The last few words were foolish, escaping her before she could think better of them, regardless of the fact that she felt them to her marrow. He could never truly be hers. But for this one night, he was.
A breath hissed from him as she found his navel, which had been untouched by flame, and then she worked the buttons on his trousers, pulling them down his hips along with his drawers. He helped her, tearing them off and shrugging out of his shirt, finally as gloriously naked as she, his cock already erect and stiff again.
Feeling bold, she encircled him with her hand in a gentle grasp, reveling in the newness of his skin, soft and hot, yet his member so rigid beneath. An answering ache throbbed to life within her. She wanted him again. Where he was concerned, she was greedy. If this was to be the only time she had him to herself, in her bed, she intended to make the most of it. And she wanted to show him how she felt for him, how his scars only made her desire him—and love him—more.
Quint heldhis breath as Joceline tentatively stroked his erect cock. Her touch was light, untutored. She might not have been a virgin, but it was apparent she hadn’t a great deal of experience. Never mind. He would take great pleasure in teaching her.
He wrapped his hand around hers, showing her how to increase the pressure, moving her hand up and down his length, heedless of his scars. They didn’t matter now. For the first time, they felt like they were a part of him rather than something that had happened to him. It had taken him two years to find thispeaceful state of acceptance, along with the determination of one tenderhearted woman who hadn’t allowed him to wallow in bitterness.
When she touched him, he felt whole again. When she kissed his scars without revulsion, her soft lips feathering over the ruined flesh, he felt only desire for her. Love for her, too. So much love.
He would tell her.
He would marry her.
She couldn’t be his housekeeper any longer. Not after this. But he couldn’t think properly with her hand on his shaft, which was thickening and longing for her again, moisture seeping from the slit in his crown. He had denied himself pleasure for so long, and rediscovering it with Joceline felt like nothing less than a miracle.
Shefelt like a miracle, too.
A miracle of inky hair and silken pink lips, of lush breasts and full hips and emerald eyes, of drab gowns and chatelaines, of mercy and understanding, of kindness and fortitude. A miracle somehow sent to him, his own Christmas gift. The best one he would ever receive.
“Like this?” she asked softly, her hand moving along his cock.
“Yes,” he hissed on a groan. “Just like that, sweetheart.”
He released her hand, allowing her to pleasure him at her own pace now, running his fingers through the thick, raven curls she kept pinned in her sensible chignons. Her glistening eyes met his, and she kissed his chest, her lips feathering over his hideous scars, healing every expanse of twisted skin she touched, a benediction.
For a few moments, he allowed himself the luxury of her mouth, her touch. Nothing more than his thudding heart, her questing lips, and her confident hand. Gratitude swept over him,mingling with all the other sensations, a rush so strong that it swelled inside his chest, making him catch his breath.
She paused over his heart, casting an inquisitive glance in his direction. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” he told her thickly, cupping her nape and urging her toward him. “Everything is right. So very right.”
He brought her lips to his and kissed her deeply, his tongue slipping inside the velvet heat of her mouth. She was sweet, so sweet. He could kiss her forever and never grow weary of it. What a blessing she was, this lively, clever woman. He might have known she would embrace her sensuality with the same pragmatism she applied to the managing of his household. Her tongue plundered his mouth in return, and she moaned softly with delight, her hand on him moving with increasing urgency.
If he didn’t take care, he would spill before he was even inside her again.
He couldn’t have that. Quint shifted her, breaking the kiss, positioning her so that she was astride him, the full, ripe globes of her breasts dangling in his face like a taunt. So he took one stiff nipple into his mouth and sucked, his fingers slipping into her folds to find her slick and wet. His seed leaked from her entrance, blending with her dew, and he found the combination of the two of them deeply rousing. He toyed with her cunny, painting the creamy spend over the petals of her sex and the swollen nub of her clitoris until she writhed, another small moan leaving her kiss-bruised lips.
Quint released her nipple, thinking how glorious she looked, glossy-eyed and beautiful, her pale skin bathed in the firelight’s glow, her body curved and soft and womanly, her hair a midnight cloud spilling down her back and over her shoulders.
“Again?” he rasped, reminding himself that he had already made love to her with great abandon once and that he must consider her comfort.
But he needn’t have worried. Joceline was tantalizing the head of his cock with her thumb, rocking against his hand, the fringe of her lashes low as she gave him a sultry look. “Again.”
She didn’t need to tell him twice.
Quint grasped her hips and lifted her, positioning her so that she was above his rudely protruding cock, which demanded more of her, all of her, without end. He wanted her to ride him. To take her pleasure.
But she hovered over him, an expression of adorable befuddlement on her face. A new position for her, then.
“Put my cock inside you,” he told her.
She rose on her knees, shifting, her grasp on his cock still tight and wonderful. “Like this?”
She dragged the sensitive tip of him up and down her center, slicking him with the moisture seeping from her. It was the two of them, their pleasure, their desire, commingling and becoming one. And for a moment, he lost his breath, a bolt of lust and possession so crazed and potent tearing through him that he could do nothing, say nothing.
“Just like that,” he managed tightly, struggling to control himself.
