Chapter 57

As if he were reading her mind, Adam pulled her onto his chest so she straddled his belly. ‘I want inside you again, darling. Take me.'
She braced her arms on his shoulders while she rose up above him. Adam held his shaft steady while she lowered herself until the damp head was nudging against her slick nether lips.
‘That’s itÑtake me into your heat, Marietta.'
With a whimper of pleasure, she lowered herself, feeling her flesh part around the blunt tip. Her tissues stretched around his girth, impossibly full and hard again. When her mound rested on the skin of his groin, she forced herself to breathe. She’d never been filled so deeply.
‘Now ride me, darling. Use me to find your pleasure.'
Slowly, Marietta rocked forward and back, gasping at the nearly painful sensations. With each pass, she moved farther, took more, and gradually increased her pace. Dear God, this was amazing. She’d never been so in control of her own bliss. Then Adam reached down and fingered her nub with one hand and caught the tip of one nipple with the other.
Marietta cried out as the multiple stimuli lashed her into a frenzy of pleasure. She ground down on his cock, taking him so deep she could barely tell where she ended and he began. She heard the damp sound of flesh meeting flesh and his shallow breathing, along with her own moans and it sent her crashing over the edge. Sparks flared behind her closed eyelids as she clamped down on him and shattered.
Adam pulled her down onto his chest and held her close, still filling her shuddering channel with his length. He stroked his hands up and down the length of her spine, lulling her into blissful slumber.
‘Now you’ll have to marry me,' he said against the shell of her ear some moments later. One of themÑshe didn’t quite remember whichÑhad managed to pull the covers up over their bodies as the perspiration started to dry. She lazed against his chest, halfway asleep and utterly content. His words created a coil of hope in her chest, along with a knot of worry in her belly. He didn’t mean it. He was just being a gentleman.
‘Because we didn’t use a sheath?' she asked. ‘My courses are due tomorrow or the next day. I’m no physician, but I’m fairly certain that a woman is unlikely to conceive at this point in her cycle. We should be safe.' Which was a relief, yet at the same time a trifle disappointing.
‘No, not because of that. Mind you it’s a valid concern, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’d love to have children with you, Marietta, but only if you want that too.'
God, he always knew exactly the right thing to say to smash every one of her defenses. ‘The neighbors, then? You’re afraid we’ll be caught?'
‘Marietta, I don’t know what your village in Kent was like, but I assure you, in most places a widow is allowed some degree of freedomÑeven a Ôspecial friend’. Of course the neighbors would find out eventually, but as long as we were discreet and proper in public, no one would care. The people here love you. They wouldn’t begrudge you a bit of happiness, and I like to think they’re fond of me as well.'
‘Of course they are,' she replied. That was understood. ‘Then what?'
Adam rolled her to her back, leaning on his elbows above her. The new position allowed her to see the fierce sincerity in his gaze.
‘I want to marry you because I don’t want to sneak back to my house tonight and wake up tomorrow morning alone. I don’t want to have to hide my regard for you, to only be allowed furtive trysts now and again. I’ve fallen in love with you, Marietta. I don’t want to hide that love. I want to shout it from the rooftops.'
He loved her? Her heart beat so fast she was afraid it would burst from her chest. No one, not even her late husband, had ever looked at her with that intensity of emotion burning in his eyes. ‘But how? Adam, we’ve only known each otherÑreally known each otherÑfor a week. Are you sure it isn’t just lust?' Though it had been enough time for her, she knew. She’d been head over heels in love with him since she’d watched him fight to save a little girl’s dog.
‘That’s long enough, it seems. I’m mad for you, my love. About your body, yes, but I’m even more in love with your courage, intelligence and remarkable sense of humor. With the way you’re not afraid to stand up to me and the kindness that lets you teach girls who might otherwise be lost. Say you’ll marry me, Marietta. Let me wake up every morning to see the love that even now is shining in your beautiful dark eyes.'
‘I do love you, Adam. Of course you know that. I don’t think I could have let you make love to me if I didn’t. But are you sure? Very sure? Forever can be a very long time.' Tears of happiness gathered at the corners of her eyes. She was almost afraid to breathe for fear of waking and finding that this had all been a dream.
‘Forever with you could never be long enough. I love you. With all my heart.'
‘Then yes, Adam. I’d love to be your wife.'
One month later, the entire population of Porter Street gathered at the village church The orphans from the school gazed in awe at the Earl of Haverford and his family while one unusual guest watched the ceremonies from the floor beside a middle pew. Monty panted happily, knowing he’d done his job. His human was nearly healthy again and he’d managed to do a good turn for two of the people who had helped her survive her illness. While he hadn’t intended to be hit by a coach when he’d slipped out that evening to check on Marietta, it had been worth it to bring these two together. They’d acknowledged his help by inviting a four-legged guest to attend their nuptials.
Later, at the wedding breakfast in the parish hall, Monty watched as one of the neighbor children presented the newlyweds with a special gift. The squirming mongrel pup was just two months old, but Monty knew his son would be a good guardian for the new family.
He lay down, resting his head on his paws. He’d been fed all kinds of treatsÑpork chops and steak and even a bit of wedding cake. The bride and groom, flushed with happiness and excitement, waved goodbye from the door, off on their week-long wedding trip to the seashore. His human, Lara, knelt in her best dress by his side, scratching his floppy ear.
Yes, life was good for a guardian angel. Even one with four legs instead of wings.