Just One Kiss

by Stephanie Sterling

  He was going to kiss her. Daphne felt her skin sizzle in anticipation of the touch that was to come. She shivered when it arrived. Edward wasn’t gentle this time, he was persistent and possessive, and fairly demanded a reaction. Daphne couldn’t help but give one. Her tongue flicked timidly against his own, and she felt Edward shudder. Her body clenched in response, and she felt a dizzying surge of power.

  Perhaps he did want her? Desired her at any rate?

  “Oh Daphne,” he groaned, deepening his kiss, thrusting his tongue between her lips and devouring her. “My Daphne,” he hissed, and his wife felt all kinds of wicked sensations in the unmentionable places of her body. “Do you know what you do to me?” he grunted, pressing his hips down against hers as his hands scooted underneath her bottom and held her close, forcing her to feel the steely proof of his arousal. “Do you even understand?” he chuckled dryly.

  “Edward?” she panted, forgetting her inhibitions as her hands raked up the lapels of his jacket.

  She wanted to strip it away. She wanted to be able to touch him skin to skin. But she couldn’t, or she shouldn’t-so Daphne allowed her fingers to instead coil themselves in Edward’s hair, mussing the thick locks into glorious disarray as her husband continued to masterfully enslave her mouth. She writhed beneath him, wanting-no needing, to wriggle closer.

  He was so good at this, too good at it almost, Daphne couldn’t even think, sure that her very bones were melting. Her husband was consuming her as his hands stroked up and down her body, kindling fires that burned beneath her skin. However… then the carriage rolled to a stop, and Daphne squealed and started.

  “Shh,” Edward hushed her as he might a skittish horse. Daphne’s eyes flew open and she glared at him accusingly.

  “You did that on purpose!” she gasped. Edward looked honestly confused, confusion one of the shadows in his eyes, accompanied by a dark, heavy lust and longing swirling in their depths.

  “Daphne-”

  “You knew we’d have to get out! That we’d be seen! Oh! How do I look?” she demanded breathlessly. The decidedly masculine curve of Edward’s mouth did absolutely nothing to slow the frantic pounding of Daphne’s pulse. If anything her heart skipped a beat.

  “You look like a woman in desperate need of being pleasured by her husband,” Edward purred wickedly.

  “Oh-you- you shouldn’t say such things,” Daphne stammered, all the heat in her body rushing to her face, well, almost all to her face…

  “Daphne,” Edward sighed, stealing one last kiss before the footman opened the door for them. “You have a lot to learn, darling,” he chuckled, helping her down from the carriage, which was a very good thing indeed, because she fell-straight into his arms.

  Daphne’s legs were wobbly enough as it was, and then he had to go and call her darling, and she seemed not to be in control of any of her faculties anymore! She tried to disentangle herself a little, but Edward wouldn’t stand for it. He clamped her to his side and almost dragged her up the steps to their door.

  Daphne couldn’t look Wilkins in the face as he took her things from her in the front hall. Lord knows what he had to be thinking! She knew that her hair was an absolute mess, and her lips had to be red and swollen from the voracious hunger of her husband’s kisses. If that wasn’t all bad enough, the way Edward was looking at her… Daphne trembled. The heat of his gaze was scorching!

  As for Edward, he really didn’t give a damn what Wilkins was thinking… well, that wasn’t entirely true. A part of him wanted the pretentious, overprotective butler to know exactly what was about to happen to his mistress, wanted him to be in absolutely no doubt of who was master of the house and everything and everyone in it.

  God, Edward took a moment to wonder at his behavior, he was acting like some sort of wild animal set to mark and claim his territory! His eyes raked shamelessly over the low cut of Daphne’s gown. Her territory really was rather exquisite.

  “My lord?”

  It wasn’t until Daphne spoke that Edward realized she was looking up at him from under lowered lashes. She looked nervous, and maybe a little afraid, but he could also read her curiosity, sense her desire. He was slowly wakening the soul of her femininity, and the realization of that fact sent a very masculine surge of power pulsing through his groin.

  “Upstairs,” he rasped, hardly recognizing the low, husky voice as his own.

  Daphne licked her lips hesitantly, and Edward had to cover a groan. It was humbling in a way, how badly he needed this woman. His lips curved into a dark smile, but by the end of the night he was going to have ensured that Daphne knew she needed him too. Edward intended to work her into such a frenzy that she wouldn’t be able to live without him once he’d had his way with her.

  “Where?” she squeaked, a breathless note in her voice betraying her.

  “Your room,” Edward whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist once they had climbed the stairs. He wanted to be surrounded by everything of hers when he finally took her, her scent, her things. And he never wanted Daphne to be able to sleep in her bed again without remembering this night.

  The mere thought caused Edward’s already straining body to harden another degree, and suddenly he couldn’t bear it a second longer. With a strangled grunt of Daphne’s name he spun her around, crushing her against the full length of his body as he ravished her mouth.

  “You shouldn’t do this to me,” he moaned accusingly against her lips, lips that had parted enthusiastically under his onslaught.

  Daphne might like to think that she didn’t want this-that she didn’t want him, but her body knew better, and it was betraying her at every turn. She was breathy and pliant in his arms, barely able to keep on her feet, so that Edward had to support almost her full, if insubstantial, weight.

  He wedged a leg in between her thighs, rubbing up against her, as he pressed her back against the wall. He had never wanted a woman so badly! It was more than desire though that pounded through Edward’s veins. He hadn’t forgotten the men that evening gawping Daphne, nor had he forgotten Beckham’s hands on his wife.

  Edward growled, and nipped the tender skin of Daphne’s neck, hard enough to leave a mark. She squealed in surprise, and planted her hands against his chest.

  “No,” he said roughly, and then he moved to sweep her up into his arms.

  “Edward!” she gasped, making only a token effort to fight him. Whether that was because she knew it was futile to resist, or because she still thought that she was required to play the role of the demure little wife, Edward didn’t know, he did however intend to find out.

  “As you keep pointing out,” he rasped, kicking open the door to Daphne’s bedroom and carrying her inside. “I’ve neglected you for six long years, I think I have some lost time to make up don’t you?” he smirked, tossing her down onto the bed.

  “B-but,” Daphne stammered, gasping as Edward kicked off his boots and crawled onto the bed on top of her. “Not like this?” she whimpered, shuddered as she felt the male, threatening weight of his body bearing down on top of her much smaller frame.

  “Why not like this?” Edward panted, lips quirking as he dipped his mouth to her neck, lavishing the graceful curve of her throat in heavy kisses. “Don’t you like this?” he whispered, giving in to temptation and raising a hand to cradle one of her breasts through the silk of her ball gown. Daphne shuddered involuntarily, and arched into his touch. “Don’t you?” he taunted.

  “I-I don’t know,” she puffed, eyes closed, lips parted.

  “I think you do,” he murmured thickly, deciding how best to strip her naked. “Or at least I think you will,” he promised darkly, sliding Daphne’s dress off her perfectly white shoulders. “I think you’ve been waiting ever such a long time to have a man teach you what you want.”

  “You think too much,” Daphne sighed, mewing breathlessly as Edward’s talented mouth went to work on the skin his dexterous fingers had just exposed.

  He couldn’t help it, he laughed, the v
ibration trembling through his body and echoing through Daphne’s. She made a soft, feminine murmur of pleasure, and then Edward’s tensed in surprise when her fingers scooted over his chest, clearly itching to strip away his jacket, his waistcoat, his shirt-damn it, he was wearing far too many clothes!

  Edward’s jacket was dispensed with in a flash. He ripped it off and threw it onto the floor, covering Daphne again in a heartbeat. Edward was just a little surprised, but not at all displeased when his wife’s fingers began to toy with the covered buttons of his waistcoat. He forced himself to stay still for a moment and see what she was would dare to do, but his stillness must have unnerved her, for she dropped her hands and flushed.

  “You can touch me you know, Daff,” Edward breathed heavily, pressing his lips all along her collarbone, while his own hands went back to lightly stroking her breasts through her gown.

  Oh, but she couldn’t! And she definitely, definitely shouldn’t! Was Edward testing her? Daphne wondered, as she tried not to audibly pant-ladies, she was certain, were not suppose to pant while attending to their marital duties! And if Edward knew that she was enjoying his attentions it was bound to simply enrage him, wasn’t it? She was meant to be pure and untouched, and she was, it was just… Daphne had heard enough to know, very basically, what was coming next, and she was slowly beginning to understand what the ache between her legs signified.

  “I want to see you,” Edward groaned, and Daphne suddenly found herself on her feet. She blinked quickly, unsteadily, trying to regain her balance. The room seemed to be spinning on its axis, and then her eyes met Edward’s and she realized that she was the one who was spinning.

  He was still the most handsome man she had ever seen, tall and powerful, and wickedly male. Even when she had stopped liking him, she had never been able to make herself stop loving him. Maybe he didn’t love her, and maybe he never would, but he wanted her, he wanted to possess her, he had said as much, and the look in his eyes-heavens, even an unschooled virgin couldn’t mistake the desire blazing in the depths of his eyes.

  So why was she afraid?

  Maybe because she thought she might die if she disappointed him?

  “Edward?” she whispered, unable to stem the tremble of her voice, or stop her body tensing as he took a step closer.

  “Shhh, don’t be scared,” he purred, his deft fingers working at stripping away her dress and undergarments.

  Daphne stood perfectly still, paralyzed by the fear that Edward said she shouldn’t feel, and… something else, a restless energy that was getting harder to ignore. She didn’t want to remain passive, but she was terrified of Edward’s disgust if she tried to be active.

  When she was standing completely naked, Daphne raised her arms to try and cover herself, but Edward’s fingers gently coiled around her wrists and prevented her modesty.

  “Don’t hide from me,” he groaned. Daphne’s skin burned. She peeked out from under lowered lashes as she watched her husband watching her, was he disappointed, had he been expecting something more? But then he spoke, and Daphne’s heart sang. “So beautiful, God you’re-I never thought-” Edward grunted roughly, but he seemed to be unable to say anything more.

  I did that… Daphne thought breathlessly, gasping as Edward wrapped her again in his arms. It felt so good. She couldn’t deny that fact. It felt like coming home, like she’d found a part of herself that had been missing for so long. How was it possible that Edward didn’t feel at least a small echo of the rightness she felt when she was in his arms?

  Thought was becoming increasingly hard however; Edward’s hands moving over Daphne’s bare skin was the most exotic sensation of her life. His fingers were warm and thick, and pleasure spiked wherever they brushed her skin. It was difficult to remain afraid now also, Edward seemed like a different man to the one who had dragged her home, threatening her with his dominance. He was gentle, tender, and Daphne’s fingers flexed, itching to reciprocate the delights he was bestowing, but she still didn’t dare go that far.

  When Edward’s hand cupped her breast a sigh of pleasure bubbled forth from Daphne’s lips. Her eyes burst open in alarm, but if Edward had thought any less of her for her murmurings of lusty approval then she couldn’t tell; there was a strange determined set to his jaw and a burning intensity in his eyes.

  “Edward,” she gasped, as he pinched and tweaked one nipple-she’d never thought, never imagined, that it would feel like this-bolts of pleasure were pulsing through her body, darting straight to the centre of her womb.

  Daphne’s legs were beginning to tremble. She was just wondering how much longer she would be able to stand, when Edward dipped his head. His hot, hungry mouth closed over the pebbled tip of her breast, and her knees gave way.

  She stumbled back, hitting the mattress before falling back, and a moment later she was lying sprawled inelegantly across the bed. Her face burned with embarrassment, she scrambled to sit up, but Edward gently pushed her back down, pressing her back with one hand while the other worked at the buttons of his waistcoat. Daphne didn’t dare look at her husband’s face, but she couldn’t quite believe it when she heard a low rumbling chuckle pass his lips.

  “Not quite how I planned to get you lying on your back again,” he purred wickedly, shrugging his shoulders, and sending his waistcoat the same way as his jacket. “But whatever works,” he laughed thickly, lowering his head again to resample the delights of her bosom.

  “Oh Edward-” Daphne puffed. Surely-surely he couldn’t expect her to stay still and silence while he was tempting her body with such sinfulness? “Edward,” she moaned his name again, finally laying her hands on his powerful shoulders. His shirt was warm to the touch. Daphne could just imagine how hot his skin must be underneath. She wanted to feel him. “Please?” she whimpered, and then froze.

  Was that too much? Perhaps so, because Edward had ceased his slow, intoxicating ministrations.

  “Please what?” he breathed huskily, rocking his body against Daphne’s, making his wife gasp again.

  “I-I don’t know,” she mewed. “I can’t think.”

  Daphne was certain that the Devil himself couldn’t have a grin as wicked as the smile that Edward suddenly threw in her direction.

  “Excellent,” he growled, slipping his shirt off over his head. “I haven’t lost my touch then,” he smirked rather smugly.

  Daphne forgave him his arrogance. She might have forgiven him first-degree murder in that very first moment when the top half of his body was finally revealed to her. He was perfect. Just as Daphne had always known that he would be. It was quite as simple as that. All lines and angles, carved out of warm, golden skin. She wanted, no needed, to touch him. All of her demure whisperings about restraint fell by the wayside as she laid one palm flat against Edward’s hard abdomen, while she raked the fingers of her other hand through the tangle of springy dark hair that covered his chest.

  “Daphne,” he sighed her name like a prayer as his eyes dipped closed. “My Daphne,” he swore, lowering his mouth to claim hers, while his hands went back to stroking and plucking her skin.

  This was so much more than anything she had ever imagined. Daphne squirmed restlessly beneath her husband’s body. She rubbed up against Edward as she moved and heard him grunt.

  “Oh God, Daff, you feel so good, even now,” he panted, kissing her neck heavily. He scooted his hands under her bottom and crushed her hips up against his arousal.

  There was a note of surprise, of wonder, in his voice that Daphne was just about able to distinguish between the thick notes of desire. Did it surprise him so much? She thought sadly. At sixteen she had known that she wanted to share her soul with this man, and he had truly felt nothing in return. This bitter little thought might have threatened her pleasure, had Edward’s fingers not finally slipped between her legs.

  “Oh-!” she gasped, eyes wide, mouth gaping as her hips arched up off the bed. “Edward, I-!”

  He shushed her gently, chuckling roughly. Daphne grasped at the
bed sheets, clenching them in her fists as her husband probed her sodden slit. Her face was locked in a grimace of painful pleasure.

  Edward’s eyes narrowed to slits as he watched her features bunch together in wonder. He wanted more, he wanted to make her scream, to scream for him. But she was holding back and it was killing him. He had waited too long, pushed her too far away. She was so tight. He groaned as he dipped a finger inside her sheath, gratified at least by how wet she was, how ready to take his body, by the fact that she couldn’t keep her hips still.

  “Daphne, I need you,” Edward grunted, reaching with a shaking hand to shed his trousers.

  He hadn’t meant to make the confession aloud. He meant to take her, not to give himself, but after he’d spoken Daphne raised her hands to his body and clutched at his shoulders, and Edward could have sworn that a little barrier came down.

  “God Daphne,” he groaned, kissing her soundly as he wrenched down his trousers, moaning aloud when the huge, pulsing rod of his sex was finally able to spring free from its confines.

  He wanted to pound into her. The desire for release was almost overwhelming. But Edward couldn’t resist the urge to let her see him. He pulled back a fraction when Daphne made a murmur of protest at his retreat, and then his whole body shuddered as his wife gasped.

  “Oh my-!” she panted. The fear was back in her eyes as she drank in her first real sight of a man, fear, but there was also wonder, and curiosity, and… lust.

  Edward bit the inside of his lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from humiliating himself. Who would ever have thought that Daphne-Daphne- could reduce him to such a quivering state? Or maybe… maybe some part of him had, and that was why he had run? Edward savagely pushed that thought aside, covering his wife again with the threatening weight of his body.

  “I’m going to make you mine now,” he growled. His voice was ragged, he barely recognized it as he splayed her legs wide and nudged against her opening. Daphne’s eyes were impossibly wide, but Edward was glad that she was watching his face, grateful that she didn’t try to turn away.