Chapter 28 #3
With that, his hand closed around her knee, warm and careful, and she shuddered. She let her legs fall open wider, encouraging him to touch her again, to slide his fingers against her wet heat.
He sat back on his heels, pushing the tangle of her skirts up around her waist and tugging her legs forward so that her knees bracketed his hips.
The expected touch came, a flash of molten-gold pleasure that made her exhale softly and close her eyes. He slid a finger inside her, and when he stroked a particular spot, her hips bucked.
He let out a low chuckle, and she opened her eyes, tilting up her head.
I have to watch. I want to see.
He abruptly withdrew his fingers, and she gave a quiet moan of disapproval.
“Just a moment, my love,” he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her again.
Pulling back, he unfastened his breeches, and she watched wide-eyed as his manhood sprang free.
“Oh,” she murmured.
He glanced at her, lifting his eyebrows. “Dare I ask what you are thinking?” he asked, voice laced with amusement.
“Only that the novels never mentioned any of this.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps you are reading the wrong novels.”
Before she could answer, he leaned forward, one hand curling around her hip, and she felt something larger than a finger tease her entrance. She breathed out slowly as he pushed inside her.
It was an unusual sensation, not unlike the feel of his fingers inside her but more. Better.
He placed his hands on her waist and gently shifted his hips. “You must tell me if you need me to stop,” he rasped.
“Stop?” she breathed, clawing at his sleeves. “No, no.”
He flashed her a wide smile that made her shiver and began to move in earnest.
Pleasure sparked inside her, a low, rolling wave that grew and grew. She reached out to touch him, but he seized her wrists and pinned them above her head. The movement brought him almost nose-to-nose with her, their bodies pressed together, and a rush of pleasure shivered through her.
“More,” she breathed, closing her eyes and tipping back her head. “Oh, more. Christian! Christian!”
Pleasure crashed over her, an intense climax that made her vision blur and her legs quiver.
Christian gave a low growl that rumbled deep in his chest. His hips jerked, and he groaned, pressing his forehead into her neck. He’d released her wrists at some point, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
They lay like that for a moment until he gave a sudden gasp and rolled off her.
“I am crushing you,” he muttered. “Thoughtless.”
“I don’t mind,” Thalia whispered. “I can still breathe and such. I… I like it. I’m not sure why.”
He leaned over, pressing a clumsy kiss to her lips, and then pulled back, climbing off the bed.
Thalia frowned, pushing herself up on her elbows. “Where are you going?” Her limbs still felt heavy, her head pleasure-fuzzed.
Christian, with his breeches undone and his shirt loose and creased around him, gave her a mischievous grin. “Going? I am going nowhere.”
He padded to a washbasin in the corner and poured water into it. It must have been warm, for she could see steam curling up from the bowl. Then he dipped a clean cloth into the water, wrung it out, and returned to the bed.
“Let me,” he whispered, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
He wiped between her thighs, cleaning her up. When he was done, he used the cloth on himself and then returned it to the basin.
“Remind me not to use that water for washing in the morning,” he murmured, clambering onto the bed beside her.
Thalia turned to face him. “Will I be here in the morning?” she whispered.
He watched her for a long moment.
“That is up to you,” he replied eventually.
“For such a long time, your life has been dictated by others. I don’t wish to take any more choices from you.
But I shall tell you now that I will never be truly happy without you by my side.
The fact is, Thalia, I love you. I am not sure that I have ever been in love before.
Alex’s mother, Sophie, she… she and I were fond of each other.
At that age, it felt like love. But she was always cleverer than me.
I think she understood that it was not love, and even if we’d been able to marry, our feelings for each other would not have survived.
I’ve gone all these years believing that I knew what love felt like.
How could I have been so blind?” He whispered the last sentence in a rush that made her shiver.
She reached forward, trailing her fingertips down the curve of his cheek.
“I have never been in love either,” she confessed. “I rather thought it was something to avoid. I thought it would clip my wings. But when I’m with you, Christian, I fly higher than I ever could alone. I love you, too.”
He leaned in, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Then stay,” he said simply.
She gave a tired smile. “I am not sure I could leave even if I tried.”
He grinned. “Is it selfish to say that I’m glad of that?”
She cupped his face in her hands. “Yes,” she whispered, biting back a grin. “Extremely so.”
Then she kissed him, hard. After all, if one felt that one wasn’t very good at the thing, the only thing to do was practice.