Chapter Twenty #2
But as soon as she’d kissed him, he pulled away suddenly, leaving her cold.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “We… you…”
Cordelia’s cheeks were flaming as she regarded him. “I shouldn’t have presumed that you wanted…” she began, the heat of embarrassment replacing whatever desire had burned there before. “I apologize.”
Justin raised his eyebrows. “Did you think… that I didn’t want to kiss you?”
Cordelia looked away and swallowed. “You said that you wanted more distance between us.”
“Oh God,” Justin replied. “Cordelia, I wanted distance between us because I wasn’t sure I was capable of being around you without ravishing every inch of you.”
Cordelia’s gaze snapped back to his. His blue eyes had darkened, his wavy black locks were tousled, and she could see a suggestion of dark curls beneath the blanket he used to cover himself.
She could no longer resist, so she ran her hand through his hair, pushing an unruly strand that had fallen in front of his right eye. He was stock still the entire time.
“Have I shocked you?” he asked, his voice low and deep.
As a response she leaned down again and kissed him.
It was as though something he’d been holding back finally snapped.
He pressed his lips against her urgently, fisting a hand in her hair and pulling her head back to possess her mouth completely.
She was panting when they came up for air, the place between her legs throbbing with an insistence she’d never felt before.
“Are you sure?” Justin whispered, cradling her cheeks in his hands. “Because if we start down this path…” He did not finish.
Cordelia leaned her forehead to his, letting their heavy breaths mingle. “There’s something you should know,” she began, the words becoming choked in her throat. Justin’s thumb stroked her cheek and she shuddered. “I’m not a virgin.”
“Really?” he murmured.
“Does… that not please you?” she asked, trying to mask the urgency in her voice.
“No,” he asserted, pulling away from her. Gazing up at her, he smiled. “Rather unexpected.”
“What with all my goings on about propriety and manners?” Cordelia added, chuckling.
She supposed that anyone other than Justin would have presented her with a judgment, but she was starting to appreciate his light teasing where there might have been a serious conversation. It did not make her feel so heavy.
“Quite right,” he replied, fitting his arm under her knees. Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her over to a cot. “You scolded me once for mentioning women’s clothing.”
“Well, you likely deserved it, Your Grace,” Cordelia replied, with a laugh. “How else are we supposed to get you up to snuff?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said as he laid her on the cot. “I’m hopeless at ducal business.”
Cordelia let the woolen blanket slip from her body, crumpling on the dirt-packed floor. All she had left was her shift, which was still damp. Her peaked nipples showed through the fabric.
Justin’s pupils engulfed his blue eyes in the dark half-light as he leaned over her.
“I should say,” she added hurriedly. “It was nearly five years ago now… I am rather worried I’ll no longer suit.”
“You’ll suit,” Justin assured her, leaning down to kiss her once more.
His lips mollified her somewhat, pushing the doubt to the back of her mind.
When she felt his hand rove over the length of her body, all coherent thought vanished.
The only thing that mattered was the hot press of their bodies against one another.
Cordelia gasped when she felt his callused fingertips pull the shift down the side of her shoulder, exposing one breast.
“Definitely suit,” Justin murmured as he bent his head to take the nipple in his mouth.
Cordelia arched her back off the bed, gasping. Her whole body prickled in gooseflesh, the sensations only adding to the throbbing at the apex of her thighs. He hissed as she brought her hips to his, grinding against his leg.
He licked his way back up to her neck, sucking at her collarbone for a moment as Cordelia pulled down the rest of her shift, relishing in the feeling of her nakedness pressed between soft blankets and Justin’s hard body. “Still sure?” he whispered in her ear, taking the lobe between his teeth.
In response Cordelia reached for the hand that was braced at her hip and placed it on her thigh.
With a growl, Justin snaked his hand toward her mound.
He traced her entrance with a feather light touch, finding the tiny bundle of nerves she herself had searched out for these past few weeks, when he was still invading her dreams.
Cordelia cried out as he pressed his thumb there and, for a moment, ceased being gentle.
He rubbed it in achingly slow circles, drawing out her pleasure for as long as possible.
Cordelia’s vision blurred as her muscles grew progressively tighter, searching and searching for release until suddenly it broke over her.
She shivered through the climax, allowing the spasms to rock her for a few delicious moments.
“Heavens above,” she blurted out, “it’s much better when someone else does it.” Then she clapped a hand over her eyes. Did I just say that? she thought, though she must have said it aloud, because Justin’s warm baritone answered.
“You certainly did,” was his reply.
Cordelia bit her lip, doing her best to stay any other words that wanted to tumble out of her mouth.
Justin laughed as he stood on his knees and began unbuttoning his trousers. Peeking out from between her fingers she could see the length of his erection straining in his worn work breeches. She bit her lip in anticipation.
Justin groaned. “I knew it would be like this.”
“Like what?” Cordelia had a moment of self-consciousness as she watched his eyes roam over her naked body.
“Passionate,” he said, kissing the valley between her breasts. “Responsive,” he murmured as he traced her bellybutton with his tongue. “Sensual,” he added, his voice so quiet she could barely hear him. He spread her thighs apart and she felt his hot breath on her intimate flesh.
Cordelia felt her thighs tense. “Oh!” she cried as he tasted her.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
“I-I…” she began. “Are you sure that’s proper?”
Looking down, she saw Justin arch an eyebrow and flash her a wicked smile.
There was something incredibly erotic seeing him between her legs.
“I assure you, it’s very proper,” he replied, and she watched him flatten his tongue against her intimate flesh, swollen and sensitive from his earlier attentions.
The moan that escaped her throat was completely involuntary.
This was absolutely nothing like the first time.
Justin was in no hurry, exploring every inch of her with his tongue, until she begged him for release.
The second climax was far more intense than the first, leaving her limp and slack limbed on the cot.
“God,” she murmured, as he covered her body with his own.
“Let me take you,” he whispered, his voice strained.
“Yes,” she replied. Yes, yes, yes, she repeated to herself, taking his cock in her hand and guiding it to her entrance. They connected in one swift motion. Her internal muscles stretched and burned as he entered. Cordelia gasped; she’d not expected there to be pain.
“All right?” he asked, through clenched teeth.
She hummed in assent. “Could you wait a moment?”
He groaned, but his entire body stilled.
Glancing up at him from beneath her lashes, she saw that his eyes were closed and a furrow had formed between his brows.
Gradually, her body accepted him, and she lifted her hips to accommodate more of him.
Justin rocked slowly into her, creating a friction that was sending electric shocks throughout her body.
“I… I won’t…” he ground out.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, wrapping her legs around his hips.
Gripping onto the headboard of the cot, Justin drove into her harder, until they were both crying out. But just as soon as she was about to reach another orgasm, he withdrew, spilling onto the sheets. He collapsed beside her, leaving both of them panting.
Reaching for her arm, Justin pulled her across his warm skin. She trembled as cool air engulfed them. Her ribs protested a little when she pressed up against them, and it was as though the bubble they’d been occupying for the last few moments had been popped.
What have you done? a voice prompted in her head. It sounded suspiciously like Lady Billings.
Justin was also silent. Cordelia could hear the steady pump of his heart slowing beneath his chest. “I suppose now would be a good time to ask you to marry me?” he said.
Cordelia snapped her head up to look at him. “Marry you? You think I’m a spoiled society lady!”
“Not exactly the response I was hoping for,” Justin replied, the corners of his mouth turning up.
“What about Hollyhead?” Cordelia blurted out.
“What about your feelings for me?” Justin countered.
Cordelia gaped at him. This was really very unfair. He had her cornered in this shack, naked and vulnerable. Why couldn’t he have been like Rhys, smooth and casual? It would have made things much easier on her part.
“Well?” Justin asked again.
“Y-you know that… well, I’m fond of you,” she said, using the same term he’d spoken a day or two ago. “I was the one that encouraged this… situation between us. I hope you don’t feel responsible for my reputation at present.”
“Responsible? Cordelia, I never would have taken things so far if I didn’t feel strongly for you,” Justin said, tucking a tangled curl behind her ear.
“Define strongly,” she said.
Now Justin frowned. “All right,”’ he said, sighing, “if you’re going to make me spell it out for you. I lo—”
“No!” she shouted, clasping a hand over his mouth. “No, don’t say it! If you say it, you’ll never be able to take it back.”