“Then lose control, Liam. Lose yourself in me.”
His fingers tightened on her hip and he gave a low rumble from his chest. Yes, this was what she wanted. The slow and beautiful lovemaking had made her his again, and now she wanted to finish with heat and uncontrollable passion.
With a load groan, he pulled back and then thrust forward again, this time harder, shaking her roughly but exquisitely. She felt herself closing in on the ultimate pleasure. And then there were no more pauses; there was no more holding back. He began moving faster, plunging in and pulling nearly out before surging forward again.
Each time he sank within her, the pleasure intensified, bringing her higher and higher, closer and closer.
Greedy now for more, greedy for it all, Whitney gripped his back and wrapped one leg around him as she met him thrust for thrust. She kept forgetting to breathe, but they found a perfect rhythm anyway.
And then they crashed together and her entire body went up in flames. Wave after wave of wild sensation washed through her and encompassed every atom of her body.
Yet he didn’t let up, and the explosions within her grew more and more powerful. A cry was ripped from her.
Liam’s shout of ecstasy joined hers as he slammed deep inside her, his body shaking from the power of his release.
Both of them were exhausted, and both of them well sated. They took a long while to get their breathing under control.
“I’m sorry. I have to be crushing you,” he murmured before turning over to lie beside her.
“That … that was … indescribable,” she whispered.
What was she feeling now? She had no idea. But she knew for sure that walking away from this man would mean leaving a piece of herself behind.
“I agree, Whitney. Give me a few minutes to recover and we’ll see what comes next.”
“I don’t think I could do that again,” she told him. “Though I’m willing to give it my best shot.”
He laughed, shocking her at the joy that seemed to be radiating from him.
“That sounded like a challenge, Ms. Steele,” he said before climbing back on top of her. “And I never could resist a challenge.”
He kissed her, this time hard and long. And to her amazement, and her utter delight, she felt his manhood hardening against her core.
“Yes …”
That was the last of their talking for the rest of the night.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
So this was home, at least for right now — this palace. It was indeed a new year, and Whitney couldn’t have been happier.
The children were off doing their school lessons, and Liam and his father were discussing business.
Just thinking of Liam set her heart to hammering and made her head feel fuzzy. And against all odds, against all obstacles, he seemed to feel the same way that she did. How was that possible?
A month ago, this would have seemed like a royal mistake. But the children were thriving, and the house back in Oregon was fraught with too many memories, with the constant sense of her sister’s loss. Her only problem, Whitney told herself, was having too little to do.
She’d have to remedy that somehow. Maybe get a job or finally finish her master’s degree. But for now she was just walking the halls. Perhaps she could get a ride into town, but she’d be wandering around all alone, just as she was now.
While strolling by Frederick’s office, she stopped when she heard her name.
“You and Whitney are spending a lot more time together,” she heard Frederick say. “I’m glad that the problems seem to have evaporated.”
Whitney smiled. She knew no good ever came from eavesdropping, but she couldn’t help herself. She would leave in just a moment.
“Yes, we have, Liam replied. “She’s been very good company, and she loves Brayden and Ally so much. She’s good with them.”
Okay, so it wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was still pretty nice.
“And have you stopped going after getting custody of the children?” Frederick asked.
Whitney froze. Ugh. That was her greatest fear come to light. She hadn’t known Liam had been actually trying to take the kids, though she’d figured he might think it best for them. She waited with bated breath to see what the two men were going to say next.
“Yes. She loves them, and I think there’s a way for us to work the situation out on our own,” Liam said.
Whitney’s heart thundered. What exactly did he mean by that? How did he expect them to work it all out? Did he want her to just give up the children to his family? She wasn’t sure that she wanted to hear anything more, but she still stood there in the hall.
“But back to the problem we were discussing,” Frederick told his son. “I really didn’t want her to attend the dinner party.”