Chapter 18 #2
“From the moment I met you,” he whispered reverently. “I felt a spark between us. It was as if I had died inside before, but the sight of you had jolted me back to life.”
Upon hearing his words, Bridget felt a delicious shiver move up her body, which only amplified when he turned his gaze from their hands to his eyes.
“You felt it too, did you not?”
Bridget licked her lips as she started to tremble, then ran her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Yes,” she whispered. “But this is merely what this marriage is about. Physical attraction. Convenience. We know why we had to marry, Adrian. I cannot pretend as if nothing happened and just be happy with you.”
“You do not need to pretend,” Adrian said, his voice lower now. “And you do not need to decide everything tonight.”
She laughed weakly. “You make it sound so simple.”
“It is not simple,” he countered. “But I will change your mind about this marriage.”
She scoffed. “You are unbearably full of yourself.”
“Perhaps,” he said, and then he kissed her.
The world narrowed instantly. The kiss was nothing like anything she had known—unhurried, certain, and devastatingly sure of itself. When he drew back, she was breathless and shaken, her hands clenched at her sides.
Adrian traced his fingertips from the back of her hand, up her arm, and to her neck.
The small touch left a trail of fire, and she could not help but moan softly as Adrian caressed her cheek and pulled her forward.
Her body felt warm and pliant as she leaned into his touch, letting him guide her into tipping her head back and deepening the kiss.
Bridget could not help the soft whimper that escaped her throat as his lips pressed into hers, sending her mind into blissful silence for the first time in ages.
Adrian’s lips moved tenderly, coaxingly.
He pressed so very softly against hers before pulling away for a breath, then reunited their lips again for a shorter kiss.
“I have never…” she stopped, unable to finish the sentence aloud.
I have never been kissed like this before.
“Then allow me,” Adrian said softly, his forehead resting briefly against hers, “to show you how our first night together could be wonderful.”
A new fear surfaced, sharp and unexpected. “And when you have?” she asked quietly. “What then? What if you tire of me once you have had me?”
His answer was immediate.
“Then I will prove you wrong,” he said. “I did not marry you out of pity, nor out of convenience. And I will not discard you once my need for you is satisfied.” His voice hardened with conviction. “You deserve better than that, and I intend to give it to you.”
She searched his face, unsure whether to believe him, but unable to deny how deeply he had unsettled her.
Her mind blank, her body humming with both excitement and anticipation, Bridget only nodded. A soft groan escaped Adrian’s lips as he brought his other hand up to her neck, holding her with both hands, and kissed her deeply.
“That’s it,” he rasped, sliding his warm tongue over her lips, coaxing her mouth to open.
Bridget obeyed, wanting to taste more of him, and moaned when she tasted his tongue as he slid it over her own.
Adrian was patient, letting her kiss and suckle his mouth and tongue at her own leisurely exploration.
There was no shoving of parts or grunting, just soft whimpers and slow uncurling as heat pooled in her lower belly and a wetness formed between her thighs.
She barely registered Adrian leaning her back into the pillows, her mind and body too busy with the pleasure of their kiss, but when he sank his body slowly onto hers, she drew her lips away from his and gasped as she felt his hardened length pulse between her legs and through his trousers.
“Shh,” he coaxed, then slowly, exquisitely, kissed her lips again. “Ignore that. We have all the time in the world to explore that later. Tonight is just about your pleasure.”
Bridget’s mind grew fuzzy once again as his kisses trailed from her lips down to her throat, spreading fire wherever he placed them.
“What if I do not know what my pleasure is?” she asked.
“Then I will make sure you find it tonight,” Adrian rasped, then kissed a particular part of her throat that made her gasp and tremble.
Immediately, Adrian hummed with praise.
“There,” he murmured at once, clearly pleased. “That sound.” His lips resumed their slow descent down her neck. “I want you to keep making it.”
He placed his lips on the same spot, only this time, instead of just a kiss, he gently sank his teeth into her soft flesh. Bridget let out a deep moan as her hands came up to his shoulders.
“That’s it, love,” he coaxed, trailing his kisses further down her neck. “Touch me, explore me.”
Bridget grew even more excited at his words.
With Adrian’s blessing, Bridget let her hands glide through the silky texture of his hair, feel the muscular broadness of his shoulders through his clothes as his mouth created a trail of fire from her neck to her breasts.
Adrian did not remove her shift, but even so, she arched her back and moaned for him when he soaked the sheer fabric with his mouth and lapped at her nipple.
Pleasure raced through the taut bud like a lightning bolt.
“Easy,” he said quietly. “There is no rush.”
She swallowed, her voice coming out unsteady. “You are taking far too much pleasure in this.”
A low sound left him, something between a laugh and a growl. “I am,” he admitted. “Because you are trying not to ask for more.”
“I am not—” she began, only to lose the words entirely when his mouth lingered there, deliberate and unhurried.
Wanting more, she arched her chest further into his mouth as she began to work at the buttons of his waistcoat, and whimpered in protest a moment later when his mouth left her breasts.
Her breath caught in her throat; however, when his heated gaze landed on hers, he slowly removed his waistcoat and then his shirt for her.
Bridget’s mouth watered as his clothes gave way to smooth planes of muscle, and feeling emboldened, she sat up and reached to touch his naked chest as she greedily captured his lips with her own.
A feral growl rumbled from Adrian’s chest as she flexed her nails into his pectoral muscles, but he gave her rein over the kiss as he lowered her back to the bed, only lowering his head to her breasts once again when she released his lips and hungrily kissed over his ear and neck.
Despite the growing need thrumming through her, he remained unhurried, his attention painstakingly slow and deliberate, as though he were intent on making her feel every second of it.
He lingered until her body trembled and her breath came in broken gasps, only then moving lower, never once losing that quiet, maddening control.
His hands slid up her thighs, firm and assured, positioning her exactly as he wished, and when he finally pressed his mouth to her, the sensation was overwhelming enough to steal her breath entirely.
Pleasure flared white-hot behind her eyes as her body responded instinctively, every nerve singing under his guidance.
“That’s it,” he murmured, his voice steady even as she shook beneath him. “Relax. Let go for me.”
Though Bridget was not at all sure what he meant, her pleasure crested into a mighty peak, and crashed down heavily upon her the moment his tongue and fingers began to work together.
Then pleasure flooded through every vein in her body, gathered in her core, and released a flood onto the sheets.
She screamed his name as her thighs tightened around Adrian’s head, threatening to cut off his air.
She blushed, embarrassed by what her body had just done.
Adrian, though, seemed quite unbothered by the possibility of asphyxiation or the mess she had made.
Instead, he responded only by covering her most private area and inner thighs with soft kisses and long strokes of his tongue until Bridget’s body finally stopped trembling and relaxed in a tired heap onto the bed.
It was only then that Adrian drew himself up from between her thighs, pulled her back into his chest, and whispered words of praise into her ear.
“You did so well, my sweet,” he whispered between the soft nibbling of her ear. “So very well for me.”
“What…” she panted. “What happened to me?”
A husky chuckle left Adrian’s lips as his fingers stroked her over her back, making her feel deliciously drowsy.
“You had a release,” he answered, then kissed her forehead. “And a most delicious one at that.”
Bridget let out a small, unguarded sound, her body heavy and loose against him as his hand continued its slow, soothing path over her back.
Before her thoughts could fully scatter, before sleep claimed her entirely, Adrian lowered his mouth close to her ear.
“I hope,” he murmured quietly, his voice low and certain. “That tonight begins to change your mind about this marriage.”