Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“For now, though, I want you to kiss me, and I do not want you to stop until we both faint from pleasure.”
Deborah’s words had haunted his dreams. Through the many nights she had been gone, such a fantasy request had echoed over and over in his mind- as did the fear that he would never hear her say them.
It brought him to an edge, one sharp as a knife, on which he was forced to balance as he worked to find Hester and bring Sylvester justice.
Now, as he heard them, his mind and body rejoiced as he was finally able to fall over that edge and into the abyss he craved to be in with Deborah.
His movements were fast. Too fast, and clumsy, too, as if he had not spent years being a young Lothario and was instead an eager, inexperienced boy who was about to have his first time.
He yanked her into his arms, his mouth covering hers possessively as a pent-up groan unleashed from his throat, and his hands began to shake.
If Deborah minded, though, she did not reveal it.
Instead, her hands fisted into his hair and kissed him back with equal fervor; their lips smashing together and coming apart as if they were both starved.
He consumed every whimper, reveled in every expanse of flesh that their bodies were pressed tightly together.
“I missed you,” he rasped, lifting her onto his hips so her ankles could cross around his back.
Deborah pulled back, her beautiful face flushed pink and her green eyes hazy with need. His breath hitched as she caressed a hand over his cheek, sending thousands of tiny jolts of pleasure through his flesh.
“I missed you, too,” she whispered, tracing lightly over the curve of his dark brow, the shell of his ear, over his cheek, and the outline of his lips; each stroke of her fingertips driving his desire higher.
His desire had reached such heights he’d never experienced before, and while it of course filled him with longing, it also filled him with something new: anxiety.
“Please do not leave again,” he begged, carrying her to his bed on trembling legs.
Deborah’s answering look was kind and compassionate as he laid her delicately among his pillows.
“I did not mean to hurt you,” she said softly, “I thought…Well, I told myself that you could not love me, and I was falling in love with you, and that just seemed like an awful idea given what I knew about you.”
Guilt threatened to override Cedric’s desire.
“I should have told you my feelings for you were changing,” he confessed, “That I could feel the lust between us transforming into something deeper, but I…I was a fool. And instead of being honest, I tried to trap you here with the responsibility of our deal. That was wrong of me, Deborah, and I swear to you I will never do it again.”
Deborah’s eyes searched his for a long moment as their touch still smoothed over one another’s still-clothed bodies. Then she smiled softly and slid her hand around the nape of his neck.
“Let us forgive each other then, and start something new,” she said.
Relief poured through Cedric, relaxing every nerve-fraught tendon in his body, and this time as he brought his lips to hers, the kiss was soft, languid. He worshipped her lips, her tongue, her mouth until wonderful little noises started to escape from her throat.
Tonight, they were not going to simply bring one another pleasure, he decided as he softly drew his kisses down to her throat. They were going to make love and fully commit to their marriage.
Cedric brushed his lips sensually down her throat, over her collarbone, and then down to the swell of her breasts. He did not stop when he reached the fabric of her bodice, but kept going, kissing his way down the length of her black dress until he reached her feet.
Then he sat back on his heels, pulled one of her feet into his lap, and removed her black heeled shoe.
He smoothed the heel of his palm over the arch of her stockinged foot and was rewarded with a moan of gratitude from Deborah.
He looked up at her, smiling softly, and his heart skipped a beat when he found her smiling back, looking so very trusting and ready for him.
He would show her that she was safe to do both.
Cedric smoothed his hands from her foot up to her ankle, then to her calf, until he found the hem of her black stocking, and slowly pulled it off. He repeated the process with her right foot, and then with a quickness that made Deborah laugh and gasp, he flipped her over.
Gently, he stroked her loose hair away from the nape of her neck and placed warm, gentle kisses there as his hands skillfully loosened the ties of her dress. As he dragged the fabric gently away from her body, his kisses followed. Over her bare shoulder blades, down the top of her spine.
Once he had her free of the black dress, he went to work on her corset, repeating the same process of kissing every little expanse of flesh that was revealed until that, too, ended up in a pile of discarded clothes on the floor.
When he finished, he sat back up on his heels, taking a moment to marvel at Deborah’s back.
He had worshipped the front of her, and God help him, he would absolutely do so again- but he’d ignored the other side of her.
As he took in the straightness of her spine, the curve of her hips, the peach-like swell of her backside, and those perfectly bitable dimples on her lower back, he decided that was something he needed to remedy immediately.
“Do you have any idea how perfect you are?” Cedric asked, smoothing his hands up the back of her thighs to the juicy peach that was her buttocks.
Deborah answered with a low moan as her hips instantly shifted herself deeper into his touch. Satisfaction roiled within him as he watched her bury her head deeper into his pillow, loving that later he would have her scent all over his bedding.
Cedric lowered himself, placing nipping kisses over her supple cheeks.
With each nip of his teeth, Deborah let out a soft gasp, letting him know that she was enjoying his touch.
His kisses grew soft and pliant as he worked them slowly up her spine, and then he helped her roll over.
As her face met his, he was taken aback by the glittering desire in her eyes, and he could not help but slam his lips down to hers in a needy kiss until they were both panting.
“We are going to take this slow,” he commanded when he rose back up to his knees; his hands already working at the buttons of his trousers. “There will a bit of pain, but I promise you that I will make up for it, and I will not take you until you are shivering and slick and full of need.”
Deborah gasped softly at his words, but her eyes were following his hands as he smoothed his trousers down and away from his powerful thighs.
“What if I am already full of need?” She whispered, her eyes slowly coming back up to his.
Cedric let out a low groan as he saw such evidence in her gaze and willed his raging libido to calm down. He would not take her swiftly and hard. No. She did not deserve that. Even if her body convinced her that she could. She deserved more than that.
“There is always room for a little more,” he teased, smirking as he dipped his head to her breasts.
“Cedric!” She gasped, her back arching and her arms coming around him as he drew her right nipple into his mouth.
He moaned around the peaked flesh, letting his tongue push out and flick wickedly over it as his hands smoothed down the curves of her waist and down to her hips.
Already her legs were splayed wide, allowing him to nestle his own hips between them, and he relished the feel of their naked bodies pressed so tightly together.
Already his erect and aching manhood was pulsing between them; his tip settling just below her navel and his base pressed to her mons. He could already feel her gathering wetness, and it drove him to the edge of insanity.
Still, he took his time, worshipping her breasts with his mouth and fingertips until Deborah was a trembling, moaning mess before he finally moved down to place wet kisses over her ribs, her stomach, and mons. As he settled between her splayed thighs, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
He had missed her feminine scent. Even more so, her taste, but he took a moment to say a silent prayer of thanks before he devoured his meal.
Deborah screamed with pleasure as his tongue slid across her engorged clitoris, as her hips bucked upward, and her hands fisted in his hair.
He did not stop her as her tight hold began guiding him further down.
Instead, he followed her lead, allowing her to guide his mouth to where she wanted him to kiss the most.
Her gush of pleasure splashed over his lips and chin with haste, and he reveled in how quickly he’d made her come apart.
“Again,” he rasped, swirling his tongue over her taut bud as he slid two fingers into her hot, tight, wet sheath.
Deborah’s answering moan was long and low as he began to flick his tongue and thrust his fingers at the same time.
Incomprehensible words began to pour from her lips as he helped her climb back up to the precipice of pleasure, but he did not stop to make her say them clearly.
That would have been torture, and they had both had enough of that.
“That is it, my sweet,” Cedric moaned between licks, “Lose yourself. You are safe with me. I promise.”
Deborah whimpered at his words, and he glanced up to see that her eyes were shining with tears. He almost stopped, but at that moment she looked down at him and quickly shook her head, as if she had read his worry.
“I am alright,” she panted, her tight grip in his hair briefly turning into a caress, “Just overwhelmed with emotion is all.”
Cedric’s response was to lower his head as his fingers curled deeper inside her, brushing over that sensitive spot hidden in the back of her sheath.
“It is alright to be overwhelmed,” he huskily replied between licks, “I will prove it to you. I promise.”
Then he thrust his hand again, and Deborah’s answering moan was nearly a sob as her second orgasm came rushing forward.
“Please,” Deborah half-moaned, half-sobbed as she rode out the wave of pleasure, “Cedric, please.”
“Not yet,” he murmured, suckling at her mons gently as he waited for her frazzled nerves to calm a little, “One more. You can do that for me, can’t you? You can give me one more release before I make you completely and permanently mine?”
He glanced up, enraptured by the pure pleasure and emotion that had taken over Deborah’s flushed, beautiful face, and watched with pleasure as she began to nod and take deep breaths.
“There’s my good girl,” he rasped, slowly swirling his two fingers inside her.
At his praise, Deborah’s brow puckered as she threw her head back, and her thighs began to tremble harder as he brought her to the brink of ecstasy for a third time.