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Her pulse thundered in her ears as Colin covered her body with his own, shielding her from visibility. The hack did not slow, nor did it stop for him, seeming to have a predetermined destination. When the carriage was but a speck in the distance, he turned to her, his eyes alight with confusion and relief. Penelope had seen the very same look the night it all began in the carriage; the very moment she had told him that she wanted to be more than friends.
They were both still reeling from the many thrills of the evening; finding each other on the streets in the dead of night, releasing their pent-up hostility, declaring their frustration and their love, the liberties they had already taken, and nearly being caught taking them. Neither of them could catch their breath, nor could they let go of each other.
Colin’s eyes bore straight into her soul, or so it felt. Even in the pitch darkness, she could see the slightest bit of shine in them.
“Penelope,” he husked, his chest rumbling against her own. He took her chin in his hand, and delicately tilted her head back to look at him.
Penelope could smell her sex on him and it called to her. She placed her hand over the one which was now splayed across her cheek and intertwined their fingers together. Her grip on him was stronger than she expected, but she needed him. Adrenaline and desire coursed through her, resulting in a perfect, yet heady storm. She swore she could still feel his fingers moving within her, causing her inner walls to clench and flutter. After all he had done to her, she wanted nothing more than to be full of him again. Without thinking, she brought his fingers to her mouth and enclosed her lips around them, tasting her own essence against his skin.
She closed her eyes, leaning into him and into the taste. She tasted salt and tang, and the scent of musk filled the air between them. Penelope did not see Colin practically wither beneath her touch. She did not see his mouth fall open with want, nor did she see his breath catch as his fingertips ghosted over her lips. But she felt it all.
Colin made every effort to clear his throat, but his mouth was dry and his tongue was heavy. “Penelope…” he hissed as she released his fingers with a wet pop.
Colin sighed, all the more desperate for her. “Penelope,” he practically pleaded. “We cannot continue,” he told her, his tone serious.
An unexpected whine emitted from Penelope’s throat. “Colin,” she sighed. “Please.”
He denied her more firmly, “We cannot.”
“PLEASE,” she insisted.
She did not want to be this needy. She wanted to be strong, brave, and independent. She had been so the entire time that she had been Lady Whistledown. In one moment, all that she had built for herself had been decimated by a man. Not just any man, but the only man she had ever truly loved, whom she had just assuredly, fervently, and loudly proclaimed her love for in the middle of a deserted street at midnight. A man who had kissed her senseless against a shop window and lifted her skirts. She did not want to be needy, but her body was thrumming. He had done this to her. Maybe not intentionally, but he had done it all the same. He had been angry, rightfully so, and he had kissed her in public, amongst other liberties. Were they not already set to marry, she might have blamed him more. At the very least, she was angry, as she should be. She felt a hot flush burn across her skin. She was warm from the cloak and from the proximity of her husband-to-be. He waited expectantly for her to continue.
"Colin, you have spun me about the night before our wedding. You have barely spoken to me, let alone looked at me without disdain for the better part of a week. You cannot blame me for that. Now you have gone and set fire to a glacier, what was I to do but melt? I love you with my whole heart, Colin, but you have done this to yourself."
His tone sharpened, as if his words were an arrow to be shot. "And you think you have not done the very same! Spinning me about every chance you get! It is maddening, Penelope, to love two halves of the same woman, one of whom has hidden everything about herself from me for years!"
"I did what I needed to do," she acknowledged. "I had no one to defend me as I do now. I had no one telling me they loved me and that everything would be alright. I only had myself to bear the burden and I now only have myself to bear the blame. That much, l accept.”
She saw the tension between his furrowed brows release ever so slightly. The tension was replaced by consideration and, dare she hope, worry? He released his hold on her. “What will you have me do, Penelope?”
“Leave me, Mr. Bridgerton. I will do as I have always done and I will take care of myself. You need not worry, I will meet you at the altar as planned.”
He looked at her incredulously, “You do not sincerely…”
“I have given you my answer. If you do not wish to honor it, that is your prerogative.”
“Well I say bollocks to that,” Colin swore, “And bollocks to the honor you seek, you will not find it with me, Penelope.”
It was then that she saw red, clear and burning red. “And what is it that I will find with you, Colin? Because whatever it is, I am not certain that I want it.”
Silence passed between them, as pervasive as the night itself. Penelope’s chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath against her ever-so-tight corset. He caught her small, soft hand in his own and stepped forward, pressing himself against it. Penelope gasped at the feel of him beneath his breeches and Colin bit back a groan as his manhood throbbed under her touch.
He pressed himself further into Penelope, her back against the window of the shop behind them. He was well aware that at any moment, another hack could pass by, or someone working late at night could see them, and yet he did not care. Despite how frustrated he was with Lady Whistledown, he wanted her - Penelope. He wanted his wife. He craved her.
Colin placed one hand behind her head and the other found hers and wrapped it around the growing bulge at his pelvis. He rutted against her hand before letting go, now that she understood. “Colin,” he heard her gasp.
“Tonight,” he bit out, grinding against her once more, “This is what you will find with me, my little wife-to-be.” He continued moving, growing breathless with each thrust, “For I do not have…enough words…to tell you…how much I want…need…love…you.”
Penelope could feel him leaking through his breeches and his hips stuttered as she brushed her thumb over the wet spot that formed there. She loved the feeling of him losing all control, surrendering to her, giving her everything.
Colin slowed his movements before he lost himself in her, and pulled away, her hand falling from his cock. Her eyes were dark and glittering. “Whether or not you want what you find with me, is a choice that is entirely your own,” he whispered, his voice thick and low.
She hesitated before reaching for his lapels, “Do not dare start something you do not intend to finish, Mr. Bridgerton.” With that, Penelope pulled Colin down to her, their lips crashing together in another searing kiss, which left them both gasping for air.
“I would…never…dream of it,” he murmured, punctuating each pause with a peck against her lips before pulling back to gaze at her, “I will always finish where you are concerned.” His lips were back on hers instantly, as he gave himself over to her, seeking to begin where they had been so rudely interrupted.
“Damned skirts,” he cursed as he pressed his lips against her neck, and reached beneath her dress, searching for that sweet spot that he knew was more than ready for him. He could not recall things being this difficult the first time he had been under her skirts this evening.
Penelope released a groan of frustration as he fumbled through the layers, and hiked her leg and her skirts up higher to aid him in his quest. Her right leg wound around his calf like ivy and she pulled him closer. Despite all the layers between them, she could still feel the bulge she had been handling only moments prior and she wanted it against her.
She gasped sharply, begging him to fill her, “Colin, please.” He growled against her skin right as she shifted her hips to meet him, and two fingers sank into her warm, wet cunt, filling her completely.
Penelope cried out to him, louder than she had intended, and Colin placed a hand over her mouth to quieten her, humming against her ear. “Shhh, Pen, almost there.” She sighed against his palm as two fingers changed to three and he moved within her with reckless abandon. He needed to see her come undone. “Is this what you wanted? Did you want me to fill you up for anyone to see? Did you want everyone to know you are my wife?”
”No…I never…” she struggled to speak as pleasure swelled within her. “I just…wanted….you.” Though the more public location of their encounter did change their situation in a way she had never experienced, she never intended for things to happen this way. She simply wanted him, the man she loved, to love her back. Though Penelope was not foolish enough to equate relations with love, she trusted Colin implicitly. Although he was angry, and hurt, and confused with Lady Whistledown, deep down, she knew that he loved Penelope. Soon enough he would learn and accept that they were one and the same. For tonight, this was all he could give her, and it was enough.
I took everything in Colin not to allow the tears in his eyes to spill over as he brought Penelope nearer to her release. She had only ever wanted him, only ever loved him. While he could not wade through the mess that was Whistledown at present, he knew that being with Pen was the right thing. One day, they would look back on all this as a distant memory. They may even laugh about it. But tonight, Lady Whistledown was the last thing on his mind. All he needed was right in front of him.
They both needed this, needed each other, and he intended to make good on his promise to Penelope. He would always finish. Colin set to work, feeling for just the right spot deep within her. When she bucked against him, practically folding in half, he knew she was close.
“Yes, Colin,” she sighed, her head falling back against the windowpane, his hand there to catch her. “So good, you are so good to me.” Fuck, did he want to take her right then and there. His restraint was hanging by a thread, but he had worked too hard to turn back now. He was going to finish her, even if he finished himself in the process.
Penelope dug her fingers into his back, clawing at his shirt for purchase. White lights began to flash in the corners of her eyes as she rutted her hips against his hand, ready and waiting to come undone. She felt her breath quicken as Colin’s fingers began to hit the place she knew would make her collapse soon enough. His breath hot on her ear, she leaned into him, rubbing her cheek against his. “Pen,” he whispered, peppering sweet, hot kisses against the skin just below her earr, “Come for me.”
With one last circle of his thumb around the small, yet powerful bundle of nerves between her folds, Penelope shattered against his hand, biting down on her tongue so as not to cry out. His mouth was on hers in an instant, absorbing the sounds of her pleasure. Each forward pulse of her hips became weaker and weaker until she came to a complete stop, nearly boneless beneath him.
Colin relished the feel of her release, covered in her slickness and essence, he could not help but bring a finger to his mouth to taste, just as she had done previously. He hummed as he licked his fingers one by one, tasting every last drop of her. “I cannot wait to taste you myself,” he told her, as her head lolled to one side and her eyes fluttered open, almost sleepily. “In due time, of course.”
She responded with a slight smile and reached for him, pulling him by the waistband. His hands beat hers and they flew with fervor, unbuckling buckles and releasing buttons until his member was free.
“I want to touch you there, now,” Penelope whispered as she moved a hand between them. “I want to feel how solid you are.”
As she wrapped his fingers around his hardening cock and squeezed, moving her hand along his shaft, Colin’s head fell to her chest, where her heaving bosom welcomed him. He planted feather-light kisses along the tops of her breasts, and whined when her corset would not allow any give to free her breasts for fondling.
She ran a hand through the dark hair along his temple and around the shell of his ear, eliciting a needy groan from him. She kissed his forehead and pulled his mouth back up to hers. “There is no time for that, I am afraid. We must make haste, Colin.” Her lips parted and his tongue darted between them, sweeping over her teeth. He was taken by surprise when she captured his tongue and sucked at it, pulling him in deeper.
When she released him, he spoke, “Pen, about Whistledown…I am sorry for my anger. You are all that matters to me right now and ever. You are all I need.”
She nodded against his cheek as he trailed kisses along her chin and neck, and she gave his cock a final squeeze. “Take what you need…” she encouraged him.
Colin grunted as he lifted her skirts, seeking her warmth. Taking himself in hand and urging her leg back around his thigh for leverage, he found where she needed him most. She was soaked from where he had only just brought her to completion. He lifted her without warning, guiding her other leg around his hips and cupping her rear out of both appreciation and necessity. He found himself at her entrance, watching as she nodded and took him in slowly and beautifully.
As they became one, Penelope gasped in satisfaction. She would never get over just how full he made her feel, so deep inside of her as he began to move.
The skin at Penelope’s hips began to pinch as her corset shifted uncomfortably, but the pleasure of Colin loving her was nearly enough to make her forget the pain. With each thrust, she moaned as softly as she could, muffling her cries against his hair. On a particularly deep series of thrusts, she pulled his head back by the hair and slotted her mouth over his, forcing him to catch all the sounds she made for him.
”Fuck, Penelope,” he murmured as he pulled away to catch his breath. “You…are…so…perfect, taking me so well like this.”
She had never heard him swear in such a way before, but she liked it. She liked that she made him use colorful new words while he was buried deep inside her, and she wanted to hear it again. She caught his mouth once more and her teeth sank into his lower lip, causing him to hum against her mouth.
”Fuck,” he cried out, the pleasure-pain sensation going straight to his cock. He felt her heels dig into his thighs as he drove into her faster than before. Penelope’s muscles began to clench tighter around him, and he knew neither of them would last much longer.
With one hand, he sought where she was most sensitive and pressed his thumb against her.
“Colin, yes,” she encouraged, pulling at his hair. “Colin, I…”
He buried his nose in the nape of her neck. “I know, darling, let go for me, I will catch you.”
As she took her pleasure, Penelope’s silence was perhaps the loudest he had ever heard. Her mouth formed a perfect circular shape and it was as if she was momentarily suspended in time before the waves crashed through her.
Colin tumbled into oblivion only a few beats behind her, pumping into her vigorously. “Iloveyou,” he bit out, hurried and breathless upon the final hard thrust. As he emptied himself into her, he whispered sweet everythings to her, about how brave, clever, and beautiful she was.
As their movements slowed and they came back to themselves, they nuzzled against each other and Colin planted a kiss to her forehead. “Come now, ‘we must make haste,’” he jested, recalling her words from earlier. Penelope laughed in response.
Colin removed himself from her with a pained wince and set Penelope back on her feet. The pair adjusted their clothing and made themselves as presentable as possible.
They were relieved to find no signs of life nearby. After Penelope smoothed out her dress and Colin tightened his belt, he enclosed his hands over hers and brought them to his mouth, kissing her knuckles reverently.
“I should be very proud to call you my wife tomorrow,” he reassured her.
She smiled up at him. “And I should be very proud to call you my husband.”
With a final parting kiss in the safety of their hiding place, Colin pulled Penelope toward him and tucked her in close, protecting her from the chill of the evening air. “Come now, we cannot have you catching your death the night before your wedding.”
“I certainly hope not!” She laughed, leaning into him.
”Now, where is that blasted hack from earlier?”