feminine power to prompt such a response from him.
"I want you to give me a firm squeeze now." When she shot him a surprised look, he commanded, "Do it." When she did, albeit gingerly, he quizzed, "What do I feel like to you?"
She thought for a moment, then replied, "Hard, but you yield a bit when I squeeze you."
"Exactly." He crouched down before her to meet her gaze, reaching down as he did so to circle her hands around him. "No matter how hard a man's erection might get, it will never be too hard not to yield and mold to a woman's softness when he enters her. It most certainly is not the punishing battering ram the Duchess of Hunsderry claims it to be."
"I-I suppose not," Julia conceded, glancing back down at where their hands remained wrapped around him. He released his hold then, telling her to open hers as well to expose him. When she did, he guided her fingers to his sheath, showing her how it slipped back and forth, thus demonstrating the manner in which he would further yield to her. After urging her to test his entire length for pliancy, which to her growing relief she discovered was pliant indeed, he sat back on his heels, concluding, "So you see, sweetheart? I am not so fearsome down there after all."
"No," she agreed, now beginning to believe that he might fit inside her after all. She stared between his splayed legs, thoughtfully contemplating everything she had learned. Still a bit confused about several details regarding the matter, she quizzed, "The Duchess of Hunsderry claims that men of common birth have much larger male parts than noblemen. Is that true?"
To her surprise, Gideon threw back his head and laughed. "I daresay that most noblemen would take exception to that theory, since a large penis is generally thought to denote superior virility." He grinned broadly. "Do remind me to thank the duchess for her compliment the next time I see her."
Julia could not have been more bewildered. "Then it is considered to be a good thing for a man to be large down there?"
"A very good thing. And aside from Her Grace, most women seem to agree. However, it is not true that a man's bloodline determines his size, at least not in the manner Her Grace claims. I can honestly tell you from having bathed in Indian palace bathhouses with both noblemen and commoners, that there is no correlation between social station and genital size."
"And what about Her Grace's views on commoners' primitive urges?" she inquired, readily accepting his explanation on the matter. How could she doubt him when he spoke with such candor?
"Like his size, a man's behavior between the sheets has nothing whatsoever to do with whether he is a commoner or a nobleman. It is entirely dependent upon his character. If a man is gentle and courteous by nature, then he will be so during lovemaking."
And if anyone was gentle and courteous by nature, it was Gideon. Her wonderful Gideon. Julia smiled, feeling an enormous weight lift from her mind. With Gideon as her lover, she truly did have nothing to fear from the bridal bed. Now wanting nothing more than to experience it and to learn whatever other sensual lessons he could teach her, Julia leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his mouth, saying, "You are an excellent teacher, my love, for I find that I am no longer afraid." Kissing him again, this time lingering over his lips to nibble his lower one, she added, "In fact, I find that I am anxious to proceed to our next lesson in lovemaking."
With a grin he pulled her into his embrace, dragging her off the bed to cradle her between his legs, clasping her clothed form against his nude one. "Your servant, my lady," he whispered into her ear, pausing between each word to tease and nibble her lobe.
Julia moaned her pleasure, tipping her head to urge him on. He promptly obliged, pressing soft, sucking kisses to the place, his hot breath tickling her flesh in a way that she found almost unbearably erotic. Melting bonelessly against him in her bliss, she sighed, "How I love you, Gideon!"
On down her neck he kissed, each thrilling brush of his lips sending sparks of primal heat shooting through her veins, making her body feel warm and heavy, and her pulse skitter alarmingly out of control. He was kissing around her jaw now, moving over her chin and steadily upward until he at last found her mouth. Letting his lips hover over hers, he whispered, "For the record, I love you, too, sweetheart." Then his mouth swooped down over hers, claiming and possessing it.
Julia's instinctive response to him was so powerful that her body instantly quickened, and her mouth eagerly answered the sensual demand of his lips, greedily drinking in the fire and fierceness of his desire. Over and over again he kissed her, his lips ravishing and worshiping hers, delighting and stirring her. She arched and squirmed against him in fevered response, clinging tightly to his neck as his tongue began to tease and stroke and twine with hers, feeling as if she might die from the rapture of his kisses. Then his lips abruptly left hers and he pulled away, holding her at arm's length.
For a long moment he simply looked at her, his breath tearing from his chest in harsh, labored gusts, his eyes hot and openly lustful as they roamed over her face and form. Then he growled, a low, primitive sound, and buried his face against her throat. Resuming his kissing there, he groaned, "Dear God, Julia! How I want you!"
How she wanted him too! Unable to voice her desire for the sobbing moans swelling in her throat, she tangled her fingers in his thick hair and urged him on. And on he went, the sleek silk of his mouth inching lower and lower, brushing the curve of her arched throat, his tongue circling and caressing her pulse point, kissing over her collarbone and then down until he reached the swell of her breasts. Again he paused, this time lifting his head to gaze almost reverently at the sloping softness of her cleavage, his hand lifting to gently trace the contours with his fingertips.
The shock of his tickling touch against her sensitized skin was electrifying, sending currents of raw fire surging through her breasts, making them throb and ache to be fondled. She moaned her need and undulated against him, pressing and rubbing her now-burning nipples against him, begging him to touch them. "Gideon, please," she gasped, though how she managed to speak for her breathlessness, she could not say.
To her sensual bereavement, he instead pulled away, grasping her chin to force her to meet his gaze. Staring deeply into her eyes, he whispered, "Are you quite certain that this is what you wish, my love?" His voice was breaking with huskiness, betraying the urgency of his own need.
"Yes. Oh, yes!" she gasped, nodding several times in her eagerness to proceed.
He searched her eyes for a moment or two, as if seeking signs of fear or hesitation. When he found none, he pulled her back into his embrace and reclaimed her mouth with his. Her lips instantly parted and he plunged inside, his hands moving to the hooks at the back of her gown, deftly unlatching and opening them. A short while later Julia felt her bodice sag and the neckline began to slip over her shoulders. Again he pulled from their kiss, this time to ease the garment off her.
Eager to be rid of it, she helped strip it from her passion-fevered body, and then made short work of discarding her underclothes. Now clad only in her white silk stockings, she stood wantonly before him, a thrill of feminine power racing through her at his expression of enraptured awe as he drank in the sight of her nudity. Languorously striking what she hoped was a seductive pose, she whispered, "Make me your wife, my love." The words no sooner left her mouth than he scooped her up in his arms, engaging her lips in a another kiss as he placed her on the bed.
Rather than join her there, Gideon remained standing by the bedside, admiring and savoring her beauty. She was exquisite with her flawless ivory skin and autumn-bright hair . . . sheer perfection, every slender line, every graceful curve and lush contour of her body a miracle of feminine beauty. She stirred and aroused him as no woman had ever done before, especially lying as she was before him with her skin flushed by passion and her lips swollen from his kisses. She was gazing up at him with such trust, such unbridled longing that any remaining doubt in his mind as to whether she truly wanted him was instantly erased.
A ragged sob escaped him, the mere sight of her making him ache in ways that h
e had never before imagined possible. She was so seductive, so willing and inviting, that simply looking at her was making his sex throb with a fierceness that boded ill for his control. Aware that he might not be able to last much longer in his current state, he lowered himself onto the bed beside her, intent on preparing her to receive him.
Never in his life had Gideon felt such urgency, such raw and rampant need. Yet he forced himself to love Julia slowly, thoroughly, wanting her to savor and enjoy the experience, to make certain that she never again felt fear at the prospect of receiving his husbandly attentions. Thus he kissed and caressed every luscious inch of her, coaxing and wooing her passion with his hands and mouth.
Following her writhing body's uninhibited directive, he paused on her breasts, lifting and cupping their sweet bounty in his hands to knead, fondle, and suckle them. When she began to thrash and arch in mindless urgency, her thighs opening in brazen demand, he let his hands meander downward, massaging in a soft, circular motion as he lingered over her slender waist and flat belly. She wiggled and squirmed in inflamed response, urging him lower, her sobbing moans giving voice to her sensual torment.
Tormented by need himself and feeling as if he might explode from it at any moment, Gideon abruptly dipped lower to comb through her feminine curls. She shuddered and jerked, opening her legs yet wider, splaying them to reveal her glistening womanhood, begging him to touch it. Struggling to govern his now-overwhelming urgency, Gideon gently parted her slick flesh, opening it until he exposed the hardened bud of her desire.
"Gideon, please," she whimpered, jerking her hips at him, begging him to touch her there.
Still exposing her, Gideon lightly caressed her thighs, stroking up the inner contour and around the edges of her woman's place, taking care not to touch her most sensitive spot as he traced down her other leg.
She gasped, thrashing in frenzied need. "Gideon, I need-"
"This?" He touched her bud with one finger.
She surged against him, her legs straining yet further apart. "Yes. Oh, Gideon, please."
Again he did not immediately comply, teasing her by merely holding his finger against her. Maddened by her need, she began to rub against him, imploring him to stroke and fondle her.
Gideon chuckled, though what he really wanted to do was straddle her and bury his beleaguered sex into the tempting place she was thrusting so tantalizingly at him. Knowing that he could not do so until she was properly prepared, he began to stroke her, now softly, now deeply, now dipping down to taste her, further parting her as he did so, trying to gauge her readiness for him to begin spreading her feminine opening.
Julia drew in a shuddering breath as hot, tingling threads of pleasure spread throughout her, feeling as if she would die if he did not take her to that blissful place he had taken her on their wedding night. Yet every time she came close to the edge of it and was about to take the plunge, he stopped her, pulling her back.
"Gideon," she mewed in protest as he did so a third time.
"Not yet, love," he murmured, beginning his torment all over again.
She could barely breathe as he traced the damp edges of her womanhood, slowly circling inward, now and again grazing the place that ached most. Over her most secret recesses he glided, his finger pushing inside her just the slightest bit and then withdrawing, traveling upward to fondle her throbbing bud.
Over and over again he repeated the motion, each time pushing deeper inside her. Julia became so swept away by the thrilling sensations washing over her, that she did not object when he finally pushed all the way in. Remaining inside her for a moment or so, he withdrew, reentering her in the next instant. She froze, a squeak escaping her when she felt two fingers inside her, gently opening her.
"Am I hurting you?" Gideon murmured, his other hand moving back to her most needful place to calm and soothe her.
She instantly relaxed as liquid warmth shot through her nether regions. When he touched her there, it was not so bad having his fingers inside her. Besides, having him inside her did not precisely hurt; it just felt strange and unfamiliar. Aware that she must tolerate being entered by something much larger than his fingers if she were ever to be his wife, and wanting that more than anything else on earth, she forced
herself to smile and whisper, "No, love. You are not hurting me."
"Good." He pulled out, reentering with three fingers. This time she felt uncomfortably stretched, and she instinctively closed her legs to protect herself.
He stopped her, coaxing them wide again. "I know, sweetheart, I know," he crooned, lowering his head to suckle her bud as he lightly began pumping her with his fingers.
After several moments, during which she lay tense and acutely aware of his fingers moving inside her, she again began to relax and drift toward her climax.
And again he stopped her before she could get there, pulling his mouth away as he withdrew his fingers. Instead of reentering her, as she expected him to do, he further opened her legs, bending her knees to push them up to her belly. Bringing her to the brink again with his mouth, he left her hovering there, letting his fingers replace his lips as he rose to his knees to position himself between her thighs. Gathering her into his embrace with one arm, he reached down and again entered her with his fingers. After preparing her a bit more, he pulled out, slowly reentering her with something that filled her opening completely, Julia looked down to see his tip inside her, gaping at where they were joined in wide-eyed shock.
"Does it hurt, love?" he inquired, anxiously searching her face for signs of pain.
She considered for a moment. Now that he had been in for a moment, he seemed to have molded to her shape, exactly as he had promised, so it really did not hurt. Pleased by their success, she shook her head and kissed him.
"Promise me that you will tell me if I do hurt you, and you wish me to stop," he instructed, kissing her back. His hand moved back down between her legs to stimulate her again.
"Mmm." She nodded once. As always happened when he touched her there, she instantly relaxed. When she had again melted back against the mattress in her pleasure, he carefully moved deeper. She gasped, but she did not tell him to stop.
Now barely able to contain himself at the feel of her tight virgin's flesh embracing him, Gideon moved yet deeper, continuing to stroke her slick bud as he did so.
Degree by slow degree he entered her, stopping only when he felt the fragile barrier of her maidenhead. Knowing that it would cause her pain to break it, he gathered her tighter into his embrace, whispering, "Sweetheart, I am going to fully enter you now. I am afraid it will hurt at first, but I promise that it will get better. However, if you wish me to stop now and withdraw, I shall do so." Heaven help him! He would probably die from the intensity of his need if she told him to do so, but he would stop anyway. He loved her far too much to do anything that might spoil their future happiness together.
She opened her eyes to meet his, gazing into them as if uncertain how to respond. Then she bit her lower lip and said, "Do it. If you say that it will get better, then I believe you."
Gideon smiled tenderly at her display of bravery. He could tell that she was indeed very frightened of what he was about to do, and yet she loved him enough that she was willing to place her trust in him. Capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss, his hand still fondling her between her legs, he thrust hard, taking her maidenhood.
She cried out into his mouth, her whole body stiffening at the shock of her pain. Though Gideon wanted nothing more in that instant than to plunge into her taut warmth again and again, and relieve his now-unbearable arousal, he forced his hips to remain still, letting her adjust to him.
Rather than push him away and demand that he pull out, as Gideon half feared she might do, Julia stayed as she was, her only movement to pull her mouth from his and bury her face against his chest. For several long moments he simply held her, soothingly stroking and patting her back. Now and again he felt a deep shudder run through her and heard a muffled sob.
/>
By and by she looked up, and brokenly whispered, "What do we do next?" Her face was red and damp with tears, and her lower lip was impressed with tooth marks where she had bitten it.
Gideon's fiery urgency instantly cooled at the sight of her distress. "Nothing if you are in pain." Caressing her hair, he cradled her against him, his voice tender yet husky with remorse as he added, "I am sorry this is hurting you so much, love. Perhaps it would be best if I stopped now and we tried again some other time. Now that I have taken your maidenhood and stretched you a bit, it should not hurt the next time."
She shook her head, her endearingly blotchy face growing adamant. "No. I do not want to stop until you have found your pleasure." When he began to protest, afraid of causing her further pain, she silenced him with a kiss. "Gideon, I love you and I want to be your wife in all ways. Besides, now that you have been inside me for a while, it does not hurt so very badly." She moved her hips a fraction, as if testing the motion, nodding at her findings. "You were right when you said that it would get better." Another cautious thrust of her hips, another nod. "Yes, I do believe that I shall be fine now."
Gideon stared down at her with narrowed eyes, unconvinced. "Nonetheless, it might be best if-" He broke off with a strangled groan, his body jerking in heated response as her hand snaked between his legs and grasped his manly sac, her thumb lightly caressing the sensitive ridge behind it. "Where the hell did you learn that?" he gritted out, his urgency returning with a groin-flaming fury.
She smiled sweetly. "From Amy, of course. Her father's books suggested all sorts of interesting ways to help a man find his pleasure. Like this." She tickled the underside of his sac again, this time trailing up between his buttocks.
Gideon yelped, almost losing himself at the resulting sensations. "Julia . . . please . . ." he moaned, desperately fighting off his approaching climax. Damn it! He would not lose himself now, not like this.
"Then let me give you pleasure as a wife should," she replied, twining her arm around his neck to pull his head down to kiss him. As she captured his lips with hers, she arched up, grasping his tense buttocks to thrust him deeper inside her.
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