“Go ahead, then.”
CHAPTER SIX
Elayne could hardly believe that she was agreeing to this, but she supposed Dunn was right. If she wanted to convince her father and Laird McCoy what she was saying was true, then she had to have evidence. The two of them would do anything in their power to ruin her plan, and so she had to do anything in hers to salvage it.
Still, her heart fluttered like the wings of a hummingbird in her chest as she waited to hear what Dunn had to say, her teeth biting restlessly on her bottom lip.
To his credit, Dunn seemed just as embarrassed as she was. Elayne didn't think she had ever seen him blush before, and though the color on his cheeks was faint, it was certainly there, tinting his skin a light pink. It suited him, she thought; it made him look more boyish, giving him a different kind of charm from his usual, more confident self.
When Elayne sat on the bed, Dunn joined her, though he kept some distance between them, much to her relief. She didn’tthink she could get through this if he sat too close, if she could see every shade of blue in his pale eyes and feel the ghost of his breath on her skin.
Dunn hesitated for a moment, lips parting, but no sound came out of them. When he spoke, his voice was meant to sound casual, Elayne knew, but there was a strain to it, as though he chose every word with great care.
“Well, I suppose I should start from the… the beginnin’,” said Dunn, stammering over his words. Elayne gave him her unwavering attention, making sure to listen closely and remember everything she would have to recount later. “Ye should tell yer friend this. Tell her I started with kissin’ ye, yer lips, yer neck. Tell her I brushed me lips over yer skin here,” he said, reaching over and sliding his fingers along the point where her neck met her shoulder, the touch making Elayne shiver, “an’ then I bit ye, just gently, right over here.”
It was only words but they had a physical effect on Elayne. She could imagine it vividly, the ghost of Dunn’s lips like a real touch, tangible and just as arousing. Her gaze drifted to Dunn’s lips, to his throat as he swallowed drily, then back up to his eyes, the blue of them almost entirely swallowed by the black of his irises.
Was he as affected by this as she was? Surely, it couldn’t be, Elayne thought. Even if Dunn hadn’t outright admitted to having many conquests, he hadn’t denied it either and Elayne was certain he was far more experienced than she was.
“An’ then?” asked Elayne, her voice barely a whisper.
“An’ then I took off yer dress,” Dunn said. The more he spoke, the bolder he became and the hungrier his gaze turned, looking at Elayne as though he wanted to devour her. “I kissed yer shoulders, yer breasts… ye moaned softly, trying to hold back, but I told ye I wished tae hear ye. I wished tae hear yer moans, yer pleas, the way ye say me name.”
Heat coursed through Elayne’s body, settling deep in her core. There was a strange tingling at the base of her, a slight tremor of flesh, and her breath turned quick and shallow, affected as she was by Dunn’s words.
“Then I pushed ye down onto the bed and crawled between yer legs, kissin’ up yer thighs. Ye couldnae help but spread them fer me, lettin’ me kiss an’ lick between them.”
Elayne’s eyes widened and it was in that moment that she realized just how close the two of them had come, leaning into each other’s space. They were so close that all it would take for Dunn to kiss her would be a slight leaning of his head, but his words made her pull back in surprise, mouth hanging open.
“Ye mean… there?” she asked, dropping her gaze to her lap.
The grin Dunn gave her was teasing and awfully satisfied. “Aye,” he said. “Right there.”
“People dae that?”
“Och aye,” said Dunn with a laugh. “It feels very good.”
The thought of it had another wave of heat washing over Elayne, but it was mostly overshadowed by a deep curiosity. She couldn’t understand how it would feel anything other than embarrassing, being exposed like that to another person and having them touch such a place on her body with their mouth, of all things.
Is it truly as pleasurable as he claims?
She supposed that if people could get over the embarrassment of it long enough for them to do the act, then it had to be pleasurable.
“Is it… does it happen… the other way around too?” Elayne asked, only barely managing to get the words out. Her entire face was on fire, from her cheeks to the tips of her ears, and though she was certain she looked and sounded foolish and naive, she had to know.
“Aye,” said Dunn, his voice dropping low, full of desire. Elayne could imagine him using that voice in bed or even to seduce, speaking quietly in her ear. “Ye could tell her that, too, if ye wish. Ye could tell her I put meself in yer mouth. An’ perhaps ye didnae ken what tae dae at first, but I told ye… I told ye tae close yer bonnie lips an’ suck, tae use yer hand an’ stroke me.”
As he spoke, Dunn reached down and pressed the heel of his palm against his groin for a moment, the movement so quick that Elayne was certain she wasn’t meant to see it. She couldn’t think about anything else now but the desire to be touched byDunn, to feel his mouth and his hands on her so strong that she was close to begging him for it.
But how could she do that? It would hardly be proper. The two of them weren’t actually married, and Elayne wasn’t going to suffer the indecency of it.
As if pulling himself back together, Dunn cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. “But ye must tell her this. Even if ye tell her naething else, ye must tell her that I… that I penetrated ye.”
Elayne may have been more innocent than many of her peers, but even she knew what Dunn meant. She had heard maids talk about it before, giggling as they whispered among themselves. That was what it meant to consummate the marriage, she knew, and so she had to make sure to mention it to Isobel.
“Does it hurt?” Elayne asked. She had heard that it did, but that it was a pain a wife had to endure.
Dunn gave her a small smile. “It can, but it doesnae always hurt. I wouldnae make it hurt. Maybe there would be a little pain at first, but I would take me time with ye, make sure ye were ready fer it. I’d use me fingers first, gettin’ ye open fer me, gettin’ ye used tae it. I’d pleasure ye with me hands an’ me mouth until ye begged me tae take ye, an’ only then would I enter ye like that. When ye would want it more than anythin’. When ye would be pliant an’ wet fer me.”
