20. One Couple, One Night
Chapter Twenty
One Couple, One Night
Meanwhile, inside Wingfield House
Matthew and Catherine stepped into the second-floor corridor and passed one door before he opened the next one.
“This is my bedchamber, but you have your own next door. They connect through the dressing room,” he explained as he placed the lantern on a dresser.
A candle lamp was already lit on the nightstand, and a fire had been set in the fireplace on the wall opposite the four-poster bed.
He took her reticule and hat from her to place them on the dresser. “Would you like to see your bedchamber?”
Catherine shook her head. “Mayhap tomorrow,” she replied, her breathing more noticeable now that her heart rate had once again increased. “When I can see it by the light of day.”
“I think you’ll like it. Mother had it redone before she died. To make it more modern and less… French,” he said as he removed her mantle. “I adore this color on you,” he added, referring to her day gown. He draped the mantle over the back of a chair. “With your hair and all.”
Glancing down at the emerald gown, Catherine said, “Thank you.” She lifted a hand to her head and felt around for hairpins, intending to remove them.
“May I?” he asked.
Catherine froze. “Remove my hairpins?”
He nodded.
“If you’d like,” she said.
“I would. I dreamt of what it would feel like to have my hands in your hair,” he admitted, leading her to the chair.
She took a seat and inhaled softly when his fingers speared her curls in search of the pins.
“How many should I expect to find?” he asked, his thumb and forefinger already plucking out one of them.
“Only five, I think. My lady’s maid is quite stingy with them.”
Although the first pin didn’t dislodge the mass of curls, the removal of the second and third pins did, and Matthew emitted a sound of appreciation when the red tresses fell past her shoulders.
“Is it always this curly?” he asked, his fingers smoothing through the locks to ensure he had removed all the pins.
He turned and dropped the hairpins onto the dresser next to her reticule.
Catherine shook her head as she ran a hand through the curls. “My entire life,” she said on a sigh. “Has yours always been so dark and silky?”
He chuckled softly as he helped her to stand. “My entire life.”
They stood and stared at one another for several seconds before he lifted a hand to the side of her face. “Have you… done this before?”
“Of course not,” she replied.
“If you change your mind, or—”
Her lips on his ceased his words, and as one hand braced against his shoulder to keep her upright, she undid the buttons of his topcoat and waistcoat with her other.
Matthew chuckled as he broke off the kiss. “We have all night,” he whispered, shaking off the two garments to toss them onto the chair.
“Will you help with my gown?” she asked, turning to present her back to him.
Instead of undoing any buttons, he lifted up the sides of the gown and pulled it over her head, eliciting a gasp of surprise from Catherine. He draped it over the back of the chair and went to work undoing the ties of her petticoats and stays.
“As I was saying, if you should change your mind—”
“I won’t.”
“I will do my best to ensure you don’t experience any discomfort.”
“I’m aware of what’s about to happen.”
Mathew blinked. “You’ve no doubt read every book on the subject,” he murmured.
“The drawings were far more helpful.”
“Drawings?” he repeated in alarm.
“Color plates, too,” she said matter-of-factly, stepping out of the pool of muslin that had fallen to her feet. She shed the stays and allowed them to join the petticoats on the floor, her only remaining garments her stockings and a chemise.
Matthew swallowed. “May I ask what it is you’re… expecting me to do?”
Catherine gave a start, her attention going to the four-poster bed. “Well, I’d thought you’d have me kneeling on the bed, and then you would… mount me, much like a stud horse, and—”
“I will not be doing that,” he interrupted.
How unexpected. The books, though informative, apparently weren’t informative enough. “Then… what will you be doing?” she asked, watching as he removed his boots and stockings. She marveled at how he was able to do it without sitting down.
“First, I’m going to see to it you’re ready for me,” he replied.
“I’m quite sure I already am, if the… throbbing I’m feeling here…” she motioned to her core and took a steadying breath, “is what you mean.”
Matthew dipped his head. “First, I’m going to see to it you’re ready for me,” he reiterated, stripping off his shirt.
Catherine couldn’t help her inhalation of breath at seeing his bare chest. Dark hair covered most it, and from there, a triangle of it pointed down past the top of his breeches.
“And then I’m going to ensure you experience a good deal of pleasure,” Matthew continued, “And then I will…” He pushed his breeches down his thighs, leaving only his smalls on his body.
“I will not be mounting you like some racehorse, but rather we shall be facing one another as I make love to you,” he explained.
“So that I might kiss you as we experience what I hope will be mutual pleasure.”
Catherine blinked. “Oh. All right,” she said, nearly breathless.
He knelt and said, “Hang onto my shoulders.”
“Why?”
“So that I might remove your stockings.”
She hesitated. “Promise you won’t snag them?” she asked. “This is the first time I’ve worn this pair.”
He chuckled as he lifted one of her feet to his thigh and undid the ribbon securing the knit stocking in place.
The patterned fabric, featuring tiny bows in emerald, was easy to roll down her calf.
When the circlet popped off her foot, he held it up.
“No snags,” he said proudly. He tossed it onto the chair.
“Thank you,” she said, offering her other foot. “Has anyone ever told you would make an excellent lady’s maid?”
“No, seeing as how I’ve never done this before,” he replied. When he heard her sound of disbelief, he added, “I admit to having watched my mother do it when I was a young boy.”
Catherine watched as he took his time with the second stocking, as if he were delaying the inevitable, and she inhaled sharply when he drew one of his fingers along the inside of her thigh. Her entire leg trembled at his simple touch.
“Your skin is so soft,” he said in a whisper, right before he leaned forward and kissed a spot just above the inside of her knee.
She inhaled sharply. “That tickles,” she murmured.
“Do you want me to stop?”
Shaking her head, Catherine said, “It’s terribly erotic, what you’re doing.”
He chuckled softly, turning his attention to her other thigh. He trailed a series of kisses up the pale flesh before he groaned. “I fear my knees will not allow this much longer,” he complained, before getting to his feet.
Catherine’s attention went to his crotch, her eyes wide at seeing how the silhouette of his manhood strained against the thin fabric of his smalls. “You’re already… aroused,” she whispered.
“My lady, I have been hard for you almost this entire night,” he countered.
Without warning, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed, where the counterpane had been turned down to reveal layers of blankets and white linens.
“May I remove this?” he asked, fingering the cotton chemise she still wore.
“I’ll be naked,” she said softly.
“That is the idea, but if you prefer, you can leave it on. I can do what must be done for your beautiful breasts through your chemise if I must.”
“What are you going to do to my breasts?” she asked, her voice sounding as if from far away.
“I am going to kiss them, of course,” he replied, dropping his head until he could reach one of the silhouettes of a nipple poking out of her chemise. He covered it with his mouth and gently suckled.
Catherine inhaled sharply. She crossed her arms under his head and gripped the edges of the chemise to pull it from her body, forcing Matthew to give up his hold on her as the chemise passed between them.
“Now you,” she ordered.
“Me?” repeated.
“Your… your smalls,” she said, nodding to the garment.
“Oh.” He stripped the garment from his legs and tossed it toward the end of the bed.
Catherine once again gasped. “Not one for modesty, are you?” she teased, in an effort to hide her own nervousness.
“Do I need to be with you?” he countered.
Trying hard not to stare at his engorged manhood, she shook her head.
“Of course not.” A combination of excitement and dread had her remembering his offer that she could stop at any time.
She was about to tell him she wanted to take a moment to think, but his lips were already back on her breast, and then his body covered hers on the bed, and she was forced to lie back.
She placed her hands on either side of his head, spearing her fingers through the silk strands of his hair.
She struggled to catch her breath as his ministrations sent strange darts of pleasure beneath her skin.
Heat flooded her core. That spot that had been throbbing earlier now made itself more apparent.
Matthew must have known it, for he moved down the front of her body, trailing kisses and nips on her sensitive skin until his head was suddenly between her thighs. She was about to put voice to a protest when his tongue found the troublesome spot and stroked it.
Her hips bucked in response to the unexpected sensation, and she let out a cry of surprise.
“Breathe, my love,” he said, his breaths warm against her thighs. “I shouldn’t want you fainting.”
About to ask why, she understood his meaning almost immediately, for when his tongue once again flicked over her womanhood, a sharp dart of pleasure had her gasping. He did it again, several times, causing the darts to merge into a single sensation so intense, she was sure she would faint.
When his tongue entered her most private place, she cried out, “Matthew!” as waves of pleasure coursed through her abdomen.