She didn’t think it could get any better, but he proved her wrong. She felt moisture pool in that secret place between her legs and the tips of her breasts hardened even more. He rolled the tips between his fingers and the sensations were so exquisite, she involuntarily gasped again—she almost couldn’t stand it.
But when he took his hands away, she pleaded, “More.”
“In a moment,” he said gently, and, lifting her into his arms as if she weighed nothing, he carried her into the other room to set her down next to his bed.
Her heart beat faster as she wondered what would happen next, but Kit surprised her by leaning down to take the tip of her breast into his mouth. He suckled lightly and her knees almost buckled. Dear Lord, she didn’t think she could stand much more pleasure. But she realized she could as Kit slid the rest of her underthings down her body to lie at her feet.
As she stood there, feeling shaky with need and rather vulnerable, he laid her on his soft bed and ran his hand down over her stomach to gently stroke the curls between her legs. Embarrassed, she tried to close her legs, but he gently parted them and slid his finger inside to the slick wetness that had somehow appeared within.
The intimacy shocked her, and she was on the verge of asking him to stop when he suddenly found and stroked a small bud inside. Pleasure arrowed straight to her core and she forgot all about stopping him, forgot everything but the pure sensations he was generating with small strokes of his fingers, not to mention his sinful mouth on her breast.
In fact, she couldn’t even think at all as a crescendo of blissful feelings surged and ebbed within her, building to some sort of unknown pinnacle she longed to attain.
She lost all sense of decorum as she spread her legs wider to give him more complete access, moving her hips against his fingers and whimpering with need. Then, finally, that nebulous event she sought was upon her and she peaked with shuddering ecstasy as wave upon wave of pure pleasure washed over her, leaving her weak and replete.
Oh, my. No wonder they kept this secret. If they were to reveal exactly how wondrous it felt, every young maiden would be eager to try it.
Kit leaned down to kiss her softly, and she sighed in pleasure.
“Are you ready for the rest now?” he asked softly.
Her eyes widened. There was more? “Oh, yes, please.”
He chuckled. “You are so polite, even in bed.”
She felt herself blush, but it appeared he wasn’t offended. Instead, he stood and slowly slid his garment down over his manhood.
Belle knew she shouldn’t feel embarrassed after what he had just done to her, but she couldn’t help it. This was a sight she had never seen in person, though it appeared Kit had much in common with the Adam on her fan. She took one quick peek, then looked away, not wanting him to know how curious she was.
Oh, dear. What did he intend to do with that?
But he didn’t seem bothered by her curiosity. Instead, he moved closer, as if inviting her to look her fill. She peeked again and swallowed hard at the forbidden sight, wondering boldly what . . . it . . . would feel like. He had touched her. Could she be so audacious as to touch him . . . there?
She reached out tentatively, and when he didn’t pull back, she ran her fingers lightly along his jutting shaft. Kit groaned and his male member jumped and bobbed at her. She pulled her hand back swiftly. Oh, no, what had she done?
“It’s all right,” he assured her. “It felt good. Please . . . do it again.”
Thus reassured, she touched him again, this time wrapping her hand fully around him. She was prepared this time when it jumped and wasn’t alarmed. Instead, she wondered at the remarkable feel of it—hard, yet covered in skin as soft as a baby’s bottom. And evidently Kit did enjoy it, for she saw him close his eyes in what could only be pleasure.
Emboldened, she moved her fingers to explore the intriguing tip, but Kit pulled her hand away with a gasp.
“I’m sorry—did I do something wrong?” Again, she desperately wished she had a rule book or something to tell her what to do next.
“No, you did something very right,” he assured her. “But if you touch me that way much longer, I may not be able to hold out.”
“Oh,” she said knowingly, though she wasn’t quite sure what he meant by “hold out.”
“Here, let me show you.” He knelt beside her on the bed and made her quiver all over when he slid a finger inside her again.
“All, you’re still wet for me,” he murmured. Then he knelt above her and placed his male member at the entrance of her most private place and pushed a short distance inside.
She placed her hands against his chest, and her eyes widened once more. “What-what are you going to do?” she asked in a tremulous voice as she realized his intentions. At least, what she thought were his intentions. Did he really mean to put that inside her?
He leaned down to caress her breasts and whispered, “I’m going to finish making love to you.”
“I don’t think it will fit,” she said in alarm. He was too big.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured and continued caressing her until she was once more filled with longing.
He pushed in a little farther, and it did seem to go in all right.
He stared with concern into her face. “Now, since you are a maiden, this is going to hurt—just this once.”
“Hurt?” No one told her it was going to hurt.
“It’ll be brief, I promise. Then it will feel very, very good. Will you trust me?”
“All right,” Belle said in a tremulous voice. She had trusted him so far and things had gone quite nicely—there was no reason not to trust him now.
He pushed inside and there was a brief, sharp pain. But before she could even cry out, he was moving deeper inside her. Oh, my, that does feel good. And it felt even better when he pulled out a little, then thrust in again, giving her a feeling of fullness, completeness.
So this is what a man and woman did together—and it was wondrous. Satisfied to be finally experiencing the ultimate intimacy, Belle closed her eyes and hung on to Kit for dear life.
He continued thrusting in and out, and she heard herself emitting little sounds of pleasure as that crescendo built within her once more. But this time she knew what to expect and she welcomed it, gasping aloud as she erupted with bubbling bursts of sensation.
Kit, too, seemed to reach release as he arched above her, pausing once, twice, then a third time before letting out a shuddering breath and collapsing on top of her. But he quickly rolled to the side to bring her within the circle of his arms, keeping them joined together.
Though it was wonderful to cuddle with him like this, Belle felt as if she should say something. But what did a lady say after she had been thoroughly ravished? “That was nice,” she ventured.
Kit laughed out loud, the first time she had ever seen him so carefree. “Nice?” he repeated, shaking his head. “Only you, Belle. Only you.”
“All right,” she said, staring into his face to memorize his expression in this special moment, running her fingers across those sensuous lips. “Then thank you for that most marvelous lesson in love. I’ll never forget it.”
He kissed her gently. “That’s better. But I have something rather important to say to you, and I think it’s best if we’re both clothed for it. Shall we?” Belle nodded reluctantly. He was right. Though she had lost all track of time, she suspected this lovemaking business had taken longer than she’d expected, and she really needed to get back to the ball before someone missed her.
She dressed swiftly, Kit acting as her maid where necessary. Once she was clothed, she checked her appearance in his mirror and was glad to see she didn’t look too disheveled. By just looking at her, one would never know that her world had just changed dramatically.
She was even more certain now that she could never marry anyone else. She shuddered at the thought of having another man touch her in that way. Only Kit.
Kit, of course, looked as if he had
done nothing more strenuous than take a walk around the park. Carefully, he shut the door to the bedroom, then seated her in the chair in his parlor.
He regarded her with a thoughtful expression, and Belle felt her apprehension grow. Suddenly, they seemed like two strangers, as if their wonderful lovemaking had never happened. And the seriousness of his expression convinced her he was about to say something she didn’t want to hear.
Oh, no. He is leaving Colorado Springs forever. I just know it. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “What is it you wish to say to me?”
He cocked his head to smile at her. “First, I owe you an apology.”
“Apology?” she repeated in disbelief. If he was going to apologize for the most beautiful thing that ever happened to her, she would have to hit him.
He nodded. “I thought perhaps you were leading me on, that this was your way of getting revenge for that horrible thing I said in the Garden of the Gods. I expected someone to burst in here and accuse me of having designs on your virtue. Obviously, I was wrong.”
“Oh,” Belle said in a small voice. “So you figured out my revenge scheme?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t hard, but I’m glad to see you’ve given it up.”
She shrugged that off, wishing he would get to the point yet dreading it. too. “What did you want to say?”
He smiled. “I just wanted to ask you—”
A sudden pounding on the door made him break off. They looked at each other in indecision, but before Belle could decide whether she should hide or if they should even answer it, the door burst in to reveal her father and mother.
Papa’s face was stony with suppressed anger, and Mama looked shocked.
Papa closed the door swiftly, turning a belligerent expression on Kit with clenched fists. “Ye surly knave. What have ye done to me daughter?”
Oddly enough, Kit looked equally angry, but before he could answer, Belle interposed herself between the two men. “He’s done nothing, Papa. It was all my fault.”
She couldn’t see Kit behind her—her eyes were all for Papa. She couldn’t let Kit be punished for something she had initiated. And the less her parents knew about what had really gone on here, the better.
Papa’s gaze swiveled to her. “Yer fault, ye say?”
“Yes. I—I followed him up to his room. He didn’t even know I was here until I shut the door behind me.”
Papa’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so? And why did ye do such a daft thing?”
But she had no answer that would satisfy him. She lowered her eyes. “I don’t know—I just wanted to talk to him, in private. But I see now that it was foolish.”
“Foolish? Aye, that it was.” Her father turned accusing eyes on his wife. “Ye see what yer carelessness has done? Yer daughter has gone and gotten herself ruined.”
Mama looked so horrified, she didn’t even attempt to defend herself. She just covered her cheeks with her hands.
Since Mama and Belle seemed suitably cowed,
Papa turned his wrath on Kit once more. “And you, sir, what are you going to do about it?”
Belle turned around to look at Kit, silently beseeching him to go along with her story, but she was shocked to see his face cold and unyielding.
“So, I was wrong about you after all,” he muttered. “You still have your revenge.”
“No,” Belle said in rising horror. He couldn’t really believe she had planned this, could he?
But Kit ignored her and addressed her father. “I was just about to do something about it, sir.”
Turning to Belle, he regarded her coldly and said in a voice dripping with unconcern, “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Belle barely heard her mother’s gasp of pleasure and her father’s grunt of approval. All she knew was that Kit, the only man she would ever love, was staring at her as if she were a three-day-old dead fish.
Marrying him was the dearest wish of her heart, but she couldn’t marry him—not like this. Not with him thinking she had done it for revenge.
Her mother rushed up to hug Kit. “That’s a wonderful—”
“No,” Belle said, cutting off her mother’s enthusiasm.
Mama broke off her hug to stare at Belle. “What?”
“I said no—I’m not going to marry him.” Belle raised her chin stubbornly when the other three bore down upon her. She didn’t care what they said. She was not going to marry a man who didn’t love her.
Chapter Seventeen
The next day, Belle moped as she was confined to her room. She had managed to remain adamant in refusing to marry Kit—at least so far—but her decision had resulted in angry words all around. Perhaps it was best if she stayed here awhile. It would give people a chance to cool off.
A knock came at the door, and Charisma and Grace entered, looking as if they were visiting a prisoner in jail instead of their own sister.
Grace shut the door behind her and, surprisingly, didn’t immediately flop onto the bed. Instead, she stood with her back to the door and stared at Belle wide-eyed. “What did you do?” she asked in accents of dread.
Apparently, their parents hadn’t told Belle’s sisters anything that happened the night before. Belle didn’t know’ whether to be grateful that they didn’t know of her disgrace, or annoyed that she was going to have to field dozens of questions. “I didn’t do anything,” she said petulantly.
But Charisma didn’t believe her. “You must have done something or Mama and Papa wouldn’t be so angry with you.”
“All I did was refuse an offer of marriage,” Belle said. Well, perhaps not all, but she really didn’t want to talk about that right now.
“No,” Charisma said. “There’s more to it than that. I can understand Mama being upset because you refused an offer, but not Papa.”
Belle debated how much to tell her sisters. Charisma would poke and prod until she extracted the most possible information, but Belle didn’t want her sisters to know everything. What had happened last night between her and Kit was too private, too special. “I did something . . . unwise,” Belle said.
Grace came a little farther into the room, apparently now convinced that whatever Belle did wasn’t contagious. “Was it that milk and cheese thing again?” she asked.
“In a way. . . . The ball was in the same hotel as Kit’s rooms and I . . . followed him to his rooms last night.”
Charisma and Grace looked shocked. “You did what?” Charisma asked in disbelief.
Belle winced. Even her sisters knew her actions weren’t ladylike.
Grace sank onto a chair, so stunned she didn’t even manage to break anything. “Why would you do such a thing?”
Belle shrugged. She wouldn’t tell them the whole truth, but perhaps they would be satisfied with part of it. “I had to speak to him privately. I had to find out if he loves me.”
“You asked him if he loves you?” Grace repeated in disbelief.
“Well, no, I wanted to . . . test the waters, so to speak.”
Charisma nodded. “And what did you find out? Does he love you?”
Belle hung her head. Quite obviously he desired her, but love her? “No—he’s angry with me. He figured out what I was up to with Harold and George and thought I had set him up for revenge as well.”
“What? How?” Charisma asked. “What happened, exactly?”
From some of the comments her parents had made in the carriage on the way home, Belle had pieced together the events that had led to her disgrace. “Apparently, Miss Mattingly noticed we were both missing from the ball last night and tracked Papa down to ask where we were.” And she must have done it maliciously, because Papa had been in the smoking room with all the men—not where a young lady would casually run into him.
Charisma nodded. “I knew that woman was trouble.”
“Well, he found Mama in the card room with Mrs. Bell . . .”
“Uh-oh,” Grace said. Probably because of how the story was progressing, rather than the fact
that she'd somehow torn a rent in the carpet with the heel of her shoe.
Belle gave a rueful nod. “Yes, I gather there was quite a row when he discovered she didn’t know where I was. They looked for us and Papa thought to look in Kit’s rooms . . . and they found us.”
Charisma raised an eyebrow. “What were you doing when they found you?”
“Nothing,” Belle said with a tilt of her chin. Not at that moment anyway. “We were just talking.”
“Did Papa hit Mr. Stanhope?” Grace asked, wide-eyed.
“No, of course not. I explained that it wasn’t Kit’s fault that I followed him to his rooms.”
Charisma sighed. “I see why they’re insisting on marriage then. You said you loved him—why don’t you just marry him?”
“Because he doesn’t love me, “Belle said in a small voice. “He just asked me out of duty.”
“Oh, Belle,” Grace exclaimed and came to give her a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too, “ Charisma said and joined in the hug.
Belle felt tears welling in her eyes. Her sisters understood—why couldn’t her parents? Even if she told them she loved Kit, they wouldn’t understand why she had to refuse him. Especially Mama. She would just see it as another reason to marry him.
Charisma pulled away and gave Belle a fierce look. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll just go to Kit and tell him—”
“No,” Belle said, interrupting her. Whatever Charisma had to say, it would just make things worse, not better. “I don’t want him saying he loves me just so I’ll marry him. If he’s going to say it, I want him to mean it.” Otherwise, she’d be miserable the rest of her life. “Promise me you won’t say a word.”
“All right,” Charisma agreed grudgingly.
“But if he says he loves you on his own, you’ll agree to marry him?” Grace asked eagerly.
Knowing her sweet sister longed for a happy resolution, Belle said, “Yes. If he loves me, I’ll marry him.” But she wasn’t holding out any hope.
A maid knocked on the door then and informed Belle she was wanted downstairs in the library. Her sisters wished her good luck, but Belle had to face this on her own. She headed downstairs, mentally girding herself for another onslaught on her defenses.
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