“Oh no,chérie,” he said, gently lifting her arms and caressing the sensitive tips of her breasts with the backs of his hands. “It is only fair that I get to see you as you have seen me.” He eased her gown and shift down over her hips then and let them fall to the floor. “Ah,magnifique! As I thought you would be.”
For a moment, Brienne’s boldness skittered away, leaving her trembling. Then his hands began their magic, and heat flowed through her. This heat was the one he created as he cupped her breasts and lowered his mouth there. Her breath escaped in short gasps with each touch of his tongue. But when he began to tease with his teeth and then sucked on the tips, her knees buckled and she fell against him.
William caught her, sliding his arm beneath her legs and carrying her to his bed. He laid her on top of the bedcovers and climbed up next to her. Now his body touched hers from shoulders to feet and everywhere in between. The hard maleness pressed against her hip now, and she felt its sleek flesh against her skin. She reached out, curious about how it would feel in her hand, but he stopped her.
“Not yet, Brienne. Touch me anywhere but there.”
She thought this was her choice, but her body quickly fell under his control. Her body ached and throbbed as his fingers explored and caressed every inch of her. He teased her skin, kissed her breasts and her mouth, moving, always moving and giving attention as he did. When he suckled her breasts, the heat and moisture gathered between her legs, and she arched against his hand with each inch he moved closer to touching her there.
When he drew circles with his fingers, gently touching across the top of her thighs, onto her hips and across her belly, she cried out. Everything within her tightened, tightened, tightened until she could not breathe. Her legs fell open and she grabbed his hand, needing it . . . wanting it . . . there.
“Do you want something?” he whispered against her ear. “Should I touch you . . . here?” he asked as he finally slid his fingers into that place, and she let out a sigh of relief at his touch. “Ah, so hot, so wet for me.”
Relief turned quickly to something else as he explored the folds of her flesh there, with his finger and then fingers, rubbing slowly, then faster. Just as she thought she would burst somehow, he would ease the pressure until she moved away from some edge.
He praised her in his language with words she could not understand. His mouth and his tongue never stopped, and he moved them at a pace that had her arching against his hand and his mouth, begging for something. Whatever lay just . . . there . . . out of her reach.
He arched against her hip, sliding the length of him at the same pace, and she wanted to take him in her hand and hold his flesh, but every intention fell away when he slipped one finger inside her. Her body thrust up, trying to take him in deeper, but he laughed and withdrew it. Then he moved it in a circle, from outside to inside, harder, then softer, faster, then slower.
She was going to die. She was going to explode in the flames of passion he stroked.
“Please,” she begged.
“Now?” he asked before licking his way back to her breasts. His hand did not stop its torment, and her hips lifted off the bed, begging as she had.
All it took was one slight rub against some small place in the folds between her legs and it pushed her to the place that waited. Her muscles tightened and then shuddered, the channel leading to her core spasmed and throbbed, and everything in her let go until she fell. She released the scream trapped within her throat, and he caught it with his mouth, kissing her and thrusting his tongue as he did his finger until she was . . . empty.
The first thing she realized was that his breathing was now normal and even against her ear.
The next thing was that she had not fallen at all. She had flown in his embrace, for his arms held her securely against his body as they lay on his bed.
The last thing she noticed was that he was still hard against her hip.
She tried to turn and found her body would not obey her commands. So empty and so tranquil, all the longing and desire that had filled her was satisfied.
“Magnifique,” she whispered, imitating his accent of the word.
“Aye, you were,” he said. “Like fire in my hands.”
She opened her eyes and met his gaze then. Had he meant that?
“You have not . . . You did not . . .” She glanced down at his flesh between them.
“Nay, Brienne,” he said, kissing her face as he leaned back and looked at her. “As much as I want to, you are not mine to claim. I could not take what is meant for another.”
They lay in silence, and Brienne savored the feel of him on her skin. A few minutes passed, and she felt him slide away from her and climb from the bed. The candle had sputtered out, unnoticed by either of them at the time. Now he lit it once more and dressed in his breeches and shirt. She watched his every movement, fighting the urge to touch him again. He did not try to hide or turn from her as he did so, allowing her to gaze on his body as he slowly covered it with his garments. “Come,” he said, holding his hand out to her. “’Tis time for you to return to your chambers before they know you are not there.”
Knowing she could not stay the night did not lessen her reluctance to leave him now. They’d had their moment of passion and pleasure and, if he did leave on the morrow, she would remember it.
He handled her as though she was a precious thing, and she allowed his care as he helped her with her shift and gown. Looking down, she laughed then, seeing that she still wore her stockings and shoes.
“You were in some haste,” he teased.
Soon she was dressed and her hair gathered in a loose braid. Too soon. He snuffed out the candle and opened the door to check the corridor before guiding her out. They just missed being found by one guard on the main floor; only his quick action of pulling her behind him into the shadows in the corner and shielding her with his body saved them.
Brienne stopped him before he could follow her out of the keep.
“I will go the rest of the way alone, William. I will not be seen.”
