back was bare in the company of a man didn’t shock Mrs. Fallcraft in the least. Diana clutched her gown tighter. “Mr. Laurent says that my stitches are intact.”
She collapsed against the doorframe. “Thank God.”
“How are the others?” Diana asked.
Mrs. Fallcraft straightened and color rushed back to her face. “Sebastian has a lump on his head and is in a bad temper, but is otherwise fine. Cecilia has a few bruises. It could have been much worse. That monster who attacked you is dead. There was nothing I could do.”
Jacques covered her wound, pressed the bandages back in place and retied the bow of her nightgown before helping her ease back against the pillows, which filled her with his scent.
“Mrs. Fallcraft, Diana will need new bandages.”
“I will see to it,” Mrs. Fallcraft said.
“I suppose there will be questions,” he said.
Rushing into the room with blankets, Cecilia was followed by Alex. Cecilia covered Diana from her bare feet to her neck. “I’m so sorry, miss. I tried to stop him. I wasn’t strong enough. He was filled with the devil. I’m sure of it.”
“Are you all right, Miss MacLeod?” Alex remained near the door.
“Yes. Thank you. He did not have long enough to do much damage.” She pressed her hand to her throat, trying to dispel the memory of Victor’s hands there.
“Then we were lucky. It could have been much worse. He should never have been moved so soon. I will write to His Majesty and explain that the prisoner died due to his own actions.” Alex looked at Jacques. “I’m confident there will be no investigation.”
“If there is, I will stand by my actions.”
The two men stared at each other for a long moment. Alex nodded. “And the Horsemen will stand behind you. In the meantime, I suggest that those of us who were present keep the details to ourselves.”
Cecilia bobbed a curtsey. “I was not of clear mind to see or hear anything once the madman knocked me down.”
“I wasn’t even there,” said Mrs. Fallcraft.
“Very well.” Alex turned to leave, but stopped and came to Diana’s bedside. “Miss MacLeod, the Buckrose Horsemen owe you a great deal. You have acted in good faith and great honor. I cannot make up for our inept protection, but I offer our services to you or your family should you ever need us.” He made a low bow.
Not knowing what to say to such a vow, Diana stuttered before she regained her wits. “I have no family, sir.”
A warm smile transformed Alex’s harsh features. He looked from her to Jacques. “I’m confident that is about to change.”
Embarrassment, joy and something more bubbled inside Diana. How her life had changed in a few short months.
Cecilia spoke as soon as Alex left the room. “We are cleaning your room, miss. I shall inform you the moment it’s ready.”
“Thank you, Cecilia.” It was an effort not to sound disappointed.
Mrs. Fallcraft said, “I’m going to check on Sebastian. I told him to be still and keep ice on that bump. I will gather fresh bandages and return shortly.”
Honoria nearly bumped into Mrs. Fallcraft in the threshold. The ladies curtsied and smiled. “I went for a short walk in the gardens and all Hell broke loose inside. Are you hurt, Diana?”
“No, my lady. I am fine. Mr. Laurent has already seen to my stitches and all is well.”
“Thank goodness. I’m going to make sure your room is clean. I don’t want you to see a trace of that horrible man when you return.” Honoria scurried out of Jacques’s room.
The door was left open, but quiet descended and they were blissfully alone. Jacques sat at the edge of the bed and took her left hand in his. “I wish you could stay here with me.”
“I was thinking the same thing, but I’m of little use with this arm and shoulder immobilized.”
“Having you near would be more than enough.” He leaned over and kissed her palm.
Diana wanted to tell him so much of what was in her heart, but with people rushing up and down the hall, it was not the right time. Despite her desire to be alone with Jacques, her body rejected wakefulness. Her eyes grew heavy. “I’m sorry.”
He pushed her hair back from her cheek. “Sleep, my love. We will talk when you wake up.”
Regardless of her efforts to remain with him, sleep claimed her, and with it came images of a madman strangling the breath from her.
Jacques’s whispered pledges that she was safe and should rest easy chased the demon away.
* * * *
Jacques couldn’t sleep. Most nights he sat up watching the sky. Cloudy, starry or bright with the moon, he watched. Each day Diana grew stronger and endured less pain. She walked the hallways daily, regaining her strength. Dr. Page came twice a week to check on her progress. Jacques longed for the day he could take her away from Buckrose.
It had been three weeks since the last attack by Victor Caron. His body was long gone, hauled off to London. All that remained were Diana’s nightmares about that fiend.
Giving up on sleep, Jacques pulled on his breeches and blouse and padded down the hall to see if Diana was resting easily.
The room was empty save for her sleeping form tucked into the bed. He sat beside her. All evidence of the mayhem that had transpired in the room had long been cleaned away. It had taken several times scrubbing to get the bloodstain out of the floor. Jacques would carry the blood on his hands much longer. Yet he couldn’t regret killing Victor. He’d had no choice in the moment, and he would have always been a danger to Diana.
“Is that you, Jacques?” Her groggy voice made him long to hold her close and hear her speak for days on end before ravaging her from head to toe.
“Yes, my goddess. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“I can’t sleep. When I close my eyes, I see terrible images.” Her complaint was sad, and she sounded lonely in the darkness of her room.
He sat on the edge of the bed. “Shall I hold you?”
“Someone might come in and find you.”
“Then I will marry you immediately.” He hoped someone would move up the date of his careful plans. He climbed under the covers and, lying on his side, wrapped his arm around her middle.
Her good arm wrapped around his, and she sighed a long, contented breath. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. Why do you sound surprised?”
He’d wanted more from her but hadn’t pushed. All these weeks she’d been warm and flirtatious, but nothing more. “I am never sure what you feel, my love. You keep your emotions under such tight control, I struggle to read them.”
Rolling to her left, she faced him. With the fire nearly out and the curtains blocking any moonlight, he could only see the light of her eyes. “Forgive me. I have spent so long hiding my feelings, it is difficult for me to express them as others do. You have been a kind and wonderful friend and deserve more.”
“Is that what I am, a friend?” Disappointment sounded in his tone despite his attempt to remain unscathed.
“Friend, lover, are we engaged? I think we are engaged. Perhaps the laudanum fogged my mind. Did you propose?” She pressed her palm to his chest and petted him from neck to nipple.
The effect of her touch was immediate and damned uncomfortable. “I told you twice, I want to marry you. I also confessed to loving you.”
“It always seemed there was someone interrupting or rushing in at the worst moment.” She cupped his cheek.
“I wish I could see your face.” He ran his fingers along her braided hair, toying with the bit at the end.
Taking his hand, she pressed his palm between her breasts. “You might not be able to see my face, Jacques, but you can feel my heart. I love you. I need you. I never expected to marry, and your love is a miracle to me. When you said I could go and work for Francis if I wanted, I thought you meant to go back to before and live my life as an Everton lady. When I realized you were a man who didn’t mind if his wife pursued her own goals, I knew you were the only man whom I could ever marry.”
It wouldn’t surprise him if his heart exploded with too much happiness. “I am the happiest man alive.”
“My joy is equal to yours, sweet, sweet Jacques. You saved my life, too many times to count.”
“You saved mine as well, my love. More than that, you saved my heart when I thought it was dead to such emotions.” Careful not to put pressure on her right side, Jacques leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.
She sighed and threaded her fingers through his hair. She tangled her tongue with his in a dance as close to making love as they could come in their current circumstance.
She tasted like heaven, and he could snack on her all day. Never had anyone else’s kisses been so sweet. If he wasn’t careful, he would become a poet and bore all his friends.
Jacques longed for all of her, but feared hurting her.
Tugging her right arm from its sling, Diana cupped his cheek and deepened the kiss.
About to lose his mind in the passion of her kiss, Jacques pulled back. “You will hurt yourself, or worse, I might hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me. That is the one thing I can always be certain of. I think you should go and bolt the door and then come back to bed.”
Unable to resist and truly not wanting to, he sucked her bottom lip between his and then the top. Her response was a low moan as she clutched at his blouse. “Do not move and do not change your mind.”
Her giggle was like bells. “I won’t change my mind.”
After an uncomfortable walk across the room, Jacques slid the bolt home. He took the candlestick from the table and lit it with a stick from the fire. It wouldn’t do to be deprived of seeing his goddess.
Placing the candles on the nightstand, he removed his clothes and climbed under the covers.
She rolled to him and her lips pressed warm and seductive against his neck. She ran her good hand up and down his chest while keeping the other still at his shoulder.
Easing along her waist, he found one perfect breast and caressed just under before molding her in his palm and toying with her hard nipple.
With a gasp, she turned her head and kissed him, her lips and tongue boldly asking for exactly what she needed.
Groaning, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. “You have to tell me if you are hurting or even uncomfortable, Diana.”
She gripped him just as tight and pressed her center close, trapping his shaft between them. “I will tell you, but right now, my only discomfort is in wanting you.”
That needful desire was the most potent aphrodisiac. Running his hand down her thigh, he reveled in her softness. At her knee, he lifted so that her leg bent, then slid his hand along her inner thigh. Tiny gasps escaped her lips as he caressed between her legs. “You are all I want for the rest of my life, Diana.”
Arching toward him, she gasped. “I am yours.”
He rolled so that she lay atop him.
Her eyes widened before a smile pulled at her lips.
Helping her raise her hips, he positioned her at the tip of his shaft and let her choose the pace of their joining.
Slow and torturous, she slid over him. Her sheath tugged him in as she dug her nails into his shoulders.
Jacques pulled her down flat against his chest and kissed her mouth as she trembled with need.
Lifting her hips, she moved to the rhythm of her heart.
Pure delight spread through him from his center and a low groan emerged from deep in his chest.
Quickening her pace, she rose higher and came down harder as he met every move with the rise of his hips. The pleasure intensified and cascaded. She stared into his gaze, love so plain in her eyes.
He covered her mouth with his to mute her scream as an orgasm shattered her. His own pleasure only an instant behind, he held in his cries of delight.
She collapsed on top of him and rested her cheek on his chest.
Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her hair and breathed in her warm floral scent. “You make me very happy, my love.”
“Will it always be like this?” Her breath became one with his as if they were inseparable.
The first light of day banished the night and peeked through the window. “In the future, we will be married, and I will not have to sneak down the hall before the servants rise.”
She kissed his chest. “That will be so much better.”
Heart in his throat, he kissed her again and regretted leaving. “It will, but know this, Diana, Goddess of the Moon. You make me the man I have always wanted to be. You are the part of my soul that has been missing.”
Her sweet mouth opened and closed several times and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I wish I knew what to say.”
“Saying you will be my wife is enough.” He took her left hand, wanting one last touch before he had to leave her.
Sitting up, she pulled his hand forward and kissed his fingers. “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Laurent.”
Heart swelling, he knew he was grinning like an idiot. “You can have anything you want, my love, and making you Mrs. Laurent will give me the most exquisite pleasure.”