Chapter Twenty-Six #2
She leaned up on her elbows. “What are you doing?”
The lock clicked, and when he turned back, his expression was hungry, and the bulge in his trousers strained against the fabric.
Her neat and tidy businessman, the man who never had a hair out of place, had disappeared with the removal of his clothing.
In his place was the man who had made her body sing and who now looked capable of devouring her.
“You—look like you want to eat me.” She felt no fear, only a curious hunger to know what else he could do to her, and she to him.
His gaze roved over her body before he knelt above her and flicked a single button open on his fall.
Her breath caught, and she waited in eager impatience to see that male part of him emerge, but he shook his head and scooted further down her legs. “Not yet.”
Slowly, he pushed her dress and petticoats higher until her drawers were exposed. The length of material fell in a waterfall to the floor, but only a thin layer of silk lay between his gaze and whatever came after that “Not yet”.
Wriggling her hips, she reached a hand towards the bulge in his trousers. He caught her hand and shook his head. Without another word, he parted the slit in her drawers and bent his head, applying the actions he had plied her breasts with to her secret place.
It was shocking and scandalous, and absolutely wonderful.
She moaned and raised her hips to his mouth. Incredibly, her body rose in another starburst surely as good as the first.
“Why don’t mothers tell us how wonderful this is?” Her fingers brushed his cheek.
A muscle ticked there, and when she glanced between his legs, he looked as if he would burst out of his trousers.
“My turn now.” Before he could stop her, she rested a hand over his bulging manhood. It jumped in her hand as though eager to meet her, but Will groaned.
“Don’t.” He gripped her wrist, not hard but firmly enough to ease her hand off him.
“Why can’t I touch you too?”
“I won’t be able to stop if you touch me. I’ll burst.”
“Well, that seems fair to me. I’ve already burst. Twice.” Indeed, moisture coated her secret place.
“It’s not the same, Clem. I want so much to be inside you right now, but it’s the final step. After we come together, you’re mine forever. We should wait.”
“I don’t want to wait. I’m yours already, Will. I promised you that almost two years ago. This is the next natural step.”
“Natural?” A war raged inside him, his honor versus his lust, and she prayed the latter won.
“I’m sure, Will. We lost so much time to the war. I don’t want to wait any more.”
“Are you sure, Clem? You can never go back from this.”
“I don’t want to go back. I want to be your wife in every way. The minister or the blacksmith in Gretna Green can say whatever words the law requires, but make me yours now, Will. Forever.”
He brushed her hair off her face and kissed her before reaching for the last buttons between them and pushing his trousers down.
That male part of him, so different from her body, sprang free.
He kneeled on either side of her hips, steadying himself on his arms as he looked into her eyes.
“This may hurt a bit the first time, but you’re as ready as I can make you. ”
“I love you, Will.”
He drew a breath. “I love you, Clem,” he answered, and then he plunged into her.
A sharp sting snapped her out of her love haze, but when he started moving in and out, slowly at first, her body recognized the rhythm.
His movements grew faster, and she felt another tidal wave rushing towards her before he suddenly pulled out of her body, leaving her poised on the brink of another amazing starburst, only to feel it slip from her grasp.
His body jerked several times, his face contorting, and she wondered if he was in pain, and then he slumped on top of her, rolling as far as possible to the side. All tension had left his body, and his lips tipped up in a slight smile.
They lay like that for several minutes. Clem felt nothing but joy as her fingers played lightly across his shoulder and chest, stroking skin as smooth as silk, but for a slightly raised imperfection. She tipped her head, squinting to bring it into focus.
“What’s this?”
He looked down at her finger and shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t feel like nothing.”
His hand covered hers, lifting it from his skin and kissing each fingertip in turn.
“One day I’ll tell you about it, but not today. Not when you have given yourself to me, and I, to you.”
Curious, Clem bit back her need to know. Will was right. What they had shared must surely be the pinnacle of belonging and should be celebrated.
With eyes and voice as soft as a summer evening, she said, “Now I am truly yours.”
“And I am yours.” He reached into his jacket. Extracting a handkerchief, he patted her nether curls and thighs dry before cleaning himself.
Catching sight of his body, she pointed and asked, “Why is it smaller now?”
“You should know the name of the gentleman you welcomed into your body.”
“Little Will?” she asked, a grin spreading over her face at the expression on his.
“He’s little now, but your presence makes him grow quickly. However, he is generally referred to as a ‘cock’.” He pulled his trousers up and then pulled her dress down to cover her legs.
“Such a showy creature. Yours is lovely though.” Clem sat up, tightening the laces on her clothes and rearranging her hair until she hoped it would look respectable enough beneath her bonnet.
When they were both dressed and seated side by side on the sofa, Will picked up Clem’s hand and kissed it. “Mrs. Ravenshoe, by act if not yet by church blessing.”
“I know you wanted to wait for that, Will, but when two people love each other as we do, what does any of that show matter? It makes no difference to how we feel.”
“It matters only if Rufus cannot find a way to break your engagement that still allows you to be a part of society. If that happens, we’ll head north to the border, which is perhaps the lesser of two hard choices, but I pray he will find a way.”
“So he’s not said anything to you? I thought—”
“You thought he’d told me and not you when you saw us going into his club.”
“You saw me!”
Will chuckled, but his smile was tender. “Even if I weren’t madly in love with you, you are hard to miss, my love. I liked that parasol by the way. Very French.”
“Do you think we should leave Lavinia’s now?”
“I will escort you home. There is, in fact, a great deal to be done before her ball, although some of it I am not at liberty to share with you—yet.” He moved his index finger to sit gently across her mouth, preventing her from asking what and why.
Undaunted, she lifted his finger from her lips and said, “But you will be sharing it with me soon.” It was not a question.
“I am bound for the moment not to speak, but when we are married, there will be no secrets between us, my love. This, I promise.”
With Will’s promise and a wonderful buzzing glow in her body, Clem was content. For now.