Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
He turned me away from him and unlaced my corset, pulling it down impatiently, and undoing my skirt and underskirts. He pulled them away and threw them onto the floor.
‘If we are separated again, Tegan, it will not be my doing,’ he murmured. ‘I know that perils lie ahead. I know that tonight could be our last night together. But, know that I am yours, now.’
He laid me back on the bed, completely exposed.
‘How fine you are.’ He stared at me hungrily. ‘I will never tire of this sight. The firelight on your skin. The softness of you. The secret places that you display so wantonly to me.’ He got up, standing by the bed, and stared down at me.
I reached for him, but he shook his head.
‘No. Not yet. I desire to look at you. To see every inch of you.’
I was very aware that I was completely naked, and he was fully clothed. It aroused me to feel vulnerable, in his presence. Seeing William as the all-powerful lord, and hearing him telling me how I existed only for his pleasure, excited me more than I could explain.
The fact that he was technically no longer Lord of Trevarron made absolutely no difference to how I felt about him, and the incredible pleasure we got from being together.
When we had made love before, William was always the master, and I the willing servant. He had been lord of the manor and I was a lady’s maid. The power dynamics were reflected in the bedroom, and we both enjoyed it.
In real life, outside of lovemaking, I was more than William’s equal, and I knew that he loved that.
I was better educated, more aware, more thoughtful.
I would argue with him and not retreat; he loved that I wouldn’t let him get away with anything.
He loved that I challenged him. He was a strong man, both emotionally and mentally as well as physically, and he had never had a woman challenge him before.
In the bedroom, William dominated me physically and gave me everything I needed.
He knew, instinctively, how I desired to be taken, pleasured and delighted.
He knew that his strength turned me on. But, ultimately, I held all the power.
Because everything William did was for my pleasure, and if it had been my pleasure for him to serve me on his knees and treat me like an avenging queen, a dark mistress, then he would have done it immediately.
‘Turn over,’ he ordered me. I obeyed, a delicious thrill of excitement thrumming in my whole body.
I laid there, alert to the presence of his body near to me, anticipating his touch.
I could feel the heat of his body. I wanted him to caress me. I yearned for it. I squirmed, moving myself closer to where he stood.
‘Stay where you are,’ he ordered. I stilled, waiting, impatiently.
Suddenly, I felt the light touch of his fingertip trace itself up my leg; behind my knee, up my thigh, across my bottom. It strayed there, and I felt his hand caress me. I heard him make a deep growl. Then, the fingertip traced its way slowly up my back, to my neck, where it pushed my hair away.
The sensation of just his fingertip was almost too much to bear. I wanted more. Of him, of everything. I wanted both of his hands on my bottom. I wanted his tongue to follow the line of his fingertip. I wanted to kiss him, hold him, be held by him.
I wanted to feel him inside me, moving against me, hard, slow, I wanted it all.
He kissed the back of my neck softly; I moaned at the sudden sensation.
‘Hm. So eager. So hungry for me,’ he said, his voice low and husky. ‘Tell me what you want, sweet one.’
‘I want you,’ I replied, my voice muffled by the pillow.
‘Hm. You are desirous whelp,’ he dictated. ‘My lustful little harlot…’
He tapped my bottom lightly with the palm of his hand.
‘Spread your legs. Let me inspect your most secret parts,’ William ordered. I could hear that his voice was thick with desire.
I did as he ordered, finding the very act of obeying him, of displaying myself to him, deeply intoxicating.
‘Beautiful,’ he murmured. I felt him stroking me now; I could feel how wet I’d gotten.
‘Tell me again what you want,’ he said; his voice was husky.
‘I want you,’ I repeated.
He picked me up and turned me over so that I was facing up, looking at him.
‘You have me. For as long as you desire.’ He lowered his head and kissed me softly, and I surrendered to him. Surrendered to the pleasure that seemed so fleeting, so precious, so destined.
As we kissed, I wrapped my arms around his muscular neck and drew him down closer to me. I wanted all of him. I wanted to be as close to him as I could for as long as I could. If I was risking losing him again, I wanted William as close to me as possible.
He continued stroking me. My breath hitched in my throat. Pleasure spiralled in my body, emanating out from the centre of me. I craved him.
‘William, please. I want you inside me. Fill me. Please,’ I begged, breathlessly. His pupils widened with desire. I knew that he wanted the same thing; he was hard as a rock. I knew that he longed for me.
‘As my lady desires,’ he groaned, and pushed inside me, slowly. I drew in a deep breath. My eyes widened as he pushed deeper into me, filling me completely. A primal noise escaped my throat as the delicious pressure intensified.
‘That’s it, my sweet one. That’s it,’ he murmured, as he groaned, pushing the final inch into me. ‘Does that feel good?’ He nuzzled my neck, his hands gripping my breasts.
‘Yes,’ I moaned. ‘Yes, yes, more, please.’
‘More, what?’ He began pulling out of me, slowly, torturously.
William was a gentleman in every moment of his life, apart from two very separate instances: when he was fighting, and when he had truly lost himself in desire.
When he was fighting an opponent, a savage bloodlust came upon him and he fought like a demon.
The gentleman’s code was left at the edge of the fighting ring.
And, in the bedroom, he possessed a kind of devilish genius that made me breathless.
I loved that he made me say what I wanted.
‘More, my lord,’ I moaned, louder. ‘Please.’
‘Yes. Ask me for it. Beg me for it.’ He smiled, as he pushed in to me again. ‘Good. Damn, you feel so good.’ His eyes glazed over again. He began a rhythmic pressure, pressing on exactly the parts of me that felt good. I felt the familiar pleasure in my abdomen start to spread.
I wrapped my legs around his hips and drew him in deeper.
‘Harder. Please,’ I begged him, needing greater pressure. He grunted, and pushed in harder. ‘Fill me up, my lord… make me yours… ’
He groaned louder, and took both of my wrists, pinning them to the bed under me.
‘I will punish you for being… such… a desirous… harlot,’ he grunted.
I moaned, feeling my orgasm start to peak.
I ground my hips against his, clenching myself.
I felt the reverberations of pleasure start to come: at first, like a small involuntary spasm, and then, more, deeper and stronger, until I was gasping out against him, demanding in broken words that he go harder, deeper.
The final wave of the orgasm hit me so hard that I screamed. I wouldn’t have been able to stop if someone had burst in and threatened to arrest both of us; I was too deep in the pleasure, too enmeshed with William to care.
‘Oh, Tegan…Tegan…’ he moaned, as he allowed himself the release he longed for.
As the echoes of my own orgasm rocked me, I felt his begin.
He pushed hard into me, and cried out my name, over and over again.
He gripped me, his mouth locked on mine.
I kissed him, and felt him moan, felt the heat of him inside me.
Slowly, we stopped moving, and I held him tight.
‘Tegan,’ he murmured as I stroked his hair. He rested his head on my breasts. ‘I’ve never had this before. Someone I wanted so much. I can never satisfy the wanting of you.’ He chuckled softly. ‘Even now, when you have spent me completely, I want you. In my soul and my heart and my body.’
I wrapped myself around him, unwilling to disconnect from his body. I wanted to stay in this cocoon of closeness forever.
But I knew it couldn’t last. We seemed to be cursed with a life together that was rich with sweetness, and yet constantly in peril. I closed my eyes and held him to me.