Chapter Eight
He lost himself in her – falling into a world that was bounded by her skin and filled with her scent. She tasted sweet and tart and unique, a flavour he’d remember until his last moments on earth.
She writhed as he slid his tongue around her delicate folds, slowly at first as he learned how to make her respond.
Then, when her body had shown him what he needed to know, he began to tease, tantalize and arouse her to the point where she was trembling, her muscles taut, her breath coming quickly with tiny sounds of pleasure and need.
He was on fire, devouring her, unable to sate this new appetite for her, this urge to feast on her flesh and drown in her ecstasy.
“Reid…Reid…’tis too much…” She reached for his head, grabbing his hair and pulling him away from her sex.
He obeyed, but only to rise up above her. “I like your taste, Prudence.” He saw her eyes on his lips and daringly bent to kiss her. “Taste yourself…”
She did, opening her mouth as he drew close. It was one of the most erotic moments Reid could ever remember having, and he knew it was the tipping point for his self-control.
He broke the kiss, urged her fully onto the furs beneath him and stared at her. She was cream and roses and chestnut hair, her breasts heaving as she reached for him, her eyelids heavy with desire.
“I want you inside me. Now.” She spread her thighs wide, leaving him in no doubt of her meaning. “Now, Reid. Please. I can wait no longer.”
Who was he to deny a lady her pleasure? He could not. Not when his cock was screaming at him to get on with it or suffer the consequences of his manhood exploding much too soon.
He moved into position between her legs, sliding his hands beneath her buttocks and pulling her up into his body. Then he positioned the head of his cock at exactly the right point – and rubbed it over her skin and the little shiny bud that protruded toward him.
She cried out and he thrust; a movement that buried his cock within her fiery slick silk.
She shivered, moaned and he felt the first tremors of her release as they built inside her. His own needs clawed at him, and he began to move, steadily, realizing that he would probably reach his own peak within moments of hers.
She was tensing, her body arching, her mouth opening on whimpers of ecstasy as her eyes closed.
He continued to thrust, watching her, noting every tiny movement, every flicker of sensation that crossed her flesh. Her breasts were full, the nipples tight buds that cast strange shadows over her skin in the firelight.
He quickened his pace, knowing he could not hold back much longer. And this time it was he who began to tense, responding to the mounting pressure within his lower body, the smooth slide of her inner flesh against his, and the muscle spasms within her that were strengthening every second.
The world collapsed around him, narrowing down to the joining of their bodies and the imminent eruption – he gasped as the sensation hit him like a hammer and he let go, erupting inside Prudence with a roar that matched the cry of the woman beneath him.
She shook violently, her inner walls clamping down on his cock with a rhythm that matched his, milking him, urging him to fly with her off the cliff of blind and exquisite euphoria.
So fly he did, his eyes never leaving her face, anchored to Prudence by forces beyond his control.
And as she finally eased and he felt that last tiny throb, he choked back a sound that could have been a sob, or just the emotions of the moment rising in his throat.
She lay limp, her body shining a little as the fire dappled shadows over her curves. Then she opened her eyes and looked at him. “I am at a loss for words, Reid.”
A cold draft woke him from his stupor, and he shivered a little. “Me too.”
Regretfully sliding from her body, he reached for the blankets and his cloak, piling them on the furs beside her. “Let me tend the fire.”
He put on more logs, made sure it was settled safely and then returned to the makeshift bed, settling down at Prudence’s side and tucking her against his body. “Sleep now. We’ll be warm enough.”
“I know.” She snuggled herself into his arms. “I know.”
And they slept, sated, exhausted and content.
Prudence awoke to feel a chill against her skin. She mumbled, pulled the blankets around her more snugly and reached for Reid without even thinking about it.
But he wasn’t there.
She sat up, wrapping herself securely, peering through the dim light to see where he was.
There was a slight sound from outside, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He had most probably gone to answer the call of nature. Which, now she thought about it, sounded like a practical idea.
The blanket wasn’t all it could be for warmth, and she dreaded the cold snowy ground beneath her bare feet, but for two minutes and the rest of the night in comfort, it was worth it.
So she moved quietly to the door and opened it.
He stood outside, bare naked, staring up at the moon. She took a moment to appreciate the sheer beauty of his body, gleaming in the blue white light.
“Hullo. Are you worshipping the Goddess of the Night?”
He turned and she caught the flash of white teeth as he smiled. “I thought I’d already done that.”
She laughed. “I’m no Goddess. Just a woman with a desperate need for a convenient bush.”
He nodded. “I completely understand. Milady’s bush is over there.” He pointed to a large shrub.
“My thanks.” With a few muttered exclamations as warm feet met cold ground, Prudence hurried to the bush and emerged shortly thereafter much refreshed.
“Isn’t it lovely?” Reid was still outside. “There’ll be snow within the hour…” He nodded at a large cloud bank gathering nearby. “But for this moment, right now, it’s just perfect.”
She tiptoed to him. “If a little cold on the exposed bits. How can you stand it?” She eyed him curiously.
“I’ve always loved the winter. There’s something cleansing about snow, and I used to go running in it whenever I could.
When Mama found I liked to take my clothes off when I did, she explained that it wasn’t good for my body to chill it so quickly.
So I took my clothes off little by little.
One winter she followed my trail of garments for close on a quarter of a mile before she caught me frolicking naked in a big pile of snow. ” He grinned.
“You are a strange man, Mr. Chillendale.”
“And you, Lady Prudence, need to experience a good frolic.”
“I thought I’d already done that.” She threw his words back to him as quick as a wink.
“You’re shivering. Come here.”
“I’m thinking the fire would be nice...”
“Coward.”
To her surprise, he picked her up, holding her like a child. There was more strength than she’d realised in those muscled arms of his.
Then he tossed her blanket aside.
“Reid…for heaven’s sake. I’ll freeze to death.”
His chest rumbled with his laughter. “I won’t let that happen, love. Never fear. But ‘tis as I said. You need a frolic.”
With those words, he put her down, grabbed a handful of snow and slapped her buttocks with it.
“Oooh…”
Surprised, chilled and aroused all at once, she grabbed her own handful of snow and threw it at him.
He danced easily aside, avoiding her attack.
And that was all it took to rouse the competitive instinct in Prudence. For the next few minutes they engaged in an intense and serious snowball fight, dancing back and forth, ducking, leaping and generally behaving in a quite childish manner, all the while as naked as the day they were born.
When at last the moonlight dimmed and flakes of snow began to drift silently down on them, Prudence called a halt.
“Enough.” She raised a hand in the classic fencer’s gesture of defeat. “I surrender. I am now completely made of ice. Take me inside and thaw me out, lest I turn to a statue before dawn and melt in the sun.”
He nodded and grabbed her blanket, enfolding them both in it as they made their way back to the welcome heat of the little shelter.
Prudence headed for the fire and stacked more wood on it, waiting for the heat to ease the burning cold in her feet and legs. She glanced at Reid as he closed and secured the door. “We must be insane.”
He smiled at her, bringing a smile to her own lips. “Probably. But isn’t life wonderful with a touch of insanity? We’ve made memories here tonight. And some time, many years from now, something will jar those memories, and we’ll laugh once more and shake our heads.”
She shivered as her body began to react to her outdoor adventures. “I’m sure you’re right. And on that day, I will also recall that my feet were so cold they burned.”
He sat near her in front of the fire and took her feet into his hands, rubbing them. “I’m sorry Pru. But it was fun…”
“Yes, it was.” She had to agree.
He looked like some ancient warrior, wrapped in the oldest blanket, his arms glowing in the firelight and the muscles flexing as he massaged her feet and ankles.
She stared, thinking that here was the memory she’d cling to in the future.
A brief instant of simple pleasure in another person, shared and returned, both erotic and loving.
Such memories were as scarce as hen’s teeth. She would cherish this one forever.
“Prudence…”
Her attention recalled by his voice, she glanced at his face. “Yes?”
“Marry me.”
“What?” she gasped, whipping her toes away from those all-too-clever hands of his. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No.” He looked quite at ease, as if proposing marriage were something one did every afternoon at three.
“I would like to spend the rest of my life with you. I would like to have children with you. I would like you to be my Mistletoe Marchioness because I don’t want to be the first man to break the Chillendale tradition in three or four hundred years.
And also because that damn wreath is extremely uncomfortable, and I don’t wish to suffer alone. ”
“Hmm.” His tone was rational, his arguments logical. But it was all too fast, too…unexpected. “I am very honoured by your proposal, Mr. Chillendale.”
He grinned. “As honoured as a naked woman could be under the circumstances.” He stared pointedly at her breasts.
They pointed back. “Well, yes. Quite.” The blush crept over her cheeks. “Don’t distract me.”
“Sorry. Please go on.” He moved next to her, brushing her thigh with his arousal. “You were saying?”
She sighed. “Damn you, Reid. Take me to bed again…”
He gathered her into his arms once more and she found herself on the bed, this time straddling his body. “As you requested, my dear. However, since I’ve been doing quite a bit of the work, I thought perhaps this time, you might like to put some effort into it.”
Her lips twitched against a grin. “Oh, that’s what you thought?”
“I did indeed.” He shifted his hips, to make sure she understood.
“And you think it’s my turn to…put a little effort into it, I think you said?”
He nodded. “Mm hmm.”
“Ahh.” She wriggled backward a little, feeling the warmth of the fire blazing on her spine. It was a wonderfully sensual experience – the fire behind her, the man beneath her and the eyes devouring her.
“Well, let me see now. What would constitute effort…” She reached for his cock with both hands.
And then lowered her head.
Reid squawked as her cool lips met his hot hard flesh, but then she began to move and the only sounds he made from that point on were moans, groans and a final shout of satisfaction.
Prudence sat back with a satisfied smile and licked her lips. “How’s that for effort, Mr. Chillendale?”