She had spent years pretending her curves were a flaw, something to minimize. To disguise beneath careful posture and sensible gowns.
But beneath his hands—his reverent, possessive hands—there was nothing flawed about her shape.
The weight of her breasts filled his palms and his mouth worshiped them as though he had discovered abundant perfection.
Rosamund’s head fell back against the door, eyes fluttering closed as pleasure rolled through her in warm, liquid waves.
Her hips tilted toward him, frustrated by the barrier of her skirts, silently seeking more… begging.
He answered by hooking his arm under her knee, lifting her leg high, and stepping closer.
The movement pressed her center flush to the thick ridge of him and she clutched at his shoulders.
HIs hands moved between them, over the swell of her belly, lower. And then… Pressure. Slow but deliberate, making her breath hitch.
“Your Grace…” she groaned.
He lifted his head, gaze locking with hers. “You like this?”
She could only nod.
Nimble fingers gathered her skirts, lifting the silk slowly, inch by inch.
“Your Grace…” she breathed again, this time in total surrender.
His knuckles grazed her knee first.
She shivered.
Higher.
His palm skimmed the curve of her thigh. He did not rush. He did not seize.
He explored.
Her lashes fluttered closed and Rosamund focused on every movement — the slow ascent along her inner thigh, the deliberate pause just short of where she burned for him.
He lingered there. Testing.
Her breaths came out in little flutters.
His thumb drifted closer, then away again, and when at last his touch found the place that pulsed with aching warmth, her body answered before her mind could.
“Yes.”
Encouragement.
Permission.
His hand moved with new certainty now — slow, deliberate strokes that made her hips shift instinctively toward him. Every pass drew sensation tighter, higher, until the world seemed to narrow to the space between his hand and her breath.
“Your Grace.” And then?—
He stopped.
Her eyes flew open.
His gaze held hers, forcing her to meet his even as her cheeks flamed.