Page 69 of A Necessary Wife

“Yes,” she answered immediately, her face lifting toward his.

He tugged her against him hard, capturing her mouth in a kiss that was hot and unrestrained.

She pressed against him, her hands sliding under his coat, around to his back as she clutched him close. Her lips parted, giving him access to the soft warmth within, and he relished the taste of her with a groan.

He broke the kiss and, after a second, more rational thought about her reputation prevailed, and he dragged her off to find a private corner of the garden where they could be alone.

Once ensconced in a greenhouse, he locked the door and pressed her back against the nearest bench, hands skimming down to seize her hips. Amelia gasped as he lifted her slightly, the movement urgent and designed to excite her.

“Milo,” she breathed.

The sound of his name on her lips undid him.

He slid his thigh between hers, feeling the heat of her through her gown, and she rocked against him instinctively, her breath catching in a sharp, trembling moan. He kissed her throat, nipped gently, then soothed with his tongue.

“You make me forget myself,” he whispered against her skin. “No woman has ever done that.”

Her fingers threaded into his hair, tugging lightly. “Then do not try,” she whispered back. “Just be with me. Be yourself.”

He growled softly, lips trailing lower as he cupped her small breasts through her gown, thumbs circling slowly over the peaks. She arched into his touch, her breath warm and quick against his cheek.

“If we continue,” he warned, voice frayed with desire, “I will take you here.”

“Take me,” she whispered fiercely. “I want⁠—”

“Papa!” The shrill call cut through his frenzy.

Lucy.

The moment shattered as they frantically looked toward the greenhouse door, but then he remembered he’d locked it.

Milo pressed his forehead to Amelia’s for one aching heartbeat before stepping back, chest heaving. He swallowed down the disappointment that the tryst was ruined before it had even begun. But Amelia, cheeks flushed, lips swollen from his kisses, seemed frozen in place.

Duty—fatherhood—came crashing back around him like cold water, and he straightened his clothes immediately.

He had almost gotten swept away in the heat of another passionate encounter with his wife. He could not continue to act so impulsively. He must reclaim his control today. Put passion aside for the good of their marriage. Step back from the precipice of indecency and consider Amelia’s reputation, too.

Rutting with her whenever and wherever he pleased was not a way to show her the respect she deserved. Amelia, unfortunately, seemed unable or unwilling to stop him.

“We will finish this at a more appropriate time,” he warned, voice thick with desire still.

Amelia nodded and gulped, but she still did not move to straighten herself. Milo took matters into his own hands and smoothed her skirts down, pleased to see she had not been too badly mussed. Her hair had not been disturbed, and he pulled her cloak back around her body.

“Join us as soon as you can,” Milo suggested, and turned toward the sound of his daughter’s repeated calls. “Coming, Lucy.”

He unlocked the greenhouse door and found his children and Lady Ashcroft standing about outside. Phillipa smiled benignly enough at him, but Milo saw her gaze flicker into the greenhouse.

He pulled the door closed behind him to give Amelia time to compose herself.

The last thing he wanted this morning was Lady Ashcroft’s company, but her presence was always a curb for lust. He wished her a good morning, then glanced down at his daughter. “What are you doing outside the nursery at this hour?”

Lucy tugged at his arm. “Will you play with us, Papa?”

“No. It is nearly time for breakfast.”

Phillipa drew close. “Forgive me, Milo. The children seem to have been forgotten by your wife this morning, so I brought them down to the duchess and she suggested a walk together to look for her.”

“They were not forgotten,” he promised, though they had been entirely. He had been too busy seeing to his own needs, however, to remember his children. “I was just fetching Mama.”