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And then he began to move.

Retreating and thrusting in. Sending her senses haywire as the glut of pain and pleasure threatened to drown her. Mei clung to him, panting for breath with lungs that did not seem to have enough room for the air she needed. She was dizzy from the lack of it, floating higher and higher.

His hand pressed against her hip, his thumb rubbing over her clit, and she nearly levitated off the bed.

“Sebastian!”

Every time he thrust, her cries grew louder, more impassioned. The climax that was so close hovered just out of reach, the unfamiliar sensations making it difficult to reach that ultimate rapture. Mei writhed beneath Sebastian, clenching, straining, as the tension wound tighter and tighter within her.

“My Mei,” he muttered, leaning in to bury himself deep inside her. “My precious little minx.”

Somehow, that was all she needed to send her over the edge. Mei’s cry of passion was all-consuming as the threatening orgasm crashed over her, sending waves of pleasure through her body. She felt Sebastian throb within her. Heard his groan in her ear as his own pinnacle was reached, and he emptied himself into her willing body.

They moved together, gasping and shuddering with their mutual ecstasy, the feeling of closeness between them deeper than it had ever been before.

Sebastian

Wrapped around Mei in the darkness, Sebastian ran his nose along the back of her neck.

“When we are married, you are sleeping in my bed,” he murmured. The same thing he’d murmured every night since she’d moved into his house.

Mei answered the same way she did every night. “If you insist, Your Grace.”

He ran his hand over her ribs, making her giggle and squirm against him. Then he wrapped his arm around her, tightening his grip.

“I’ll keep you safe. From everyone.” From his mother was what he really meant.

“I know you will.” Mei ran her fingers over the arm that was tightly banded around her waist, raising the little hairs as her fingers stroked through them.

Sebastian did not gentle his grip. He could not forget those awful moments when he’d realized she was in danger, that he might lose her.

Even having her as his wife would not be enough to remove his caution. Thankfully, she had agreed to have two footmen with her at all times, and the footmen were very aware of their duties. Sebastian also suspected that Drake had set several of his men to guard her, from a slightly larger distance, and he did not mind at all.

That was when Sebastian could be coaxed away from her side.

“We will find her.” Mei turned beneath his arm to wrap hers around him and hug him tightly.

“I know.” His mother could not hide forever. “I almost wish we would not. Though I do not want you to live in fear for the rest of your life.”

“And I do not wish you to, either.” Mei snuggled in against him. “It will be alright, Sebastian. As long as we have each other.”

“I mean to have you forever.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Felt her lips move against his chest as she smiled.

“Then forever it shall be.”

Sebastian cradled her against him. Eventually, his mother would be found. They would have to deal with her. Not just them, but the country at large. No matter what happened, Sebastian would never forgive nor trust her again. That was if she was not executed for treason, which would be right… but she was still a duchess. It was possible the Crown would decide to sweep things under the rug. Especially as she was a woman.

But in this moment, Sebastian did not need to worry himself about ducal matters or treason or his mother.

His only concern was wrapping himself around Mei as tightly as he could and holding her. Enjoy being with her. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the scent of her and let himself relax.

The main priority in his life now was taking care of Mei and, eventually, their children. That would be his focus for the rest of his life. He finally had everything his heart had truly desired.

Epilogue

Christian

Being the last duke unencumbered by a betrothed or a fiancée was not an enviable position to be in. Especially with a ducal wedding on the horizon.