She smiled up at him, and there was something so sunny and open in her expression . . . He felt it echo across his own face until he was grinning like a loon, almost laughing with the sheer joy of her company.

“Richard?” she said, her grin right there in her voice.

“I’m just so happy.” He sat up to yank his shirt over his head. “I can’t help it.”

She touched his face, her small hand light and delicate along the line of his jaw.

“Stand up,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

“Stand up.” He eased himself off the bed, then tugged at her hand until she followed suit.

“What are you doing?”

“I believe,” he said, sliding her dress down over her hips, “I’m disrobing you.”

Her eyes fell to the front of his breeches.

“Oh, I’ll get to that,” he promised. “But first . . .” He found the delicate ties to her chemise and pulled, catching his breath when it fell to the floor in a cloud of white silk. She was still wearing her stockings, but he wasn’t sure he could wait long enough to divest her of those, and at any rate, her hands were at his waist, urgently slipping the buttons undone.

“You’re too slow,” she muttered, practically yanking his breeches down.

The threads of his desire stretched impossibly taut.

“I’m trying to be gentle.”

“I don’t want you to be gentle.”

He grabbed her under her buttocks, lifting her to meet him, and they both tumbled to the bed. Her legs slid open, and without even trying he found himself at her entrance, using every ounce of his control to keep himself from plunging forward.

He looked at her, his eyes asking—Are you ready?

She grabbed his bottom and let out a frustrated cry. It might have been his name. He didn’t know; he couldn’t hear anything beyond the blood rushing through his body as he surged forward, sheathing himself within her.

It was all so fast. He felt her tense, and he lifted himself up as best he could. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”

“Don’t stop,” she growled, and then all speech was lost. He plunged into her, over and over, driven by an urgency he did not fully comprehend. All he knew was that he needed her. He needed to fill her, to be consumed by her. He wanted to feel her legs wrapped around him, to feel the thrust of her hips as she rose to meet him.