Valentine did. He notched himself to her entrance and pushed inside. They both groaned at the intensely snug fit. She was tighter than he expected, but in this position, she would be. He wasn’t going to last as it was, the heat of her body making his wits scramble, but he was determined to make it good for her. He wasn’t selfish when it came to pleasure.

Gritting his jaw, he inched back and thrust forward while simultaneously pulling back on her hip bone with his palm. Her body gave way beautifully, enclosing more of him in a pulsing sheath that had him gasping, but he still wasn’t fully seated. Sweet damnation, she was tight. Too tight. A soft whimper was broken by a sharp inhale. Of pleasure? Of pain?

He wished he could see her face to know.

“Bronwyn,” he rasped. “Are you well?”

She shuddered, her passage fluttering around his cock, her voice breathy. “Don’t you dare stop now, Thornbury.” He quickened his circles with his fingers at the apex of her sex and withdrew his cock, only to slide back in on a long stroke that had them both groaning in tandem. “Like that, yes,” she whispered. “More. Harder next time.”

He gave her what she wanted, impaling her slim body with a powerful thrust, and it only took a few more strokes for her to go hurtling over the edge with a ragged sob, her walls convulsing around him in a way that had his own vision going white. With a shout, he withdrew and clasped himself in his fist to spend in the earth beneath them. Valentine pulled her back against him and braced his arm on the tree, feeling his heart beat pumping a mile a minute as beatific lassitude replaced the embers of his release.

After a beat, Bronwyn caught her breath and straightened. She stepped out of his loose embrace to put herself to rights and yank up her trousers. Before she could fasten them, Valentine removed his handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. She stared at it with a quizzical look before realizing what it was for.

“Oh, right.” He was certain she was blushing, though he couldn’t tell in the darkness. “Thank you,” she said, the rustle of clothing the only sound before she handed the neatly folded square back to him. “Do you need it as well?”

“Yes, thank you.”

It was all very polite as if they hadn’t fucked each other to the edge of oblivion moments before. But that was the thing with this kind of sex. It was raw, quick, and a hundred percent about physical release. In the past with sex like this, things had always gone back to business as usual, but now Valentine felt painfully hesitant about how to respond. Nor did he want to acknowledge that he hadn’t come so hard in…ever.