Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Kitty’s heart pounded with excitement as she pushed open the tower door. The room was less dark than before; moonlight spilled through a gap in the heavy velvet curtains, and she smiled as James stepped out from the shadows.
He was dressed in just a shirt and breeches, and he caught her wrist and pulled her inside, closing the door behind them before gathering her into his arms.
“Good evening.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, and she threw her arms around his neck, returning the embrace with fervor. The heat of him bled into her. It felt like coming home.
She’d been a jittery wreck all afternoon, ever since the two of them had returned from the folly.
They’d kept their distance in public, trying to appear as if nothing had changed between them, but every time James caught her eye across the garden, or during a conversation at dinner, it was as if a thrilling secret passed between them.
Anticipation had made her stomach flutter like pebbles tumbled by a wave.
“Changed your mind?” James murmured.
“No!”
“Afraid, then?”
“Maybe a little,” Kitty admitted, glad the gloom hid her blush. “Gwyn confessed that she and Lord Locryn have already anticipated their vows. She told me it can hurt a bit, the first time.”
To her relief, he didn’t laugh or brush away her concern. “I’ve heard that too, but only for some women.” He brushed her lips with his own. “I’ll do everything in my power to make it good for you. And if you want to stop at any time, we’ll stop. Just tell me, all right?”
“All right.”
Emboldened, Kitty kissed him again. “I like that I can see you now. But I’d like to see even more. Can you take off your shirt?”
His lips curved in a sly grin. “Liked what you saw when you were spying on me in the woods, did you, Miss Worth?”
“I did indeed.”
With a laugh he kissed her again, and together they tugged his shirt from his breeches, and over his head. Kitty let her hands rove over the sleek muscles of his chest, then traced lightly over the different texture of his scars.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” she whispered. “Do they still hurt?”
He shook his head. “Not anymore. They’re just unsightly.”
Kitty pressed her lips to the smooth skin of his sternum. “I think you’re beautiful. I always have.”
James slid his hand to the back of her head and tilted her face up. “If I had to have them again, just to get to this moment, then I’d do it gladly. It’s like you said about the honey; a little bit of pain is worth it for so much sweetness.”
This time when he kissed her it felt like a promise, a soul-deep vow.
And then he deepened the kiss and urgency took over.
Kitty fumbled with the clasp on her cloak and shrugged it from her shoulders and he groaned as he realized she was wearing just her knee-length chemise.
Together they stumbled to the bed, and when the back of her legs bumped the mattress, Kitty fell back onto the sheets with a laugh.
James followed her, his big body covering hers, and she relished the masculine weight of him pressing her down. He bracketed her head with his forearms, relieving her of some of his weight, and kissed her with an intensity that made her gasp.
“I want to see you, too,” he growled. “It’s only fair.”
With a smile, Kitty lifted her hips, helping as he pulled her chemise up and over her head, and then she was naked beneath him. The moonlight slanted across her stomach and breasts, silvering her skin and revealing the reverent look on his face as he sat back on his heels, straddling her thighs.
A muscle ticked in his jaw as he swallowed, and Kitty watched in fascination as he reached out and placed his finger at the hollow at the base of her throat. He trailed it down over her breast in ever-decreasing circles until he grazed her nipple.
Kitty felt deliciously wanton, bared to his hungry gaze.
There was something incredibly arousing about being naked beneath him while he was still in his breeches.
The soft fabric of them tickled her thighs.
She arched her back, urging him on, and closed her eyes in delight as he put his whole palm on her, cupping and shaping her breast. She fit perfectly in his hands.
“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed. “Let me make you feel good.”
“Yes.” She trusted him completely. She’d been his for years and years.
The mattress dipped, and she reopened her eyes to watch as he stood and unbuttoned the front of his breeches. He pushed them down his thighs and stepped out of them, and she bit her lip as she finally saw him naked.
“Oh!”
He sent her a cocky smile. “Better than those naughty woodcuts?”
She nodded. “Much better.”
“It’s all for you.” He placed one knee on the bed and crawled back over her. “And don’t worry. It’ll fit, I promise. We just need to get you ready.”
Kitty was desperate to touch him, to explore every intriguing curve and ridge, but he moved to her side, lying next to her on the bed.
She turned toward him, swallowing her hum of delight as their bodies touched down the full length.
His skin was hot, and she shivered as the hard length of his cock pressed against her thigh, impressively thick.
“I’m ready!” she breathed.
He chuckled against her throat and pressed a hot kiss into her shoulder. “Not yet, you’re not. But you will be.”
His hand slid down her side, over her ribs and the dip of her waist, and she squirmed against him, desperate for contact.
When he slid his palm over her belly she groaned and widened her legs in invitation, desperate to have him touch her where he’d been before, and when his fingers finally slid there, she groaned in relief.
“When you touched yourself, were you thinking of me?” His voice was dark smoke as he teased her with his thumb, dipping into her the merest fraction before retreating. She threw her head back and screwed her eyes closed, trying to goad him into giving her more.
“Yes!”
“Good. Because I thought of you. Every time I pleasured myself. Every. Fucking. Time. God, I dreamed of this. Of touching you, tasting you. Pleasing you, Kitty. It’s all I ever want to do.”
She could hear the truth, the yearning ache in his tone, and her heart leapt in sudden fierce gladness.
“Then do it,” she whispered. She wanted it too.
He slid his middle finger into her, so easily she gasped.
And then he started to move his hand, sliding in and out of her with agonizing slowness, and the tension built like a rising tide.
When he added a second finger, she grasped his hair and he hit the spot that created a delicious urgency inside her.
But just when she was almost there, he pulled his hand away and laughed at her plaintive growl.
“Not without me,” he chided softly. He moved between her legs, reaching down to notch himself at her slick entrance. Kitty held her breath as he rocked his hips, the heat of him nudging against her, and felt her body stretch to welcome him.
“Put your hands on my shoulders,” he instructed, and she complied, arching up to kiss him as he tilted his hips and pressed into her a little more.
He was bigger than his fingers, but even as she registered the strange new sensation, she felt her body soften and give.
He slid in further, and when she instinctively lifted her knee to his hip, changing the angle, he grasped her thigh and gave a gratifying groan of approval.
With one more push, he sheathed himself fully.
They both stilled.
“All right?” he murmured, sounding a little strained.
“Yes.” She was equally breathless.
He pressed the softest kiss to her lips. “I’ve wanted to be here—right here—for as long as I can remember.”
Kitty smiled up at him. “Then show me what I’ve been missing.”
The wicked twinkle she loved so much reappeared in his eyes. “You asked for it.”
With a laugh she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled out, almost to the tip, then pushed back in again, a slow delicious slide that made her inner muscles clench.
Soon their bodies were moving in harmony.
Kitty arched up, canting her hips as he slid one hand under her bottom, squeezing her flesh, and the change of angle was perfection.
“Oh, that’s so nice! Please don’t stop.”
James’s laugh was muffled against her shoulder. “Nice?” he growled.
“Better than nice!” she amended desperately.
He punished her with a wicked thrust that made her see stars. “Use your words, Kitty. Tell me.”
Oh, she wanted to strangle him. He was teasing her now? How was she supposed to be coherent when her whole body felt like it was about to combust?
“Amazing!” she gasped, biting her lip as happiness shimmered through her. “Exquisite.” He thrust again, and her mind went blank for a moment. “Exemplary!” She clenched his hair and threw her head back, bucking against him.
“Say my name,” he commanded, low, and her core fluttered around him. God, she was so close.
“James!”
It was more of a shriek, but he took pity on her, possessing every inch, making her feel both cherished and gloriously overpowered. Kitty hurtled over the edge. Waves of pleasure coursed through her, tensing every muscle before her entire body relaxed in a glorious, glittering tide of relief.
James followed. His big body shuddered, over her, in her, straining taut before he pulled out of her body with a soul-deep groan and dropped heavily to her side on the mattress.
It took several minutes for her heartbeat to stop racing, and Kitty let out a delighted, incredulous laugh. James managed to lift his head, and she smiled as she pushed his hair from his eyes. He looked as shattered, as sated as she felt.
“I knew it would be perfect,” he murmured.
Kitty had never felt more perfect in her life. She placed her palm against his chest and savored the steady thump of his heart beneath the muscle and bone. It was her heart now, just as hers belonged to him. It was an excellent exchange.
She sent him a sleepy, teasing smile. “I suppose you’re going to tell me there are lots of different ways to make love, too, aren’t you? The same as with kisses.”
He brushed her hot cheek and his sinful lips curved in a knowing smile. “Of course. And we’re going to try them all. Fast. Slow. Indoors. Outdoors. Daytime. Nighttime.” He pressed a kiss to the end of her nose. “You on top. Me behind you. With honey and without.”
Kitty raised her brows. “Honey? Won’t that be . . . sticky?”
“We’ll bathe together afterwards.”
She flushed. “Oh. I’d like that.”
“The possibilities are endless.”
“If there are so many options, it might take us a while. If we’re really being thorough.”
“Oh, we will definitely be thorough,” he agreed. “I expect it’ll take our whole lives.”
He pulled her into his arms and Kitty snuggled into him, loving the feel of his arms around her. She could scarcely believe they’d ended up like this, and her heart sang with happiness.
“I can’t wait.”