Chapter Twenty-Four
The air was warmer as they descended into the lower rooms of the ship. Julian’s quarters were larger than hers and down a narrow corridor from the other passengers, including her aunt and uncle.
Once inside the room, she felt her first wave of nervousness. Lainey had been so sure of her decision up on the deck while Julian kissed her, but now, she realized how much she didn’t know of what happened between a man and a woman.
“If you’ve changed your mind, you need only to say so and I will escort ye to your room,” Julian said softly as he took her hand and kissed her palm. His accent heavier.
A shiver of excitement stole through her body at such a simple touch.
“I have not changed my mind. In fact, I am more certain I want to do this with you. I’m just afraid I don’t know enough to do this well. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
He shook his head.
“Never. Even if you changed your mind.”
She kissed him and then offered what she hoped was a flirty smile.
“You can give up on that, Julian. I am set on this path. Now tell me what I should do.”
Rather than tell her, he kissed her again. But unlike their other kisses, she knew he didn’t hold back at all. There was no reason to worry they were being swept away, when being swept away was the welcome expectation.
“I need to see ye,” he said, his brogue more distinct.
She took his hint and reached to remove her gown, but he stopped her. She gave him a confused look, but he only smiled and turned her so he could see to her his gown himself. As if he were a lady’s maid.
She might have laughed at the thought, but his touch on the bare skin of her back was anything but humorous.
It felt as if he touched her with a flame. She didn’t even notice her gown was gone until he turned her to him again. His gaze lowered and she looked down to see what had his blue eyes darken so with lust.
Her shift was quite thin and in the low light of the lantern, it appeared to be transparent. She saw her tightened nipples through the light fabric.
She might have been embarrassed, but nothing in Julian’s gaze made her feel anything but desired.
He bent and pulled her nipple into his warm mouth. She gasped at both the surprise of something so naughty as well as so pleasurable.
He moved to the other breast and treated it to the same thorough inspection before kissing his way up her chest, throat and jaw to come back to her lips.
His fingers tickled her collarbone as he untied her shift and pushed the fabric over her shoulders to drop at her feet atop her discarded gown.
She felt the edge of his large bed against her thighs and he guided her to sit. She reached for him, wanting to kiss him again, but he bent to remove her half boots. She expected him to remove her stockings next, but to her surprise, he left those in place as he kissed his way up her leg.
When his lips passed the threshold of stocking to bare skin she expelled a slight moan that caused his lips to pull up before he continued his path up.
She was bare to him and couldn’t care what she might look like. He was giving her this experience and she was determined not to ruin it with inhibition.
She felt his warm breath against her center only a moment before his hot tongue stroked her damp folds. As if by instinct she reached for him as her own breath picked up. She sounded as if she’d run up a hill when all she’d done so far was lie there and let him do as he wished.
His mouth continued to move over her as she shifted restlessly, wanting more. And then he slipped a finger inside her body, stroking her in the same way from the inside as his tongue caressed her outside.
When she adjusted to that, another finger entered her and the fullness was nothing other than sublime. She was now moaning with each small pant that left her lips. Until his tongue focused in on one small spot and her breathing seemed to stop as she was catapulted into utter bliss.
A delightful throbbing rolled through her as he continued until the waves became smaller pulses. She opened her eyes to see he was now standing over her with the most adorable smile on his face.
“So beautiful,” he said.
She smiled in response to his words, but smiling seemed to be all she was capable of doing at the moment.
What had he done to her? And when could he do it again?
*
Julian watched Elainacome back to him as he removed his shirt and tugged off his boots. She was without a doubt the loveliest woman he’d ever seen.
She blinked up at him and smiled and his heart nearly seized in his chest.
She thought she was the one who wanted this new experience, but he found it was a new experience for him as well.
He was no virgin, and he’d seen to make sure his partners were well satisfied in the past, but this was the first time he’d ever felt so overwhelmed with a need to connect with another person.
With his breeches still on he leaned down and kissed her softly. He was still hard and aching, but if what he’d done was enough for her, he wouldn’t press for more.
Of course, his brave lass wouldn’t be happy with that.
“While that was quite the most wonderful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life, I do know, at least, there is more to it.” She nodded toward the bulge in his breeches. “That will go where your fingers were?”
He nodded. “Aye. But it will not be as easy as my fingers. It will hurt.”
“But just at first.”
“Yes,” he answered, though he had no way of knowing for sure. He’d never been with a virgin before. “I think so.”
They shared a long look before she nodded and said, “I’m ready.”
“Are you sure, Elaina? We can stop now if you wish.”
“No. I want it all.”
He laughed. “Ye are demanding, but I am your servant, my lady.”
He undid his falls and dropped his breeches.
When he looked back to her, she was studying his cock which was practically preening in her attentions.
“It is an odd thing, is it not?” his adventuress said.
He laughed and lay beside her so he could kiss her again. His laughter was cut short when she reached between them to touch him. Her soft hand wrapped around his length, eliciting a groan of pleasure from him.
Her other hand caressed the skin along his back. He’d surely been touched there before, but not noticed until it was Elaina who touched him so intimately.
When he rolled over her, she opened her legs for him in invitation. He settled against her in the place they were meant to join. But rather than push as he wanted to, he held and looked into her eyes, silently asking again if she wanted this.
Her leg came up along his hip and wrapped around his waist as if it were the arm of an octopus pulling its prey toward its demise. Julian didn’t attempt escape, instead giving into his exquisite fate.
She tensed when he entered her and he waited once more until she relaxed around him. He leaned down to kiss her and began to move.
Her eyes opened and she smiled softly at him. He realized he was smiling too, such was his happiness in this moment. All his life he’d searched for acceptance, and he didn’t think he’d ever feel it so strongly as he did in that moment with Elaina.
He kept things slow for as long as they both could stand. She clung to him, grasping tightly and lifting her hips to meet his. When her eyes closed and her breathing turned into little moans, he reached down to touch her.
A few thrusts more and she broke around him, grasping him in a much different way. He managed to hold out until her grip on his relaxed and he pulled from her body to spend on her stomach where he hoped it would cause no danger for either of them.
He pulled her close, feeling her heart beating quickly against his ribs. He placed kisses to her hair and her forehead and then her lips. Noticing how right she’d been about how they fit together.
She was perfect for him in every way. So many people went through life never finding such a match. But Julian had it in Elaina.
And despite the odds and his overwhelming happiness, Julian would have to give her up.
But not today.
And not for the next few months to come.