Winterberry Spark: A Silver Foxes of Westminster Novella (The Silver Foxes of Westminster #2.5)(25)

He nodded, teasing and licking her nipple. As with that first night, her breasts responded to his intimate touch, leaking slightly. He lapped gently at the wetness, sending spears of desire straight to her core, and making her writhe with need.

He must have felt that need. His hand left her breast to travel over her belly and between her legs. She gasped with surprise and pleasure as he delved between her curls, brushing against the button of pleasure that felt alive with need.

“You’re wet,” he whispered, dipping down to tease the part of her that ached the most for him.

“I want you,” she said, both as explanation and as a plea. Her body felt as though it would burst at any moment. It had taken so little to arouse her so thoroughly.

“And I want you,” he replied.

He shifted, nudging her legs farther apart, still circling her clitoris with deft fingers. Her breath came in shorter and shorter gasps as pleasure built and swirled inside of her, like a dam about to burst. He settled between her thighs, positioning himself to plunder her. The expectation of feeling him inside of her alone was enough to drive her mad with wanting.

At last, when she didn’t think she could wait another second, he plunged deep inside of her. She cried out at the joy of the sensation, and with the blossom of emotion in her heart. Her body shattered into orgasm as he pressed home, milking him inside of her. He groaned at the sensation and began to move with all the urgency she’d felt in him earlier. He thrust into her with hard, desperate strokes that felt like heaven as her body squeezed around him.

He let out a long, victorious growl, the tension in his body pitching before spreading into warmth and an amazing sense of completeness that filled Ruby from head to toe. The rush of orgasm faded slowly, and a beautiful feeling as though all were right with the world swept in to take its place. They lay tangled together, panting and spent, though still joined.

Only when it grew too cold to stay on top of the covers did they move enough to climb under them. As long as Faith was still napping, Ruby had no desire to do anything but lie in Gil’s arms. The heat of his body infused her, making her feel loved for the first time in as long as she could remember.

But as Gil’s breathing slowed to the deep, steady, rhythm of sleep, other, sinister thoughts began to poke at the edges of Ruby’s consciousness. Pleasure was one thing, but reality was another. Worry crept up on her, and she began to tense in his arms. She’d gone to bed with him without a second thought. As glorious as it’d been and as healing as it’d felt, anyone who found out about it would use what was beautiful against her. The more Gil looked at her with desire in his eyes, the more other men would think she was available for a price. Even if he married her, her past would be there to haunt her.

Ruby dozed off with those anxious thoughts and awoke to the sound of Faith fussing in the other room. With a gasp, she wriggled away from Gil and jumped out of bed, snatching up her clothes and dressing as fast as she could. Gil stirred awake moments later.

“Is she all right?” he asked groggily.

“Yes,” Ruby answered, fastening her corset and throwing her blouse over her head. “But she’s awake.”

He seemed to accept that answer and rose, slower than her, to dress as she rushed into the main room.

“Mummy’s here,” Ruby said, fetching Faith from the bed. She’d sat up and was rubbing her eyes and reaching for Ruby when she hurried to the sofa.

As drastically as the world had changed in those precious moments with Gil, proof that the larger reality was the same snuggled into her arms. Faith hugged her, burying her face against Ruby’s shoulder as she slowly woke from her nap. Ruby rocked her, kissing her forehead and reassuring her that she was there for her.

She glanced through the door into the bedroom, which Gil was straightening after getting dressed. Her heart turned circles in her chest. Love was one thing, but life was another. As much as she wanted to, could she really saddle Gil with a child that wasn’t his along with her forever-tarnished reputation?

“It’s started to snow,” Gil called from the bedroom. He walked out to the main room a few seconds later, fully dressed and looking far more put together than she did. “We’d better head back to the main house before it gets bad.”

“You’re right.”

She rose, setting Faith aside, and finished straightening her clothes. Her hair was a mess, but there was little time to tame it. She thanked whoever had designed her nursemaid’s uniform for adding a cap, and set about settling Faith into her sling and putting on all her winter things.

By the time she and Gil started back to the house, Ruby wasn’t certain that anyone would have been able to guess what they’d just done. Her face was pink as a rose, as was Gil’s, but that could be explained by the cold. Their absences from the house had explanations as well. But from the moment they stepped through the kitchen door into the servant’s hall together, the looks everyone from Jonah, the hall boy, to Mrs. Carlisle, the cook, sent them were knowing and salacious.

“Mr. Croydon has been asking for you,” Mrs. Musgrave said, her expression dark with intense dislike as they passed her office.

“I’ll go up directly,” Gil said.

“Not you,” Mrs. Musgrave informed him, her jaw tight. She nodded to Ruby from her desk without getting up. “Her.”

Dread pooled in Ruby’s stomach. She sent Gil an anxious look, then rushed toward the stairs as fast as she could.