“Nay, I do not wish to marry her,” Cole muttered, watching her stand up in the bath and collect a piece of linen to dry off with. He couldn’t look away any longer. “I wish to marry you and I shall, no matter what.”
He could see her drying off her legs, her arms. “Cole, this may be a strange thing to say, but it is how I feel,” she said. “I am rather old to be married, you know.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty years and three.”
“Christ, an old maid,” he said. “Is that what you wanted to tell me? That you’re old for a bride? I am twenty years and eight, so we are not so far apart in age, you know. I suppose that makes me an old maid, too.”
He was snorting, but she found no humor in it. “That is not what I wanted to tell you,” she said. “What I wanted to say is this– ever since Auden left me, I truly never thought I would marry anyone else. I did not look for anyone and the suitors who did approach my father were turned away. I simply wasn’t interested until I met you, but if you leave me tomorrow, there will be no one else. I have given my whole self to you, Cole. There is nothing left to give to another.”
He wasn’t smiling anymore. She came out from behind the screen, her hair wet and her body wrapped in the drying linen, and Cole could see that there were tears in her eyes. He stood up and went to her, putting his enormous hands on her shoulders, but the moment he touched her, the tears spilled over and he pulled her into a crushing embrace.
“You have made me the happiest man in the world,” he whispered into her wet hair. “The gift of your love is more than I deserve, Cori, but I swear to you that I shall never take it for granted. I will strive every day of my life to show you just how greatly I appreciate it. And you.”
She pressed herself against him, damp from her bath, but wanting desperately to be close to him.
“This may be the one and only time I feel such things,” she murmured tightly. “I have seen battle, Cole. I know what can happen. I know that by this time tomorrow, I may have lost the man I love because I have seen men die before my eyes. I know how precious life is and I know how precious love is. Love me, Cole. Love me as if tomorrow will never come.”
His face was pressed into the top of her head. “I will always love you,” he whispered. “You need not even ask.”
Sniffling, she stood back and looked up at him. She was looking him in the eyes when she let the towel go and it fell in a pile at her feet, leaving her nude and soft and clean. Reaching out, she grabbed his hands and pressed them to her breasts.
“This way, Cole,” she whispered. “Love me this way.”
Cole’s control left him. Her soft breasts against the palms of his heated hands undid him. He didn’t think about her brothers or father, or his father, or anyone else. He didn’t think about the rightness or wrongness of it.
All he thought of was Corisande.
With a groan, he mouth slanted over her hers, licking and stroking her until she was gasping for air. His hands on her breasts fondled them, pinching the nipples until they were hard pellets. Corisande’s gasps were muted against his fevered lips, moaning softly into the still night air as his mouth moved hungrily over her breasts and he took possession of a taut nipple. He suckled her hard, from one breast to the other, and Corisande’s hands were in his long hair, tugging. The harder she pulled, the more he liked it.
In a flash, he lifted her up and lay her upon the bed, carefully setting her down to avoid his gloves and broadsword. He removed the items and tossed them to the floor. Unfortunately, he was still in full protection, so he fell to his knees beside the bed, his mouth on her breasts and belly as he feverishly worked his way out of his tunics and protection. Pieces were coming off, being flung across the room or onto the floor in the heat of passion. He tossed his de Velt tunic partially into the hearth, singeing the wool before he smelled the burned fabric and took the time to yank it out of the flames.
When he was finished batting the flames out, he looked at Corisande sheepishly and she started to laugh. He grinned, too, but the momentary humor gave him time to yank off his boots and his breeches. Everything came off, his body taut and aroused and powerful, and he came down on top of her as she lay upon the mattress.
His kisses were sweet and tender now, his hands roaming her soft body. He returned to her breasts, caressing them, becausethey had aroused him through the privacy screen. Corisande writhed beneath him, her legs instinctively parting to make way for his substantial weight, and as she did so, Cole moved to touch the unfurling flower between her legs.
He simply couldn’t help himself.
Love me as if tomorrow will never come.
He fully intended to.
Corisande gasped with surprise when his fingers delicately touched the thick outer lips, matted with a fine fluff of dark hair. He was gently tugging on a nipple as he fondled her with the utmost gentleness, allowing her to become accustomed to his touch. Corisande groaned with pleasure as she gradually became accustomed to his careful fingers. Only when her body loosened beneath his restrained touch did he attempt to part her pink, quivering petals.
She was unbelievably hot and wet. He slipped a finger into her sheath, so incredibly tight that he very nearly released himself at that moment. But he fought his reaction, nibbling on her neck and her ear, whispering words of beauty and adoration. Corisande’s reaction was to spread her legs a little wider, bending her knees, willing to submit to anything he wanted to do to her. Cole could feel her tight passage contracting about his slick finger, pulling at him.
Settling between her legs, he rubbed his manhood against her Venus mound, stroking the outer lips as he had done with his fingers. She was glistening with wet heat, spilling down onto the linens, and he continued to rub himself against her as she watched his face without fear.
Their eyes met.
“Are you certain this is what you want?” he whispered. “I can stop at this moment and there is no harm done.”
Her answer was to pull him down to her, her mouth latching on to his, and Cole’s restraint was gone.
He tried to move slowly. God knows, he did, but he found himself fighting against his natural instinct to drive into her like a rutting bull. He worked carefully, gaining headway slowly and feeling her tightness draw him in. She was so slick that it would have been easy to simply thrust into her and be done with her maidenhood quickly, but he held back. She was being bold, willing to know him on a deep and intimate level, but he wanted it to be a good experience for her.
He wanted her to love it as much as he was.
