Worse than that, hers was a body laid to waste by five pregnancies, though one of those hadn’t gone to term and another had resulted in a stillborn boy. Her breasts weren’t all they’d once been, her belly bore rippling vertical stretchmarks from hip to hip. She worried over his reaction as she didn’t think James would be a man to engage in sexual relations beneath the covers and in a darkened room.
She wanted to please him as he’d pleased her.
He paused in front of one of the doors, only long enough to wrap his muscular arms around her, kissing her as if he couldn’t bear to wait the few more seconds until they were in the room. He swept her off her feet as he opened the door and turned in, still carrying her against the length of him. The room was dimly lit by a low fire burning in the screened fireplace.
Her bodice loosened and sagged down, off her shoulders. James had been working the buttons along the back without her being aware. His mouth moved downward, licking, sucking. His teeth raked over the side of her neck and down her shoulder. Prim’s head fell back. She clung to him, helpless against the rapture sweeping over her to do anything else.
No, she must try. Bold. Daring. Her hands slid over his shoulders and down his shirtfront to work his tie. James grumbled deep in his throat and pushed her hands away. Her dress fell to her waist, but after freeing her arms, Prim set back to work.
“Nay, lass.” He pulled her hands away once more.
“But, Jamie—”
He lifted his head, his green eyes smoldering down on her. His brogue so thick she could hardly understand him when he spoke. “I understand ye want equality in all things, lass. And I’m more than willing to let ye ha’ them, but later. Aye? Me first. Then ye can ha’ yers.”
A spike of disappointment pricked at Prim’s growing ardor. Despite the pleasure he’d heaped on her before, he was a man like any other. In the bedchamber, his pleasure would be first on his mind. She should have expected it, but James had never shown himself to be like other men.
Having liberated her of her dress, James untied her single petticoat and let it pool around her feet. He carried her to the bed and lay her on top the covers before dropping down over her.
Bracing himself on his forearms, he kissed her again, vanquishing her dismay. Come what may, she already enjoyed this more than any encounter with her husband. Besides, she had grown so used to the aftermath of physical frustration with Fletcher, she’d almost missed it over the last year.
James’s lips drifted downward once again, his panting breath hot against her bosom as he nudged down her camisole. A wild cry burst from her when his lips closed over her nipple. Prim arched against him, curling her fingers into his shaggy hair to hold him close. He suckled hard, sending shots of electricity down her every limb and shocked, she tried to tug him away.
He chuckled against her, his exhale hardening her wet nipple even more. “Conflicted, lass? Is it to be aye or nay then?”
How could he find humor in a moment like this? Prim tensed, his tongue circling lightly before withdrawing.
“Aye?” His tongue teased again, her body bowed against him. Again, he left her aching. Prim collapsed beneath him, panting desperately. “Or nay?”
“Jamie,” she moaned, unable to bear the longing washing over her. She tugged at his hair, her hips arching against him of their own accord.
“Och, lass,” his throaty whisper was coarse with desire. “Ye are driving me mad.”
He tugged down her drawers, his rough hands running over her bare hips and up between her thighs. Her sensitive flesh quivered under his caress. He slid his palms under her bottom and shifted between her thighs. For the first time ever, Prim relaxed, ready to welcome the male invasion.
But he didn’t. James shifted down, unhooking her corset cover. His fingers loosened the ties beneath as his lips found a spot of bare flesh below. As if distracted, he left the ties half done, and Prim shivered as his palms stroked over her hips once more. His breath tickling at the apex of her thighs was her only warning before his tongue swept along the damp folds.
“J-Jamie,” she wailed, pulling at his hair.
Harder flesh joined his tongue, his calloused fingers parting her. Prim quivered at the flood of rapture heating her core. Again his tongue lapped, then circled. Her quivers turned to tremors radiating down her thighs. It was delicious and carnal. Torn, she pushed at him with one hand while tugging him closer with the other.
His laughter glided over her, a silken caress, and another moan ripped its way from deep within her.
“I ken yer as contrary a lass as there ever was, but which is it to be? Aye?” He sucked on the hardened nub at the center of her pleasure, flicking at it with the tip of his tongue before leaving her bereft. He glanced up at her and cocked his head, his eyes glittering with humor. “Or nay?”
“Yes,” she whispered, then louder. “Yes! Jamie, please.”
His amusement fled, with one last fierce look, he accommodated her plea. His mouth ravished, giving no quarter as he aroused her to the point of delirium. She strained against him, his hot tongue plunging and withdrawing. Circling and sucking. Her entire body tingled, almost numbed but for the ecstasy turning her inside out.
She was on the brink of losing control, losing herself. She didn’t want that, she didn’t want to lose control. But oh, yes, she did. Because it was Jamie. Only Jamie. Tensed, bowed wantonly against his zealous tongue, Prim broke when his finger slid into her.
A fragmented sob shook her as Jamie continued to wreak havoc on her body. Waves of rhapsodic bliss assaulted her, rippling unforgivingly through her limbs from the aching pulse at her core. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and she pressed the heels of her hands to them.
The euphoria he’d somehow managed to wring from her was astounding.
Light kisses trailed down her thigh as James pushed away. Peeking between her fingers, she watched him move to a gaslight sconce and turn it on. The shadows fell away, leaving Prim exposed as if she were in the spotlight. Covering her eyes again, she drew up her legs and turned away from him, wishing she were under the covers instead of on top of them.
“Nay, lass. Dinnae.” His rough palm smoothed over her bare bottom, turning her back toward him. “Let me see you.”
