Chapter Eleven #2
Clothing fell indiscriminately to the floor: his jacket and waistcoat, her gown.
His cravat followed, as did her petticoat.
Never once did she bid him nay, for she wanted this as she’d never wanted anything in her life; it was her first act as a widow.
While she stood before him in her shift, stays, stockings and garters, she grew suddenly shy.
“What if, now that I’m free, you don’t want me any longer? Perhaps you only did before because you couldn’t truly have me.”
“Such poppycock.” He brushed his knuckles over an erect nipple. “I love you. My whole life has been kept for you,” he whispered. “May I continue and—”
She cut his words off with a fierce kiss. “On second thought, I don’t want talking. Not today. I only want you, so take off the remainder of your clothes, Caleb.”
“Right, but be prepared, for I’ll show you the depth of my regard.” Quickly, he tugged off his boots, hopping from one foot to the other as he did so. They fell to the floor with two dull thuds.
While he struggled out of his breeches and his rampant, thick length jutted outward, Angelica manipulated the laces of her stays.
She glanced at his shaft, and couldn’t help but moisten her bottom lip.
How much did she want this man? In all the ways that mattered, no less.
Then she shimmied out of the garment, saying nothing as he watched.
The scrape of the lawn shift against her erect nipples sent trembles through her lower belly.
Now that she wasn’t wed, would this coupling still prove wonderful?
“Are you woolgathering, or have you simply gone mad watching me undress?” she asked in some amusement.
“Perhaps both.” It took next to no time for him to remove the breeches.
They were tossed to the floor in a thrice.
As soon as she toed out of her slippers, he caught her in his arms, kissing her, claiming her lips, making love to her mouth as he slowly fisted the fabric of her shift and slowly drew it up her body.
The kiss was broken long enough to see the garment free of her form.
Once it hit the floor and she stood clad only in garters and stockings, he paused to stare. “You truly are my very own angel.”
“Gammon, but I adore that you think so.”
“Something else I’ll gladly spend years showing you.” He prowled forward, grinning as she retreated over the floor until she tumbled onto the bed dressed in a coverlet featuring the colors of peach, moss green, and cream.
“It frightens me to say it, but I’m looking forward to the future—finally.
” When he joined her on the mattress, came over her body and settled between her bent knees, a sigh escaped them both, for the immediate glide of his skin against her, the hard angles of his body against her softer curves was most thrilling.
“I fear it might be yanked from my grasp.”
“I can promise you that it will not.” A string of feather weighted kisses pressed beneath her jawline followed.
She slipped one arm about his middle and the other about his shoulders.
Good heavens, he was hers! Angelica pressed her lips to the side of his neck.
“I adore how you feel, how you smell, how you taste…” And she would indulge in that this afternoon, for she’d thought about it since their first time together.
“I thought you didn’t wish to talk.” His engorged shaft twitched against her belly.
“Mmm, changing my mind is a process; perhaps I’m drunk on freedom.”
“Understandable.” Then he kissed her, hard, as if he did, indeed, wish to show her how he felt.
With a soft sigh, Angelica surrendered fully into his care, and together they tumbled down the slippery slope into the love that was previously forbidden.
If she wasn’t already besotted with him, kissing him, exploring his body while he did the same to her would have done the trick.
Warm skin covered by coarse hair met her wandering fingers, glided beneath her lips as she sought to familiarize herself with every nuance of his form all over again.
The plane of his chest, the breadth of his shoulders, the nip of his waist, the slight flatness of his abdomen called to her, begged for her attention, and he was as handsome and hard as she’d remembered.
The moment he closed his mouth around a pebbled pink nipple, she moaned and arched her back while he kneaded her other breast, rolled the bud which pulled a gasping sort of sound from her throat.
The faint scent of rain in his hair combined with the masculine smell of him spurred her onward.
She couldn’t have enough of him, of kissing every portion of his lean body she came into contact with.
While she danced her fingers along his back and abdomen, he nuzzled the crook of her shoulder, nipped and nibbled a path between her breasts, over them, teased the tips with his tongue and teeth, explored her navel and points beyond.
And through it all, she trembled and shivered with anticipation.
With a soft growl, he slowly made his way down her body.
“I feel as if I’m floating,” she admitted in a whisper as she bent her knees. “But you also make me want to have my wicked way with you, to discover how to drive you mad.”
“You’ve already done that.”
“But I’d like another chance.” Surely this freedom was going to her head.
“There is time for all of that; this won’t be our only coupling today.”
“I’m counting on it.”
As Caleb kneeled, he hooked his hands beneath her hips and lifted her bottom half off the bed. As her pulse raced, he dipped his head between her splayed thighs and drew his tongue along her folds. She hadn’t expected that, for she gasped and squirmed from his attention.
“Oh, goodness. I didn’t think you might…” One hand curled tightly into the bedding.
“I want to taste you, so I’m bringing you to release in the quickest way possible. It will show you my feelings immediately.” He chuckled against her skin when she gasped again.
Seconds later, he encouraged that tiny bud at her center out of hiding and then worried it with his lips, alternately sucking it into his mouth and soothing it with swipes of his tongue.
Wild sensation crashed over her while Angelica struggled to her elbows.
She held his head tightly against her flesh, her fingers furrowing through his hair, yet in the next second she attempted to shove him away when he did his work all too well.
“Good heavens…” When he chuckled against her flesh, she caught her breath.
“Oh!” A cry left her throat as he increased the friction to that all-important nubbin.
She squirmed, fell onto her back, which put her lower half more securely into his care, and he continued his onslaught.
I… Ah!” A soft scream issued from her when she tumbled into a gentle release, for she gasped and stared at him while her body shook with easy contractions.
Heat filled her chest and cheeks as she fisted both hands into the bedding. “Rogue.”
“Perhaps I am. And thank goodness Tittleford never pleasured you like this, for it wouldn’t seem as wondrous if he had. I fear my skill is moderate at best.” Pure masculine smugness wove through his voice as he came back up her body.
“Do stop. You are far more than adequate, and worth a thousand of him.” Again, shock that the duke was dead slammed into her. “And he’s gone…”
“That he is.” Caleb claimed her lips in a gentle kiss, and as she tasted her juices on his tongue, it rather aroused her further.
“However, you and I have just begun. Should I send you over with my fingers or would you rather I make love to you? I might embarrass myself soon if we delay for too long.”
Life would be simply marvelous with him when they were finally allowed to be together. “What do you think?” Then she grinned as she reached for his hot, hard erection. “I am too far gone with need to have you draw this out, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want you to experiment later.”
“As my angel commands.” Caleb came back up the bed with a grin, for he felt all too reckless, giddy almost, for she would soon be his.
He settled between her bent knees, paused with the tip of his shaft kissing her opening.
There was so much he wanted to share and experience with her, but for now, he would content himself with this, for they had a long road ahead of them.
“Don’t make me regret my decision of admitting my feelings for you,” she said, and when she met his gaze with a nod, he thrust his hips, penetrating her fully and as deeply as he could go. “Oh!”
“Are you well?”
“Yes, of course. I’m just savoring this, as it is one of my favorite parts.
That first moment of joining is lovely.” Seconds later, she wrapped her legs around his, wriggled into a more comfortable position, and then her heel was at his arse, prodding him to continue.
“You are quite large, quite… filling. I’ll need much more of this sort of activity before I grow used to it. ”
“I’m glad you think so.” Yet inside he thrilled at her compliment and encouragement. Still, he went slowly to allow her time to acclimate to his intrusion. “Any time with you is gorgeous.”
“Truly a rogue, not a solicitor.” Angelica trained her gaze on his face. Wonder clouded those mossy green depths, marvel lined her expression, yet it was the pure love that beamed seemingly from every point of her that squeezed at his heart. “A year will be so long to hide our relationship.”