She clutched the bedclothes to her chin and nodded.
Now that she was here, he could show her she had nothing to fear in his bed. He uncurled her hand from the coverlet and pressed it to his lips.
“It pleases me very much that you are here.” He squeezed her icy fingers to reassure her and kissed her cheek. “I will give you no cause to regret it.”
He undressed quickly, dropping his clothes on the floor before lifting the bedclothes. Ignoring her sharp intake of breath, he slid in beside her.
She was wearing her tunic, but that meant he would have the pleasure of taking it off. He tentatively placed his hand on the flat of her stomach. Imagining the feel of the smooth skin beneath the cloth, he closed his eyes. He was determined to go slowly and not frighten her. But he wanted her so badly that would not be easy.
He had wanted her for such a long, long time.
“Turn toward me. I want to look into your face.”
As she turned, his hand slid from her stomach to the dip of her waist. He smiled at her. He hoped his eyes did not have a predatory gleam. But he thought they might.
He held her eyes as he ran his hand up her side to the tantalizing swell of the side of her breast. Gritting his teeth, he reminded himself to go slow. He moved his hand back to her waist, then over the curve of her hip and down her thigh.
He was as tight as a bowstring.
His only thought now was that he had to touch her skin. He tugged at her tunic, but it was caught beneath her.
“Help me.” He heard the desperate, pleading note to his voice, but he didn’t care.
She rolled onto her back and lifted her hips, the saints be praised. Without touching her, he drew the shift up to her waist. His heart pounded in his ears. She lifted her shoulders and raised her arms as he eased it up and over her head. His hand shook as he reached to touch her. Then he shut his eyes, his whole being focused on the silky softness of her skin.
Repeating his earlier journey, he slid his hand along her side with exquisite slowness. When he brushed the still softer skin of the side of her breast, his breath caught. How long he had waited to touch her. No other woman felt this good.
In a daze of desire, he kissed her face, her hair, her neck. Against her ear, he murmured, “I have dreamed of this.”
He pulled back to look at her again. Good Lord, she had her eyes squeezed shut and her arms clenched in front of her breasts. He pried one hand free and held it.
“What is it?” he asked as he looked at her across the pillow.
She did not speak or move. He pressed her hand against his cheek and turned to kiss her palm.
When she opened her eyes, he asked again, “What is wrong?”
Her eyes were wide, her lips parted. She seemed to have trouble finding her voice. “I did not know what to expect. Since you were ready at once, I… I thought it would be over quickly.”
William guffawed. So, she had taken a good look at him as he climbed naked into bed.
Grinning, he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her neck. “You have good cause to fear I will be much too quick this first time.”
Her naked body felt glorious against him. As he moved his mouth down the curve of her neck, he whispered, “I promise I shall do better the second time. And still better the third.”
He was lost in the feel of her. Her breasts against his chest, her legs against his thighs. And, oh yes, her stomach against the length of his erection.
“I have longed for this,” he murmured, breathing in the scent of her skin. How could a woman smell this good?
It was no longer enough to feel her breasts against his chest; he had to touch them. The sensation of her breasts filling his hands was heaven itself. He trailed kisses down her throat to her breastbone. He turned his head to feel the softness of her skin against his cheek. The wild beating of her heart matched his own.
He kept one breast cupped in his hand as he dragged his tongue across to the other. When he reached her nipple and flicked it with his tongue, she squeaked. He smiled.
Intent on claiming every inch of her, he eased himself down her body. He ran his tongue along the undersides of her breasts and planted slow wet kisses across her flat belly. He fought the temptation to move farther down and taste her. Though the thought made his cock throb, he did not want to shock her. All things in good time.
Still he toyed with the temptation. He grazed the silky skin of her inner thigh with his fingertips as he kissed the inside of her knee. So close. Before he knew what he was doing, his hand was gripping her buttock and his mouth was where his fingers had been and was moving upward.
All he wanted in this life was to taste her and then drive into her until her screams rang in his ears.
