Chapter 30
Evelina marveled at Stephan’s strength, as he laid her back on the bed.
She had scarcely drawn a breath when his lips crushed against hers.
Evelina groaned, her hips shifting reflexively.
Already, that familiar heat had begun to bloom in her core, and her body ached with need.
At last, they were going to consummate their marriage. She was to produce his heir.
She shivered in anticipation as Stephan kissed her hard.
He let one hand wander, kneading her breast beneath her gown and stays.
Evelina shifted beneath him, her heart in her throat.
Last time, she had been unable to consummate the marriage.
Once more, the fears that she might fail lodged in her throat. Her pulse jumped.
How many times could she fail before her husband decided that it was best simply to be rid of her?
Stephan broke the kiss and pressed his lips against her jaw, her throat, her collarbone.
He trailed kisses down to the tops of her breasts, and Evelina curled her fingers in the bedlinens.
She bucked her hips against him, and he sat back on his heels.
Evelina gasped at the dark lust she saw burning in his eyes. “Stephan,” she breathed.
“My wife,” he said, his voice gentle. “Are you ready?”
Evelina’s breath caught in her chest. She understood what he was doing; Stephan wanted this. He needed an heir. Still, he was giving her a final opportunity to refuse, to tell him that she still needed more time when the clock was ticking so quickly.
She had only been half-serious when she suggested that the signatures were forged, echoing what her own solicitor had suggested in jest. If the signatures were real or could not be proven to be false, they needed this heir.
There was so little time left, and yet Stephan was still willing to wait for her.
Evelina softened a little, her doubts melting away.
“I am ready,” she said.
Stephan needed no further urging. He put his leg between her thighs and went onto his knees and forearms. Evelina curled her fingers in his hair and groaned as he kissed her breasts. She bucked her hips, her sex rubbing against his leg.
A jolt of pleasure shot like lightning through her. Evelina rubbed herself against him in earnest, groaning as her muscles all went taut, and that familiar tightness twisted within her. “Oh, please!” she gasped.
Stephan chuckled against her breasts. Then, his fingers deftly untied her gown. Next, her stays. He grasped her breasts, rubbing her nipples through the thin material of her chemise. “You are driving me mad,” he rasped.
Evelina bucked against him, twisting and squirming and letting the tightness grow and grow.
It was not enough to reach her release, and a low, wanting sob tore from her throat.
All her thoughts scattered apart, focused only on how she might achieve that glorious sensation which Stephan was so adept at bringing with his mouth and hands.
“You are…” Evelina trailed off.
Her first instinct was to argue that it was he who threatened to drive her mad, but her thoughts were too hazy to put that desire into words.
Evelina’s longing for pleasure was so great that it obliterated any other thoughts.
Sweat gathered beneath her breasts and at the small of her back, and when Stephan seized the hem of her chemise, Evelina lifted her hips.
He heaved it up past her waist, and cool air swept over her hot, damp sex.
“Look at you,” Stephan said. “So beautiful. So eager and ready for me.”
Evelina moaned. “Stephan, please.”
“Please?”
He dipped his head and placed a trail of slow, lingering kisses along the inside of her thigh. “Tell me what you want,” he murmured. “I want to hear you say it.”
“I…” she trailed off, struggling for coherence.
Evelina bucked her hips, trying to soothe the ache burning in her core, but it was as if she was stuck. She could not manage to find release, no matter how hard she rubbed herself against him. Worse, Evelina had the sensation of being so very close, hanging by a thread.
“I want to—to consummate our marriage,” she said. “I want to feel you inside me. I want to reach my release.”
“Oh, we will have to be so very slow,” he said, bringing a finger to her burning sex. “I would not want to injure you, my dear wife.”
Stephan cupped her with his hand, and Evelina’s hips jolted upwards.
Her breath came in gasps and whines, as he let his finger drift between her folds and then circle that wonderful place.
The tightness returned in full force, and Evelina’s eyes watered from the intensity of the sensations sweeping through her.
At last, she achieved her release. It swept through her like lightning, setting her body ablaze with the most remarkable wave of pleasure.
White obscured her vision, and she screamed.
The pleasure lasted for only a heartbeat, but it was so exquisite that she fell back against the bed, sated and well-used. Evelina gasped for air, her chest heaving. “Oh, Stephan…” she murmured.
He chuckled and coaxed her thighs apart. “Do not tire too quickly, Evelina. I wish to bring you pleasure a few more times tonight.”
Her eyes dropped reflexively to his trousers, which were tight about his aroused manhood. A lump rose in her throat, her heart beating madly as she remembered how large he appeared.
“I do not know how I will manage to take you,” she whispered.
Stephan stroked her with his thumb. “I will be very careful. I promise.”
The tip of his thumb pressed against her entrance, and Evelina tensed.
“Relax,” he murmured.
She tried, letting herself remain against the bed linens.
Evelina imagined her spine unlocking, vertebra by vertebra, as his thumb slowly breached her.
It was a strange sensation of being filled, and her inner walls clamped tightly around his finger.
Stephan hissed between his teeth. “So eager,” he muttered. “Evelina, you are going to undo me.”
She let out a breathless laugh and tossed an arm over her eyes. “I like the thought of undoing you,” she said.
Stephan chuckled and slowly pumped his finger in and out. Evelina slowly loosened around him. She breathed hard, conscious of how quickly her gasps for air came. Every time Stephan moved his thumb inside her, there was a wet sound, which was equally fascinating and embarrassing.
His thumb was inside her. Evelina silently reminded herself to breathe. Stephan had said he would be careful, and she trusted him to be just that. He had already entered her with his thumb, and she was fine. It was a strange sensation but not uncomfortable.
He withdrew from her and unfastened his trousers.
Evelina swallowed hard as his manhood sprang forth.
Stephan stroked himself, his eyes fixed firmly on her face.
“I will be very careful,” Stephan said. “If you are ever uncomfortable or if anything hurts too badly, you need only tell me. I will stop.”
Evelina forced a smile. “But we must produce an heir.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But there is no need for that experience to be unpleasant.”
Evelina suspected it would be, though. She had read too many accounts of women experiencing discomfort and pain as they surrendered their maidenhood.
Evelina closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, determined to bear it for Stephan’s sake and that of her future child.
This was the agreement, and she had to honor it.
If Evelina was to produce a child, she must do this act many more times, so it would be best to become accustomed to it. Stephan pressed against her entrance, and Evelina exhaled.
He shifted inside her, and Evelina hissed between her teeth. His manhood was wider than his thumb, and there was an uncomfortable pinch as he tried to sheath himself further.
“Do you need a moment?” Stephan’s words were uneven, his breath as haggard as her own.
Evelina nodded. She took another deep breath and shifted her hips, trying to relieve the tightness and the discomfort. Stephan tipped his head back and groaned. He dug his fingers into her hips, keeping her still. “Evelina,” he croaked. “Oh.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. “Did I hurt you?”
He laughed. “No, no—quite the opposite.”
Stephan pressed himself in for a heartbeat. Then, he withdrew. Slowly, he pushed into her again. Evelina let out a shaking breath of air. He pulled out again.
Soon, Stephan found a rhythm, pushing and pulling.
It was so slow that she ached—not from his carelessness, for he was exquisitely gentle—from the need to achieve release once more.
A sudden jolt of Stephan’s hips made her gasp.
Evelina did not hurt, but she was so full inside.
She went onto her forearms and stared at where their bodies met, his manhood buried deep inside her. “Oh,” she gasped.
“There,” Stephan said, eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “See? You managed to take me.”
“I did,” Evelina said, still scarcely able to believe that she had.
“Now,” Stephan said, withdrawing. “My patience is exhausted. I must have you now.”
She laughed. “Take me, then.”
He pulled out and plunged inside her. Evelina gasped as waves of pleasure swept over her.
Stephan quickened his pace, and Evelina clung to the bed linens.
His every movement jolted her against the bed.
Her thighs trembled, and her hips bucked.
Evelina’s body moved against his without conscious thought.
She met his every thrust with a snap of her hips, urging him onward.
Stephan’s face reddened, and he grasped her hips tightly.
He dove into her, and Evelina gasped. Black spots obscured her vision, and the blissful sensation of her release swept over her unlike anything she had ever felt before.
This release was so powerful that her whole body trembled, and when it faded, she lay bonelessly and satisfied against the bedding.
Stephan grunted and continued thrusting into her, and Evelina watched, fascinated, as his muscles tensed. He growled, and a new heat spread through Evelina’s core. “Oh!” she gasped, startled.
It took her a heartbeat to realize that it must have been his seed filling her. She gasped for air and let out a small, wondering laugh. Stephan withdrew with a wet sound.
“Done,” he said, smiling.
“How often will we do that?” Evelina asked.
She pressed her damp thighs together, her face warming. Evelina might have conceived a child with this act. She might have completed her plan!
“As often as we can manage,” said Stephan.
He bent down to remove his shoes. Evelina watched, her vision partially obscured. After a moment, he removed his trousers and stood only in his shirt. Evelina’s eyes swept over his powerful thighs and to his muscled torso, visible even through the material of his shirt. Her throat was dry.
“You are welcome to stay in my bed,” he said.
Evelina blinked, suddenly utterly exhausted. “I think I will.”
She did not know if she even had the strength to continue to her own bed. Stephan smiled down at her. “Good. If you are able, we might do this again once you wake. We must be careful, though, given your inexperience.”
Evelina nodded, but her thoughts had already wandered away. She held a hand over her stomach and dared to imagine that she might already be with a child. A boy. Stephan needed a boy to be his heir, so it was best to contemplate that possibility.
Maybe she was already going to bear a perfect baby boy, and after that, perhaps Stephan would be pleased enough to give her a girl as well.