It was going to be a long and trying afternoon.
13
May was delighted with the afternoon. Loudoun kept her close the entire day, his glances speaking of desire and intimacy. His touch was gentle and often. They didn’t speak any more of the future or their relationship, but May was content with the day. And tonight, she had a gift for him.
Dinner was also a delightful affair, Barrett regaling them with stories of his family. After the meal, May excused herself.
Barrett turned to her. “With only three of us, there is no need for you to leave the men. You’re welcome to join us.”
But she smiled. “Smoke your pipes and cigars. All that walking today has worn me out. Goodnight.” She kissed Barrett’s cheek then gave Loudoun a nod.
Racing to her room, her maid helped her change and brush out her hair. “Would you like me to braid it, miss?”
“Just a loose one, tonight,” she requested. Nervous excitement flitted through her chest as she assessed her reflection. It would be night she’d never forget.
As soon as she was alone, she tossed on her housecoat and made her way down the hall by candlelight. If Loudoun’s bedroom was locked, this would be trickier.
Reaching his room, she tried the handle and found the door to be open. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Sliding inside, she lit the candle next to the bed and slipped off the housecoat. Then, stoking the fire, she slid in between his covers to wait, her heart hammering so loud, she was sure it was echoing through the house.
She’d been prepared to wait a long time but within a quarter hour the door opened and Loudoun walked in. She almost gasped aloud in surprise, which was silly. The entire reason she was here was to be with him.
“I think I’ll just be working from my home office tomorrow,” he said and May realized the real flaw in her plan. His valet was with him. Her butterflies of excitement and anticipation turned to dread.
Popping up, she saw Loudoun’s head swing toward her and then he turned on his heel. “I won’t be needing your services tonight.” His body blessedly blocked her from the view of the man behind him but she slid under the covers just in case.
The door clicked closed and, in an instant, Loudoun was pulling the covers back, his face close to hers. “What do you think you are doing?”
She gave him a glowing smile, not lifting from the bed. “I have a gift for you.”
He groaned. “May, I can barely keep my hands off you when you are not in my bed.”
“So don’t,” she answered as she slowly began lifting the hem of her nightgown. “I’ve heard there are precautions we can take so that I do not conceive, is that true?”
His eyes were glued to the fabric as it slid past her knees to her thighs. “Yes, for the most part.”
She nodded. “Then I want to give you my virginity,” she whispered as the fabric slid to her mid-thigh.
“This is not wise. I’ve told you--”
She rose up then, and pressed her lips to his to silence them. “This is a gift. I want nothing in return. It’s yours to have forever since I can never give it to another.” Then she lay back down, and continued pulling her hem up.
It had near reached the juncture of her thighs and his trembling hand followed its path up her bare flesh.
When she exposed her most intimate parts, she heard him suck in his breath. But she kept going, reveling in the way his eyes devoured her. Soon her navel was exposed and then her ribs. His hand kept moving too, tracing the line of the hip to her tiny waist. His fingers counting her ribs as the lace along the bottom reached her breasts.
Her courage failed for just a second. Once it was done, it could not be undone. But then he took over, brushing the linen up over her breast while using the movement to give them the lightest caress. “My god, you’re stunning.” He planted a light kiss in the valley between them even as he pulled her up to lift the night rail over her head. Then he reached for the ribbon in her hair.
Untying it, he undid the braid, combing her locks out onto his pillow. He kissed her face, then her neck as he slowly traced the outline of every curve with his hands.
Her eyes fluttered closed and she had the distinct impression that it was he who was giving her a gift. Her body hummed under his touch. It was amazingly gentle as he caressed every inch of her.
And then his lips began to trail down her neck to her collarbone as he shrugged out of his own shirt. At the touch of his bare skin to hers, she gasped, her body arching against his. He smiled as he nuzzled her. “There is nothing better than the feel of skin against skin.”
“I didn’t know.” She laced her fingers though his hair as his lips kissed a path toward her breast. Her body tensed in a sweet ache that left her breathless, her skin tingling with anticipation.
His lips lightly brushed one of her nipples, and though the touch was gentle her body spasmed in need. “Lucius,” her tone begged and she pushed up toward him.
With a grin, he took the nipple in his mouth and sucked deeper. Then he moved to do the same to the other. His lips began working lower, skimming across her abdomen, she started pushing him further, remembering the feel of his kisses on her thighs.
“Patience, my love,” he whispered against her belly. “It will be so much better if we go slowly.” He gave her stomach another light kiss. “Besides, I want to savor every second of this.”
“Will you remember me when I’m gone?” She sucked in her breath as his lips brushed along her lower belly.
“Always,” he whispered as he parted her legs and kissed her thighs.
The ache was so intense that her head thrashed back and forth on the pillow. “I’ll never love another. I want you to know that.”
His lips just brushed the soft folds of her sex and she cried out. He didn’t answer, instead he began a slow rhythm with his mouth that had her body heating beyond anything she had ever experienced before.
She was dying from pleasure and desperate to move faster but Loudoun kept the pace slow and the wanting only seemed to increase her pleasure.
Her body tightened and tensed, toes curling as pleasure unfurled inside her. Though it was her lower lips he kissed she could have sworn he was whispering words of love as he worked her. Unable to stand the pleasure another moment, her body shattered. She cried out, words tumbling from her lips that she barely understood. If he’d asked her to repeat them, she was sure she wouldn’t remember what they were. He kissed a trail back up the line of her stomach between her breast and up her neck. “That was beautiful,” he whispered in her ear, the skin of his chest brushing hers. “Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?” Her eyes had been closed in sated pleasure but she pried them open to look in his. “I should be thanking you. I came to give you a gift but I think it is you who is giving.”
“I could do that a thousand times and never grow tired of it. It would always be a gift to me,” he whispered.
A sudden pang of doubt clogged her throat. Because he very well may do that a thousand more times, just not with her. “I’m sure you’ve held many women like that.”
“Not like that. Never like that.” He held her chin as he looked into her eyes. “That was my gift.” He kissed her lips, once, twice, three times and then pulled back to look at her again. “I won’t take your virginity, May. It’s too much, even for a man as selfish as me.”
Tears pricked her eyes then. She knew the real reason and she turned away. “You don’t want me.”
“Oh, love. Try to understand. A man will plow nearly any field that will accept him. But that… is completely different. It is special because you are.” He took a breath. “I don’t take your virginity because I care about you too much. You’ll see. You’ll thank me for saving it for your husband.”
He was kissing her again. Back down her body. She tried to push him away, wanting to reject him the way he’d rejected her, but he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and she cried out in pleasure, pulling him close rather than pushing him away. It was too d
ifficult to resist now. “I’ll make you feel so good, May. Tonight will be ours.” And then he slid down between her legs again. “You are so stunning. Never have I seen a woman as perfect as you.” As he lowered his head, he inserted a finger deep inside her. She bucked against him, pleasure exploding around him, causing her body to heave and shudder.
Her eyes were heavy as she floated back down, but she wasn’t about to let him get away so easily. If he could use his mouth on her, couldn’t she do the same for him?
Grasping his shoulders, she pulled him back up her body, delighting once again in the brush of his chest. “So you do not want to be inside me?”
“That is not what I said.” He brushed her hair back from her face, allowing the strands to slip through his fingers.
“I can’t make you, can I?” she quirked a brow.
He chuckled. “I suppose you could try.”
“Can I touch you the way you touched me?” she asked, pushing him to the side and rolling with him so they lay facing each other.
His breath hitched and with a nod, he began unlacing his breeches. “It won’t take much, I swear. I’ve been dying for you.”
She gave a shake of her head. Strange how the pleasure mixed with the pain. Was that how it always was?
She looked down to see his straining manhood between their bodies. It too looked near pained, so swollen the skin was taut. Wrapping her hand around it, she heard his breath hiss. Using his own hand, clasped over hers, he began a slow rhythm. But he hadn’t just used his hands, he’d also used his mouth and so she scooted down, feathering kisses along his belly. When she reached the tip, she placed a soft kiss there, marveling at the velvety softness of his skin.
She heard him groan as the fingers of his free hand wound into her hair. Opening her mouth, she slid her tongue along the shaft. He was growling as his hand tightened in her hair and he increased the tempo. But like him, she kept her mouth soft, slow, teasing the most pleasure from him till his groans were gasping breaths and he was pumping into her, every muscle straining. It was so masculine that she felt her own excitement rising.
“May,” he gasped out as his seed spilled in her mouth.
Looking up at him, she grinned, wanting to bask in the pleasure she had given him. Wanting more for herself. She kept her hand on his shaft, kept the rhythm even though he’d let go.
His eyes were round as he looked at her. “May?”
“If this is our night… I don’t want to be done yet. Do you?” And then she bent down to kiss the muscles of his stomach. But her lips barely brushed the skin and he was dragging her up his body and rolling over, he was on top of her. His forearms sat on either side of her while his hand cradled her head and his lips pressed over and over to hers.
“No, I don’t want to be done.”
14
The truth was, he never wanted to be done. If he had thought that May was enticing before, now she was irresistible. Her eagerness, sensuality, kindness were forming around him and he was healing. Deep inside.
A decision was being made, he had no control over it, but he wouldn’t let her go. She was his and this was where she belonged.
He swelled at the thought and her legs wrapped around his waist. She was so inviting, everything about her fitting him perfectly. He had sensed it.
Without meaning too, he began pushing inside of her as she conformed around him like a glove. “I was going to wait,” he groaned.
“Wait for what?” Her hands were digging into his back, her body tensing at the invasion. But he couldn’t stop now. She was his, she belonged to him and he wanted to claim her.
Pushing all the way inside, be broke through her maidenhead as she cried, wrapping her arms around him.
“You’re mine now, May.” He kissed her, slowly easing out of her and then gently pushing back in, allowing her body to adjust. “I won’t let another man have you.”
Her lips met his stroke for stroke. “Are you saying we’ll marry?”
“Yes.” That was exactly what he was saying. It wasn’t that he pushed his doubts aside or suddenly believed in the institution of marriage but it was the only choice with a woman like her. He’d have to do his best to make her happy.
“But I thought you didn’t want to…” She trailed off as he moved inside her again. He saw her eyes roll back as she met his stroke.
“I want you.” He knew he was failing already. She had expressed her love and all he had talked about was desire. He made a silent plea that it would be enough.
As if she heard him, she replied, “Yes.”
He moved inside her, slowly, carefully, even as her body seemed to crave more. But his gentleness was his way of showing his feelings. He’d keep her safe from pain and harm always.
The pressure was building inside him, the need for release. But he kept the rhythm slow even as she ground against him. “Lucius,” she begged.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he answered her plea by increasing the tempo as together they crashed into release.
She lay in the circle of his arms. Her hand leisurely stroking up and down his side as her eyes drifted closed. Sleepily, she murmured, “We don’t have to marry. It wasn’t my intent.”
He smiled against her temple. “We will marry, despite your intent. Neither Wurts nor Rutland or any other will have you. You are mine.”
With a sleepy smile, she drifted off to sleep. He lay watching the softness of her features as her eyelashes rested on her cheeks. She was so lovely, he ached as he looked at her. He’d not return her to her room till dawn. He didn’t care who found out. In his mind, May was already his.
Pulling her closer, he fell asleep.
* * *
HEADING down the stairs the next morning, he was sure May was still sleeping. She’d barely woken when he’d carried her to her room. A deep satisfaction filled him at the thought.
Making his way directly to the study, he wanted to discuss the marriage with Barrett before he did anything else.
Voices drifted from the room and he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should interrupt. But then he pushed the door open. It was his house and his study, after all.
Barrett glanced up and then waved him forward.
The elder Wurts didn’t seem to notice as he continued on. “My son was most enamored with your niece. We have substantial holdings that we would be willing to bring to the negotiating table to tie our families together.”
Willy didn’t look smitten, he only looked as though he indulged in too many pints the night before, he was hunched over, pale and sweating.
“How did it go at the tables?” Loudoun asked from the doorway. He no longer cared about the contract and so, rather than indulging either Wurts’ ego, he wanted to prod them a little.
William glowered at him and he knew the man had lost. He also knew that a man enamored did not abandon his lady for the gaming tables.
But his father stepped in. “My son came home with an excess of winnings.” He turned back to Barrett and leaned forward. “We are about to expand our line, and we’d be willing to give you a percentage.”
Loudoun moved into the room, sitting on the edge of his desk. “What do you like best about Miss Stanly?”
Willy gave him a bleary stare. “What?”
“This is a love match, yes? What has you so enamored?” Loudoun crossed his arms over his chest. He would make the man squirm and then he would throw him out on his arse.
“Besides her beauty?” Willy blinked. “Her charm, of course.”
Wurts senior looked well pleased with the answer but Loudoun rolled his eyes. “Is that why you spent most of the evening at the tables?”
Understanding slowly dawned on Willy’s face as his look went from confused to surprised and then angry. “You’re the one who dragged her off.”
“That’s right.” Loudoun leaned down wanting to be clearly heard. “She isn’t for you. Take your offer and get out of my house.”
“Now see here,” Wurts senior stood.
>
“There will be no contract. Good day.” Loudoun stood too, towering over the other man. He was trying to rein in his temper. He anger was near irrational. But his hands were shaking again. Now he knew, he didn’t want liquor, he only wanted her. It was a damn good thing he was marrying her. He didn’t know if he’d survive without her.
Willy stood and gave him a menacing glare before turning on his heel to exit. Wurts followed suit, but before he exited, called, “This isn’t over.”
“There was a better way to handle that,” Barrett chimed in behind him.
“Willy doesn’t care for her.” Loudoun stood. He clenched his fists to hide the tremor in his hands. “Their lies were insulting.”
“To whom?” Barrett asked.
“To you. To her. She deserves a husband who cherishes her. Not one who leaves her for the gaming tables.”
“Like you?” Barrett voice was quiet, neutral.
Loudoun took a breath. He’d just accused Wurts of dishonesty and so he wouldn’t commit the same act. He’d tell the truth. “I don’t deserve her either. I know that.”
“I told Chris, May’s cousin by marriage, that we never deserve them. If you’ve chosen the right woman, she is better than you. We keep them safe from the evils in this world and in return, they make us better men. I didn’t deserve Piper either. Not sure I do now. But I love her with all my heart and I am changed for the better because of it.”
Loudoun tossed himself into the chair that Wurts had just vacated. “You’ve given that speech before?”
“I have.” He nodded. “Chis lost his parents. He used war to drown his sorrows rather than drink but it left him scarred. May’s cousin Lizzie is much like May. Kind and warm, though May is more stubborn. I am not surprised they have fallen in love with similar men.”
“Chris, is he happy?” Loudoun looked to the floor. His hands stilled as he waited for Barrett’s answer.
“Very. And you will be too.” Barrett nodded.
“And Liz?”
“Oh yes. Chris and their children are her pride and joy.”
Taming a Rogue Earl: Taming the Heart Series Book 6 Page 9
