The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. Scare her. Push her away, just when she felt within reach.
Hanna said nothing, but he could feel her eyes on him as his mouth hovered above hers.It wasn’t a yes, but it also wasn’t a no.
He decided he would touch just a little more. His hands were already roving down the side of her body, reverently testing the weight and curve of her breasts, the nip of her waist, his cock throbbing hot and hard inside his drawers against the soft warmth of her belly as she arched slightly under his touch.
That hint of desire from her made his heart stutter in his chest.
Alaric knew that she had endured something terrible, knew she refused to speak of the babe’s father and what that meant.
That small movement showed him that he was on the right path, that soon he might win her trust. But, it also made him want to draw her further towards him, tempt her secret heart closer with the promise of sweet pleasure.
He shifted, sliding his hand down over the small swell of her stomach as her hips tilted under his touch, his fingers searching for the scorching heat between her thighs. Her light shift offered no defence as he hitched it up, dying to feel her.
His fingertips brushed her mound and Hanna gasped, stiffening beneath him, her hand closing tight over his forearm as he threaded his fingers through the soft curls.
Alaric stopped, his breath harsh in the sudden stillness, his forehead dropping to the curve of her shoulder as he waited.
The moment stretched out, taut with tension, and Alaric kissed the soft skin under his lips, moving to withdraw his hand. Hanna’s grip loosened, then tightened again, stopping his retreat. A sound coming from the back of her throat.
“Let me touch you, sweet Hanna,” he whispered, brushing more kisses along her neck. “If it feels good, I will not stop until you are senseless with pleasure. If it does not, say the word and I’ll stop at once, I swear it.”
Hanna sucked in a deep breath, then nodded slowly.
“I need to hear the words,” coaxed Alaric, touching his lips to the corner of her mouth.
Hanna cleared her throat softly - half sigh, half moan. “Very well,” she murmured, her voice small and shy.
Alaric smiled into the darkness, kissing her gently for her bravery, then his fingers started to stroke her softly. He caressed the soft skin above her mound, testing the delectable jut of her hip bones, then touched the soft skin of her inner thighs, coaxing her legs open for him so that he could trace the moist outline of her seam, drawing a shuddering sigh from Hanna as she shifted restlessly beneath his touch, her hand still resting lightly on his arm as he explored her.
Alaric parted those curls and cupped her, letting one finger dig deeper, teasing her open for him slowly as her body went taut, thighs trembling.
Hanna was wet. And hot. So temptingly slick that his hips bucked against her, his teeth clenching with the tension coiling in his body.
Alaric pressed deeper, finding the dip at her centre that marked the place he would take her. Soon,please yea gods, let it be soon.
But this was not about him; it was about her, so Alaric slid his fingertips upwards, parting her folds until he found the swollen bud of her pleasure.
HANNA
She was letting him touch her.
Hanna could hardly believe it, but each stroke of his fingers against her sensitive flesh reminded her of just how far gone she was to this moment.
It was his mouth, kissing her relentlessly – sometimes soft, sometimes hard and eager – that was her undoing. Even now, he was leisurely kissing and tasting her throat as she spread her legs wider, her whole body shaking as he touched her there where no man had before. Not with the intention to please, that is.
Hanna trembled violently where she lay helpless against the surging sensations Alaric was wringing from her body, her fingers digging into the flesh of his forearm as he circled a place that kindled an ache in her core.
Was she holding him there, or holding on to him?Using him as an anchor in the darkness as the first sparks of pleasure burst from beneath his touch. Hanna knew not, only that she believed him when he said he would stop if she said the word.
She had felt the sincerity of his words as he asked her what she wanted. And she had actually managed to voice her desire. Hanna had never felt such a feeling before, a moment of trustbetween two people, chest to chest, hearts beating together in the stillness of the night as desire coiled between them.
It was as heady as a drug, and she wanted more of it. More closeness, more wanting, more asking. And she wanted to hear herself sayyes.
Hanna closed her eyes, her body slowly relaxing as Alaric carefully stroked her skin, slowly working his way closer to her centre until, with a jolt of sensation, he parted her sex, dragging a finger through her folds as a hot, aching feeling followed in his wake, twisting the needy knot in her core tighter.
Hanna dug her nails into his skin, arching as he found a spot that sent a rush of pleasure up through her body, a high-pitched sound she had never made before slipping free.
Alaric groaned against her shoulder, ducking his head there as he slowly traced circles around that magical place, at first soft, then more firmly, as if reading the signs of her body. Her hips were rocking now, lifting for more, trying to lead his touch down towards the ache that throbbed at the very centre of her being.
