He gave gently, almost reverently, stroking her with his tongue, kissing her until she relaxed into the pillows. Then his mouth drew lower, his lips tasting the angle of her jaw, the curve of her neck, the expanse of her chest and back to her exquisitely sensitive breasts.
She slid her hands into his hair again, able to fully surrender now that she was no longer trying to remain upright as he teased and tasted her. He sucked one nipple, then the other. He nibbled her sensitive flesh with just the edge of his teeth, he sucked until she bit back a cry, he stroked with his tongue until she trembled.
She was needy and on fire, she was shaking and ready to beg. But he pulled his mouth away and traced it lower. Over her ribcage, past her stomach, across her hip, and then he placed one hand on each of her thighs and opened her.
She jolted up to her elbows, staring as he settled between her legs, his face just inches from the most private place in her body. And if that shocked her mind, her sex was another story. Already it was wet, tingling, and having him so near made her hips rise when she didn’t recall wanting them to do so.
He smiled and looked up at her. “You can trust me,” he whispered.
She tensed at those words. He was saying he would take care of her. That because of his experience, he could make this night one of pleasure for her. The idea was wonderful, indeed, but it made her think of her brother’s words earlier in the day.
Of all the other women Simon had done this to. Of all of those he had loved and forgotten in his wake.
But before her worries could overcome her and steal the pleasure of this moment, he dropped his mouth to her and licked her gently. Her mind emptied of everything she thought, everything she might have said. She found herself clutching at the coverlet as he spread her open wide and licked her again.
It was spectacular. Intimate and wicked, focused and far more pleasurable than when he’d done the same to her nipples. She lifted her hips into him, grinding them against him with some kind of ancient, wanton knowledge. The act made the pleasure more focused and he worked his tongue faster over her, gliding his mouth across her center, rolling his tongue around the nub of nerves at the top. She turned her face into her arm, trying to hold back unstoppable gasps and cries as he brought her to the brink of madness with his skilled tongue.
And just when she thought the pleasure couldn’t be better, just when she thought she’d reached the pinnacle, her sex began to quake. Tremors of pleasure washed over her and she jolted her hips wildly as he ran his tongue over her again and again and again.
Only when she’d stopped shaking did he lift his head from between her legs, crawling back up to cover her, resting his hands on either side of her head as he stared down into her face.
“I’m ready,” she whispered when he was silent for so long she feared he was contemplating running. “I want this.”
He shut his eyes, and for a moment there was a flash of pain on his face. A flash of regret that grabbed her heart and squeezed. But then he opened his eyes again and whispered, “I’ll give you everything you want then, Meg. Everything.”
Chapter Ten
Simon stared down at Meg, still flushed from her orgasm, her eyes glazed with want but also worry. How many nights had he dreamed of doing just this? How many times had he pleasured himself while picturing her writhing beneath him, surrendering herself to him?
And now he was here. He had already worshipped her body, he had already coaxed out her pleasure. All that was left was this final claiming. This last thing that would make her his.
But all he could think about was the pain he would cause. The physical pain of taking her had begun to represent all the other pain he would bring to her life from this day forward. The whispers today had been harsh. They had been cruel, even.
And there would be more to come. Because of him.
“Simon?” she whispered, lifting up slightly and reaching out to touch his cheek.
He let out a shuddering sigh and leaned into her gentle fingers. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he admitted. “But there is no avoiding it.”
She tilted her head and examined him, and he thought she understood he wasn’t just talking about this night, this moment.
“You told me it wouldn’t always hurt—did you lie?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “No. No, after the first time it should never hurt again, if I am doing my job right.”
She smiled. “Then the pain leads to something better.”
He winced. “Meg—”
She reached between them and gently touched his cock, placing him at her entrance. “I want this, Simon. All of it. If the pain is part of it, then I want that too. Because all the feelings, the good and the bad, make it real. Make it true. Please.”
It was the please that hit him in the gut. She said it so softly, so gently, not as a plea on her behalf, but on his. And he had never been able to deny her. Not since the first moment he saw her. Certainly not since the moment he recognized she was not just a woman, but the woman for him.
And for better or for worse, for good or for bad, for whatever he had done to bring them here…now theywerehere. And while he wasn’t certain he would ever be worthy of loving her, if he was even capable of giving her what she needed, when it came to pleasure…there he was an expert.
He drew in a long breath, then met her eyes once more. As he focused on the deep brown depths, he pushed her legs just a little wider with his knee. He kept her stare even as he began to breach her.
And it was heaven. From the moment he slid inside, her body gripped him, a tight, wet glove that welcomed him home like he belonged there. He felt the resistance of her unused channel, knew when the pain hit by the way she caught her breath.
