Page 61 of To Follow her Heart

“Please,” she pleaded as she looked up at him.

“I love you,” he whispered, and found the hidden pearl of her sex, caressing in slow, circling movements as she clutched at him and he kissed her harder, deeper, her excitement driving him to the edge of what he could stand without giving into the desire to take her.

She grew still for a moment, her breath held as she gave him an open-mouthed look of wonder, and then her eyelids closed and she cried out and he smothered the sound of her pleasure with his mouth as she trembled and shook and finally quieted, limp and sated in his arms.

Luke held her, stroking her back in long soothing sweeps until her breathing steadied. “Come along, love,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Back to bed with you.”

She mumbled something incoherent and stumbled on the hem of her gown. He chuckled, pleased if painfully frustrated, and swung her up into his arms. She was asleep before they even reached her room and Luke tucked her into bed, kissed her forehead, and resolutely walked away back to his own room.

Chapter 16

Dearest Mama and Papa,

You won’t believe what I’ve just done …

―Excerpt of a letter from Mrs Kitty Baxter to her parents.

25th August 1814, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Kitty stared across the aisle at her husband. Her husband!

She wanted to dance on the spot, to shout with joy and laugh and laugh… but the vicar was already disapproving enough of them, and she didn’t want to make Luke uncomfortable. He was beaming too, however, a smile so broad with happiness that she decided she didn’t care what the vicar thought and threw her arms about his neck anyway.

Luke laughed and caught her up, swinging her around in a circle.

“If perhaps you would care to sign the register first, Mr Baxter?” the vicar murmured, glowering a little.

Kitty pretended to look abashed, but poked her tongue out at the old humbug the moment he turned his back. Luke chuckled and signed his name before turning the book for Kitty to do likewise. Once all the paperwork had been seen to, and Luke had paid and thanked the witnesses he’d persuaded to attend them, they were free, and they hurried to stand in the bustle outside the church and stare at each other with wonder.

“Well,” she said, and it was beyond her to stop the idiotic smile that was plastered to her face. “Now you’ve done it. You’ll never be rid of me.”

Luke let out a long, slow breath and stared at her in such a way she felt the pleasure of it right down to her toes. “Thank heavens for that,” he said.

Kitty laughed and bit her lip, aware of the quality of his gaze on her, remembering how he’d touched her last night. She blushed but didn’t look away.

Luke took her hand and raised it to his lips. “Come, Mrs Baxter, I think it’s time to put your poor husband out of his misery.”

There was a glint of mischief in those blue eyes of his, and Kitty felt her breath catch. Not that she was the least bit anxious. This was Luke—her beloved Luke, the boy she’d loved nearly her whole life—and there was nothing to fear when he was with her, certainly not him or what was to come.

He tugged her hand, pulling her into a run. She laughed, holding onto her hat, which almost bounced from her head as they hurried through the crowd. People exclaimed, tutted, and stared at them as they barged through back to the inn, and neither of them cared a fig for the stares and exclamations, too eager to be alone, too desperate to fulfil the promise of all their dreams.

They arrived at The White Swan breathless and flushed. Despite herself, Kitty blushed as the staff stared at them with curiosity. They’d booked the room as Mr and Mrs Baxter and now they were Mr and Mrs Baxter, so why she ought to feel shy when she’d brazened it out before made not a lick of sense, but that didn’t seem to matter.

Luke caught her discomfort and chuckled, hurrying her up the stairs and pausing at the door of their room. He glanced about to see if anyone was watching before catching her up and carrying her over the threshold and into the room.

Kitty squealed and laughed as he kicked the door shut. She flung her hat to the floor, staring at him, breathless with everything to come as he put her down. They stood gazing at each other, stupid with happiness, grinning like fools.

He saw Kitty’s eyes widen as she saw the bed. “Faith and begorrah!” she said, stunned as she stared up, and up, at the huge ancient bed, piled high with mattresses.

“It’s the best room,” he said, laughing a little. “I made certain we had use of the most comfortable bed in Stratford.”

Kitty blushed, and he smiled and moved closer, sliding his arms about her waist. “At last,” he murmured, the words barely a whisper. He let out a long sigh, staring down at her.

“At last,” she said, reaching up to touch his cheek.

His blue eyes gazed down, serious now. “I never thanked you,” he said. “I’ve never told you how… how grateful I was, how brave you were. You waited for me, Kitty. You had no reason to, no reason to believe in me, but you did and….” His voice trembled and he laughed, ducking his head. “I love you so much. I have loved you so much, all this time. I never stopped, Kitten. Not for a moment.”

Kitty’s breath caught, and she traced a fingertip along his jaw, smiling up at a face both so familiar and so different from the boy she’d loved. “I had a reason. I knew you. I knew your heart and your soul, and I knew that if you couldn’t come to me, couldn’t tell me where you were and what had happened, then someone had kept you from me. I knew one day fate would bring us together again. I had to believe it, Luke. I should have died of sorrow otherwise.”