He thrust deep. “Tell me when it’s too much.”
“It won’t ever be too much.” She gripped his arms.
“I love you.” He nudged deeper. “I love you. Take that.”
Her heart swelled.
With every movement, he pushed her spine against the unyielding mahogany. The firmness of the desk gave her nowhere to hide. She was at his mercy, and she couldn’t get enough.
When her climax broke, she cried out. In pain, in pleasure. She dug her fingernails into his neck. He growled in response, holding her still as he spent inside her.
Afterward, he held her so tenderly. Right against his pounding heart.
“I was so stupid this morning,” he whispered. “If you want me to shuffle papers, I’ll shuffle papers. If you wanted me to give up fighting, I’d do that. I’d do anything to keep you, Clio. I love you. I wish I had better ways to show it. All I have is this brash, reckless heart. But it’s yours.”
She looked up at him. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Good. I hope your love for me will survive this.”
She opened the top drawer of the desk, located the dissolution papers Rafe had signed—and cast them in the fire.
“Clio, no.”
He lunged to save them, but he was too late. The papers flared and burned in the grate.
He speared his fingers through his hair. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I’m not going to let you be the villain today. I was stupid this morning, too. And when Piers came home, I realized this is happening so fast. We need a little time, each of us. You need to fight your battles. I need to fight my own. And we owe it to Piers to do this right.
“You are still brothers, despite everything. He needs someone to welcome him home, and it’s not going to be me. If we married right away, you’d never be able to mend things with him. But if I break the news and we bide our time . . . Piers will overcome any disappointment he might feel. With any luck, he’ll choose another bride.”
“He’s a man of fortune, rank, and privilege. He can take care of himself. I want to take care of you.”
She touched his shoulders. “I know. But how could I claim to love you, then ask you to choose between me and your only brother? You needn’t choose at all, if we wait.”
“I can’t ask you to wait. I know how you detest that word. You’ve waited eight years.”
“I can last a few months more.” She stroked his cheek. “It will be different now. This time, I know I’m worth waiting for.”
He weaved his hands in her hair and held her close. “You’re worth anything. You know that, don’t you? I’d swallow nails. I’d walk through fire.”
“Oh, that would be too easy. I’m asking you to do something far worse. Go spend time with your brother.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Clio! Clio!” Daphne accosted her in the corridor, breathless and flushed. She placed her hands on Clio’s shoulders. “Did I just see Lord Granville and Lord Rafe mounted on their horses and riding away?”
Clio’s heart pinched at the thought of Rafe leaving. But if he must go, at least he was leaving with his brother. “You probably did,” she said. “Yes.”
“Well, what are they about? Have they gone to fetch the license?”
“No, they’ve . . .” She shrugged as they entered the drawing room, joining Sir Teddy and Phoebe. “They’ve simply gone.”
“Gone?” Daphne shook her head, laughing. “But what can you mean?”
Clio squared her shoulders and drew a deep breath. This seemed as good a time as any to announce it.
“I’ve broken the engagement,” she said.
There. The words were out, and they hadn’t even been that difficult to pronounce. If she’d managed to hold her own when informing Piers of her decision, she could certainly relay the news to her closest family.
“What?” Teddy’s boot hit the floor. “You mean you let him off the hook?”
“I wouldn’t phrase it that way, but—”
“That’s not fair, dumpling.” Her brother-in-law rose from his seat, visibly agitated. “He kept you dangling for eight years. Humiliated you. Squandered the best years of your life. Make the man come up to scratch.”
“You’re mistaken,” Clio said, trying to keep an even temper. “I am the one who broke the engagement. It was my decision. I don’t wish to marry him.”
“You, breaking off with him?” Teddy chuckled. “It’s a nice attempt to save face, but no one’s going to believe that tale.”
“It’s not a tale. It’s the truth.”
But when had these two ever recognized the truth, from Clio’s lips?
“Oh, Lord.” Daphne sank onto the sofa and released a slight, deflated moan. “Oh, no.”
Clio shook her head. For heaven’s sake, Piers had accepted the news with less melodrama than this.
He’d taken it well, actually. He’d expressed a convincing degree of disappointment, but Clio could tell his pride was taking the deepest wound. His heart wasn’t in danger. They were little more than strangers after all these years. She hoped in time they could be friends.
He was a good man. Just not the man for her.
“Can’t you try to mend things?” her sister asked. “Perhaps it’s not too late. Or . . . Or Teddy can ride after them and demand Lord Granville make good on his promises.”
Clio shook her head. “It’s over.”
“It can’t be over,” Teddy said. “After all these years, we can’t give up. You mustn’t let him escape.”
“Escape?” She laughed. “Should I be locking him in the dungeons?”
“Laugh all you like, but this is always your failing.” Her sister clucked her tongue. “You let this drag on far too long, when you should have stood up for yourself years ago. You’re too accommodating.”
She thought on it. “You’re right, Daphne. I am too accommodating.”
“I’m so glad you see it.”
“That’s going to change,” Clio said. “Today.”
“Oh, yes. Let’s go after him. We’ll order the carriage this moment. Teddy.”
Her sister snapped her fingers, and her husband roused himself from the sofa. Together they hurried into the corridor.
Clio followed. But when they approached the entrance hall, she held back.