“Oh.” She arched her back, grinding her bottom more firmly against his erection and filling his palms with her at the same time. “How strange. They are ordinarily soft.”
He bit his lip, willing himself to take this slowly, to savor the moment even as the ravenous beast within him wanted to press her to all fours on the rug, flip up her chemise, and slide home inside her pussy through the slit in her drawers. Her innocence coupled with her unashamed arousal drove him to distraction.
She moved against his cock, as if in invitation. He pinched her nipples in warning. “Stay still, or this experiment will be over before it’s even begun.”
“Mmm,” said the minx. “Would you mind doing that again? How odd that such a thing should be pleasant. I need to be certain.”
She needed to be certain that she liked having her nipples pinched? That did it. He was marrying this woman tonight. They weren’t leaving the bedchamber until some time in the new year. Possibly not ever.
He pinched again, not hard enough to bring pain but enough for the sort of wicked pleasure she seemed to enjoy. Another trill sounded in her throat. He absorbed the vibration through his lips as he kissed her creamy skin once more. “How was that?”
“Quite good.” She caught his hands in hers, covering them. “But I was wondering…”
“You were wondering?” He found the hollow behind her ear and tongued it.
She guided his hands inside her chemise, and suddenly hot, sleek flesh met his hands instead of fabric. “I was wondering for the purpose of the experiment whether or not the experience would be better without a barrier of cloth.”
He licked her again, gently bit her fleshy lobe. “Hell yes it is better without the barrier.” Harry gave her nipples another tweak.
She jerked. He thrust his hips.
“Very much so,” she said on a lusty sigh. “Yes indeed, I think the experiment must proceed with both of us removing our remaining garments.”
The cheeky woman.
She had been fashioned for him. Serious and scholarly, eccentric and bold, yet curious and uninhibited in her passions once they had been awakened. Too bloody good to be true.
“I do believe you are correct,” he agreed, reluctantly removing his hands from her luscious breasts and taking a step back. “Take off your chemise and drawers and let down your hair for me.”
He was being domineering, he knew, but he wanted to set the pace. In the bedchamber, he preferred to dominate. And he felt, for the first time, that he could truly be himself with Alexandra. That she, with her open, giving heart and her own peculiarities, would accept him as he was.
He shucked his jacket, waistcoat, shirt, shoes, trousers, and smalls. Not even the chill winter’s air emanating from the old tower walls could cool his heated skin. He was on fire for her, fully nude, and more aroused than he’d ever been.
He watched as she pulled her chemise over her head and unbuttoned her drawers before allowing them to fall around her ankles. The elegant sweep of her back entranced him, but her rump’s full curves were what captured his attention the most. My God, she was beautiful. He wanted to fall to his knees and bite one of those lovely, cream-smooth cheeks.
He swallowed, fighting back another swift, powerful surge of arousal. When she moved to undo her intricate coiffure, he found his wits and stepped forward, staying her. He had changed his mind.
“Allow me.”
She stilled, lowering her hands. He had never before lowered a lover’s tresses. Had never been struck by the urge. But Alexandra’s hair was magnificent. He had always been drawn to ginger-haired women. No other shade of red could compare to her copper locks, which were a delectable strawberry with flaxen highlights that glinted in the sun rays that filtered through the large tower windows. His fingers sank into the soft strands, finding pins and pulling them out one by one. They rained to the floor, some hitting the fur, others landing upon the stone floor with aplink.
He unwound braids and coils, amazed at how much of it there was and how well her lady’s maid had trapped the bounty. Alexandra’s hair, unbound, was wild and breathtaking. It matched her perfectly. He smoothed it down over her back, his palm stopping at the ends, which reached all the way to the curve of her arse. He sifted through the strands, finding bare, pliable flesh, and filled his hands with her.
She gasped, shooting him a look over her shoulder that was part shocked, part aroused. “My lord?”
He leaned forward, caught her lips with his to reassure her. “You have a tempting bottom.” He squeezed gently. “But if you insist upon my lording me, I’m going to spank it.”
Up went her finely arched brows. “You wouldn’t dare, my lord.”
With his right hand, he delivered a painless tap to her rump. “Do you risk testing me?”
He kissed her again, slid his hands over soft, yielding flesh to anchor her waist. Their tongues dueled. He bit the fullness of her lower lip, licked the bow that taunted him each time he gazed upon her. Kissing her from this angle, his body behind hers, her face tilted toward him, his cock grinding against her backside, the silken curtain of her hair whispering over his chest, only served to heighten the sensations licking through him like low, molten flames.
“Harry,” she whispered into his mouth. And then she turned in his arms, cupping his face as she had earlier, as though he were someone precious to her. As if he were someone to be cherished. Her tenderness as she stood vulnerable, innocent, and nude before him rocked him to his core.
Something warm slid into place deep in his heart.
Something right.
