At that moment, Henry wanted nothing more than to reach down with his lips and kiss one of those nipples. Or both, really. And ever so slowly pull them into his mouth and suckle each until she was crying in pleasure and wet and ready for him. His cock hardening at the thought, he had to readjust Hannah’s body as it rested against him. She stirred and her head rolled to the other side of his chest, leaving the side of her neck fully exposed. Lowering his lips to the space under her ear, he ever so carefully kissed her. His tongue reached out and captured her earlobe, his lips closing over it to suckle it as lightly as he could manage given his odd position. Hannah’s slight moan spurred him to move his mouth down her neck, his kisses continuing as he sipped and suckled the skin there. In order to kiss the tops of her breasts, though, he would be forced to move her body slightly to one side. One arm cradled her side as he used the other to pull her closer. Perhaps his lips came down too hard on the mounded curve of her breast, or perhaps the chill of her breasts being entirely out of the water roused her. Whatever it was, Hannah was suddenly wide awake.
And had there been anyone else with a bedchamber on the second floor, they would have been as well.
Henry was reminded of the first time his father took him fishing. There was the sensation of rolling waves lifting and lowering the boat. There was the feel of the fish as it caught his line, the smooth way in which it swam up as he pulled back his rod, the weight of it barely noticeable until the fish broke the surface of the water. Then its tail lashed about, sending a cascade of water over the top of him while the rest of its body undulated uncontrollably, making the fish suddenly so heavy he couldn’t hang on and finally had to let go or be drowned in the effort to take it aboard.
When the water in the tub evened out, a thoroughly drenched Henry was staring at his very startled wife. She had somehow managed to turn herself completely over so that she was now on her hands and knees in the tub, her shoulders, back and rather beautiful, white bottom clearly out of the water. Henry knew at once where her hands were – one was planted firmly on one of his thighs while the other was proving to be rather bothersome in its current location. “My lady, if you do not move this hand,” he wrapped one of his own around her wrist and pulled up a bit to release the pressure on his groin, “I won’t be able to father the children you so desperately want, and I apparently need as heirs,” he managed to get out between gritted teeth.
Gasping, Hannah lifted her hand, but in doing so, lost her balance and pitched forward, one cheek and her breasts colliding with his rather solid chest, the dusting of crisp hair that covered it now soaked and plastered to his skin. She let out a rather audible “Oof”. The resulting wave of water from the sudden movement rebounded from the end of the tub and then lifted and landed her torso farther up onto his body. Capturing her around the waist with one arm, Henry held onto her until the waves subsided. She was about to attempt to push away from his body – he could tell from her startled expression and the way one palm of a hand was pressing against his chest – when he secured her completely by wrapping his other arm beneath her bottom. His still engorged cock, now made even harder as he realized the position into which she had managed to place herself with the help of the water, was pressed firmly against her soft belly.
“Oh!” she got out, her eyes round as they regarded his face. She then lowered them to take in the sight of his bare chest and his equally bare arms. She dared not lift herself and look between the breasts that were pressed quite firmly into his chest. She might have been a virgin, but Elizabeth had described a man’s member in extreme detail, so even Hannah knew what caused the throbbing sensation she felt pounding against her belly. There was a matching one deep inside her, its throbbing rhythm the same as the one against her belly. The tension in her body left suddenly as she sighed and allowed her body to be buoyed by the water and held in place by his arms.
“I think I might have enjoyed fishing a great deal more had I known I could catch a mermaid as beautiful as you,” Henry murmured, his voice so husky he barely recognized it.
If the words suggested he was humored by what had occurred, Hannah could not detect it in his eyes nor in the tone of his voice. And whatever ire she’d felt at discovering Henry in her bathtub – well, his bathtub, actually, but her bath water – was quickly replaced with her sudden need to be held by him. “And what does a man do when he catches a mermaid?” she countered in a whisper, her gaze traveling from the line of slight stubble along his jaw to his lips. Her own lips parted in anticipation.
“He kisses her senseless, of course,” Henry replied, again with no hint of humor. “And then he dries her off and takes her to a very soft bed and makes love to her until she is completely and thoroughly pleasured.”
Hannah held her breath. “Oh,” she whispered. “I think I would like to be that mermaid. Can I be ... that mermaid?” she asked in a voice so alluring, she barely recognized it as her own.
Henry lips were on hers in an instant, his arms pulling her body farther up his while he allowed his own to slide down the back of the tub a bit. Good God, she is wanton when given the chance, he thought as he slipped his tongue between her lips and teeth. She tasted of mint and smelled of honeysuckle and whatever citrus scent the disappearing bubbles gave off. As his hand caressed one of the globes of her bottom, hers were sliding up his chest and out to his shoulders. His other hand moved up the side of her body, his thumb seeking the side of her mounded breast where it pressed against his chest. Barely touching the wet skin there, he was thrilled when he felt her body shudder, her lips pulling away from his for only an instant so that she could gasp. When he had recaptured her lips, he used his other thumb to caress the side of her other breast. He smiled at her similar reaction.
Everything Henry was doing felt so wicked, so decadent, so wrong to Hannah, and yet she had to remind herself he was her husband. Did he do this to Sarah? Was she as receptive to his touch, to his kisses? Did she feel these pleasures? Was she wanton or demure or ..? Henry had moved a hand back to her bottom and was attempting to slide a finger between her thighs. Opening her legs a bit – she could if she bent her knees slightly around the tops of his thighs – she cried out as the finger made contact with that rather sensitive spot he’d touched the night before. Arching her back in response to the sharp and sudden stab of pleasure, her breasts came off his chest.
Henry watched, fascinated as Hannah’s head was thrown back, her lips parted as the wave of ecstasy gripped her. He was reminded of the first time he’d seen her, playing with Harold in the yard, her head thrown back in delight as the dog licked her neck. Except now, her expression was far more ... mature, wanton, perhaps. And her swollen breasts, with their ruched buds, were suddenly at a rather advantageous position with respect to his mouth. Circling his finger around the swollen nub of her womanhood one more time, he placed his lips over one of her breasts and began to suckle and kiss it. A shudder passed under his lips. Sensing how close she must be to her release, he drew the side of his tongue across the nipple while his finger stroked her womanhood one last time before he slid it into the warm, wet sheath. God, she was tight. He wanted desperately to be inside her, his own cock so engorged he was sure it was leaving a mark on her belly where it pressed into her. But he concentrated on her pleasure, on the cresting wave that was about to break and ... he felt a great deal of satisfaction as she suddenly tensed and then cried out his name. In another instant, her body went limp and fell down onto his. Even as he held her, as he stroked her back and her arms and gentled her to relax against him, he could feel the trembling of her entire body.
A moment more and he would need to get them out of the water. Already the ends of his fingers were showing signs of wrinkling, and despite the heated condition of his own body, the water was cooling quickly.
Not able to push herself up and not necessarily wanting to, Hannah lay with her head resting in the small of Henry’s shoulder. Never could she have imagined the pleasure of a marriage bed ... or a bath, rather.
No one had described being pleasured in a copper tub, not even Elizabeth. The thing wasn’t truly large enough to accomplish what she was sure Gisborn wanted just then, judging from the throbbing mass squashed into her belly, but surely he would help her out of the tub and onto the bed. She rather doubted she had the strength to do so on her own.
As if he could read her thoughts, Henry slowly straightened in the tub, repositioning Hannah so he could get his legs beneath him and stand up. Once he was out of tub and had a linen wrapped around his middle, he reached down to capture Hannah beneath her arms and pull her up and out of the tub. He grinned as he saw her skin turn to gooseflesh, her nipples tighten into tiny buds. Winding a linen around her shoulders and another around her bottom, he reached down and captured her knees in one arm while his other supported her shoulders. Grinning again when he heard her gasp of surprise, he easily carried her to her bed. The downturned linens left a large, white expanse on which to place her still wet body. The soft mattress gave way as they settled onto it.
Henry leaned down and touched his lips to hers. Hannah responded by opening her mouth a bit and meeting the pressure of his lips against hers. She felt his arms press into the mattress on either side of her torso, enclosing her body as the kiss continued. She inhaled the scent of him, a subtle musk that emanated from his entire body, and she breathed in the scent of the citrus soap from their bath. And the kiss! His lips were firm, but he was careful in how he held them against hers, at once tasting hers and pulling away slightly before pushing them against hers again and again.
When his mouth finally moved away from hers, it was to gently kiss her cheek and neck. “I have wanted to kiss you like this all night long, Hannah,” he whispered just before his lips took her earlobe into his mouth.
Hannah gasped at the sensation as his tongue caressed her ear. She was suddenly aware of how her body was responding to his kisses and his touch, sure her breasts had escaped from beneath the bath linen, and if they hadn’t, she wanted them out and in his warm hands. A shiver passed through her body as his lips moved to her neck and throat. Arching back, she took a deep breath as his tongue made its way down to the space below her collarbone, as his lips moved to hover over the swell of her breasts. Her thighs quivered, the heat between them making her very aware of the male that hovered over her. She could think of nothing but giving herself to this man. “Take me, Henry,” she whispered as she gasped for air.
Chapter 10
Gisborn and Hannah in the Middle of the Night
Despite Lady Bostwick’s insistence she would enjoy it, Hannah was still anxious about what was to come. Perhaps these waves of pleasure Henry was inducing were part of what Lady Bostwick had alluded to the week before. Do not be afraid to take whatever pleasure your husband wants to provide you. You will return it ten-fold without doing much more than opening your body to him and giving him an heir.
Henry lifted his lips from her collarbone and stared at her for only a moment. He placed a hand against her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lower lip, caressing the fullness of it as she wrapped a hand around his wrist and rested another on his shoulder. Suddenly, his bare chest was of more importance to her. She’d seen it when it was soaking wet in the tub, but now, it glowed in the candlelight, the light dusting of black hair tickling her nose and the pads of her fingers as she kissed the area around his nipples. At his sudden gasp, she moved her lips to his upper arms and moved her trembling fingers to play over his back.
Henry shuddered at the sensations that coursed through his body. She is truly giving herself to me, he realized, his gaze traveling the length of her body before he placed his mouth against one of the round breasts. He suckled the nipple. Hannah gasped in surprise at the feeling of his wet lips and the tip of his tongue against her. A shiver of pleasure passed through her and settled just above her thighs. A whimper escaped her lips as the throbbing sensation deepened within her and suddenly demanded attention.
Moving his hand to the front of her body, he slowly felt her belly and breasts, his thumb extended so as to brush the tip of her engorged nipples as he continued his caresses. Despite the growing heat of her body, her skin shivered under his touch, and he heard her sudden but quiet gasps.
Pulling away a bit to look at Hannah, Henry’s gaze took in her entire body before returning to her face. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered urgently. Naked, now that the linens were unwrapped from around her shoulders and waist, she was the most erotic sight he’d ever beheld. This was not the body of a fairy tale princess, but that of an enchantress, ripe and ready to cast her spell over him. She had already done that, he realized, when she’d played mermaid in the tub. His arousal was proof of it, his cock becoming uncomfortable in its unrequited state.
Bending down a bit, he kissed her other nipple while Hannah slid her trembling hands down the side of his body. Her touch was tentative, unsure. Where am I allowed to touch?
“Anywhere you wish,” Henry managed to get out between kissing her breasts and the inside of her elbows.
She gasped, her fingers stilling on the front of his hips. Had he read her mind? Or had she spoken aloud just then? Suddenly emboldened, she traced a fingertip toward his manhood, explored his erection with her fingers. The silken skin, tight and already wet at the tip, throbbed against her hand. She marveled at the feel of it, surprised that it did not frighten her as she expected and relieved it was not quite as large as she had feared. Sliding her forefinger down along a pulsing vein, she gingerly touched his balls and then cupped them with several fingertips. Releasing his grip on her nipple to catch his breath, Henry closed his eyes and placed his face next to her shoulder, his hand moving down the front of her, across her hips, and down as far as he could reach along one leg and then slowly up to the dark space between her thighs. Hannah could feel her entire body trembling in anticipation, and then she inhaled suddenly as he slid first one finger and then another through her dark curlies and between her thighs. The warm moistness spread over his fingers as felt for the nub that, if rubbed just so, would send her into ecstasy once again.
Startled by his intimate touch, Hannah inhaled and clung to him, her hands moving to his arms, her fingernails digging into his flesh, branding him with a series of half moons in his skin. At Hannah’s instinct to clench shut the opening to the space between her thighs, Henry coaxed her legs apart as he continued to massage the engorged nub just inside the honeyed folds. Hannah breaths came faster as a sharp but exquisite sensation gripped her. She cried out, her back arcing so that her breasts were within reach of his mouth. He licked one hardened pebble with the side of his tongue before pulling it into his mouth. Hannah cried out his name as her body convulsed against him. Even before she had recovered from the pleasure, a pleasure so intense and sharp, it was almost painful, she felt his slick fingers stroke the tender folds of skin. There was a pause in their exploration as Henry lifted himself and moved his kisses from one peaked nipple to another, his tongue playfully licking the other hard pebble. When he slid a finger inside her, Hannah jerked, clenching instinctively around the intruder. Henry held his breath as he watched her eyes widen, her bee stung lips parting slightly. When he felt her relax from around his finger, he pushed it in a bit further and used the pad of his thumb to circle her swollen sex.
Whimpering a bit, Hannah lifted her hips slightly, forcing his finger to bury itself deeper inside her. Her breath catching, she slid a hand down the side of his body, pausing when she realized his manhood rested against her thigh. She gingerly touched the taut silken skin, feeling a great deal of satisfaction when her ministrations elicited the same reaction from Henry that she’d expressed only seconds before.
Henry closed his eyes, fighting the urge to simply allow himself the release his body was demanding. Realizing Hannah was as ready as he could make her, and hoping he wouldn’t hurt her too terribly, he slowly removed his finger from inside her. He lifted his hips over hers and placed the tip of his throbbing manhood where his finger had just be
en. “Wrap your legs around my back,” he whispered, nudging himself into her just an inch or so. As she watched him through lowered lashes, the euphoria from her climax still on her face, Henry entered her slowly. He felt her entire body trembling – in anticipation or fear, he did not know – he merely knew he had to have her. “This may ... hurt a bit,” he whispered, his lips brushing against hers. He was aware of her nod of acknowledgment, and when he lifted his head a bit so that he could see her face, he saw desire in her eyes. Lowering his lips onto hers, he kissed her gently and then slowly pushed into her, his manhood demanding he thrust while what was left of rational thought told him he had to take it slow. This was her first time; there would be pain. When his manhood reached her maidenhood, Henry paused, pulled himself out a bit, and then thrust his cock deep into her.
Hannah winced at the pinch of sharp pain, but stifled any sound as the warm sensation of fullness filled her lower body. Her husband’s motions were careful and deliberate – Henry pushed into her quickly and then slowly pulled out, repeating his movements rhythmically as if he wanted to make it all last as long as possible.
With the combination of her body clenching on his manhood with each thrust, and her lips taking purchase on one of his nipples to gently suckle it, and her fingers lightly stroking down the sides of his torso and around his hips to hold onto his buttocks, Henry could no longer hold back. With Sarah, this would be the time he would pull out of her body, spill his seed on her belly or on the bed linens. But this was Hannah. This was his wife. He could take his pleasure while deep inside, her wet warmth gripping him, inviting him to spill his seed within her. As he pushed into her as hard and as fast as he could, the release he felt was intense, consuming his entire body in a spasm of pure pleasure.
He nearly yelled out as Hannah arched her back in response to his body’s wave of pleasure, her thighs gripping him tightly. He forced his mouth onto one of her shoulders to stifle the growl emanating from his throat. He felt Hannah’s body shudder under him and he slowly relaxed, all his energy expended and the last vestiges of his climax waning.
The Seduction of an Earl Page 13
