Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Violet’s lips twitched in amusement at what her staff would think when Rhys walked into the kitchen, demanding breakfast. She used the chamber pot and then quickly brushed out her hair, grimacing at her reflection.
The man must be blind to call her beautiful with the absolute rat’s nest her thick hair had tangled into overnight.
And her warm flannel nightgown was hardly alluring as it draped like a tent over her bump.
Violet took a cleansing breath in, as she mentally shook herself from her spiraling thoughts.
Stop. Her body was blooming because she had a tiny life growing inside.
She used to think her breasts were too small.
Now that her figure was filling out, she should see it as a boon.
She untied the ribbons of her nightgown and, pulling her arms from the sleeves, let the fabric fall and pool at her feet.
Turning sideways, she assessed her bump, her fuller hips, and heavier breasts.
He was right. Beautiful. Ripe with new life.
She refused to let Stuart’s voice in her head, disappointed and mocking, poison how she felt about herself.
She ran a hand over her belly. Yes, it was a thing of beauty.
A knock sounded at the door. “Is it all right for me to enter?”
Violet scrambled for her dressing gown, throwing on the silky robe and tying the belt. “Yes, come in.”
Rhys came in and paused as he spotted her nightgown on the floor. His gaze flew to her. Then he swung around and turned the lock. “Violet, what are you wearing under that robe?”
Violet squared her shoulders. “Nothing.”
Like before, Rhys closed his eyes and let out a low rumble, deep and sexy.
But unlike before, when he had told her they should stop.
That he had self-control. This time, he walked across the room and, with one hand, he gripped the belt of the robe.
His body seemed to vibrate, and she had a sense he was holding himself tightly coiled.
“Violet, will you let me touch you? No rutting, I promise. This will be just about your pleasure.”
“My pleasure?”
He brushed a thumb across her bottom lip. “Christ, yes, your pleasure. Let me show you?”
Violet stared into Rhys’s glacier-blue eyes and nodded her consent.
Then he lifted her into his arms and strode over to the bed.
He let go of her legs. She slid down his body to land on her feet, gripping his shoulders.
Lord, every inch of his body was hard muscle, including his manhood, which pressed against her thigh.
Was she really doing this? Was she going to lie with Rhys?
She chewed on her bottom lip. Kissing him felt so decadent, like sinking into a hot bath; his lips had seared across her skin, lighting up her insides.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She wanted more. “I trust you.”
He tugged at the tie to her dressing gown and slowly pushed it off her shoulders with a soft caress of his hands down her arms. “I thought about you all last night.” His gaze slid slowly down her body.
Almost as good as the sweep of his lips across her skin, the look in his eyes was reverent and so heated it warmed every inch of her skin.
“What did you think about?”
“I thought about how soft your skin would be.” His fingertips trailed down her throat and through the valley between her breasts.
“I thought about how lush your body would be.” He continued to explore, sweeping his hands down her sides to her hips, then sliding them around to squeeze her backside, pulling her against his body.
“Of how you would feel pressed against me.”
He bent to kiss her and she reached to cup his cheeks. She could kiss him forever. But too soon, he pulled back. She opened her eyes to blink up at him. He frowned. “Violet, you probably shouldn’t let someone like me touch you.”
“Nonsense. You are the first man to ask permission, and I freely give it. Please touch me.”
A low groan rumbled from him. His hands came up to cup her breasts, giving each one a gentle squeeze. Then he dipped his head and took one nipple into his mouth with a slow suck that had her head falling back at the delicious sensation. “Lord, that feels good.”
He repeated it with the other nipple before running his tongue around the areola.
She squeaked in surprise as he lifted her and set her on the edge of the bed.
“Lie back, baby.” He brushed his lips across hers. “Trust me?”
Violet lay back as he languidly licked into her mouth. His lips trailed down the path his fingers had previously traveled, hot against her skin, his kisses seared a path down her body, and over the swell of her belly. Then he sank to his knees.
She raised her head to see what had happened to him.
But when a hot kiss landed on the inside of her thigh, she fell back.
He slid his hands up her legs slowly as he continued to place kisses on the tender flesh of her inner thighs.
First one leg, trailing up to the juncture of her leg and her sex and then he pulled away only to trace the same path up the other thigh.
His hands spread her legs farther apart. Then his mouth was at her center, his hot breath right where she throbbed with desire. He licked a strip right up her core.
“Oh my God!”
He lifted his head, and his lips stretched into a gorgeous smile of satisfaction. “You taste delicious.” Then he dipped down to lick her again, and she was lost to the heat of his mouth.
His talented tongue made her feel completely untethered, lost to a sea of sensation. She grasped the covers, looking for an anchor, even as she pushed her hips up against his mouth, chasing the pleasure. “Don’t stop, please.”
He devoured her. It was almost too much.
Overwhelming. Divine. Then, just when she didn’t think she could take another moment of the delicious tension coiled tight within her, she cried out as she shattered in an exquisite rush of euphoria.
The pleasure he’d wrought spread through her veins like warm honey.
Rhys nuzzled her, placing soft kisses to the inside of her thigh and then one kiss on her hip before he rose to lean over her, caging her with his arms. Violet gazed up at him in wonder.
“I didn’t know…that I could feel like that.
” She reached up and cupped his cheek, tracing his scar with her thumb. “That was amazing.”
He kissed her slow and languid, tasting tangy and sweet all at the same time. There was none of the urgency she had always thought was what sex entailed. Only tenderness and kisses with slow swipes of his tongue against hers. “Don’t you need to find your release?”
“Don’t worry about me. I have long practiced denying myself.”
“If you have been celibate, where did you learn how to do those wicked things with your tongue?”
“You forget I grew up in a brothel. I received an education in sexual congress at a young age. The women talked candidly amongst themselves, and I paid attention. I’ve had a few lovers, but not any in the last eight years.
” Rhys buried his nose in her hair. “You smell so good.” His tongue traced the shell of her ear.
“Hmmm.” It was difficult to concentrate on what she wanted to say while his hot breath grazed her ear. “Why did you come through my window this morning again?”
“Because I thought of you all night, with my hand shuttling my cock, and I needed to see you, to touch you.” He raised his head and stared down at her with such intensity that her breath caught in her throat.
“I fear that I have grown quite obsessed with you, Violet. I might have let you run away before, but now that I have your taste on my tongue, I don’t think I can let you go. ”
The possession laced in his voice should have scared her, but instead, it made her feel cherished, safe. Nothing bad would happen to her with this man watching over her. “I don’t want to run away. I like it exactly where I am. In your embrace.”
He groaned and stretched out next to her.
His long frame shared its heat as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her head onto his shoulder.
“I wondered if you want to go with me to the auction house today. Someone told me I could use some furniture for my house.” His fingers trailed gently over the swell of her belly.
Violet giggled. “I would love to see the auction house. After breakfast, though.”
“After breakfast,” he agreed. “I requested bacon and fresh bread with jam and butter. And biscuits. Did I miss anything?”
“Biscuits for breakfast?”
“We must feed that sweet tooth. And bacon is a necessity.”
“Hmmm, I heard about your affinity for bacon from Lucy.”
He shrugged. “I am not picky about food, but I admit I do love bacon.”