But he did not beg, he laughed. ‘Very well.’ Now his mouth was on her breasts, repeating what she had done. Had it felt this way for him? She could not beg for it, because the sensation was beyond words. She squirmed under him, then relaxed, letting her legs open wide until he was laying between them.
As she moved, the sheet he’d wrapped about his waist shifted lower and she was surprised to feel nothing but bare skin rubbing against her thigh. Was it really possible that he had been lying in bed, wearing nothing at all?
She could not resist her curiosity and drew her knee up, then slid it down along his body, pushing the linen down with it. There was nothing but skin roughened by hair, as far as she could reach.
He seemed surprised by her explorations and grinned at her. Then he braced himself on his arms and slid back up her body, until they lay hip to hip.
She gasped.
He grinned and kissed her, teasing the inside of her mouth with his tongue, sliding in and out with a series of deep thrusts, as his manhood settled between her legs. ‘Perhaps you would be more comfortable if we moved to the bed.’ He kissed her breasts again, with long, slow pulls on her nipples.
‘Here. Now. Please.’ He was right. He had made her beg.
He paused again, surprised. ‘Do you know what you are asking for?’
‘No,’ she admitted, on another gasp. ‘Tell me.’ She rubbed her leg against his again. He groaned and bucked once against her as she raised her hips to meet him.
His hands circled her waist to hold her still. Then he reached between them and stroked once between her legs, making her moan in surprise. ‘I could pleasure you as we did in the drawing room, but I do not know that I will be able to stop at that.’
‘Why?’ she whispered.
‘Because I would be forgoing a pleasure as great as the one you experience.’ His hand moved lower and his fingers disappeared inside her. ‘I will feel it when I take you as a man takes his wife, by spilling my seed inside you. There will be no turning back once we start and no time for regrets. Also, it will probably hurt.’
She had not expected there would be pain.
He dropped a gentle kiss on the open ‘Oh’ of her mouth. ‘That is just the first time. After that, there will be nothing but pleasure, I swear on my life. But once that has been done, there can be no more secrets between us and no talk of marrying other men. You must tell me everything in your heart and your mind, and promise to love me, and only me, for the rest of your life.’
If simple desire had not been enough to convince her, his words were more than enough. Brief pain in exchange for someone to share her heart and soul with, not just for now but always. ‘Yes,’ she said, breathless and a little frightened. Then she tugged at the hem of her nightgown, pulling it up between them and over her head.
He released a hiss of breath from between his clenched teeth. ‘Your body feels as I knew you would, like the reward of heaven itself.’ His lips roved down her throat and returned to her breasts. He buried his face between them and worshipped them with his tongue, his teeth and his hands.
The contact left her light-headed, as if she was floating in the same paradise he had imagined. She reached up and swept her hair forward, draping it over his shoulders.
He lifted his head and smiled. Then he slid down her body to kiss her between the legs as he had on the mouth.
Her first response was to pull away in shock. But his hands on her waist pulled her back again. At the renewed contact, a jolt of pleasure lanced through her body. She stiffened and then relaxed again, allowing him to do as he wished with her. She was rewarded with another pulse, and another, until the throbbing between her legs overwhelmed her.
Her fingers dug into the rug beneath her and she closed her eyes and arched her back. His fingers were pushing inside her again, spreading her wetness, stretching her. Then she felt the full weight of his body on hers and the sudden pain of his first thrust.
And afterwards, stillness, as his fingers stroked her until the pleasure grew in her again. She grabbed his biceps, feeling the taut muscle bunching under her fingers as he began to move. Her body seemed to cling to the unfamiliar fullness inside, tightening on it to heighten the sensation as he withdrew, only to enter again.
She could hear his measured breaths against her temple as he struggled for calm, waiting for her. But she did not want him calm. She wanted to break though the reserve and know that he was as helpless for her as she was for him. She dared to open her eyes and look up into his. She whispered his name.
His stroke faltered, and returned, stronger than before.
This time she said it louder. ‘Gregory.’ She gave herself over to the rhythm he set, rocking in time with him, letting her hands roam over his body. Everything about him was strange and wonderful, flat where she was curved and hard where she was soft. And where it mattered most he fit like a piece of herself she had never known was missing.
He was whispering to her, demanding that she come with him, as if they were on some journey that he did not want to complete alone. His breaths were ragged now, his movements a shuddering syncopation that made her body tighten and pulse against his. Then she felt a change. He muttered what sounded like a prayer and surged forward. Her body clenched. They were shaking in a rush of pleasure that went on and on until they were both exhausted.
They collapsed, him on top of her and her flat on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. When his head rose, his cheeks were flushed and his blond hair fell forward on to his face.
She reached up to smooth it. ‘This is the first time I have seen you discomposed,’ she said, smiling.
‘Because you have bewitched me,’ he said, with a happy sigh.
‘Me?’ She could not help being pleased with herself.
‘Since the first day,’ he said. ‘It has been a losing struggle to keep my head.’
