Chapter Six #3
“All will be well. I promise I won’t hurt you.
” He claimed her lips again, and while that served as a distraction, he caressed the inside of one thigh then transferred his attention to the opposite one.
By increments, Constance relaxed. She looped her arms about his shoulders in an effort to hold him closer, and it was such an incredible consent of trust that his chest tightened.
Again, he closed his lips around her nipple, and this time he glided his fingers along her curl-shrouded flesh. Damn but she was already aroused, and it took every ounce of control not to shove into that honeyed heat.
“Oh, goodness!” As her back arched, she pressed her body against his. “Samuel never touched me here.”
There was no doubt she’d loved her husband, but he’d done her a disservice.
“A pity, for it’s a vital part of intercourse.
” Gregory soothed her with a fleeting kiss.
The last thing they both needed was for her to have an episode.
“You may bid me nay at any time, and I will leave you be.” Slowly, carefully, while treating her to feather-weighted kisses beneath her jaw, he parted the flesh between her thighs and brought forth that hidden pearl at her center. “Continue?”
“Mmmhmm.” The clever young woman put a hand atop his and guided him to where she wanted him. “Here.” She wriggled her hips. “It feels lovely when you rub… here!” Her voice went up an octave as he followed her instruction.
Had she touched herself in exploration during those long days when her fiancé-then-husband was away? He didn’t know but he desperately wanted to find out.
Over and over, he strummed his fingers over that swollen nubbin with varying degrees of friction until he found a rhythm she apparently enjoyed.
It was a matter of pride to see her tumble into a soft release, so he worked her body as if she were a stringed instrument and he a maestro.
As her breath dissolved into quick pants and excited gasps, and she restlessly moved beneath him, he continued to tease that button.
“Fall off that edge. Let the feelings take hold and send you into bliss.” Gregory lightly bit a nipple, and when she uttered a cry blended with a moan, he suckled the pebbled tip into his mouth and continued to pleasure it with his tongue, in perfect time to the strokes of his fingers on her pearl.
“Gregory!” The word came out on three exaggerated syllables as her body stiffened and she dug her fingernails into his arm and shoulder.
Seconds later, Constance fell into a release that appeared far stronger than the first. She shattered in spectacular fashion.
As a keening cry escaped her throat, he quickly stemmed the sound by kissing her long and deeply, for he didn’t care to have the servants know what they’d gotten up to.
Not that they wouldn’t anyway.
Sometime later, after she lay pliant while he watched her from where he lounged on his side next to her, she looked at him with rounded eyes. “Why didn’t you do the remainder of the deed?”
God, she was adorable, and that made her dangerous to his peace of mind.
He needed to remind himself that this relationship wasn’t forever.
“We will do that, and soon, but I wanted you to experience spending in this way first.” It didn’t matter that he was hard enough to drill through the wall.
This evening was only for her. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
“I did.” She rose up onto an elbow, amusement and exhaustion reflected in the dark depths of her eyes. “But now I’m so very much looking forward to doing other things, sharing other things, with you.”
So much excitement threaded through those words that he nearly came in his breeches. “Fair enough. I hope I live up to your imaginings.” If their coupling was anything like what he’d just shared with her, he would be well and truly satisfied indeed.
As would she. More than once if they were fortunate.
“Good.” Then she flopped back onto the sofa and snuggled into his side. She hadn’t bothered to right her clothing. “What of you?”
He frowned, for he wasn’t thinking clearly. “What do you mean?” Did she refer to sexual congress or something else?”
That giggle went straight to his stones, and he gritted his teeth against the urge to spend.
“I meant, will you marry? I’ll wager your parents want you wed since you’re the son of a viscount.
” One of her brown eyebrows gently lifted as she fiddled with his loosened cravat with a finger.
“They won’t be pleased to know you’ve taken a mistress for no other reason than rumor. ”
That tugged a chuckle out of him, for she was quite direct when she wanted to be. “Possibly not, and I’m already a failure in that, due to being the spare.”
She patted his chest. “Don’t say that. You are a barrister. That is nothing to sneeze at.”
“It depends on who you ask, for I’m not a highly successful one.”
“Yet.” Again, she rose up on her elbow so she could meet his gaze. “Don’t discount your accomplishments merely due to them not being equal to what others have done. You can’t measure success like that. There are too many variables.”
How the devil did she know that? Yet his spirits rose just from those words. “I appreciate that as well as your faith in me. But yes, my parents are pushing me to marry someone well suited and from the beau monde.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and she lay down, effectively hiding her expression. “Well, if you agree to that, be sure you have a mutual respect together, and that you’ll prove compatible with the lady in all the ways that matter.”
Easier said than done. “It doesn’t work that way with titled families. If I linger too long, they’ll match me at a dinner they host. No doubt I’ll make an appearance and receive the news that marriage contracts have already been signed.”
“Then it’s a fortunate thing you are a barrister. You can easily find your way out of that paperwork.”
What a darling way of looking at it. “I did toil as a solicitor for a few years before I went on to defending the law.”
“It’s fate.” A soft laugh issued from her, interrupted by a yawn. “Remember this. If you fall in love, then by all means marry. It’s a wonderful thing when you find it, and not everyone does.”
“Especially within the beau monde,” he said in a barely audible voice.
“Then break the mold, Gregory, or go against the tide. You are far too intelligent to do something merely because of tradition or society dictates.”
“Mmm.”
For long moments, he laid beside her with his arms wrapped around her while his erection settled. It was cozy and homey; he enjoyed that peace more than he probably should.
“I need to take you home,” he whispered against her ear.
“In a while. I am far too content just now.”
Oddly, so was he. “We will remain for a bit. Soon, though, the butler will do his rounds, as will the maid.”
“Don’t ruin the moment. That will come soon enough.”
Such a cryptic statement, but he hadn’t the wherewithal to ponder it right now.