Chapter 32
Mrs. Millie Pritchard.
She liked the sound of that.
Ernie put her down slowly, gently and pulled her flush against him as he leaned back on the door and turned the lock.
Good Lord, it was hard to think with him so close. He flooded her senses—the feel of his muscles, his scent, the taste of his skin. And she was tasting—his lips, his neck, his earlobe—any exposed skin she could find.
She took off his fedora and flung it behind her without looking. He did the same with her cloche hat.
Grabbing his lapels, she claimed his lips and delved with her tongue, her passion eliciting a low rumble as he surrendered to it.
Something wild and hungry within her drove her on to greater fury.
She bit his lower lip, and he responded by devouring her.
One hand held her head as he kissed and nipped at her exposed neck.
The other squeezed her buttock, pressing their hips together through all the infuriating layers of cloth.
“Too much clothing,” she murmured.
“Agreed,” he mumbled into her neck before pulling back.
She tore at the buttons of his coat until they came undone, sliding the coat down around his shoulders. There was a suit jacket underneath. That had to go too.
Down to his sweater-vest, he took over, frantically unbuttoning her new blue coat. Why did she get one with so many buttons?
Casting it aside onto a luggage stand, he took in her dress.
“More buttons?” he asked in mock outrage as he went to work unbuttoning her front.
At last, he slid the dress down over her shoulders, and she stepped out of it. She was down to her cream satin and lace step-in chemise, her satin garter belt, her stockings and boots.
He put his hands on her shoulders, maneuvering her back so that he could look at her.
“Millie Aldrich, you certainly do not disappoint. Good God.”
She looked him up and down, her gaze lingering on the impressive bulge in his pants.
Reaching out, she took his hand and led him to the twin bed on the left—the same side he’d taken at the Brockerhoff.
“Help me with my boots?” she said, taking a seat and running a leg up his calf.
“Uh-huh,” he said, looking dazed as he knelt before her.
Oh, good. He was properly addled.
As he unbuttoned her boot, he stared up at her as if she were some heavenly apparition.
After sliding the boot off, he grazed his fingers up her calf and thigh until he reached the bare skin just above her stocking.
There, he stopped and tantalized her, so close to the center of her pulsing desire it was agony. Then he took his fingers away, the cad.
He went to work on her other boot, once again tracing up her leg and once again stopping short of what she wanted.
Unfastening one garter and then another, he rolled her stockings down her silky-smooth legs.
She would have to remember to thank Beth for insisting on the waxing and milk bath at the Salon d’Oro.
Her pristine legs ended in perfectly pedicured toes.
Nestled between her legs, he looked up at her like a starving man.
Touch me, Ernie. Taste me. I’m yours.
Instead, he stood up, pulling her to stand with him.
“Mrs. Pritchard?” he said, tracing a finger down from her collarbone to her right nipple, which he lightly pinched.
“I’m not Mrs. Pritchard yet,” she said, leaning into his touch.
“Maybe not officially, but you’re mine and I’m yours in every way that matters.”
He continued to fondle her in the most devastatingly delicious way.
“And I am a very, very lucky man.”
“Oh? How lucky are you?” she asked, grazing her fingernails over the bulge in his pants and making him shiver.
“I’m this lucky,” he said, unhooking her garter belt and letting it drop to the floor. “And this lucky.” He slid one silken strap off her shoulder, baring her breast. “And this lucky.” His fingers slid down the other shoulder and her chemise puddled on the floor, leaving her entirely naked.
Breathing heavily, he took her breasts in hand, caressing and rolling the nipples between his fingers.
“Oh, so you’re just a lustful cad, aching to have his way with me?”
He smiled. “I’m your lustful cad, and I love everything about you.”
“Like what?”
She pulled his sweater-vest over his head and slid his tie from around his neck, running her hands up and down his chest.
“I love…your chocolate cakes.”
“Ha!”
Now he was the one with too many buttons. She couldn’t slip them through their holes fast enough.
“I love your ambition.”
“I’m still going to break your record to Chicago.”
“I know, and I can’t wait to see you do it.”
Sliding the shirt off his shoulders, she was disappointed to find a union suit beneath. More buttons, damn it.
“I love your feistiness.”
“Good, because I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re my husband.”
“I know that.” He tweaked her nipples, and she gasped.
As she reached for his belt, he closed his eyes and his mouth dropped open.
“Oh, God, Millie.”
Slipping off his pants and union suit, she had him naked at last. And he was glorious with that chiseled chest, those caramel eyes, and that too-long blond hair that kept falling in his face. What a beautiful man he was! She raked her nails softly down his front, grazing over his nipples.
He bit his lip.
“I love…” He tapered off into a moan. “I love what your fingers are doing right now.”
She smiled and grazed one finger up his arousal.
“I love that even more.”
“I’m sure you do,” she chuckled.
Pulling her hand away, he said seriously, “I love every part of you, Millie Aldrich soon-to-be-Pritchard.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” she said with a wicked smile. “Show me.”
With a devilish grin, he lowered her to the bed. “I will.”
Then he climbed on top of her, hovering on all fours.
Still too far. She arched toward him, desperate for contact.
The longer he waited to touch her, the less control she had.
Finally, he took one nipple in his mouth and drew a finger down between her legs.
An electric jolt shot through her at his touch.
He knew just how to drive her wild. As he teased her sensitive bud, she trembled uncontrollably beneath him. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. She had to get away. She needed more. And then a burst of sensation overtook her, and she let go.
Soaring through the skies, she was weightless, suspended.
Untethered from the earth, the white light of the sun filled her view, blinding.
She shook as he deftly maneuvered her higher and higher, extending her peak, pushing beyond her limits.
As she glided back down to a landing, she knew this was only the beginning.
“I want you. Now,” she said, knowing full well he was going to stretch things out and drive her to distraction first.
“Patience, Mrs. Pritchard. All in good time. First, I need to show my love for…this spot right here,” he said, tugging on her ear gently with lips and teeth.
“And this spot.” He nuzzled her neck.
“And this spot.” Burying his face in her shoulder, he licked and kissed until she moaned.
“Oh, and especially this spot,” he said, kissing his way down her chest until he reached a taut nipple. He paused there, kissing and licking until she couldn’t stand it anymore.
Every touch, every tantalizing kiss shot straight to her core, raising the heat until she felt positively molten.
“Ernie, please. I need you.”
“You need me where?” he taunted, kissing his way down her belly.
“You know where.”
“Oh, of course. Right here.” He lightly grazed his teeth over the tender skin of her inner thigh then followed with his tongue.
Oh, God. He was going to be the death of her.
“No? Not here?” he asked, with big, innocent eyes. “What about here?” The inside of her ankle. Really, Ernie?
“I can’t take this anymore. I need you inside me. Immediately.”
“Ah, but what part of me? My tongue?”
Before she could say a word, he buried his face between her legs.
And there went all ability to form words.
All she could do was moan and pant as he licked and sucked her into a frenzy. Conscious thought fell by the wayside, and she was completely governed by sensation and need. He held onto her bucking hips as he brought her to yet another blinding peak.
As the sparks settled, she sat up, and he looked up in surprise from his seat between her legs. Enough was enough. Time to turn the tables.
She pushed him backwards and straddled him, grasping his rigid flesh firmly and running her thumb over the tip. He made a strangled, inarticulate noise as she pumped him mercilessly, milking a bead of moisture from the tip and spreading it around with her thumb.
“I love all of your parts too, but there are limits to what a woman can take.” Hovering above him, she dragged his tip against her sensitive bud, coating him in her juices and sending a shiver of anticipation up her spine.
He watched her, wide-eyed.
“Let’s go flying, Ernie,” she said, notching his tip to her opening.
“Wait!”
She stopped, wondering what excuse he could possibly give now.
“A condom,” he said, peering back in the direction of his coat. “Unless you don’t mind the possibility of a baby.”
It was a kind thought, but unnecessary. “I don’t mind if you don’t. After all, we are about to get married.”
He swallowed. “Then I’m all yours.”
At long last, she slid down his shaft, his earlier ministrations having made her slick and slippery.
He filled her completely, and it was heaven.
The sensation was deeper and more all-encompassing than the pleasure he’d given her so far.
She could feel him in every corner of her being as he began to move beneath her.
“I feel you everywhere,” she murmured as she began to rock with him.
“I love you everywhere,” he said earnestly as their dance gained speed.
“I love you everywhere too.” She leaned down to kiss him as her hips continued their rhythmic movement. He tasted of her essence. His kiss was so sweet and tender she could hardly stand it.
As they moved together, time seemed to slow down.
The world around them receded. Bliss bloomed within her, filling her heart and spreading to every corner of her body.
With Ernie, she felt whole. The aching loneliness and mistrust that had plagued her ever since Barney’s betrayal ebbed away, leaving her feeling fresh and new. Healed.
Each movement brought a new burst of sensation, a new tendril of connection. They were one, body, mind, and soul. It was unlike anything she’d felt before, and she reveled in it.
Together, they were radiant as the sun. The heat between them grew and flared, even as the light they shared encompassed them and spread out into the world.
She was a ball of white heat as the final explosion came.
Light obliterated everything as her body shook and writhed in the final throes.
Ernie cried out beneath her as he thrust into her, filling her as she’d never been filled before, and then they collapsed together, panting.
Her body hummed with contentment, and her heart was at ease for the first time she could remember in a very long time.
Mrs. Millie Pritchard.
Yes, she could get used to that.