Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
With her arms around Leo’s neck and a tingling sensation blossoming from her feet, through her thighs, to the pit of her stomach, up her spine, and across her chest, Beatrice let the world drop away from her as she was carried through the corridors of the castle.
Leo’s expression was one of ardent determination, a man set on a mission but with a spring in his step to do it.
The torches along the hallway had been lit, and their glow led the way to the chambers that Beatrice had hardly seen during her entire stay at the castle.
Leo’s chambers. Leo’s bed.
She hadn’t allowed herself the fantasy of being with him in such a place.
Even when she had started to feel the tide change within, she hadn’t been able to bear the idea of becoming tangled in her daydream of being cradled and loved in his bed.
She hadn’t been able to fathom the notion of Leo whispering sweetly to her as they lingered in the afterglow.
“I didnae think there was a lass out there for me,” Leo admitted as they approached the door to his chambers. “I didnae think experiencin' love like this would ever be part of me life.”
“We’ve both seen the worst of marriage,” Beatrice agreed.
“But we daenae have to end up that way.”
“Nay, our fate is our own.”
Leo opened the door and crossed the threshold, Beatrice still in his arms. He gently set her down and then stood in front of her, his hands rising as if he didn’t know what to do with them. Beatrice reached out and took them into her own.
“Would ye stay with me, Beatrice?” he asked, leaning towards her. “Would ye stay with me, share this bed with me? Share this life with me?”
“Aye, Leo. It would be me honor.”
His hands knew what to do then. He tangled one into her hair, pulling her towards him with a zeal that powered every inch of their bodies. The kiss was deep, intense. It took Beatrice's breath away, and she pressed herself against his chest, trying to get as close to him as possible.
Leo’s mouth trailed down her neck to the base of her throat. She felt goosebumps prickle along her arms and legs, then spread across her entire body as he tore down her bodice, her breasts heavy under his hands and her nipples erect.
He kens when a lass’s body is ready.
His warm mouth closed over her nipple, his teeth nibbling and teasing, his tongue licking lazily. She shivered under his touch, her nails digging into his shoulders as she tilted her head back, giving him better access.
Her dress dropped to the floor, and she stood naked in front of him, more bare than she had ever been in front of a man. His eyes drank her in, studying her curves as if he were looking at a woman for the first time.
“Ye are the bonniest thing I have ever seen, Bea,” he breathed, his hands tracing the dip of her waist and the swell of her hips. “And ye are mine.”
“And ye are mine.”
Leo smirked, peeling his shirt off his back. She had seen the muscles through his clothes, but now, to see him as he was, powerfully built and rippling with strength, she nearly melted at his feet.
To think, I might have been saddled with some dodderin' old man with nae a speck of muscle on him.
Beatrice pressed her lips to his chest. She wanted to devour him, wanted to sink her teeth and nails into his stomach, his shoulders, every inch of his body.
Leo pulled her upright and took her lips in a languorous kiss as his fingers slid into the wetness between her legs. Beatrice moaned, clutching onto him. Blood rushed through her body, making her head swim and color burst behind her closed eyelids.
“Leo, what are ye doin' to me?” she gasped, the words barely making sense as they left her mouth.
“I havenae even started yet, lass.”
He lifted her again and lowered her onto the bed, nudging her thighs apart to crawl between them. The rest of his clothes were tossed in a pile next to hers.
Beatrice gasped at the size of him, giddy and nervous at the thought of taking him inside her.
Leo smiled as he kissed the inside of her thigh.
“Have nae fear lass, it’s only part of me.”
“I daenae ken how ye’ll manage to put it inside me,” Beatrice whispered.
Leo ran his hands up her stomach and cupped her breasts, his eyes smoldering. “It’ll work, trust me. Ye were made for me.”
He lowered his mouth to her sex, sending shivers and bolts of bliss through her with his tongue.
She was liquid, she was trembling, she was lost in the moment and falling over a precipice of ecstasy.
With that joy came an irresistible longing to feel Leo’s weight on top of her and his length within her.
“Please, Leo, I cannae stand it any longer,” she panted, her thighs quivering. “I want ye. I want ye to take me.”
“Now ye’re ready for me,” Leo said, climbing on top of her. He kissed her, her taste lingering on his lips.
Beatrice inhaled as he pushed into her, slowly at first. She opened her legs wider, listening to his grunts as her walls gripped his shaft.
The sensation of being penetrated, of being crammed full of the man she loved, sent fresh bolts of pleasure through her.
Her skin was growing slick with sweat, and she pressed her hands into Leo’s back as he buried himself to the hilt.
“Aye, Leo,” she breathed into his ear.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, pausing to stare into her eyes. “Does it feel good?”
“It feels wonderful,” she answered.
Leo began to move, thrusting into her in a steady rhythm. Beatrice held onto him, feeling him slipping in and out of her. The pushing and pulling and tingling within her slit was compelling in a way that drove all other thoughts and feelings from her head.
They never told me it would be like this.
She remembered the lowered voices of the elderly women warning against the brutish desires of men.
They never told me how amazin' it could be. Maybe they never kent that it was supposed to feel like this.
Leo’s pace gradually quickened, kissing her neck hungrily each time he buried himself in her hot core. She was already quivering from her earlier climax. Now, with each thrust, her stomach tensed and then turned to jelly. She moaned, overwhelmed by it all.
For a second there, she thought that she couldn’t stand it any longer. That between the pleasure and the force of Leo’s thrusts, she was going to melt into a puddle and never return to flesh and blood again. The coarse hair on his chest grazed her breasts, making them tingle.
Each inch of her skin was on fire, feeling everything more powerfully than she ever had before. She wanted to scream but couldn’t remember how to do that, so she kept breathing and panting and letting the pulse of Leo’s thrusts shift her entire body along with it.
Suddenly, Leo stopped. He pressed a kiss to her lips, the glint in his eyes telling her that he wasn’t finished with her. He sat upright, a half smile playing on his lips as he grabbed her leg and flipped her over onto her stomach.