He crossed to her side of the bed and extinguished those, too, pinching them out without bothering to use the snuffers. Then he walked around, his figure dimly visible, the white linen ghostly in the gloom, and got into bed with her, disdaining the use of the step.
When he lay down next to her and pulled the covers over them both, he turned to face her, his arms open. “Come here.”
Gladly, she went to him, felt his arms close around her. “You won’t leave?”
“I won’t leave.”
His warmth surrounded her, his body protected her. For the first time in forever, Sophia felt completely safe. She slept in his arms, drifting deeply into profound, exhausted slumber.
Chapter 11
Max castigated himself for all kinds of fool. Holding this woman in his arms, he let his mind roam free instead of forcing it along its usual rational lines.
What a mess he’d made of his marriage! He could have been doing this and more every night had he treated her with the respect and consideration she deserved. Instead, he’d allowed half-formed rumors and his business to set barriers between them. Any longer, and the barricades would have become insurmountable.
The light of dawn filtered through the bedroom shutters and over the bed. He hadn’t bothered to draw the curtains around so the light fell over them. Other than drawing up the sheet so it didn’t bother her, he didn’t move, but watched his wife as the pale light delineated her features.
She had a fine-drawn face, with softly rounded, full lips and a firm jaw. Heavy eyelids, sweetly flushed cheeks. She revealed an innocence he was loath to disturb. But he would.
On their wedding night, he’d taken her with a cool efficiency and two ambitions. To discover if she was a virgin, which he did before he pierced her body, and to create the possibility of a child.
The act had felt profoundly wrong, or rather, the way he’d done it had. By trying to make the intimate side of marriage easy for her, he’d in fact made it harder. He hadn’t known what to do.
He, the incisive, ruthless businessman, had fouled up his own marriage because of indecision. Should he return to her? The two days he’d planned to give her to recover from the wedding night had stretched into a week, and then longer. Easier to let matters slide than to revisit that shocking need that had brought him to his knees when he let himself think of that night and what he wanted from her.
His raw emotions had only grown worse. He wanted her with a longing he fought hard to overcome. Nobody should have that power over him. He couldn’t afford to give that kind of control to anyone.
But the more he struggled, the worse it grew. Every time he saw her, he wanted her more, the memory of her sweet body and her trusting eyes haunting him. His body knew, instinct told him more waited for him, and he hadn’t trusted it. Had run from it.
Sophia lay breathing softly in his arms, and he felt like the strongest of men, merely because she was here and at her most vulnerable with him.
When John Hayes had returned into her life, jealousy had reared its head, adding to the toxic mix of emotions he tried so hard to tamp down.
Sophia’s father had told Max that he’d interrupted an intimate encounter. Although Sophia showed no sign of wanting to resume that, she’d allowed the man near her, seemed friendly with him. Was she thinking of taking her previous suitor as a lover?
Not while Max lived.
She opened her eyes. She gazed at him, and before he could let his clever mind persuade him that she didn’t want him, he kissed her.
He made the kiss count. He melded his mouth to hers. Her hand stole out of the covers and around his neck and pulled him closer, so her breasts pressed against his chest. Her nipples hardened, twin pinpoints in the center of all that softness.
When he shifted his head to one side, the better to seal their kiss, she opened her mouth, and he took her invitation to enter. Their tongues twined and caressed.
Moaning, he spread his hand wider where it rested on the small of her back and sent it seeking. Her buttocks were curved, and they filled his hand with a perfection he’d never discovered in anyone before. She just…fit him.
With an effort, he finished the kiss and drew away far enough to gaze into her eyes. Soft brown pretty eyes, if still a little red-rimmed. But that was his fault. “I’m sorry.” He couldn’t say it enough.
To his surprise she rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t all your fault. I pride myself on my courage, but I had none when it came to you. I should have come to you earlier.”
He cupped the back of her head with his free hand, threading his fingers through her soft hair. “We could spend the morning castigating each other. Or we could begin our marriage properly. Only if you feel well enough,” he added belatedly.
He received a sunny smile in return. “Yes, yes I do. I slept, and I feel better for it.”
“Sleep is good for some things.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “Not for others.” His concerns dropped away as he gazed at her. “Not for this.”
Without warning her first, he flung back the covers, enjoying her feminine squeak of shock. Before she could find her bearings, he unfastened the buttons at his cuffs and whipped his shirt over his head, tossing it aside.
He sat upright, hiding nothing, not least the heavy erection he’d sported for most of the night. Holding her so close, feeling her breasts move against his chest every time she breathed, had had its inevitable effect. He wouldn’t wait for her any longer. “It won’t be like last time.”
Her smile warmed him down to his core.
“Good. I knew it wasn’t everything. Otherwise, why would people risk their reputations and their livelihoods for it?”
“Good point.” He gazed at her, savoring her response. His nudity gave him strength. He hid nothing, boldly displayed his reaction to her presence. “Do you like what you see? I can cover it up, if you’d like.”
Teasing her, he reached for his shirt, but she sat up and put her hand on his arm. She shivered.
“Are you all right? Truly?”
“Truly. It’s excitement. I want you to show me everything, Max.”
“And then,” he purred, “You can show me. I believe once you understand the…fundamentals, you’ll teach me a great deal too.”
He glanced down at his cock, now primed and straining to get at her. As it had been for the last month. That frustration had only added to his short temper and frantic activity. “Do you want to touch me?”
She was reaching out before he issued the invitation. At her first tentative touch, he groaned, his arousal ratcheting up another impossible notch. He tingled with anticipation, not daring to touch her in return, feeling like an untried boy.
It got worse. Or better, depending on the perspective he took when she dragged off her shift.
“I thought I knew you.” He studied her body with avid fascination.
Her breasts were fuller than they appeared when she was dressed, probably because she wore relatively modest clothes. But now he’d seen them, that suited him well, because he wanted to keep them to himself. Hug the secret close, let others guess at their magnificence.
She had large nipples, soft and velvety, but they crinkled as he stared at them. He flicked a glance up at her face before he continued his perusal. The nest of soft curls at her groin indicated the secrets they ineffectually hid. Her aroma wafted up to him now she’d removed her shift. Delicate and essentially feminine, it teased his nostrils, daring him to move.
He must not frighten her, but he wanted that essence, to know it in every possible way. “Lesson one,” he managed to choke out before he eased her on to her back.
She opened her legs, probably expecting what he’d done before, but that would never happen again. Not in that way.
“You don’t have to do that. We should learn each other, find out what we want from each other. No holding back.”
Instead, he sent her a wicked smile. Her pretty eyes widened when he slowly move
d over her and lifted her thighs to drape over his shoulders.
Moving closer, he took a deep breath, surrounding his senses with her, and then he feasted.
She tasted wonderful as he licked her front to opening, gathering her essence, claiming it for his own.
She gasped. “You can’t—”
He broke away long enough to say, “I think you’ll find that I can,” before returning to his self-appointed task. Nobody could stop him now he’d had one taste of her. Not enough. It might never be enough.
When he sucked the little pearl of flesh at the front of her cleft she cried out, pushing his head as if to urge him away. But he held on, licked and caressed her with his tongue, persuading her to let him continue. This was far too good to give up. In any case, if he took her now he’d embarrass himself, probably not last long. He’d gone too long, spent a month ogling his wife, and now he was going to enjoy himself. And bring her with him.
She clutched handfuls of his hair, but not to drag him away, not any more. She cried out, long wordless sighs of sound, as he worked her into a controlled frenzy. He rolled his tongue around the bud, teasing her, and then sucked harder, giving her sharp, concentrated points of sensation to accompany his lavish savoring.
Then he brought his fingers into play and had to fight to keep her on the bed when she jolted up. When he slid a finger inside her wet warmth, her cries increased in volume.
Satisfied she’d forgotten everything except this, he worked her body, lapping her abundant juices. The sound permeated the room as she became wetter and he grew more intense in his efforts to bring her to a peak of delight.
She locked her thighs around his head. He hummed against her flesh, and then introduced a second finger to join the first. Satiny and lush. He blocked the image that came to mind, of his cock buried deeply inside her. It would happen, but not if he tortured himself in that way. Then they’d have to wait.
He couldn’t wait. Just another suck, another finger.
The third finger did it. He bent them, scraped her inner walls gently and she screamed. It was like pulling the trigger on a finely tuned pistol, and the result was as explosive.
Her channel convulsed around him and her heels bore into his back, but he didn’t stop sucking and caressing until every quiver had stopped. Or paused, because they were about to embark on the next stage of this… He didn’t know what to call it. Not seduction, because he was no longer sure who was seducing whom.
When he withdrew, her sigh gave him deep satisfaction. But not enough.
He withdrew his fingers and unwound her legs from his head. She was lax now, like a rag doll. After kissing each inner thigh, bestowing gentle tributes, he drew away and watched her.
Staring at him, her heavy-lidded eyes slumberous with the after-effects of her orgasm, she smiled, making him wonder how he could have held off for so long. And why, for that matter.
“Do you want to learn what happens next?” He needed her permission, to know she wanted this as much as he did.
Her eyes widened and her attention went to his cock. “Yes.”
“This is not like last time. You’re in control, madam.” Scooting to the top of the bed he sat against the pillows, resting against the padded headboard. It was a heavily embroidered and quilted version of his coat of arms. A very suitable decoration for what they were about to do. After all, without this he had no reason to have a coat of arms.
The pointed part at his back told him the bull’s horns were making their presence known, but he was more concerned with his fleshly spike. He held out his arms. “Come here.”
She blinked. “Over you?”
“Exactly. Come and kiss me. I want you to enjoy your own delectable flavor while you take my cock into your body.” He deliberately used the words, explicitly detailing what he wanted her to do to see her reaction.
A smile curled her ruby lips. “Yes, my lord.”
Oh lord, that was perfect. As she sat up, her breasts quivered and changed shape, but the nipples still stood proud, jutting at him, daring him to take hold. He would, but he wanted to watch them bounce.
She kneeled up, and then with a sudden decisive move, opened her legs and came over him, straddling him with admirable thoroughness.
“An adventurous woman. My favorite kind.”
He held his cock steady for her. Even that practical touch made him twitch. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he’d have to think of something else to do to keep her on the boil for the next twenty minutes while he rebuilt his erection. Eager he might be, virile come to that, but he wasn’t a god. Or a stone statue, although one part of him damn well felt that way.
She gazed down, bit her bottom lip in concentration, before glancing up at his face. “Will it hurt?”
“I promise you, no.” He’d licked her with the idea of opening her up, easing her way, but once he’d tasted her, he’d taken more. Now she was well and truly ready for him.
Her moisture dripped on to the head of his straining cock and he groaned. If she didn’t make up her mind soon, he’d have to do it for her.
Far too slowly, she lowered her body on to his. He felt every inch, every fraction of an inch, as she took him deep and then deeper still. Grasping her hips, he helped her, forcing absolute control on himself while she accepted him and accustomed herself to having him inside her. After all, the last time hadn’t been pleasant for her.
When her chin went up and she gazed into his eyes, all he saw there was wonder and triumph. A sense of triumph filled him, such as he’d never known before.
He smiled. “You did it. You’re in control, sweetheart.” That was why he’d chosen this way of making love. He didn’t want to take her. He wanted them to take each other. “Now kiss me. Let’s see what else we can do.”
Her breasts nuzzled his chest as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, touching his mouth with her tongue. With a groan he opened, surrendering everything to her. Firming his grip on her waist, he lifted her and then let her ease back down on him, showing her what to do. The next time she moved on her own, only needing him to remain where he was and thrust back into her when she came down again.
Voraciously he sucked on her tongue as they learned each other, finding the rhythm that would bring them both to satisfaction. He shifted her slightly and paid attention to her response as she gasped into his mouth. Better. She liked that. She liked it more when they did it again, and again.
Max drove harder with each stroke, delving deeper. All he had to do was hold her steady as she moved on him. He could use the support behind his back to help push forward and into her. Their kiss continued, never ending as she became bolder, greedier, and he ate at her mouth, thrusting his tongue in harmony with his hard drives below.
She grabbed a handful of his hair, clutched it with a desperation he shared. They’d get there, and this time they’d do it together.
The sound of their bodies slapping against each other echoed around the room. Max opened his eyes and watched her come apart. He held her safe, while for the second time that morning, he made his wife come.
When her channel tightened on his cock, Max was finally done for. He let go, releasing into her. Wild now, he dragged her body down on to his, grinding her against him as he flooded her with his seed.
He heard his own voice as if distanced from it, crying out her name and a succession of breathless gasps. He dragged her into his body, the need to feel her overwhelming every rational thought.
As time passed, he became aware of her breathing heavily. Some sense returned to him. He laid her down tenderly before lying beside her and dragging the covers back over them. He was warm enough, but he didn’t want her to take a chill.
Raising her head, he gave her a series of sweet, drugging kisses as they slowly emerged from their post-coital dream-state.
“Now I understand,” she said, her voice little louder than a breath.
But Max was so close, he heard her well
enough. “Understand what, sweetheart?”
“Why people risk everything for this.”
He kissed her. “Yes, they do. I’m in danger of doing it now, because I fear that won’t be the last time we do this today.”
Her eyes flicked open and then half-closed again as she chuckled and rested against him. “We have to get up sometime.”
“Do we? What for? Do you have an appointment you simply can’t miss?”
“No, but I thought you would.”
He murmured against her temple, enjoying the way he gave her butterfly kisses with every word. “I would cancel an appearance at court in exchange for this. Or a meeting with the head of the biggest shipping company in the world. Anything.” Her laugh warmed him. “It’s time we had a honeymoon. I should have taken you away somewhere. But then,” he added, “I might not have realized what I’d done to you until it was too late.”
“Enough,” she said. “I’ve heard enough of that.”
He hadn’t. He wanted to confess his doubts and his fears about the marriage. Now it mattered more than ever, but for an entirely different reason. But with her happy, he didn’t want to spoil the mood.
He smiled wryly. What a coxcomb he was!
Now he had a weapon, a way of fighting back, a way of keeping her. And he would use it.
Chapter 12
The next day they set out for the country. Max’s idea, to show her the ancestral home, but also, he explained, a chance to spend time together with nobody to interrupt them.
“In town, your father, Julius, Poppy, my mother and any number of other people distract us. I want some time with you, for us to talk and get to know each other properly.”
His country seat was in Buckinghamshire, a day’s swift journey or two days of easier travel. They took two. After a stay at an indifferent country inn, they reached Devereaux House mid-afternoon on the second day.
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