With warmth growing in her chest, Rachel did as he asked, and with only a thin cotton nightdress under the robe, she felt the sinew of his thighs and the ridge of his growing arousal.
She could read his intention of kissing her as it sat ripe in his gaze, but before he did, William reached up, and cupping one side of her face, smoothed a thumb over her cheekbone.
“I love you,” he said. “In my wildest dreams, I would have never expected that I would find a lady like you. One who would own my heart and my devotion. But you do. You are strong, but kind and your bold spirit makes me want to be with you forever.”
Rachel shook her head. “I am at a loss for words, William. I must say that I admire you too. I don’t know all of your past, but from what you told me and how you pulled yourself out of it, I am in awe of you.”
He kissed her then softly, and Rachel moaned at the pleasure and the sweet, spicy taste of mulled wine on his tongue. The kiss grew deep and sensual, and before she realized it, William stood with her in his arms. In three long steps, he gently put her on the bed.
When Rachel looked up, she saw raw passion and possession in his eyes. The air in the room seemed hot and hard to breathe, despite the open window. It grew worse when he loosened the knot on her robe and parted the lapels as if he were peeling a fruit.
When his gaze landed on her body, Rachel knew that he could see the peaks of her nipples under the thin cloth. William had not even touched her, yet she felt a warm dampness between her thighs. It brought a flush of color to her cheeks.
“I cannot tell you how long I’ve waited for this moment,” William dipped his body to rest on his forearms and kissed her bare collarbone. “Let’s not rush it.”
Her very blood grew hotter, surging toward the center of her body. Lifting her hands, Rachel slid her fingers into his hair before pulling him down for a slow and sensual kiss. Then, his hands slid under her, and with a quick twist, she was atop him.
William was solid and muscular beneath her, and his broad hand spanned her waist entirely as she could feel his fingers meeting on the small of her back. As she looked down into his smoldering gaze, she felt something akin to wonder. He loved her. A man she had never expected had stolen her heart.
He tugged her dressing gown down, and by instinct, she lifted to her knees so he could pluck it out from under her. Clad only in her nightgown, Rachel canted her head when he reached up to touch her face. Closing her eyes, she turned her face into his hand, kissing his palm.
A low groan of want rumbled through his chest, and he quickly moved to unfasten his robe, worked it loose, then with another twist, it was discarded by the bedside. Now naked to the waist, William was all muscle, from the contours of his shoulders to the sculpted steel of his ribs.
It was her first time seeing a half-naked man, and Rachel shut her eyes, breathing hard. She heard him grunt a little and the rustle of clothes and realized that he had just lost his trousers. The bed dipped as he joined her.
“Shhh, love.” He took her hand and rested it on his chest. “You’ll be all right, I promise. Touch me all you want.”
Tentatively, Rachel reached out and ran a palm down his middle section and felt the springy hairs on his chest and the warmth of his skin. Dark hair covered his chest and lower made a divan down the middle of his corrugated abdomen to the vee of his pelvis, the taut hollows of his hips. And there, under her thighs, was…him.
He shivered a little as her fingers passed over him and Rachel felt comforted knowing that it was not only his touch that tugged out the same reaction from her.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, his fingertips caressing the curve of her covered breast, cupping the mound of it in his hand. His thumb flickered over the nipple, and her harsh breathing deepened into a moan.
William reached down and grasped her hem, “Shall I take this off you now, love?”
In a wordless reply, Rachel lifted her arms. Bare as he was, William slid his rough hands up her back and pulled her down to rest on his chest. Shifting them again, he placed a damp kiss at the hollow of her throat, then teased her with little touches of his tongue along her collarbone.
His mouth lingered along her arched neck, then slowly moved to her breast, savoring every inch of her skin. His tongue played little tight circles around her nipple, and then his teeth grazed it ever so gently. Rachel’s breath caught in her throat, turning her moan into a stifled gasp of pleasure.
Her fingers sunk into his hair, and his kisses opened a hidden well of sensuality. With a low sound of hunger, he turned his attention to her other breast, nipping and suckling.
Rachel’s lips parted as now familiar, intense feeling began deep in her belly. A curling, tightening sensation. William’s fingertips brushed across her breast, trailing a searing path over her ribs and abdomen to the crux of her legs.
When he touched her there, Rachel cried out. The memory of when he had done it at Vauxhall was ripe in her mind. William’s fingers combed through soft curls, arousing her gently, then slid lower, parting her wet petals, and opening her to his touch.
While he kissed her body, his thumb found her sensitive nub and rubbed it in slow, agonizing circles. His thumb kept the same pace as his fingers teased at the entrance of her sheath.
Rachel did not know what to do; beg him to go faster or plead for him to keep the same pace as the pleasure he was giving her was intoxicating, and she craved more. His thumb slowed as he shifted down her body, and by the time Rachel realized what was happening, his lips were on her.
Then his mouth was tasting her, sucking her, driving her wild with lust. Shamelessly, she shot a hand out, gripping his hair as he gave her the wickedest of kisses. Tonguing her intimate folds and making her fingers grasp and curl on the sheets. William’s tongue dragged upward in a broad lick, punching a loud cry out from Rachel.
She could not speak. She could hardly breathe or do anything more than utter a pleading moan. Rachel needed to release this tight ball in her belly, and William was the only one who could shatter it, but he was deliberately prolonging this sweet torture. He slid one thick finger inside her, withdrew it, then pushed forward again with merciless slowness, all while his tongue was still making her head spin.
“William! William, please!” she gasped, arching her hips shamelessly against him.
But his tongue kept pulling pleasure from her body as he slipped a second finger inside her, deeper this time. Rachel groaned, and her back arched, opening her body more to him.
The dual onslaught of his touches and kisses proved her undoing. His thumb grazed that sensitive bud once more, and the tumult in her belly broke, sweeping through her body with stunning force. When the last tremors finally ebbed, Rachel fell back with mind and body floating on a cloud of light.
