“West, I don’t think things between us could be any more complicated than they already are,” she said, reaching up and brushing his hair away from his forehead. “But in a way, that’s freeing. We were worried about heightened emotions muddling things, but they became muddled anyway. A moment ago, we made where we stand crystal clear once again. I know exactly how things are between us and that, come tomorrow, we will go our separate ways. Anything else that might happen here tonight won’t change that. I want to know what real passion feels like, and I don’t think you can deny the attraction between us.”
“No, I certainly can’t,” he replied, voice husky.
Priscilla’s rational was certainly interesting. Yes, there were already complex emotions between them, so coming together would hardly make things worse. He definitely wouldn’t mind taking the chance to explore the charming widow’s body, but he still wanted to make sure she was comfortable.
“Last time we tried this, you had hesitations. Are you sure?” If she affirmed her desires again, he wouldn’t continue to question her, trusting her to know her own mind. But he wouldnever forgive himself if he hurt her because she wasn’t entirely comfortable.
“I know I stopped things before,” she responded, “but everything felt different then. I didn’t know you the way I do now, and I’m not afraid of what emotions this may stir because they are already present. We’ve established lines between us have been become blurred regardless. I know what tomorrow brings, and I’m walking into this encounter with my eyes wide open.”
With her assurance ringing in his ears, West didn’t hesitate to take her mouth with his once more. Wanting to feel as close to her as possible, he slipped his hand inside her wrapper and pulled her body flush against his own. Her hand was travelling up his chest, and she traced her fingers through the light hair exposed through the open collar of his shirt. Her touch on his bare skin was wonderful, and he needed more of it immediately.
Pulling back just enough for space to maneuver, he pulled his shirt over his head and discarded it over his shoulder, not showing the same level of care he had earlier with his other clothes in deference to Roberts. He couldn’t think on such trivial matters now when his focus was on the warm and willing woman in front of him. Tugging at the fastener of her wrapper, she understood his intention and quickly shrugged the garment off her shoulders.
Standing before him in only her thin night rail, Priscilla was exquisite. The soft light emanating from the fire behind her backlit the gown, allowing him to see the outline of her silhouette through the material. Tracing her feminine curves with his eyes, West drank in everything about the moment. He’d been fighting his attraction for far too long and could feel his desire for her growing by the minute.
Taking her by the hand, he kissed up her arm before leading her to the bed.
Priscilla could hardly breathe when West brought her to his bed. It was rather tall, so he lightly wrapped his hands around her waist, lifting her onto the tall frame. Standing in front of her, they were eye level, and she stared into his gray depths. Reaching a hand up, he brushed his fingers across the side of her head.
“Can you take this down?” he asked, running a finger to her pinned up curls. She nodded and quickly searched out hairpins, removing them from the mass of chestnut curls. When it was all finally free and tumbled down her back, West let out a sigh of appreciation, lifting his hand to comb through her strands again. “So soft,” he murmured.
After a moment, he climbed up beside her and stretched out on the bed, extending his arm to her and she wasted no time nestling into his side. Laying her head on his bare chest, she could feel the heat of his skin and hear his heartbeat.
As she began exploring the plane of his chest with her hand, he bent his head and kissed the top of hers, once more smelling her hair while bringing his arm around her back and securing her to his side. She craned her neck to look up at him, and he hauled her up his body so their faces were aligned, making it easy to continue the delicious kissing that had been interrupted by the change of positions.
They took their time getting to know one another, alternating between kisses that were leisurely and soft and ones that went deeper, passionate and intense. Each explored the other with their hands, and every place West touched on her left a trail of fire across her body. Priscilla had never felt so cherished, norhad she ever desired to show someone else how much she cared about them.
Eventually, their remaining clothes were discarded, and West swept his gaze over her in appreciation. She squirmed under his examination, never having been bare in front of a man before. But the unease quickly faded as she admired his own physique and became distracted by how wonderful it felt to lie beside him, skin to skin.
Things proceeded swiftly from there, and while not uneager, West made sure she was enjoying herself. Once they were joined, he reached between them and helped her achieve her own fulfillment before quickly withdrawing and finding his own release.
In that moment, Priscilla didn’t think she had ever felt so close to another human being, and the feeling only continued when West reached for her and pulled her close.
As she finally dozed off after quite the eventful day, it was in West’s arms, and with a smile on her lips.
CHAPTER 26
The next morning when Priscilla awoke, she was still tucked under West’s arm, her head lying on his chest. She smiled to herself remembering last night. It had been everything she’d ever hoped to experience. What she had known must be possible.
All her life she’d heard women whispering and laughing behind their hands when a handsome man would come into the room. Even as a girl, she’d understood that they must be discussing something powerful because all knowledge of it was kept secret from them. The mystery had been solved, though, after she married. But she always felt there had to be more to the experience based on how some women talked about it as if enthralled, almost seeming to crave the act of lovemaking.
The second she was no longer considered a young innocent but was instead a married woman, such topics were spoken of freely before her and no longer discussed behind the cover of fans. Priscilla became curious to understand the kind of experience some described. And when she had seen her own friends wed, returning from their wedding journeys with blushing cheeks and knowing smiles, she became envious. It was what had led her to the idea to pursue an affair as soon as it wassocially acceptable for her to do so, misguided as the idea may have been.
And now, after last night, Priscilla felt like she finally understood what all the fuss was about and why she had initially shied away from such an encounter with West. When feelings were involved, when it became lovemaking rather than a marital duty, it led to an intimacy that required complete vulnerability.
While the connection she felt with West resembled nothing she’d ever experienced before, she’d had to let her guard down in order to experience it. That took a level of trust she didn’t think she could have with just any man. She was sure she could receive physical pleasure with other men, but it would not be the same kind of altering experience without the level of connection she felt with West.
And connect they had, multiple times throughout the night in fact as one or the other had awoken in the dark, immediately reaching for the other. Thinking about the things West had shown her made her blush this morning. She’d had no idea a mouth could be used in such exquisite ways. But in the moment, she had abandoned herself to the experience and relished the pleasure he had wrung from her.
Taking this final step in their relationship had been a risky move, especially considering they were dismantling their fake attachment, but she felt cared for in the way West had continually checked in with her, making sure she was ready to move forward.
Logically, Priscilla knew nothing between them had changed. West still refused to see her as someone he could end up with, and they would go their own ways upon returning to town. They could use the same reasoning for separating as they had already planned. It would just be executed sooner.
But the smallest part of her in the most remote corner of her heart, hoped that West might consider things in a new light thismorning, that he might be as altered by their experience last night as she was. Because she couldn’t imagine sharing herself with anyone but him now that they had come together.
Surely, he’d also felt how powerful they were together. He couldn’t be completely unmoved by such an experience, could he? Knowing such musing was utter foolishness, she tried to shutter that trail of thought and squeezed her eyes tightly, as if she could banish the idea by starving it of light.
Just then, she felt West stirring beneath her, slowly returning to alertness.
