She caught her breath as she sat upright. Rosalinde had told her a little about a man’s…cock, she thought she’d heard it called. When she was to marry Stenfax, the idea of it was terrifying. Tonight, looking at Aiden, seeing the swollen, heavy, utterly masculine proof that he wanted her…well, it was still terrifying. But it was also exhilarating.
This man wanted her so desperately that his body hardened, rising like a divining rod meant not to find water, but to seek her out. It rose proudly against his stomach, and she stared blatantly.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen a man’s cock?” he asked.
“Unless you count the ones carved above me, yes,” she murmured. “I’m a lady, you recall. We aren’t exactly taken aside and given intense lessons on the subject.”
He nodded, but she thought she saw the flicker of a frown cross his face. He approached her slowly and let her get a closer look.
“May I…may I touch it?” she asked.
He was laughing and shaking his head at once as he purred, “Please do, Celia. I would like that very much.”
She reached out and traced his length with a fingertip. She was shocked to find that the flesh over that steely, very male organ was silky soft. She cupped him with her palm and stroked once from base to tip.
“Goddamn, woman,” he groaned, his head tipping back. “You will have me undone before we even begin properly.”
She snatched her hand back, though she could still feel the weight of him in her palm, a phantom pleasure. “We haven’t begun properly? With the removing of our clothing and your…your…lickingme?”
He laughed. “Appetizers, all,” he said as he took a spot next to her on the bed. He drew her closer, placing a hand on her thigh and lifting to drape her leg over his. The fine hairs on his legs tickled her smooth ones, and she found herself lifting into him with a soft sigh of pleasure.
He kissed her and she sank into him, surrendering completely to whatever he would do now. He would take her, of course, she knew about that. She also knew it would likely hurt the first time. And since the first time was the only time they’d ever be together, she wanted to take all the pleasure she could in the meantime.
And he gave it, in spades. He rolled her on her back, continuing to touch and kiss and stroke her. His thumb flicked her nipple even as his other hand kneaded her backside, pulling her body against him firmly. His cock pressed hard against her belly.
All of it was so good, so right, so utterly overwhelming. And she never wanted it to stop. She wanted to remain in this moment for the rest of her life. Where there was nothing and no one else in the world. Where the lies were gone and it was just the two of them.
His hand glided lower, lower, until he cupped her sex. She felt him spreading her open, teasing the sensitive flesh even as he kept kissing her and kissing her. His fingertips brushed her entrance and she moaned with pleasure at the touch.
When she did, he pulled back. His eyes were wide and his breath was short as he looked into her eyes. “Are you sure?” he said, his voice cracking.
She stared back up at him. “Sure? Of you? Of this?”
He nodded. “Once I take you, Celia, it will be irrevocable. Your body will be marked with proof that you are no longer an innocent. There may be consequences in the future, when you find another, when you marry—”
She lifted her fingertips to his lips. “Stop, Aiden. Stop. I thought we were forgetting about tomorrow.”
He pressed a kiss to her fingers, then moved them away. “A wonderful thought in theory, but reality must still color what I do. I want to be certain that you truly want this before I continue.”
She lifted up slightly, cupping his face gently. “I understand the consequences, I understand the impact it will have on the future. But I don’t want you to stop,” she said, calmly, evenly. “I want you to take me, to make me yours. Is that clear enough?”
He swallowed hard and she saw how difficult this was for him. He wanted her and yet he warred with his honor, with not wanting to hurt her. And she loved him for that, as deeply as she had ever loved him before.
He bent his head and kissed her once more, lowering her back on the pillows as he rolled over her, bracing his arms next to her head so that he wouldn’t crush her with his body weight.
She wrapped her arms around him, smoothing her hands down the rippling planes of muscle on his back, gliding them back up his sides. He shivered as she touched him, making a little sound of possessive pleasure deep in his throat.
“Ready?” he asked, sliding a hand between them to position the head of his cock at the slickness of her sex.
She nodded before she squeezed her eyes shut and tensed in preparation for the pain.
“What are you doing?” he asked, nuzzling her throat.
“Getting ready,” she said, opening one eye.
“You look like I’m about to stab you,” he said with a low chuckle.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard told it’s nearly the same thing.”
