Chapter Eleven #2
“Oh.” The demons he silently fought with every day, the nightmares he suffered, the pain and the guilt could be kept at bay when he was with her. It was quite… endearing, and she unexpectedly lost a piece of her heart to him.
With a tiny sigh, she slipped her hand up his chest to curl about his nape.
The scents of evergreens, snow, and peppermint teased her nose, and she placed a kiss beneath his jaw.
The arousing texture of the evening stubble caught her by surprise, so she skated her lips along the jawline, and when she arrived at the place on his neck where smooth skin met shadow, flutters chased through her belly. The contrast was quite heady, indeed.
When he cupped her bottom and pulled her flush to his body with a groan, Anne shifted her position slightly to loop her arms around him.
Such strong shoulders, and as his arms went about her, a thrill danced down her spine.
This was the man she’d hoped he might be, this broken yet protective man.
When she was in his arms, she knew he would fight for her the way she was coming to believe that he would do for her.
Again, he claimed her lips with his, and she nearly cried from the tenderness of the embrace.
With her fingers furrowed in the soft hair at his nape, Anne urged him closer still.
She kissed him back, following his lead, and just when she assumed she was complete rubbish in such things, he made a sound of approval in the back of his throat.
Happiness warmed her chest. She smiled against his lips, then the attitude of the embrace changed.
Her husband slanted his mouth over hers, traced the seam with the tip of his tongue, urging her to open for him.
As he tangled that tongue with hers and silk slid against satin, something caught fire deep within her.
Suddenly she wanted so much more from this man she’d married, more than revenge and fighting and carnal games that only ended in mutual satisfaction.
Was that even possible?
Over and over, they fought for dominance.
Soon enough, she conceded to his mastery and let herself be swept along on that tide of heated sensations that left her both breathless and trembling with anticipation.
In this bed, tangled in the bedclothes with his body over hers, she felt as if she most certainly belonged at that moment.
“Do you want me, Anne?”
Trembles danced along her nerve endings. Dear man. She rested a palm against the side of his face, traced the pad of her thumb along his lower lip, thrilled when he shuddered from her touch. “Yes. Tonight, I’m giving myself to you as your wife. Nothing else matters.”
“Oh, God.” Broderick kissed her again and as he did so, he urged her out of her nightdress. How he managed to remove the garment from her form without breaking the embrace overly much, she would never know, but the task was accomplished with a skill that left her awed.
The sudden rush of cooler air over her exposed skin drew a gasp from her, but she needn’t have worried. He was there, fondling, cupping, gently squeezing one breast, and when she quivered with need, he lowered his head to the tightened nipple, took it into the warm cavern of his mouth.
Her world spiraled and tilted from the surge of pleasure, the sensations both foreign yet familiar.
“I’ll never tire of this.” As he worried that tip with his tongue and teeth, kept her swamped with erotic sensations, he manipulated the other nipple with his fingers.
That constant cycle of rolling, strumming, slightly pinching left her panting with a need that continued to build and circle inside her.
His low-pitched chuckle worked to further undo her. “Like that? I hope it helps us both to escape from the ugliness of memories.”
“You say that as if you’re certain I’m haunted as well.” Wasn’t she, though?
“Oh, I know you do, and eventually, you’ll share that with me.”
“I…” Her thoughts flew right out of her head when he returned to claiming her mouth while he slipped one hand down her side, leaving gooseflesh in his wake.
The teasing glide of his fingertips along the outside of her leg had her shivering with excitement, but when he drew those same digits over the inside of her thigh, she sucked in a breath. What a ninny she was, for hadn’t they done this a few times before?
Yet it felt quite different this time, as if he were a different person.
Apparently, Broderick wasn’t in the mood to rush the seduction.
For seemingly an eternity, he danced his fingers up and down her leg then he switched his attentions to the inside of her opposite thigh.
Heat rolled over her; awareness and sensations spiked.
With them restlessness circled through her lower belly with an ancient call she couldn’t wait to dive into.
Anne pressed her lips to his chest, luxuriated in the warmth of him, the smell of man mixed with the scent of his shaving soap, the springy curls of hair that were sprinkled over the patch of skin she explored.
“Such a lovely form,” she managed to whisper.
“Gammon, of course,” was all he said.
A gasp left her throat when he ventured a hand between her thighs.
He dragged his lips beneath her jaw to nibble at a particular spot that left her breathless.
Knowing what was coming and wanting it so damned much, she clung to him, clutched his shoulders.
The hard, hot length of his member pressed against her hip, and she couldn’t wait to feel him moving inside her.
Then, his fingers were between her thighs gliding through the slickness of her own arousal, and she waited, breathless with a rapidly beating heart for the sensations that would assail her in seconds.
He parted the flesh, found the nubbin at her center, and the instant he brushed a fingertip along that bud, a whimper of need left her throat.
It was almost electrifying and a shiver rippled down her spine.
“Mmm.” Her moan seemed to echo in the silence.
“Continue?”
“Yes. Don’t you dare stop.” Her thoughts scattered once more when he strummed his fingers over that swelling bud. Tingles of exquisite pleasure went through her. “I… I…” The ability to form words temporarily escaped her.
“Indeed.” Broderick claimed her mouth, kissed her with a mixture of passionate dominance and gentle support that made her head spin, and all the while, he applied himself to teasing the button at her center.
He employed various degrees of friction and speed until her hips bucked of their own accord, putting her more firmly into his care.
“Oh, oh, oh…” Anne broke the kiss as pressure circled within her. “How do you manage to make me feel as if I’m breaking apart?” Her head thrashed from side to side.
“Perhaps it’s fate,” he whispered and increased the friction on that nubbin. While continuing his play with his thumb, he dipped a finger into her passage then added another to tease just outside, stretching her, bringing forth moisture in a cycle that both soothed and aroused.
And it was one of the most pleasant things she’d ever experienced.
She concentrated on the wild sensations he invoked in her body.
Then, when he closed his mouth around a nipple, the dam inside broke.
A wave of pleasure slammed into her, caught her by surprise, and she shouted in response seconds before it felt as if she’d been hurtled over the edge of a ravine.
“So quickly this time.” How disappointing.
Down, down, down she tumbled into bliss, floating, flying, borne upon the wings of tickling joy that changed the flutters into faint contractions that made her shiver with both heat and cold that only stoked the hunger still inside her.
“Beautiful,” he murmured against her lips, into the underside of her jaw, beneath her earlobe. “Simply beautiful.”
“You’ve seen me thusly before.”
“Perhaps, but I rather think I’ve not truly looked those other times.”
Her heart squeezed at the honest admission. As the residual feelings faded and Anne returned to reality, that longing which had plagued her from the first made itself known again.
“Do you want to fly again before we conclude the act tonight?” Strain graveled his voice. His shaft jumped against the inside of her thigh.
“Endeavor to do that while we couple. I’m in great need.
” Then she surged upward, and kissed him with a savagery that surprised her.
“I want you. All of you, Broderick, darkness and all.” And it was true.
It didn’t matter that he was broken or haunted.
It didn’t matter what he’d done in his past. He was merely…
him. Then she let one hand drift between them to stroke her fingers along his hot, hard shaft.
“I can tease you tonight with my mouth…”
“And have me pop off too quickly?” He hissed a warning but put a hand atop hers, moved her hand along the length, controlling the caress. “Dear God, you will drive me to madness, I think.”
“Good. We’ll go together if you’ll get on with it.” Honestly, she couldn’t wait any longer to be claimed by him.
“Such a vixen.” He shifted his position and settled between her legs, urging her thighs wider.
Flutters bedeviled her lower belly as she slipped her palms down his arms. “Do you want control tonight, or do you wish to lose it, Udolpho?” Why she’d chosen to use his make-believe title, she couldn’t say, but it made him chuckle.
Above all, she hoped to give him peace from his demons if only for a moment.
A low growl escaped him. “For tonight, I need to have it.” So saying, he shoved her arms above her head and pinned her wrists to the mattress with one large hand.
Through the gloom, he met her gaze, and his eyes were fathomless dark pools.
“But you make me want to give it all to you in moments like this…” His swallow was audible. “When you came in to rescue me.”
Her heart fluttered. “Oh, Broderick.” The giddiness that skipped through her chest knew no bounds. “You are learning to let others in. Keep doing that.” Could he teach her to do the same?
“Bah.” The pressure of his hold on her wrists reminded her that he was a powerful man, and he was dangerous, fully in control, yet if she tried to break contact, he would no doubt release her immediately.
What was more, she trusted him, which was a huge step forward.
“I am but learning.” Again, he kissed her, and as he did, with a flex of his hips, he speared into her body and didn’t stop until he’d been fully sheathed.
A moan left her throat. “Dear God, I adore that moment.”
He rested his forehead against hers. “As do I.”
For an experiment, she tested his hold. It was solid; he was solid and delicious holding himself barely above her, exerting his control and mastery yet oddly keeping her in his protection and that very strength. “This is good, what we have between us. Yes?”
“Yes.” Seconds later, he moved within her, withdrawing and then penetrating her again.
And with each new thrust, shivery sensation showered through her, set fire to her blood, and energized each nerve ending.
Anne canted her hips to receive him as she looped her arms about his shoulders and clung to him.
It was as if they’d been doing such exercise together for a lifetime as they soon found a mutual rhythm.
The connection they shared strengthened, and she craved more of it.
More of him.
“God, I’m coming, too damned soon because you make me insane.” His strokes became shorter, went deeper, and were more frantic.
Perhaps she understood that sentiment too.
She was lost to what he did to her body and the sensations therein.
Every time he thrust, intense pleasure became her world.
Urgent pressure stacked once more in her belly, but before she could do anything else, his hand was at her breast, rolling and plucking the nipple, and then she was lost again.
In him, in them together.
This time when the release caught her up, though not as intense as the first time she’d gone flying, it was just as lovely. Contractions rocked her core, and as she floated in that soundless space, Broderick thrust twice more then collapsed on top of her as his length, embedded deep, pulsed.
For long moments, his ragged breathing rasped in her ear.
Anne held him, hoped he would feel as protected as he made her feel, and when he was disinclined to stir, her eyelids drifted shut.
For the first time in her life, she’d found a place in the world perhaps specifically set aside for her where anything was possible.
It made the horrors from her schooldays more bearable.
“You never disappoint.”
He chuckled. “Ah, Anne, you are definitely what I needed tonight.”
She smiled. “At least I gave you a reprieve from your silent battles.” With a sigh, she stroked her fingers along the side of his face. “I hope you will sleep better now.”
“No doubt I will.” Her husband nuzzled the crook of her shoulder. “My mind is not so scattered, and what is more, I don’t feel as fearful or hopeless.”
“I’m glad.” Tears welled in her eyes. He deserved that and so much more. A shiver of delight danced down her spine. “For what it’s worth, I no longer wish to avenge my brother.”
“That is good news.” Gently, Broderick encouraged her onto her back. He found her gaze with his. “Promise me that you will continue challenging me, pushing me, make me learn and grow and think beyond myself. No one has ever done that before, and I rather believe it is essential.”
“All right.” Anne scrubbed at the moisture on her cheeks. “Only if you do the same for me. There is so much I don’t know and I need help with. And I don’t wish to embarrass you in front of your friends.”
“You could never.” When he laid down again and bundled her into his arms, she sighed, for it was truly a luxury.
The whole interlude had been healing as well as bittersweet. She couldn’t explain it and neither did she want to. Before she could say anything further, shock moved through her chest when soft weeping issued from him as he tucked his head into the crook of her shoulder.
“Broderick?”
“No one except Pauline cared about me over and beyond what I could do for them. Then came you, and everything has changed again.”
“Shh, it’s all right.” Not wishing to analyze what those words meant , she merely held him.
Eventually, he fell into a light doze with his arms still around her. Not wanting to disturb him, and being far too comfortable in his bed, she allowed her body to relax as she closed her eyes.
Perhaps this was what they both needed, for she felt oddly closer to him than she had in the preceding three days since she’d met him. They’d both had a horrid time of life. Did this mean they were moving toward a better future?
Together? In a real marriage?
Only time would tell.