Chapter 23 #2
“There.” She let her voice sink, low and husky. “Precisely where I want you.”
Shocked dark eyes met hers. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think?” She trailed a finger along his hot flesh, and it jerked even under that faint touch. “Don’t you want this?”
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and let his head tip back to give her a full view.
Balanced on his elbows, his legs spread with her kneeling between them, he was the very picture of debauchery.
His shirt hung open, revealing the lean muscle of his chest, the dark trail of hair that disappeared beneath his waistband.
His breathing had gone shallow, stomach flexing with each inhale.
And she was a vital component—she would undo him, piece by piece.
“Are you hoping for an apology?” he asked through gritted teeth as she blew across his engorged head.
“I know better than to expect that, darling brute.”
He grunted something that might have been a laugh if she had not taken that opportunity to lick him from base to tip. The sound broke into a strangled moan.
Oh, yes. This was precisely what she wanted from him.
“That’s better,” she murmured. “Now, you be quiet. Stop me if you get too close.”
His hand wound through her hair, but he made no attempt to guide her; he merely cradled her as she licked him again, long and drawn. As always, his skin was heated underneath the press of her tongue.
She was going to enjoy this.
She brought one hand and wrapped it around his base, then sank her mouth all the way down on him.
He groaned, hips jerking, and tensed as he forcibly stilled himself.
She gave him a moment to regain control before moving, following the path of her mouth with her hand.
He was so hard now, it felt almost painful, and she could taste his musky arousal from the moisture that beaded at his tip.
When it came to her, he was always so eager.
She adored it.
Especially now, when she wanted to feel in control.
She rested one hand on his muscular thigh, a light reminder that she wanted him to remain still—yet he could overpower her any second, and slid her mouth down on him again.
As she did, she used her tongue, experimenting until she found something he liked.
A swirling motion across his head. She did it, again and again, until he groaned something unintelligible and his hand on her scalp tightened.
She withdrew her head. “Not yet,” she ordered him, a little sternly. “Don’t you dare…”
His head fell back as he gave a ragged gasp. “You will be the death of me, shepherdess.”
“Good.” She curled her tongue around his head, feeling the way he swelled in her hand. “Then you know how I feel about the way you left me before.”
“I know—I know. I’m sorry.” The hand in her hair relaxed, and he caressed her. “I truly didn’t know you would be so…” His voice petered away as she applied herself to him again. “Concerned.”
“Then you ought to have known better,” she pressed as she resurfaced.
“I know… Next time—”
“There will be no next time.”
His breath shuddered. “Aurelia—”
“There will be no next time.” She used her teeth to gently graze down the side of his shaft, and his thighs trembled from the force of keeping still. When he throbbed, she raised her head. “Did you hear me?”
He watched her, half rueful, half in awe, his eyes luminous and deep. “What monster have I unleashed on the world?”
“Sebastian.”
“Yes, darling? I rather like it when you say my name with your pretty lips on my cock.” As though to prove his point, it twitched enthusiastically.
“You are crude.”
“Who can a man be crude with—except for his wife?”
As punishment, she brought her mouth back down on him, sinking quickly and ushering him to the very edge. Just as his gloriously rigid abdomen tightened and a groan built in the back of his mouth, she slowed, then let him pop free. This time, his groan was in frustration.
“How do you like it now, husband?” she asked sweetly.
He choked a laugh, and she returned to her ministrations, stopping every time she feared he grew too close to the edge.
Once, when she dared push too far, he pulled at her hair, tugging her head free.
By his drawn-out, languid breaths, she had the distinct impression that he was attempting to control himself.
And, eventually, he did.
She teased him until her own impatience caught up with her. Every time he shifted or groaned, it ignited another wave of pleasure in herself, and finally, there came a time when her desire to punish him no longer outweighed her desire to have him inside her.
As he lay with his back on the bed, panting for breath, she rose and urged him further on the bed. Then she straddled his hips, leaning over to kiss him.
“Let me—” he started.
“Not tonight. Tonight is about me.” She reached between them and took hold of his erection, pressing it against herself. The jolt of pleasure was so intense, she hissed a breath, and he groaned all over again.
“Aurelia, sweet hell, you’re so wet.”
Slowly, she rubbed his head across the little nub of pleasure between her thighs. With every pass, the knot of tension in her lower belly grew tighter. Sebastian reached up, clasping her breasts as they hung tantalizingly above his face.
“Come for me,” he begged, needy now. “Just like this, darling. Just like this.”
Her breath whooshed from her body. As his fingers pinched her nipples, intense pleasure zinged down her body to where it gathered in a hot ball, growing tighter and tighter with every passing second.
He groaned, thrusting so he slid against her.
The movement was so delicious, she made no objection when he did it again, and again, urging her closer and closer to that peak.
Really, it wouldn’t take long. Teasing him had riled her up enough that only a handful of touches would be likely to tip her over the edge.
Just one more…
And she utterly shattered. Pleasure crashed over her in a wave, and she convulsed above him, the arm braced against the bed threatening to buckle. Sebastian held her, and she felt safe in his arms. Even after the way he had run out on her before, she felt safe with him.
What a ridiculous thing.
What a marvelous thing…
As she came back to earth, Sebastian shifted, adjusting his hips until his erection sat at her entrance.
With one thrust, he was inside her. He let out an unintelligible sound, and she felt reborn.
Whole with him finally filling her. Her arm immediately gave way, and she lay across him.
He brought her face to his, kissing her as he thrust inside her again. Again.
“Aurelia.” He pushed her hair back from her face. “Can I come? I can’t—” He took a second to gather his breath. “I don’t think I can last much longer.”
Well, what else could she expect when she had teased him so thoroughly? And she had already had her satisfaction. If she wanted her fill of him in this way, she could do so again later.
“All right,” she whispered, closing her arms around his head. “Then you may.”
His hands moved to her hips, holding her in place as he thrust one last time, then groaned as he emptied himself in her. For a long moment, they were still. She listened to the pounding beat of his heart.
Then she slid off him, and he cleaned them both up. After, she curled in his arms and he held her against his chest. The worry from the day evaporated, and she sighed as her muscles finally relaxed.
“We have a manor full of villagers downstairs,” she murmured.
“So we do. Are you angry I brought them back?”
“No, not at all. Proud of you. It was the right thing to do. What else is there when we have so much and they so little? And when the storm took what little they had…” She trailed a finger through his chest hair. “Was it very bad?”
“The water was high and dirty. And it did plenty of damage to the lower floor of some of the houses,” he rumbled, a deep hypnotic timbre against her cheek. “Only the houses nearest to the river truly suffered from the flooding, but it was enough.”
From what she could remember, the river ran near central through the village; the houses had likely first been built around the river. A purposeful design that had now acted against them.
“Tomorrow, I will help too,” she whispered, closing her eyes and resting her chin against his shoulder. “There’s so much that we can do.”
“I know. We will.”
“They will change their minds about you now for certain.” Sleep came for her, fatigued by the events of the day, but she wasn’t ready to slip under its spell just yet. “They thought you a tyrant, but now they will understand how kind of a man my husband truly is.”
His arms tightened around her a touch. “I’m not kind, Aurelia.”
“You have been to me.”
“No… no, I haven’t.” His tone was dry now. “When you first arrived, we both know I was not particularly nice to you at all.”
“You never wanted a wife.” The words barely made it out before a yawn overwhelmed her, turning the statement soft and shapeless. Her eyes were already closing. “But… have you changed your mind…?”
Darkness swallowed her whole before he could answer.