She was shaking, her body welcoming him deep within. He thrust his full length inside, seemingly growing harder. A rush of hot moisture flooded over her, and she bit back a scream, her tight well squeezing him with aftershocks. She saw his own release come seconds later, his hips flexing until he groaned aloud.

He lay atop her, his warm body covering her completely. Emily couldn’t stop trembling.

“Did I hurt you?” he whispered.

“No.” But she offered no elaboration. She couldn’t bring herself to confess how much she’d missed him.

He withdrew from inside her, rolling her back against him. He pressed a kiss upon her bare shoulder. “I need to return to London.”

“Why?”

“I want to speak with Carstairs again, about the tattoo and the shipment.” He slid his palm over the soft skin of her body. “And I want you and the children to remain here, so you’re safe.”

She didn’t like the thought of him going off to fight an unseen enemy while she remained alone with the children. Thoughts of the solicitor’s visit preyed upon her mind, and she rolled over to face him. “What about my Uncle Nigel?”

“What about him?”

“What if he tries to take the children from me while you are gone? Mr. Robinson said I had to bring them to his estate.” She couldn’t imagine doing such a thing.

“We will decide what to do when we see the will. And as I said, I’ll go and speak to him. Perhaps I can convince him to wait.”

“And what if I have to give them up?” The thought of losing the children broke her heart.

His arms tightened around her. “We have to be careful because of the law.”

She drew back and turned to face him, unable to believe what he’d just said. “You’ll just hand them over without fighting for them?”

His expression remained stoic. “Do you honestly believe I would give the children into a stranger’s care?”

“I don’t know.” Emily sat up, folding her arms around her waist. A brittle pain laced across her heart as she reached for her fallen nightgown.

“You don’t believe I’ll protect them.” His visage darkened with resentment.

“I’m afraid.” Raw images seared into her memory, of her laughing brother now gone, a cold corpse buried in the ground. “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.” Not the children. And especially not her husband. But the words wouldn’t come forth.

“Trust in me,” he demanded. “The children are safer here than in London. You know it as well as I.”

“No, I don’t know that. I was attacked here,” she argued. “We should stay together.”

Stephen set his hands upon her shoulders, pulling her back into his embrace. “They want me dead, Emily. Not the children.”