Page 29 of Pride of Lyons

“Oh, yes.” She could only whisper, so drained was she by the explosion of intense… sensation. No words she possessed could describe the awe of that moment. Her breathing calmed at last so she could speak. “My mother never told me about that.”

Her husband chuckled and shifted his body to lie atop her. “I expect she wouldn’t.”

Honoria gazed into his face. “But she did tell me about something different. Other things husbands and wives do.”

He nodded soberly. “There is more, my love. So much more that we will discover bit by bit. But for now, there is one other thing we must do to truly become husband and wife. To give me a chance at producing an heir.”

Suddenly registering his weight upon her, Honoria tensed. “It hurts, she told me.”

He nodded. “I cannot tell you how much or how little, but I promise you this—other than this one time, I will never willingly hurt you.” His gaze searched her face. “Do you trust me, Honoria?”

After taking in a long breath, she nodded. She did trust him, more than any other man. He would not hurt her if he could prevent it. “I do, Thomas.” She could not have spoken those words in truth a week ago, but so much had changed since then. “I do.”

Thomas leaned down and kissed her, then sat up and said, “I think we need to get rid of this.” He took the tattered nightgown and ripped it the rest of the way so she was completely exposed to his hungry gaze. “You are so beautiful, Honoria.” He traced a finger down over her breast, tightening her nipple as he circled it before continuing across her stomach. “I have waited a lifetime, it seems, to make you mine, my love.” He dipped his head down and kissed her belly.

Honoria gasped but dropped her head back on the pillows and forced herself to relax on the mattress. Perhaps she could enjoy some of this until the pain came.

With a sudden movement, Thomas hefted his body over top of hers, straddling her. Gently, he urged his knee between her tightly closed legs. “Can you open for me, love? Don’t be afraid.”

Eyes squeezed shut, she slowly widened the gap between her legs, then he was pulling her knees up on either side of him. “That’s right. Almost ready.”

Heat between her thighs, then something hard prodded at her opening. Something big. Oh, maybe she didn’t really want to do this. About to tell him no, he must stop, she opened her eyes to the sight of Thomas’s face, his brows drawn together.

“Are you all right, my love?” The concern in his voice, the distress that was totally for her, swept all her doubts away.

“Yes, I am.” She nodded and managed to smile at him.

That charmingly lazy smile lit his face as he surged forward into her.

Honoria’s eyes widened, the sensation of being stretched down there so foreign that she gasped. There was a little flicker of pain, like a pinch inside, then Thomas grunted and pushed forward again. The odd feeling of him being above her and actually inside her made her dizzy.

“Honoria, are you all right? Does it hurt?” Thomas peered into her face as if expecting her to swoon.

“Don’t worry. I am well.” She smiled to reassure him. “It only hurt for a moment. But it does feel strange.”

The worry lines on his face smoothed out. “I imagine it must.” He kissed her lips, pressing her deeply. “Let me see if I can make it feel better.” With that, he began to move in and out, back and forth. “Put your legs around me and just relax.”

Cautiously, Honoria wrapped her legs around his naked back, which raised her hips. Suddenly, the push and pull worked perfectly. Her body worked in tandem with his, meeting his every thrust at the exactly right moment. The heat from before began to grow within her, where Thomas was filling her up again and again. “Oh, Thomas.” Her breath came in short bursts as that exquisite coiling started winding her toward the pinnacle. “Will it happen again? Like before?”

He didn’t reply but instead sped up his thrusts.

“Thomas! Thomas!” Honoria moaned, thrashing her head from side to side as the coil exploded around the part of Thomas that was buried deep within her.

“Honoria, oh, God.” He strained forward one last time, his hot seed pouring into her. Then he slumped on top of her, his weight pinning her down for a moment before he rolled to the side and lay on his back. Breath quick as if he’d run a race, he flung one hand over his head, and with the other gathered her to him, guiding her head to his chest. “Oh, Honoria. Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry, but at the end, I couldn’t stop myself.”

Heart beat slowing, Honoria turned toward him. She hoped he could see the huge smile on her face. “Whatever you did, you did not hurt me. You pleasured me, though. Beyond anything I’ve ever known.”

“Thank God. Because as soon as I’m able, I want to do this all over again.”

She raised her head to stare at him, incredulous. From what her mother had intimated, husbands and wives did not share their duties more than once or twice a week. “We can do this more than once a week?”

With a growl, Thomas pulled himself over top of her again. “We can do this as often as we wish, or as often as I’m able.”

She must have looked puzzled, because he chuckled and kissed her again. “Men must wait between times, to renew themselves. Like having to reload a pistol before it will fire again.”

“How long does that take?” Now that she’d gotten her breath back, she couldn’t wait to make love to her husband again and again.

“Different times for different men.” He stroked her breast, and something nudged against her thighs. “With the sight and touch of you before me,” Thomas smiled lecherously before seizing her nipple in his mouth and drawing on it, “I don’t think it’s going to take me very long at all to reload my weapon.”