Page 73 of Courting Elizabeth

I held on as long as I could. When her breath broke against my neck, I finally lost control and came inside her with her name on my lips.

We lay still, panting.

I shifted to the side and kept her against me.

“I didn’t reach the same peak,” she said after a moment, with that frankness that left me nowhere to hide.

Shame washed through me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? I felt pleasure. I felt a little pain. I also felt like I knew you in a way I never could through all our conversations.”

She placed her hand over my heart.

“It wasn’t perfect.”

“No.”

“It was ours.”

I closed my eyes and kissed her hair.

She fell asleep against me shortly after. I stayed awake holding her, grateful for what she had chosen, yet still unable to ask if her heart had followed her body.

For the first time, I feared the answer more than the silence.

Chapter 17

ELIZABETH

I woke in my husband’s arms.

Morning light filtered through the curtains. Fitzwilliam slept on his back, one hand still resting on my waist. His hair was disheveled. Without his usual watchful gaze, his face appeared younger, almost vulnerable.

I traced the line of his jaw with my finger.

His eyes opened.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice husky.

“Good morning.”

A slow smile transformed his face.

“Are you in pain?”

I moved cautiously. An unfamiliar soreness between my thighs reminded me of every detail of the night.

“A little.”

His smile disappeared.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.”

I leaned in and kissed him.