Chapter Ten #3
He sighed faintly, a smile on his face as he brought her hands to his lips, kissing them gently. “You are reading my thoughts,” he said. “I must say that as I watched The Snake speak to you and your mother, I had visions of spearing the man with whatever dagger I could get my hands on.”
She giggled. “His name is not The Snake,” she said. “And why should you kill him?”
His smile faded as he reached up with one hand, stroking her long, blonde hair. “Because I did not like the way he was looking at you,” he said. “Any man who should try to take your attention away from me will have my instant and undying ire.”
Her gaze was warm upon him. “No man will ever take my attention away from you,” she said. “Though I thought my mother was going to join his army. She was quite enchanted by his stories.”
“I noticed.”
“She has always wanted to travel, but Papa will not leave England.”
Clark knew that. John was definitely a man rooted to his home. “Then I suppose we shall have to ensure that your mother makes it home and does not run off to fight with the mercenaries.”
Summer snorted. “That is the truth,” she said. But her smile soon faded. “When we leave, you will not be going with us. That is why I had to come and see you. I am not sure I can stand leaving you behind.”
He reached out and pulled her into his powerful embrace, sighing with contentment as he did so.
“It will be torture watching you ride away without me, but I have no choice,” he said.
“Your father wants me to remain with de Luci to make note of how the mercenary army behaves. I am to be a neutral observer until this nastiness is over.”
“But how long?”
“I have no way of knowing,” he said. “Hopefully no more than a week or two. It is my understanding that they intend to go to war against Stagshaw within a few days, so we shall see how long it takes to bring down Septentrion.”
“Will you fight?”
“Nay.”
She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank God,” she said. “I could not bear it if you did.”
He pulled her closer, for there was a chill in the air, but also because he wanted to feel her nubile young body against him.
He wasn’t wearing any protection this evening, so there were only a few garments between their bodies.
He could feel her breasts, firm and pert, against his chest, her hips against his thigh.
This was a rare sensation and, very quickly, he grew aroused.
“You needn’t worry,” he murmured, his hands beginning to stroke her gently, caressing her. “I would not do anything to alarm you if I can help it. In this case, I am simply an observer. But I am flattered that you would worry so over me.”
Summer lifted her head to look at him. “I will always worry over you,” she said softly. “I love you, Clark. I will always love you. That means I shall always worry over you and you cannot stop me.”
A smile flickered on his lips. “I do not want to stop you, but…”
Someone came out into the yard and, afraid they would be seen, Clark pulled her into the shed that stored the excess cooking implements. It was dark in there, the only light coming from the moonglow streaming in through the ventilation holes at the top of the shed, but it was private.
So very private.
They waited until the footsteps faded away.
“As I was saying, I do not want to stop you, but you also must trust that I know what I am doing,” he said. “I have been a knight for as many years as you have been alive. I think I have acquired some skill during that time.”
Summer wrapped her arms around his neck. “I know,” she murmured, kissing his chin. “You are a magnificent knight, proud and strong and talented. You make my heart sing.”
His arousal was growing as she kissed his jaw, his neck. With her pressed up against him as she was, he couldn’t think of anything else but his stiffening manhood.
“My dearest darling,” he said, sounding strained. “As much as I adore you, if you do not stop what you are doing, I am going to have to run away screaming.”
She stopped and looked at him. “Why?” she said. “What am I doing?”
He grunted because she shifted, rubbing against his arousal. “You are doing things that are going to drive me mad with desire and there is nothing I can do about it, so no more kisses,” he said. “In fact, we need to leave this…”
She cut him off, her arms tightening around his neck. “We are not leaving,” she murmured. “And I am not stopping. Clark, I shall be your wife someday, will I not?”
“God willing.”
“You have remained unmarried for many years because you were waiting for me to come of age.”
He cleared his throat quietly. “I have remained unmarried all these years because I was focused on my vocation,” he said. “I did not need or want a wife until you decided you could not live without me.”
“And you can live without me?”
He chuckled. “Of course I cannot,” he said. “But we must be patient. We have discussed this. We must wait until Lady Wynter is betrothed before I can approach your father.”
“I do not want to wait,” she whispered, kissing his jaw again.
“I want you to ask him now and I want us to be married, for I do not want to spend another day pretending I do not love you madly. I want to be able to hold your arm in public without fear of being discovered and I want to kiss you when I feel like kissing you. Most of all, I want to feel your body against mine. I want you to love me as if I were your wife.”
His brow furrowed. “I already love you as if you were my wife,” he said. “In my heart and soul, you are. You will always be.”
Summer shook her head. “That is not what I meant.” She unwound her right arm from his neck, bringing her hand to bear on the stiff arousal in his breeches. “This is what I meant. I am tired of waiting. I want to become yours completely.”
He flinched when she gently rubbed his arousal, feeling himself weakening by the second. “I cannot, Summer.”
“I want you to.”
“I will not.”
Her reply was to pull at the tie at the top of his breeches. He put a hand down to stop her but she suddenly went to her knees in that confined space, her mouth on the hand that was covering the ties on his breeches. She began to lick his fingers and Clark nearly lost his mind.
“Christ,” he breathed. “Do not do that. Stand up, darling.”
Her answer was to suckle his fingers, moving his hand aside so she could get to the ties. She fumbled with him as she sucked on his fingers and Clark stood there like a fool, completely at her mercy even though he knew he should fight her off. He should leave the shed at that very moment.
But he couldn’t even manage to bring forth the words.
Summer yanked down the top of his breeches and his big arousal sprang free. She put her mouth on the tip of his phallus, kissing it, and the man snapped. He yanked her up by her arms, his mouth slanting over hers hungrily.
“Where did you learn to do that?” he demanded between heated kisses.
Summer had her arms tightly around his neck, matching him kiss for kiss. “Learn what?” she said, muffled against his mouth. “I was simply kissing you.”
She had no idea what he really meant and he knew it.
She was virgin and pure, but she was also bold and curious.
His restraint vanished. With a growl, he lifted her up so that she was braced against him and the wall of the shed.
His hands roamed freely and Summer let him, caught up in the blaze of passion.
This was what she wanted, what she had been yearning for, and when his hands began to roam gently over her breasts, she untied the ribbons that held her bodice together and he was able to snake his hands inside.
Flesh against flesh, she gasped at the warm heat of his touch. When she tried to put her hands over his, to feel what he was feeling, he grabbed both her wrists and pinned her arms above her head.
Now, he was free to go to work.
Clark was out of control at this point, his hand moving over her breasts and teasing her nipples into hard pellets.
When he lowered his head and captured a nipple between his lips, suckling firmly, Summer felt bolts of desire shoot through her body.
Lightning raced through her limbs and she surrendered to it.
He was warm, overwhelming, and she loved him madly.
This was how it was always meant to be between them.
His hand moved lower.
Pulling up her skirts so they were bunched around her waist, Clark began to stroke the fluff of curls between her legs, fondling her as she bucked and twitched with the newness of what she was experiencing.
He wedged himself in between her knees and forced her legs open, his mouth claiming hers as he kissed her passionately.
When he finally inserted a finger into her warm, wet passage, Summer groaned but he absorbed the sound with his heated mouth.
He stroked a finger in and out of her, feeling her tight body, and it drove him over the edge.
He’d never been so aroused in his entire life.
With his free hand, he lowered his breeches even more, exposing his big erection.
Releasing her wrists, he grabbed her behind the knees and wrapped her legs around his hips.
Summer went along with it, so caught up in her blossoming passion that she was feeling lightheaded with it.
With her arms around his neck, supporting herself against him, he grasped her buttocks and slid into her warm and wet virginal passage.
Summer cried out as he thrust forward and seated himself almost completely on the first try.
She was tight and slick, but so highly aroused that she hardly noticed the sting of losing her innocence.
All she could feel was the overwhelming emotion she had for the man, holding him fast as he withdrew himself and thrust into her again.
It was so glorious that a sob escaped her lips.
The beauty of giving herself over to the man she loved.
And then he began to move.