She tightened her knees as she tried to draw back. He shifted his grip on her legs until he pushed her knees wider. And while she lay fully exposed, he feasted on her everywhere. No part of her was left untouched, no place forgotten.
Then he found a place that shot lightning through her body. Over and over, he kissed her, his tongue doing things she couldn’t even process. She was all feeling then, all gasping need.
Then he pulled back. He stopped everything while she still writhed, waiting for something. He grabbed the pillow, still clutched in her hand. He pressed it gently toward her face.
“Scream, beautiful Diana. Scream loud.”
She wasn’t going to scream. She was a lady who never raised her voice.
He must have understood her thoughts. Likely read the expression on her face. But instead of being insulted, he looked smug.
“You will,” he said. And then he gently urged her to put her face into the pillow.
She didn’t. She wouldn’t. But just then, his thumb thrust upward across that spot. It was a sharp feeling at a place that had begun to cool down, and his movement startled a soft cry from her.
“You will,” he repeated, and then he knelt down again. He put his mouth between her thighs. He thrust fingers into her, in and out of her slick center. She arched into the feel. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was delightful enough that she stopped trying to anticipate. No need to do more than feel, to learn, and to…to…
Oh, yes.
His mouth on that spot again. His fingers deep inside her.And all was, yes, yes! Please!She whimpered. She gasped. And yes, she even put the pillow over her face because of the sounds she was making.
Then he stroked her in earnest. He pushed, sucked, and whatever else he did took her over. The coil inside her tightened unbearably. Harder. Then it burst.
Ecstasy.
Did she scream? She didn’t know. So consumed was she in the waves of pleasure—joy bursting in waves that crashed through her.
She was amazed.
Chapter Twenty-One
She was stillfloating as he gathered her up. She helped him a little, but truthfully, she felt too boneless to do more than lie there in languid delight as he held her. Plus, it was fun to feel his strength as he effortlessly maneuvered her beneath the covers.
And when she was finally settled, she frowned at the pillow he casually tossed aside. “I think I screamed.”
“Yes.”
Such smugness in the one word. She didn’t mind. He deserved all the credit for that, and she was very grateful.
She raised her hand and caressed his jaw. She realized that she was tracing the line of his scar. How close had he come to dying? How many times? Whatever had caused this could have killed him. A few inches difference, and he would be dead. But that was nothing to the fever. She knew infection often killed more after the battle than during it. And yet he had survived it all.
“You astound me,” she whispered.
He ducked his head, and it startled her enough to laugh. Was this the man who had just grinned at her with smug satisfaction? Now he was embarrassed? To cover, he pressed his lips to her hand while his hair fell to hide his expression.
“It was my pleasure,” he said gruffly.
“I’m fairly certain it was mine,” she said. Then she gently extricated her hand such that she could turn his face to hers. “Was that a quickening?”
“Yes.”
“I like it.”
Now that cocky grin returned. “I like being your first.”
He was her first kiss, her first quickening, and her first and only love. But she wasn’t ready to tell him that. Not yet. Not before she understood what that meant for her life. Would she take him as a lover? Would she wed him? He was an incredible gift as he settled beside her on the bed. He sat with his back to the headboard as she adjusted to lay in his arms. Would he still do that with her after they took vows? Or would he disappear in search of new ladies to entertain?
Questions ate into her bliss despite everything she did to shove them away. For once, she did not want to strategize for her survival. She wanted to stay in this happy place.
