“You’re not finished,” she panted.
He flushed. “Take off your shift.”
She shimmied the thin linen up over her head. His exhale was audible gratitude. He took both her hands into his. The first, he lay against his heart. The other, he guided to his member.
He entwined her fingers with his, and stroked.
He closed his eyes and threw back his head. His features contorted with a beautiful, raw need. His mouth parted, lips quivering with forced breath. Sweat teased his temples and sprouted at theVof his neck. He was giving her this—revealing his naked, primal parts, displaying his agony, his lust, and her power—the very things men thought to hide in darkness.
His seed burst forth as he quaked. He’d climaxed in the most breathtakingly candid encounter she could have imagined.
…
He’d come like a dammed schoolboy, crying out and helpless, feeling her eyes on every crude shudder, every undignified gasp. He hadn’t just come, he’d burst free.
Free. And yet, bound. Bound to his betrothed. To Katherine.
His roar released seed that spilled over his stomach, her hands—he opened his eyes—and, devil take it, her neck.
Not that she seemed to mind being so defiled. Her expression glowed with dominant indulgence. He wet his lips. She was so exquisitely fine.
They’d both drank deep of pleasure, and, yet, he’d preserved his vow.Barely. He had not, according to the letter of the law, actually gained carnal knowledge of his future wife. Then again, the law considered what they had just done unnatural. He should be ashamed. But he wasn’t. And, it appeared, neither was she.
He ignored her whimper of protest and retrieved his towel from the basin. Carefully, he tended her needs, then his own, and then tossed the rag back into the basin.
With a wholehearted sigh, he gathered her against his side.
“I am tamed,” he said.
Her giggle vibrated against his ribs. Delicious.
“For shame,” she said. “All I had to do was deprive you of a little meat and sleep, and you begged a spinster lady to be your bride.”
“I wouldn’t talk, my sweet. I deprived you of my presence for a mere two days, and you begged to taste my cock.”
Her little gasp sent him soaring.
“Scoundrel,” she accused.
“Would a scoundrel show such restraint?” He wound a curl around his finger.
“If the scoundrel was you, obviously. Besides, I think this was part of a fiendish plan.”
He let the curl drop. “What do you mean?”
“You intended to make me wild with wanting.” She snuggled closer. “So you could make sure that the most unmarriageable maiden wouldn’t leave you waiting at the altar.”
She spoke in jest, but the thought sent fissions of alarm through his veins. He wouldn’t—he couldn’t—lose her. Not now. Not ever.
“Remember, sweet, I had no idea you were in the room when I came up those stairs.”
She hummed thoughtfully as she stretched. “I suppose I will have to wait for the wedding night for the real thing?”
Gingerly, he kissed her forehead. “Yes.”
“Why?”
He wasn’t sure. Certainly, it would be to his advantage to bed her as soon and as often as she’d allow. To get her with child had been the point, after all.
