Page 110 of Sinister

I bite my lip as I gaze at his earnest expression. “All right.”

He gives me another quick peck on the lips and gets to work on the buttons of my bodice. He gets a couple of them loose, but it’s clear he has a hard time with them, so I offer to help.

He draws back, his cheeks flushed.

“I told you I’m just as much a novice as you are when it comes to these matters.”

Somehow that emboldens me, and sitting up, I slowly unbutton the bodice under his watchful gaze. He has an intense expression on his face as he follows my every move.

“Damnation, what you do to me, Petra,” he groans when I reach the final button and shrug off the garment off.

I’m wearing only my night shift underneath, a white cotton gown with a lace pattern at the neck. His hungry gaze lingers on the exposed skin before going lower to my chest. A shiver runs down my back.

“Perfection,” he whispers.

His hand trails down my neck, hovering over my chest as if he can’t quite dare to touch me. This is a stark contrast to the man who bargained for a kiss before. But his bashfulness only makes him more appealing in my eyes.

He leans in and presses his lips against my neck, trailing open-mouthed kisses down my chest until he reaches my breasts. He cups them in his hands through my nightgown, opening his mouth over one stiff peek and sucking it into his mouth.

A loud gasp escapes me, and I hold onto his shoulders, though the wetness of his tongue against my sensitive flesh, even through a barrier, makes my head spin.

He’s making me feel things I never thought possible, and it’s almost as if an entire new world is opening up in front of me.

His teeth nibble at my flesh, the warmth of his mouth spreading down to my core.

His urgency for me is so great that we find ourselves tumbling down on the small bed, with him on top of me. He lets out a deep chuckle that vibrates into me before he takes my mouth in another intoxicating kiss.

His hands have changed course now. Instead of my touching my breasts, he’s moving lower.

Gripping the hem of my skirt, he pulls it up my legs. The cold air hits my bare flesh at once, which only serves to emphasize the hotness of his touch as he trails small caresses up my inner thigh. I’m not sure what he’s about to do.

In fact, I’m both curious and terrified. I’ve seen animals mate, and I have a guess as to how humans might do it, too. But he told me he wouldn’t take my virginity.

Was I a fool to believe him?

He’s still clothed. To do that, he would need to take off his clothes, no?

He senses my anxiousness, and he glances back at me, the candlelight illuminating his strikingly beautiful face.

“Trust me,” he murmurs.

I gulp down.

“Will it . . . hurt?” I whisper.

His eyes widen.

“What? Of course not. I would never do anything to hurt you, sweet Petra. I only want to make you feel good, to give you pleasure.”

I blink at him, trying to rack my brain for any notion of pleasure in the intimate act between a man and a woman. Yet there’s none. His kisses and caresses on my chest might have felt good, but the shushed rumors I’ve heard said the act itself is painful and unbearable for the woman.

Seeing his expression, so filled with desire—for me—I end up just nodding.

His hand now rests between my thighs, awfully close to my most intimate place.

I grind my teeth, waiting for what’s to come.

Yet when he touches me there, a touch so soft, so gentle, I nearly jump out of my skin. He parts my folds carefully, two fingers sliding down my slit.