Jon rolled her to her back, lying on top of her, molding his thickly muscled frame to hers, moaning into her mouth. His fingers skimmed the underside of her breast then pulled away, skating along her flesh, moving the blanket farther down until she was almost naked.
Then he stopped just as suddenly, tearing his lips from hers and staring down at her, his eyes wide with concern.
“What’s wrong?” she huffed, trying to catch her breath.
“Milady, we must stop. We must stop now.” He began to move off her, but Toni grabbed him and pulled him back down on top of her.
“Explanation?”
“Your virtue.”
She blew a bit of air from her lips. “Oh, that? Long gone.”
“You have bedded men?” he asked, his sapphire eyes incredulous.
“Well, not by the dozens. Only three.”
But Jon didn’t look relieved. In fact, he looked horrified. “Three?”
“You say that like I said a million. Yes, three. For my age, I’d say that’s pretty close to virtuous in this day and age, buddy.”
“And what is your age?”
“I’m thirty-two. Too old for you?”
“No,” he blustered, his skin flushing. “I’m in my thirty-fifth year.”
“Then what’s the hang-up here?”
“Where you come from, this is allowed?”
“Allowed? Well, yes. As long as you’re over the age of eighteen. Though, that’s not always the case. Most of us lose our virginity in high school. Not all, but a good percentage. It’s when our hormones are at their freakiest.”
“What is a high school and a hormone?”
“One of the most lethal combinations in the history of man.”
“In our land, consummation is not allowed until you are wed.”
Now her eyes went wide. “Aw, c’mon. That’s not true. Is it? You don’t really think there’s not some woot-woot happening in Shamalot, do you? Do you really believe everyone in the land waits for marriage? Have you ever watched Game of Thrones? God, someone’s always doing someone. Sometimes they do their own…” She paused to rethink her words. “Forget I asked that. I still don’t get the problem.”
“I will not be a party to endangering your stellar reputation. Or rather, your almost stellar reputation.”
“Okay, I’m going to let that crack slide because we come from totally different eras, but this isn’t about my reputation. I have no reputation in Shamalot other than that poor girl with a death knell on her head. I’m likely all the rage at the henchmen’s dinner. So I’ll say it again. That’s not what this is about. What is this about?”
“I need a promise first.”
“Speak.”
He pursed his luscious lips. “First the promise.”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Promise you will not fall into fits of laughter, and remember, our worlds are infinitely different.”
She nodded solemnly. “I promise—infinitely.”
“My virtue remains intact.”
She tried to keep a straight face. No way. “So you’re a virgin.”
“Indeed.”
Toni grabbed a pillow and held it over her face to keep from screaming her frustration.
Jon pulled it away and peered down at her. “Milady?”
She sighed. “This is a predicament, for sure. You’re taught to save yourself for marriage and I’m all enticing you to break your code of man-honor. Maybe you could have mentioned this much earlier.” Like before they were grinding each other into the bed.
“Maybe you might have told me your experience with bedsport is vast,” he offered in a comically haughty tone.
She poked a finger in his chest with a reproachful glance. “It is not vast. Where I come from, it’s by and large sort of pathetic, and I’ll thank you to stop mentioning it like I’ve pillaged and plundered every man from here to Jersey. I mean, who would ever in a frillion years think you were a virgin?”
He rose up on his hands above her, his brow furrowed, his expression adorable. “You say this why?”
“Because look at you, all muscles and ripples and angels singing over your head while shafts of light glow all around you—”
“Angels, milady?”
“Never mind. Anyway, hello. I can’t believe someone as unbelievably gorgeous as you hasn’t at least been tempted. I would have thought you’d use your amazing looks as a manipulation tactic to twist some pantaloons, which I realize is incredibly sexist, but where I come from, it happens all the time. It’s wrong, but it happens. Sex sells and all.”
“I know not the gibberish you speak of manipulations, but I follow a strict code of honor, milady. I made a vow to myself and my realm to wait for marriage. It is just what we do here in Shamalot. Thus, I do not twist pantaloons.”
“Haven’t you ever been tempted?”
“Including now?”
She hid a pleased smile. “Yes.”
“Then yes, but I always consider the maiden and her good name. Hence, I would never sacrifice her reputation for a momentary dabble in the temptations of the flesh.”
God, he was so chivalrous and decent. So what did a girl say to that? No way was she compromising his values for her own hormonal satisfaction.
Pressing a quick kiss to his lips, she said, “You’re a good and decent man, Jon Doe. You’re kind and smart and you care. It’s one of the many reasons I like you so much,” she said as she tried to slip out from beneath him.
“But wait,” he responded, tucking her back under him and brushing his lips against her jaw.
“For?”
“Does anyone have to know I’ve sacrificed your good name for the temptation of your delicious flesh?” he teased, his shaft rigid, pressing against her thigh.
But Toni didn’t want to take something from him he’d saved for marriage. He was thirty-five and he’d waited this long—she wasn’t going to be a party to that, as much as she wanted to be intimate with him. To take that back with her to Jersey so she’d be able to revisit this moment.
Toni’s throat clogged, but she was determined not to let him see her regret.
“See what this is? This is the hormone thing I was talking about. You’re all hot and heavy in the moment, but when the hormones fade, you might regret giving something away you’ve saved for thirty-five years, Jon. No one has to know, that’s true. You’d know, though. You’ve waited a long time for the right woman to come along. I’m not going to be the one to compromise—”
He pressed his lips to hers again, whispering against them, “’Tis true I’ve waited for the right woman to come along…and now she has.”
Her heart thrashed against her ribs and her toes curled. She knew in her gut this was right. She didn’t know why she knew, which was as cliché as it got. She didn’t know how. She just felt it in her bones—in her heart—in her mind.
Rather than answer him, she reached up and cupped his jaw, letting her fingers roam over his chin, skimming her thumb over his lower lip, pulling him to her to place her mouth over his with a sigh.
And Jon responded in kind, driving his tongue between her lips, caressing hers with precise strokes, pushing the blankets away from her until she was naked, the firelight dancing over her skin.
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple visible when he sat up and unbuttoned his vest, pulling it and his shirt over his head.
His chest was just as she’d imagined, wide, thick, rippling with muscle, his nipples dusky and erect. Skin dusted in bronze stretched over his arms, strong and long.
Jon looked down at her, his sapphire eyes following the line of her neck, her collarbones, until he reached her breasts. His eyes grew dark, stormy, his body stiffening with tension.
“Aye, milady. You are everything I imagined. More,” he whispered into the room, his voice husky and deep.
Her cheeks flushed hot as her hands found his forearms, running her fingers over the muscled flesh, relishing his strength.
He lifte
d tentative hands, hovering over her breasts until she gripped his wrists and brought them to her chest.
Jon inhaled a sharp breath, running his fingers over her hardened nipples until she squirmed beneath him. Toni’s eyes closed as he explored, brushing kisses over her shoulder, down along her sides and back up again, until his lips were on the underside of her breast.
He flicked his tongue out, drawing it up over the full flesh until he reached the tight bud. When he placed his lips over it, enveloping it with his hot mouth, Toni bucked beneath him, gripping his hair in her hands as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Jon let his body fall flush to hers, sliding to rest at her side as he stroked her nipples, nipping, pulling, tugging, as the heat in her stomach grew and the ache between her thighs began to swirl with need.
Her hands went to his breeches, unlacing the front of them, inching them downward as he traced circles of wet-hot heat over her straining nipples. He lifted his lower body, allowing her to push his pants off until they were both naked.
Rising up, he pressed his forehead to hers, their noses touching as he reached for her hands and held them still. His breath came in short bursts, their chests crashing together. “I fear I may burst, milady. I may not know the ways of the flesh as well as I’d like, but I do know ’twould not be pleasurable for you if my needs came first. We must slow our pace. You must be the priority,” he said, almost as though it were an order.
An incredibly intoxicating, sensual order.
Arching into him, she ran her tongue over his lower lip and nipped it. “We should both be the priority,” she whispered.
If this was going to be his first time, and if it would be their last, she wanted him to remember. She wanted him to understand how much she was coming to care for him—that she’d always consider this time with him a gift.
“Show me, milady. Show me what you wish. I have these thoughts…running amok through my brain like a herd of wild horses, but I want for you to treasure this memory. So tell me, and I shall do your bidding.”
His tender words were a stark contrast to the powerful body lying so close to hers—so tender, she wanted to curl up next to him and stay in this moment forever, so tomorrow didn’t have to come and she wouldn’t have to make a choice she might regret.
Rather than give him direction, Toni decided whatever Jon wanted to do would end up pleasurable, so she pulled him close, placing a hand on his chest where his heart beat, and whispered back, “Do what your instincts tell you to do, Jon—do what your heart tells you.”
Jon clearly needed no more words as he hauled her close—so close, their thighs touched and her breasts crushed to his chest. He kissed her with abandon, without holding anything back, until she almost couldn’t breathe from it and the heat he stirred in her nearly boiled over.
Toni’s hands went to his back, roaming over the wide expanse, her body arching into him to get as close as she could, to feel every square inch of his naked flesh.
And then he was pulling his lips from hers and slipping down along her body until his mouth was at the place where thigh and hip met. He brushed a kiss over her skin, making her buck and sending ripples of pleasure along her heated flesh.
Jon parted her thighs with a gentle hand, slipping between them and resting his palm at the apex. He shuddered a breath, the air fanning across her skin just before he slipped a finger into her folds and spread her wide.
When he placed his mouth over her core, she jolted with a groan, gritting her teeth to keep from screaming, the feeling so intense. His tongue slithered over her clit, tentatively then with bolder strokes, licking, tasting, exploring her until she squeezed her thighs together, unable to stop the roar of orgasm. Toni bucked beneath his mouth, pressing the pillow to her face to keep from screaming her pleasure.
White-hot flashes of light synced with the spike of her climax, spreading upward, climbing until she let go, falling into the abyss of her release.
Her chest was tight, her mouth dry, but she managed to drag him upward, pulling at his wide shoulders until his lips were back at hers.
Jon brushed the lone tear that fell from her eye, murmuring against her mouth. “This coffee you speak of, ’tis nothing I imagine compared to the taste of you.”
She had to cling to him to keep the dizzy swell of his words from overwhelming her. No one had ever spoken to her like this. No one had ever stirred this kind of a response from her, and she wanted everything—all at once. Now.
Reaching between them, Toni smoothed her palms over his chest, down along the lean indentation of his hips. She enveloped his cock, thick, strong, hot in her hands, and circled it, stroking him, letting him thrust against her.
Slipping down along his hard frame, she savored each inch of his silken skin, brushed kisses at every available turn until her lips found his shaft. Toni ran her tongue along the length of it, smiled against him when Jon hissed and his hands went to her hair, clenching fistfuls between his fingers.
His knees raised upward, his muscles clenching as she kept him deep in her mouth, caressing his calves, swirling her tongue over his cock until his hips bucked.
Jon’s fingers dug into the caps of her shoulders now, pulling her upward, rolling her to her back and crushing her with his heavy weight.
He was delicious as she absorbed his hot flesh and sinew, letting his body sink into hers, running her hands along his sleek lines, parting her thighs, welcoming him.
Poised at her entrance, Jon rose up on his knees, wrapping her thighs around his waist, looking down at her, his eyes flaming with desire as he took his first thrust into her body.
His head fell back on his neck then, the strain of veins and corded muscle pulsing along his throat as he adjusted to being inside her.
Toni fought not to squirm beneath him, fought to lie still and savor watching his first time, luxuriate in the emotion. She clenched him tight as he stretched her, deepening his thrusts until he was embedded inside her.
He sighed a long groan, falling forward onto her, slipping his hands beneath her back and pressing his mouth to hers.
She saw stars behind her eyelids as each stroke into her grew more confident, harder, more satisfying. Curling into him, she matched his thrusts, lifting her hips, reaching toward release.
Wave after wave of pleasure swept through her, pooling in her belly, tingling in her toes, stroking her core until she thought she might explode.
Jon began to rock against her, lifting her leg higher, pushing into her wet depths, his body greedy, his lips on hers, and suddenly it was more than Toni could bear.
A swift wave of bliss rolled over her, beginning at her core and rising upward. It was slow, lazy, fast, sweet and sharp all at once. She clung to him then, nipped his earlobe as she strained against him, feeling every definition in his abs, loving his pubic bone scraping against her clit as they came.
Jon grunted, feral and low in her ear, expelling a long breath as he whispered her name. She tightened her grasp around his neck, rode the last remnants of their orgasm until their writhing slowed and their bodies settled.
And then Toni closed her eyes, smelled his hair draped across her cheek, savored the feel of his flesh against hers, kept him as close to her as possible for as long as possible.
Lived in the moment.
For as long as the moment would allow.
* * * *
As Toni slept in his arms, her beautiful face serene, Jon warred with his emotions.
This—this had been worth the thirty-five-year wait. Not just the beauty of their lovemaking, but lovemaking with the woman he knew was meant to be his for all time.
Yet, he had things he must tell her. Secrets he must share.
What if the king granted her happiness and sent her back to her homeland to find her brother? He would never ask her to choose between them. He would never require she give up the only chance she had to comfort her heart—to know her brother was safe.
Yet, his gut tightened. How could he le
ave behind his own family and obligations?
Still, he knew he would. He would learn to adjust to this place called Jersey, with phones and movies and a place called McDonald’s where they crisped potatoes and made hams in buns.
But he must tell her one thing.
The one thing that could make her change her mind about how decent and good he pretended he was.
Forever.
Chapter 12
Just so you know, we have trouble. I don’t just mean the kind of trouble that involves the queen’s daughter Resplendant’s heart, either. The sweet and fair Resplendant’s been officially dumped by the prince upon his father’s orders. There’s been crying. So much crying, and wailing, and head-bent, draggin-ass moping, a common storyteller like myself could almost need an antidepressant to help her get through the day.
Also, for future reference to all those who wish to visit a castle because it’s cool? Castle walls make for one helluva echo.
Alas, here in Shamalot, we don’t have Ben and Jerry’s and old T-shirts in the realm for our poor Resplendant’s funk. You try soothing a broken heart with a new crinoline and some thistleberries with roasted boar. It’s just not the same as a hearty scoop of Chunky Monkey and a vodka gimlet, you know?
Needless to say, nothing is easing our gentle Resplendant’s pain-swollen heart, for she loves Prince Iver Daring with all her being. She is his one true love, no matter what the doddering old Roz says.
Since King Dick, on the advice of the Great and Wonderful Roz, ordered the end to his son’s relationship with Resplendant. Prince Iver, too, has been moping about the castle, wandering from room to room, sword dragging pathetically at half-mast by his side, refusing to speak, let alone hear his father’s reasoning.
But King Dick is certain he’s made the right move for his firstborn and he won’t hear another protest.
As you can imagine, Queen Angria’s pretty bent out of shape at this point. Not only has her daughter been ditched, but she’s been foiled over and over by a mere snippet of an icky human girl (her words, not this storyteller’s. I personally like the kid’s chutzpah), and she wants blood.
Accidentally Ever After (Accidentally Paranormal Novel Book 11) Page 16
