Chapter 5 #2
She could feel the heat everywhere, in her breasts, her belly, even her throat.
The heat drove out the chill of the night air until she felt like coals being stoked higher and higher, coming nearer to bursting into flames with each moment.
And when he suddenly drove his tongue inside her, she clutched his head tight as the urge to be engulfed by the blaze grew stronger.
“Oh, Nev . . . yes . . . yes . . .”
He groaned and increased his caresses until she felt on the very brink of exploding. Then he sucked hard at her aching bud and the explosion came, a white-hot surge of energy that poured light and heat through all the empty, cold places inside her.
“Nev!” she cried. She convulsed against him, holding onto his shoulders for support. “Merciful heavens, Nev!”
“Yes, darling.” He slowed his caresses as she went limp in his arms. “For you, all for you.”
A languid warmth spread through her . . .
a mix of pleasure and delight as she came to her senses gradually and saw that the room was not ablaze and she was not held captive in some spell of magical fires.
In wonder, she stared down to where Nev was clutching her against his cheek as if afraid to let go.
“I’ve never . . . oh, that was glorious,” she whispered as she stroked his thick hair.
He flashed her a dark smile, then rose to engulf her in his arms. “There’s more,” he whispered as he kissed her hair, her cheeks, her eyebrows. She could feel his arousal press against her thigh. To her surprise, it excited rather than frightened her. She found she craved the “more” he offered.
He caught her up in his arms, carrying her swiftly to the sofa. As he laid her down on it, he covered her body with his. Nudging his knee between her legs, he spread her thighs so he could settle himself between them, and a thrill of anticipation coursed through her.
Even when she felt his shaft press between her legs, felt him find the place his mouth had just been, then ease into her, she lifted her hips to welcome him.
“Slowly, darling,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re not used to this. It will hurt at first, though I’ll try not to let it hurt too much.”
She didn’t care if it hurt. She wanted to have him inside her, soothing the bone-deep craving he’d aroused. Although there was a feeling of invasion, of impossible stretching as he inched his way in, there was also excitement.
This was Nev, after all, the dream lover of her childhood and the only man who’d spoken the truth to her. She suddenly wanted him fiercely. Longing to feel him deeper, she arched her back until her breasts were crushed to his chest and her hips were opened even more to receive him.
He groaned and halted his movements abruptly.
Twisting her body beneath him, she met his gaze in alarm. “I haven’t hurt you, have I?”
His face did indeed wear a look of torment, but his eyes glittered with desire. “Nay, but I must be careful with you, and your innocent movements are making it next to impossible.”
She smiled a soft, dreamy smile, then arched deliberately against him once more. “Good.”
“By Judas, you’re a witch,” he growled. Then he drove into her fully.
She cried out, and with a moan, he covered her mouth, plundering it with bold strokes of his tongue.
He’d been right about the pain, but it wasn’t so bad as all that.
He held himself still, letting her adjust to him.
And when he began to move inside her, slowly, insistently, pushing deeper and less hesitantly with each thrust, the pain lessened.
The feeling of having him joined to her so intimately was indescribable. And the closer they were joined, the more she lost herself. She moaned and writhed beneath him as if another creature possessed her, making her into a wanton. But she didn’t care. She wanted more, ever more.
His breathing grew labored. “I’ve caught you now, Althea,” he said hoarsely. “You’re mine. Say it!”
She curved her arms about his back and shifted her hips up, searching for an even greater closeness to him. She gasped when he thrust hard into her as if to coax the words from her.
But there was no need. “I’m yours,” she admitted. It was true. No matter what came of this reckless act, she was indeed his. If not legally, then in her heart.
His answer was to clutch her to him and fall into a rhythmic motion that was no longer checked or careful. It was like her ride on the bannister, wild and unexpected, thrilling but frightening, too. This time, however, she knew when she reached the bottom he’d be there to catch her.
So she gave herself up gladly, craving the piercing pleasure of his thrusts and the heat that swept through her with each one.
She no longer saw the ceiling above her or heard the crackling of the fire in the hearth.
There was only his face with its undiluted passion, his voice murmuring endearments, his slick body meeting hers in a quickening cadence.
And around them rushed a wild swirl of color and lights like the world rushing past her on the bannister until she felt herself hurtling off the end, bucking against Nev with a cry of guttural abandonment as the searing pleasure overtook her once more.
“Oh, God, yes! Yes!” he cried out as he too found his release, plunging to the hilt before spilling himself inside her with a series of jerky thrusts.
Then he collapsed atop her. He lay there several moments as they both settled to earth. His weight on her gave her an odd comfort, reminding her that he was human and not some strange god who’d brought her to heaven and back.
“Would you like me to get up?” he whispered after a while, his breath brushing her ear. “There’s not much room on this sofa, I’m afraid.”
Wordlessly, she shook her head and clasped him close, uttering a sigh when he acquiesced and buried his face in her neck.
Now that it was all over, she didn’t want to face the reality of what she’d done. She didn’t want to see the clothes scattered across the floor or the blood that she’d been told would be staining the sofa beneath her.
She wanted to pretend this was her haven, her safe harbor. She wanted to pretend she hadn’t just given her virginity with heedless unconcern to a infamous, though lovable, scoundrel, who’d no doubt break her heart now that he had what he wanted.
But after a few more moments passed, she knew she couldn’t pretend any longer. The hour must be late. Soon she’d have to leave, before her reputation was compromised forever.
“What time is it?” she whispered.
He shifted to his side, barely able to stay on the sofa as he stared down at her with surprise. “Why?”
“You said I could leave before dawn, before anyone even knew I was here.”
A shuttered look crossed his face as he dragged one finger over her breast, watching the nipple pucker beneath his touch. “Do you want to leave?”
Alarm bells sounded in her head. “Of course. I can’t stay here until my uncle comes. You know that.”
With a sigh, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Yes, I know.” He left the sofa and looked past it at the clock on the opposite wall. “It’s only three-thirty. You’re safe yet.”
She sat up on the sofa, suddenly very conscious of her nakedness, especially since he was so heedless of his and she was having trouble keeping her eyes off his unashamedly male body.
Without looking at him, she reached down and found her shift among the tangle of clothing, then drew it over her head.
As she turned, she caught sight of the blood staining the upholstery. She glanced at him. “I fear I’ve ruined your sofa.”
He cast her a wry smile as he pulled on his drawers. “‘Tis a small price to pay, I assure you, for what you just gave me.”
Somehow his talk of payments didn’t make her feel any better. If anything, it made her want to be away as swiftly as possible, to be done with the untidy awkwardness of their leave-taking, so she could nurse her remembrance of their night together.
She swallowed. “I really must be going, you know. It will take me at least half an hour to get home, and I—”
“Don’t go yet,” he said quickly, moving to sit beside her on the sofa.
He lifted her hand to his lips for a quick kiss, then kept hold of it when she would have drawn it away.
“You said you’d stay the whole night and only leave right before dawn.
There’s still two hours or more before you must leave. ”
“Yes, but you’ve had what you want of me.”
He clasped her chin, turning her face to his. “It would take many more hours than that to have what I want of you, darling. And this may be the last time we’re ever together like this.”
Her mouth went dry. Really, he was too logical. And far too good at speaking endearments. It frightened her that he knew so well how to make her heart leap and her will weaken. “I don’t know—”
But he cut off her words with a kiss, a tender one that grew more persistent when she went limp beneath it. His hand slipped under her shift to fondle her breast, making her moan.
“Two more hours,” he whispered as he slid his other hand between her legs to caress her with soft, sweet touches that dissolved all her determination. “Please?”
She gave him the barest nod, knowing that what she was doing was insanity, yet not ready to leave him yet. To her surprise, he withdrew from her, but only to stand and sweep her up into his arms before turning toward a door in a corner of the room.
“Where are you taking me?” she whispered as she clung to his neck.
“To the room that adjoins this one.” He gave a sensuous smile, his eyes alight with the force of renewed desire. “‘Tis my bedchamber. This time we shall be comfortable, my beauty.”
As if I care about comfort right now. She hid her face in his broad chest, feeling the blush steal over her cheeks as her blood raced once more. Oh, I’ve become very wicked, haven’t I?
And she didn’t care one whit.