When she was left in her shift, a transparent slip of material that showed off the dusky peaks of her nipples and the triangle of dark hair teasing him at the apex of her thighs, he realized that he had never wanted to give in to the delight of a woman’s pleasures more than he did at this moment. He almost shuddered at the pulsing demand from his manhood to sink into her willing body but he had to stay strong. Remembering what his father had done was a sobering recollection and it always kept him in check when his desire threatened to take over.
At least, that was how it had been.
Before Aislynn Sims.
Now, he was finding it difficult to concentrate on anything but his throbbing cock. At least he could slake some of his lust by worshipping her perfect body.
She reached down to remove the last layer of her clothing but he held out his palm. “Stop.” She glanced at him curiously. “Lay on the bed. I want the honor of removing the last barrier.”
He was humbled by the obedient way she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and then started to lay down. “Wait.” She paused and he walked over to remove the pins holding her light hair off of her shoulders. When he began to pluck the confines out, the silky strands soon came tumbling down. He took a lock of hair in his hand and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. “Beautiful.”
He slowly released the strand and allowed his fingers to follow the trail where it ended, curled charmingly next to her pert breast.
A light gasp sent a jolt of awareness straight to his cock. Cordell had to clench his fist to keep from rushing this moment. He had to employ some self-control. This was not something he wanted to rush. Aislynn was meant to be savored. Thoroughly.
He slowly bent down on his knees and locked eyes with Aislynn as he rested his palms at her ankles and slowly slid his palms up her smooth calves, past her silky thighs, until he reached the edge of her shift, which he began to move upward. Her breathing was becoming more labored, her lips parted with lust. He could feel his lips quirk, the masculine awareness climbing upward as he anticipated the treasure that soon awaited him. He might not have known women in the most carnal sense, but he had enjoyed the delights of a female body many times. There was nothing he enjoyed more than bringing his partner to the ultimate heights of carnal pleasure.
With the color growing on Aislynn’s cheeks and her green eyes darkening with passion, his heart began to pound. He knew that she would be a vocal lover. He intended to ensure she shouted his name from every corner of the room, until the walls shook with her orgasm.
He urged her legs apart and grasped her hips and jerked her closer to the edge of the bed. She set her arms on his shoulders. “There is no need to worry, sweetheart. I will not let you fall. Unless it is into my arms.”
With that, he leaned forward and set his mouth directly at her core. He easily found the small nub hidden within her velvety folds and began to suck and lick, tormenting her with his tongue. She cried out, a deep, throaty moan that made his cock pulse with vigor. She was turning out to be his toughest trial when it came to resisting temptation yet. But he would turn that insatiable hunger for her into giving her a night that she would not soon forget. Perhaps never, if he had his way.
He inhaled her sweet, musky fragrance as his fingers dug more firmly into her hips and he increased his pace. He could tell by the way she threaded her fingers through his hair and the way she undulated beneath him that she was close to her peak already.
He thought about unfastening his trousers and releasing his cock, stroking himself while he brought her to completion, but he realized that would be entirely too dangerous. The enticing way that she was responding so urgently was quickly sending his rational mind hurling into an abyss where he feared he would never return.
“Cordell… yes…”
He listened in a mixture of torture and bliss as she lost herself. He absorbed everything that she had, feasting on her until the moment her orgasm started until the slow steady aftermath that had her falling limp and replete back on the bed. He slowly got to his feet and only then did he realize that he was still fully clothed. But Aislynn was still perfectly naked, at least her lower half, although her upper portion was clearly visible through the thin cotton of her shift.
He could tell she was still floating in the aftermath and although it pained him to see her spread out so welcoming, like a sacrificial lamb on the altar, he could not bear to partake of her delights. His cock was so hard it ached with the need for release but it would have to wait. He had been in misery before and survived. He would do so again.
And then she held out her hand to him. “Come here. Lay with me.”
He knew it was a mistake. His conscience shouted at him that he should not move forward, not unless she was willing to ease his suffering as he had done for her. The problem was that he didn’t listen.
As if he didn’t have control over his own body, he found his way next to her side. The only thing that saved him was the fact that his clothes were still intact.
However, the moment he laid down, with her soft body pressed against his side so sweetly, it was as if some sort of animalistic roar burst free from within him. He emitted a low growl that did not sound as though it belonged to him and rolled over, pinning her to the bed as he began to divest himself of his clothes. He heard something rip but it didn’t faze him. His entire focus was fixated on Aislynn and the blood lust that was coursing through his veins, sending him into some sort of frenzy.
He had to have her.
If he didn’t, he might as well die now.
She told herself that she ought to be frightened by the savage look in Cordell’s gaze, but instead, Aislynn was thrilled at the sight. Could she finally be the woman who set him free from his rule of celibacy, just because he believed he suffered from the same affliction that his father had?
Ridiculous.
She yearned to prove to him that he had nothing to fear from his mind, that everyone wondered if they were mad or mentally stable. The truth that he did not seem to grasp is that no one was truly sane. Everyone had troubles and ghosts in their past that returned at the most inconvenient of times. The best solution to keep them at bay was to be strong enough to say no, to prove that you would not be defined by what terrible things might have happened to shape the present and possibly the future. If he could just allow himself to see that love, intimacy, sharing a heart and soul with someone was not the evil that he imagined it was, she knew he could find the path to healing.
She welcomed him with open arms. All his flaws and insecurities, because he had just done that for her, by engaging in something so sweet and gentle that it made tears come to her eyes. The force of it was so powerful that she had never known anything else like it. She wanted him to have the same comfort. And if she could offer that to him, it would be worth any price she had to pay. She realized that he already meant that much to her. And if that wasn’t absolutely terrifying, she didn’t know what was.
Once he was laid bare above her—it seemed in more ways than one—she began to feel the first pangs of apprehension. As much as she might understand the pleasures to be had between a man and woman, she had never truly experienced it as intimately as she had with Cordell.
When he lifted her shift and grabbed it by the hem and ripped it straight down the middle, exposing her just as fully to him, some of her trepidation eased. It was as if she became calm knowing that they were on an equal level. They were both in a vulnerable position, each of them not knowing exactly what might lay in store for them in the near future. They were both faced with dangerous situations—Cordell because he feared he would follow in his father’s footsteps, and Aislynn because she did not know if her next journey to the stage might be her last.
None of that mattered right now. All that counted was this moment—this stolen passion.
