Pamela nodded and answered with complete honesty, "I do trust you. You'd never willingly hurt me, Jonathan. I know you'll be gentle."
"You're not afraid?' Jonathan murmured against her rosebud lips.
"Nay, though I'm convinced I'm on fire." She smiled pertly.
Jonathan's heart turned over. "I love you, Pamela, always."
"And I you, Jonathan. God help me, but I've never stopped loving you, even when I tried to tell myself I had lost you forever. That you despised me, that it was wrong to want you so," Pamela confessed.
He smiled tightly. "I've hated myself for all the nights I've made us sleep alone, both of us, convulsed in an agony of unsatisfied desire. But all you have to do is smile at me, and I fall in love with you all over again. Now I know the suffering was only a prelude to the pleasure," Jonathan said, his longing shimmering in his stormy eyes.
"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry," Pamela whispered tearfully. "I had no idea you suffered so."
"It doesn't matter, my love. The past is over. This is the first moment of our new life together."
Jonathan cupped her chin in his hand, and teased her mouth open until his tongue entwined with hers. His other hand moved between her thighs. Soon her legs parted fully, as she gave herself up completely to the incredible sensations his feathery touches could bring.
Moments later Pamela was writhing on the bed panting in a frenzy of ecstasy, his fingers working deeply within to coax all of the sensual secrets from her body, while he feasted on the creamy peaks of her breasts as she arched against him and breathed his name.
"Jonathan, please," she begged, her nails biting into his shoulders.
"Not yet, my love," Jonathan rasped, reveling in her need for him.
He smiled as he looked down at her parted lips and flushed features, and felt a triumphant surge of joy.
Never could he have believed how much she wanted him, or how much he could satisfy her. Boldly, he moved his kisses down to her soft honey-blond curls, and renewed the exploration his fingers had begun.
Pamela made a shy token resistance at the incredible intimate kiss, but lay back on the pillows as his other hand swept upwards over her body and fastened on one rosy nipple.
Pamela's shimmering hair spread out over the pillow in a lustrous cascade as she rolled her head from side to side in utter abandon, her passion undulating in waves from the center of her body outwards.
Soon Jonathan knew he could not hold out any longer. He waited until her ragged breathing grew calmer, and moved upwards again to take her mouth in a stirring kiss.
"Now please, Jonathan," Pamela beseeched urgently.
He rolled her onto her side to protect her bandaged shoulder. He slicked himself with his dewed fingers and with one sure thrust pressed inside Pamela's silken sheath.
His iron control slipped as he glided deeper into her tightness, breaking through her body's natural barrier. He continued to rub the delicate whorl at the apex of her thighs to push the pain into pleasure.
Pamela let out a small gasp of stunned surprise at the sharp jolt and the stretching sensation which made her feel so full she tried to spread her legs even wider to ease the pressure. She arched her hips to meet his with an instinct which caused him to lunge even deeper.
"God, Pamela!" he shouted, as he cupped her buttocks and ground into her, his climax ripping through him.
She felt her whole body clench, and her cries echoed his own around the white tiled room.
Jonathan trembled from head to toe, and began to grow almost frightened as his pangs seemed to go on forever. He felt her tighten around him, his pleasure only increasing as she cried out his name and her fingernails dug into his buttocks.
Finally they quietened. Jonathan felt so drained he lay curled against her so tightly they both could barely breathe.
"Lord, I'm sorry, I must be crushing you," he murmured, trying to slide to one side.
Pamela pleaded, "No, it's nothing, my love. Stay."
"Did I hurt you badly for your first time?" he whispered, as he brushed her tumbled tresses back from her face, and saw the moist diamonds glittering on her lashes.
"No, my love, never."
"Your shoulder?"
"It's fine,"' she reassured him.
"But you're crying," Jonathan said, kissing the tears away gently.
She stroked his sandy hair back from his brow. "Oh, my dearest, it was so wonderful. It was like coming home after a long journey. Or being surrounded with everything I adore most in the world.
"And it saddens me to think how much we both would have lost if Ferncliffe had killed me. I've longed for you so, Jonathan. I'm sorry Jane lost so much, never knowing such bliss, only cruelty."
He gathered her close, their bodies mingling in a sensual caress. "Sush, darling. Don't feel guilty for being happy. She made her choice. It was a terrible one, but the truth is she did sin. She didn't love me enough to wait for me. Didn't think what we shared was special enough to hold on to.
"But I know you do. You nearly died for a child who wasn't even your own. Jane was a good, sweet woman, but I don't think she ever would have fought for me or for justice the way you've, my precious love."
Pamela chewed her lower lip. "I just hope I can make all your dreams come true. We're all sinners, after all. As we've just proven. And I was ever such a spoilt little miss when we first met. I need to be worthy of you, darling. Now that I've known such joy in your arms, how can I ever face the prospect of losing you?"
He shook his head, and stroked the back of her neck tenderly. "I can't believe this between us is a sin. That God would damn us for loving each other so. After all, don't all blessings come from Him? And you are worthy, the only woman I could ever want by my side on my journey through life. I'll never leave you in this lifetime, or even the next, you must know that," Jonathan declared fiercely, hugging her hard. "This is forever, I swear it by everything I hold most sacred."
"Amen to that," she breathed, bestowing upon him what she thought was a sweet kiss of peace, which raged through his body like wildfire.
"At the risk of blaspheming, I heartily concur. Amen to that. And I shall look forward to worshipping you with my body, as it says in the marriage vows, for as long as the Lord sees fit to spare us."
"Another hundred years," she suggested, stretching against his long lean body like a contented cat.
"Two hundred won't be enough," Jonathan rasped, feeling anything but contented as he began to move against her, and then inside her again.
"But I'll take whatever I can so long as my little Miss makes all my dreams come true and becomes my dearest wife as soon as possible."
She grinned up at her beloved. "Now that's a much better proposal. Not at all in your usual arrogant style."
He leaned down to kiss the space between her breasts. "That's because it's straight from the heart. I'm humbled that you love me, my dearest Pamela. I ask only that I be allowed to love you forever in return."
"Much better, darling. For that lovely proposal you get a kiss and a reply. The answer is yes, Jonathan, my love. Forever."
She held him to her hammering heart as they moved together in one towards bliss, every beat an affirmation as they exploded into the light. Love, bliss, heaven. Passion, rapture, forever.
Afterword
This third book in the series came out as a result of the many questions raised by Book Two. Jonathan, the third founding Rakehell member, deserved a bride of his own, and there were some loose ends to be tied up regarding the fate of poor Jane Eltham.
We also wanted to move our two noble ladies forward, Sarah Deveril and Elizabeth Eltham, into their own stories, as well as meet some other Rakehells who will be joining us later when the dreadful war in the Peninsula is finally over.
The letter from Michael Avenel is strictly factual; only his character is fictional. We will be meeting him and his brother Randall later in the series, and the busy Dr. Blake Sanderson as well quite soon.
And what of
their friends Samuel, Gareth, Martin, Ellen and Georgiana? Not to mention the mysterious missing Davenports? Only time will tell....
In the fourth book in this series, we will be seeing Sarah Deveril again as more of the Rakehells' friends will be coming home from abroad after the dreadful wars which have rocked Europe almost continuously for over two decades.
For all of the great Rakehell titles in this series, please visit HerStory Books, http://www.herstorybooks.com
ALL TITLES BY AUTHOR:
All novels by Sorcha MacMurrough
The Mad Mistress
The Missed Match
The Miss Matched
The Matchless Miss
Scars Upon the Heart
The Scarred Heart
Guardian of the Heart
The Mistaken Miss
The Model Master
The Model Mistress
Innocence
Innocence Afire
Ravished
Experience
The Model Husband
Ruthless
Madness
Beguiled
Beguiled Anew
Ghost from the Past
Star Attraction
The Faithful Heart
The Sea of Love
The Rakehell Regency Romance Series Boxed Set 1 Page 97
