He slipped his fingers inside of her, stroking her core intently. He flipped her onto her back. She was moaning and writhing on the carpet, clutching her own breasts, her head moving side to side. Thomas moved down her body and added his mouth to his fingers, sucking at her core, finding the sweet spot that held all the pleasure. Within moments, she exploded. Maribel could think of no other way to describe the intensity of the gratification spreading throughout her body.
“Are you certain you want me to claim you, Maribel?” he asked, but his eyes pleaded with her to say yes.
“Yes, Thomas, take me, I am yours.”
She felt him enter her body, but the moment of him breaching her innocence did not cause pain as she had always been led to believe it would. And then she forgot all words. All that mattered was the rhythmic thrusting. Being flesh to flesh. Breathing in each other’s breath. Until she shattered again, but this time, he shattered with her, and in that moment, it was all that mattered. She was his, and he was hers. No society walls between them. Only devoted passion.
Chapter Eighteen
Thomas could watch Maribel for hours. She had stirred something undiscovered inside him. An affection so tender and sweet, he had no inkling it existed. Certainly, no other woman had stirred such a feeling. His wife had stirred duty, a mistress desire. This soft and warm sensation spreading throughout him, especially in his chest, was most peculiar indeed and not unwelcome.
“You have the face of an angel when you sleep. Only when your eyes are open is it possible to see the impish woman I now so intimately know.”
Thomas loved that he had her nude in his bed, because he was able to see the blush that spread from her cheeks down to the swell of her luscious breasts. The supple curves that he had known were hiding under her modest garb were more ample than he could have hoped. He stroked her thighs. Thighs that had gripped him with fervent passion. Thomas did not regret that he had taken her maidenhead. He had suspected she was a virgin, and if he was honest with himself, the fact had pleased him immensely. The primal male instinct to claim a woman and be the only man to have done so had always eluded him, it was just a given in marriage. Now, he knew what it meant and that only he had entered her most sacred place. The place that made her every inch a woman.
He felt her stiffen at the comment, and he cuddled her close, shushing her gently.
“I mean no offence, Maribel” he murmured, placing a gentle kiss on her shoulder.
“I know, and I am not offended. It just dawned on me that I am no longer a virgin.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“Strangely, I feel like a woman. Which I always have been. Now that I know the touch of a man, it certainly feels different. Like I have somehow blossomed.”
“Blossomed you have. Indeed, I felt you come alive in my arms, Maribel. It was a breathtaking experience—one I can truly say I have not experienced before.”
Maribel lifted her head to meet his eyes, her face bright with questions.
“Forgive me for my boldness, but it is no secret that you have been with many women in this way. Thomas,” she added with a smile.
He smiled back at his name on her lips.
“This is true, I have had many a bed-warmer. What is different is the emotion behind it. Maribel, you have burrowed under my skin like no other.”
“What of Clara’s mother?” she pressed, leaning her cheek on her hand while her other drew circles on his chest. Her eyes were intent as awaited his answer.
“The mother of my child—I came to care for her deeply. She was my wife. of course. It was no love match, more convenience. I was at an age to try for an heir, she was from a family of great title and wealth, and she was fair. I did come to adore her, to care for her, and I was bereft when she passed. I cannot profess I had fallen deeply in love or lust with her. The thing with emotion, Maribel, is that, until you experience the maddening, consuming need that spans the border between passion and indignation—I have never wanted to kiss someone who infuriates me so. It was your indifference to me, to my status. You were hell-bent on teaching me to be a better man whether you or I realised it.”
Maribel squeezed his chest and bent to kiss him, and Thomas took advantage of the opportunity to turn her over, so it was he who now hovered above her. Their kiss deepened as her hands roamed his back, pulling the weight of his body down on her. He broke away panting, trying to catch his breath.
“Yes, Maribel, you have taught me much. I feel a heaviness lifted from my person, and that makes me smile with ease. And I now welcome your impertinence. But I still have many things to teach you, my sweet Maribel.”
Her eyes were warm as toasted chestnuts as she looked up at him in capitulation, ready to be bent to his will.
“Then teach me.” Her throaty response went straight to his loins and he groaned. Flipping them over again so she was straddling his waist, he pulled her thighs towards him, and she obeyed. He pulled her forward till she was straddling his face with her core directly over his mouth.
“My goodness, Thomas!” She gasped as he pressed his lips to that same spot. Maribel was shocked at the taboo gesture but revelled in it all the same. Clutching her plump cheeks, he nipped and tongued at her till she lost any shyness and began to writhe on his face. Now that he had driven her beyond reason, he broke his mouth free, peppering kisses to her thighs.
“Turn around, Maribel.” His voice was guttural and half-pleading.
She obeyed wordlessly—all he could hear was her heavy breathing as she manoeuvred herself. Tracing his finger down the seam of her rear, he told her to lean forward. She needed no further instruction, and he felt her hands grasp his hard length.
“The student becomes the teacher,” he purred, as he replaced his finger with his tongue and was rewarded with a shiver. Maribel, determined not to be outdone, took him into her mouth, using her tongue as she moved her head up and down. Thomas’s last coherent thought was that the impertinent chit had taken the upper hand again, and a satisfied smile sprang to his lips. The world was quickly reduced to pleasures of the flesh, with hands, mouth, and tongue in a race to bring the most pleasure.
A race where everyone was a winner.
Chapter Nineteen
