Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Suniti led Rob to the chamber that would be theirs until they moved into either the officers’ communal housing or a home of their own.
She appreciated her mother choosing the one farthest from her parents’ suite.
She didn’t want her parents to hear what she did with her husband.
Rob locked the door before coming to stand behind Suniti.
“Suni, we can go as slowly as you want. No one will know what we have or haven’t done.”
“And if I want it all?”
Rob choked on his laughter, but his arm slipped around her waist, pulling her backside against his arousal. He pushed her hair aside and kissed the length of her nape. She reached back, gripping his hips to brace herself as each press of his lips to her skin made her lightheaded.
“I wish to undress you, Suni. I want to see my wife.”
“I enjoy hearing you say that. I want to see my husband.”
Rob spun her and brought her against his body. His kiss devoured her, and she loved it. She followed his lead at first, but she soon flicked his tongue with hers, drawing him into her mouth. She sucked with enough pressure to feel his cock straining against his breeches.
“Call me that again, sweetling. Please, let me hear it again.”
“My husband.”
Once more, his kiss threatened to swallow her whole.
Her hands roamed over his body as she plucked at his uniform.
She pushed off his waistcoat before she tugged at his cravat.
He didn’t wear one every day, and she didn’t blame him for pushing the bounds of informality as the weather continued to get hotter.
She wished he hadn’t worn one that day since it was one more layer to remove.
“Your clothing is far too fussy. I don’t want to wait every night to peel off every layer.
” Suniti waggled her eyebrows before Rob pounced.
He knocked Suniti backwards onto the bed, following her down.
He drew the length of fabric from her shoulder, kissing the tops of her breasts.
She’d changed from a kurta and churidar, her tunic and pants, into a sari for the evening meal.
His hand glided along her belly’s smooth skin as his tongue flicked within her cleavage.
Suniti arched her back to bring her closer as she worked the buttons on Rob’s shirt.
Once he was free of clothes from the waist up, they stood and finished undressing.
Suniti discovered a book in her father’s library as a young adolescent that described the myriad ways a couple could pleasure one another.
It resulted in a long talk with her mother and sisters.
She and her sisters fought not to giggle, but now she appreciated her mother’s frankness and the book’s illustrations.
Perhaps they would act without haste the next time they undressed each other, but as each additional layer came off, their impatience grew until they were yanking the items left from each other.
They only slowed once they stood before each other bare.
Rob marveled at the perfection before him.
Suniti’s caramel skin gleamed with whatever oil she’d used that morning.
He wished to run his tongue over every inch, tantalizing and pleasuring her.
“I’ve never beheld a sight so beautiful, sweetling. I have toured Europe, seen the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Trevi Fountain. I’ve seen the Taj Mahal. Nothing compares to you. I would stare at you all day.”
“How would you patrol? How would you fill out your logs or whatever it is you do with all those books and maps?”
“Let Theo or Will do it.” Suniti laughed at Rob’s dismissive tone.
She suspected he didn’t jest. But she grew serious as her gaze roamed over Rob’s physique.
Never had she seen something so perfect.
He was like the Roman and Greek statues she’d learned about as an adolescent.
She’d believed no man could compare, but Rob exceeded her imaginings.
The longer she stared, the harder his cock grew.
It pulsed against his lower abdomen, just below the ridges of muscle.
“My darling, I shan’t last long if you continue to stare at me so. I don’t want to rush you.”
“Maybe I wish to rush you. Maybe I don’t want to wait any longer.
Rob, I know there might be pain the first time, but I’ve seen images of couples making love.
The ecstasy appeared like an addiction to some.
” Suniti hesitated as her brow furrowed.
“Were they exaggerations? Does coupling not bring such pleasure?”
“I do not doubt we shall find ecstasy together.” Rob skimmed the back of his hands along Suniti’s upper arm before cupping her breast. Its fullness and firmness made his rod leak.
She brushed her finger across the tip to wipe the liquid from it.
She met Rob’s gaze as she brought her finger to her mouth.
“I shall maul you. You are beyond erotic, Wife.”
“It’s not temptation once you have it.” She slid her finger between her lips, unsure what she thought of the taste.
It wasn’t unpleasant, just unlike anything to which she was accustomed.
Rob bent and licked her right nipple as his hand supported the weight of her breast. His other hand’s fingers feathered over her belly to the thatch of hair covering her mons.
They moved between her legs, and she widened her stance.
Her fingers gripped his shoulders to keep her balance when he slipped his middle finger into her shallow sheath.
She was unprepared for the sensations it elicited. One word came out breathlessly. “More.”
“You will have it all.” Rob scooped her into his arms and carried her around to the side of the bed.
A servant had already turned down the bedding.
Rob laid her gently onto the mattress before crawling on beside her.
They adjusted the bug netting and made their own cocoon.
Suniti rolled to her side and inched closer.
Rob drew her leg over his hip as he slid lower to return his attention to her breast. He alternated sides as he suckled while his fingers danced between her netherlips.
His thumb rolled her pearl before rubbing slow circles.
“What are you doing to me, my darling?” Suniti wasn’t sure how he would react to the endearment.
She wished to offer him one, but she didn’t know if the ones he’d said were genuine or merely what an English husband said to his wife.
When he pushed himself onto one elbow and cupped her cheeks, she suspected he liked it.
“Call me that again.”
“My darling.”
“The sweetest words I’ve ever heard.” Rob hoped one day that he would hear three words far sweeter than those.
As he gazed at his wife, he knew he would love this woman until his last breath.
He would grow old with her after they raised a family together.
He had no way to explain the suddenness of the emotion, but it began as a fledgling seed six weeks ago.
Perhaps it was the Indian heat that made it blossom so soon, but he suspected it was his Suni.
Suniti watched warmth fill Rob’s eyes, but he didn’t share his thoughts.
She wanted to know, but she didn’t know if she was allowed to ask.
There was so much about being a wife that she didn’t know, especially one to a man not of her culture.
She suspected Rob adapted to India faster than she would England.
But she would do whatever she must to please him as much as he pleased her.
She knew she loved him, but she knew not whether she should tell him.
“Suni, there are a great many ways to couple. But there are two types. One is merely to satisfy a desire for pleasure. The other is to make love with a partner who means the world to you. I want you to know that even in our most—energetic—couplings, I will always make love to you.”
Suniti nodded, even more confused than she was a moment ago.
Rob’s kiss was gentle as he stoked the banked fire between them.
Suniti inched even closer, pressing their bodies together.
Her hand roamed over his back and shoulder before grazing her nails over his belly.
They trapped his rod between them, so she couldn’t explore as she wished.
Rob pressed her onto her back and kissed from behind her ear down her throat, his tongue lapping at the dip between her collarbones, before journeying down to her mons.
He peeled back the petals and swept his tongue along her sheath.
She shivered at the newest sensation. When his teeth nibbled on her nub before sucking, she nearly came off the mattress.
His hand pressed her belly down as he continued his ministrations.
Her hips twisted as he continued his pursuit to bring her to release.
“Rob, don’t stop. I—I—it feels so good. What are you doing to me? I ache for more, but you’re bringing me pleasure at the same time…Oh!”
Pleasure swept over her, beginning in her core, and fanning outward, making her toes curl.
Rob watched her, enjoying every moment of bringing his bride to climax.
He wished to see it throughout the night, but he knew that despite her objections to going slowly, she would be sore.
He would do nothing to harm such a precious treasure.
He moved upward until he rested on his forearms, his hips between her thighs.
“Did you enjoy that, sweetling?”
“I think you just wish to hear me say it. I’m certain you know the answer.”
“Maybe I do.” Rob grinned wolfishly. It was Suniti’s turn to pull him in for a kiss. It was her turn to devour him. She rocked her hips, hinting at what she wanted more. The tip of his cock slid through the pooling dew, her sheath inviting him in.
“I never imagined it could be that blissful. The images of ecstasy don’t do that justice. But I want more, Rob. I wish to make love too. I want to join with you and be your wife.”
Rob brushed hair back from Suniti’s temple. He knew what he needed to say before they went any further.
“My love, you would be my wife in truth, even if we never consummated our marriage. You are the only woman I will ever love, Suniti. I pledge my life, my name, all my worldly goods, and my love. I love you.”
Tears sprang to Suniti’s eyes as she nodded, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. She stroked the bristles that had grown in since that morning. He was always freshly shaven, and she suspected it was because of the weather. She knew other Englishmen preferred a full beard.
“Robert, I love you. I wish to be your companion, your lover, your everything until I breathe my last. I expected to spend a life in a loveless marriage, hoping the union might pleasantly surprise me. I didn’t think I would already love my husband.
I give myself to you: heart, body, and soul freely and without reservation. ”
“No gift could ever compare.” Rob’s kiss distracted her as he pressed his sword into her sheath. When he felt her barrier, he pulled back. “I loathe hurting you. I pray it’s the only time I ever do.”
“Pain before the pleasure. I can live with that, but I can’t live with waiting anymore.”
Rob slid his hands beneath her shoulders, wrapping his fingers over the top before he surged into her. She bowed off the bed and kicked her feet before she sucked in a whistling breath.
“Suni, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Rob’s heart broke at her look of agony. He’d only been with experienced women. Ones prepared for his girth. He was a large man from his feet to his shoulders. He wondered if moving slower would have prolonged her misery or made it easier to accept.
“Shh, Rob. I know. It stole my breath, but I don’t want to stop. It’s—odd—but having you inside me is only arousing me more. I need to move.”
“Thank the gods. I do too.” It was the first time Rob ever referenced anything but the Christian God.
He knew Suniti noticed because she smiled.
He found it easier than he expected. He would never renounce his faith entirely.
It was engrained too deeply from childhood, and he believed it to be the truth.
But he would open his mind and his heart to his wife’s belief. Anything that would bring them closer.
He eased back before surging forward, the tempo slow as he withdrew and pressed. Her hips rose to receive each thrust. Her hands found the divots on his hips, a place to grip and encourage him to continue. Her eyes drifted closed as she concentrated of each sensation.
“Let me see you as you climax, my love.”
Suniti’s eyes fluttered open as she felt a familiar tightening in her core.
Rob’s pace increased along with the force with which he pounded into her.
The faster and harder he surged between her thighs, the louder her moans grew.
She cared not who might hear. The sound encouraged Rob and brought her more pleasure.
They burst into the fabled ecstasy together, clinging to one another as they shuddered.
Rob rolled onto his back, bringing her along with him. She lay sprawled across him.
“I love you, my darling.” Suniti stretched to kiss her husband’s cheek.
“Just as I love you, sweetling.” Rob pressed a kiss to her shoulder. They lay together until Rob’s body no longer cooperated with their desire. They soon drifted to sleep.