by Julia Byrne
His body was changing, too, she realized on a startled breath, as he slid one hand down to her hips and drew her closer.
“Hugh?”
“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked gently.
“I do want you to show me what happens between husband and wife,” she said against his chest. “But…will you tell me, first? Then I’ll know what to expect.”
Hugh shut his eyes for a moment while he fought for control. He was already rigid with the effort it took not to press Annith against his aching flesh. He didn’t dare think about stripping her naked, laying her down and sinking himself into the soft depths of her body. And she wanted him to tell her about it?
He took a deep breath and tried to find words she would understand. “Do you remember during the marriage service Father Robert said man and wife become one?”
She nodded against him.
“When we make love, sweetheart, our bodies will join, become one. But before that happens you need to be ready for me.”
She looked up at that, her eyes wide, but with curiosity, he saw, not fear. “How will we become one?”
Now he did have to draw her closer, lifting her so his swollen shaft nudged the soft place between her thighs. “Here,” he said. The word was a groan of almost unbearable pleasure. He felt her tremble, but even as she made a small sound of uncertainty, he cupped one softly rounded breast and stroked his thumb over the tip, and uncertainty became a low moan of surrender. “Aye, that’s it, sweetheart. Let me touch you. Let me show how it’s going to be between us.”
“Hugh.” Her breath fractured as he continued to stroke her. “This is…beyond anything.”
He took a tighter grip on his control. “Aye, it will be.”
“Is this… Ohhhh. I’m sure ’tis shameless of me to allow such caresses, but I do so love your hands on me.”
He groaned. “Keep talking to me like that, sweetheart, and this is going to be over before it starts.”
Annith started to ask why, but Hugh brought his mouth down on hers in a kiss of such fierce urgency, all the strength went out of her legs. The last of the nuns’ lectures on shamelessness winked out of existence. Even if they hadn’t, the torrent of male need washing over her was enough to drown out an entire chorus of disapproving voices. She had to cling to his shoulders to stay upright, and as though sensing that she could barely stand, he broke off the kiss, picked her up, and laid her on the bed.
She watched him as though in a dream as he removed her leather shoes, then sat on the edge of the bed to take off his boots. By the time the second boot hit the floor, he had stripped off his chausses and was lying beside her, the breadth of his shoulders blocking the light from the fire as he leaned over her.
She looked up at him, some of her dream-like state evaporating. He had moved too quickly for her to see what had caused the intriguing hardness that had made her want to retreat and yet soften against it, but lying with him like this, he seemed even bigger. She was abruptly aware of a very feminine vulnerability. When he began unlacing her shift, she brought her hands up to cover his before she could stop herself.
“’Tis all right, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I know you’re shy, but you’ll like me touching you, I promise. And if I do anything you don’t like, you only have to tell me and I’ll stop.”
“What are you going to do?” she whispered.
His smile was so tender it took her breath away. “First, I’m going to look at you,” he said. “Then I’m going to touch you all over, and I want you to touch me. I want my mouth on you, everywhere. And then I want to be inside you, and though you may not think so now, my innocent darling, by the time we get to that point you’ll want it too.”
Her eyes had grown wider as he spoke, but he could also feel the quickening beat of her heart, hear the rapid little breaths she took, and knew arousal was beginning to overcome nervousness.
“Let me touch you,” he whispered. He slipped his hand from beneath hers as he spoke, continuing to undo the laces until the opening of her shift parted to reveal the inner curves of her breasts.
She gasped when he slid his fingers beneath the garment to open it fully. Then cried out at the feel of his hand on her bare flesh. And suddenly gentleness wasn’t enough; she covered his hand with hers again, but this time to press him closer, to feel the heat that streamed from her breasts straight to the place where they would join.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice suddenly rough with a note that had her trembling. “So soft and delicate.” He continued caressing her, stroking the budding tips of her breasts until she thought she wouldn’t be able to bear any more. “Look at you,” he whispered. “You respond so beautifully to me. Your nipples are like little berries just waiting to be tasted.”
Annith was sure she was blushing wildly at his words, but it no longer mattered. The thought of Hugh’s mouth on her sensitized breasts was so arousing she arched wildly in reaction. He took her offering instantly, his mouth closing hotly over one small peak, laving it with his tongue before closing his teeth around it with exquisite care.
She almost lost consciousness under the torrent of pleasure that swept over her. He turned his attention to her other breast, continuing the delicious torment until the flesh between her legs was pulsing in counterpoint, aching with an emptiness she didn’t know how to assuage.
“Hugh,” she cried. “I want—”
“I know what you want,” he said in a low growl. “I want it, too, sweetheart.” With one swift movement, he swept her shift down and off, leaving her naked to his gaze. He flattened his hand on her stomach in an act of sheer possession, just above the soft curls shielding her most vulnerable flesh.
Annith shivered in unbearable anticipation, her toes curling in reaction to the unleashed desire glittering in his eyes as he looked at her feminine secrets. No woman, even one as inexperienced as she was, could mistake that look of arousal. His face was hard with the purpose of a man about to take his woman.
He moved his hand lower, sliding his fingers between her legs and stealing her breath. She gasped, her thighs clamping together in an involuntary reflex that only succeeded in pressing his hand more tightly to her. She felt as though she was melting where he touched, hovering on the brink of something indescribable and helpless to stop it.
She cried out, trying to retreat from sensations that threatened to engulf her, and he lowered his head to kiss her. “Hush,” he whispered. “Don’t be afraid, darling. I’ll be so gentle with you. There’ll be nothing but pleasure, I swear it.”
Hugh felt the muscles in her legs quivering as she fought her natural reaction to the intimacy of his touch. Then, with a helpless little cry, her tension eased and he was able to retreat a little, caressing her lightly, until she relaxed and desire began building again.
Still he took it slowly, and was rewarded when every shocked little gasp was followed by moans of pleasure, until the cries coming from her throat were those of imperative feminine demand. Her response overwhelmed him, humbled him. She was utterly open now, caution and shyness forgotten. And because she was so innocent, so unknowing, because she trusted him, she had no fear. He knew he could do anything, and she would accept it.
Tenderness swept through him at the thought, leashing the ravenous need to plunder the sweet secrets of her body as nothing else could. He had been given a gift beyond price, and the responsibility for opening up the world of womanhood to her was immense. He wanted this first time to be perfect for her.
He slid one finger into her, controlling her instinctive jolt with the weight of his body. “’Tis all right, darling,” he murmured. “This is how it’s meant to be. I want you to need me until you can’t think of anything else.” He kept talking to her, words of reassurance and demand, scarcely aware of what he was saying, and this time there was no drawing back. Her complete surrender to his touch threatened to rip his control to shreds. He felt her melt around his invading finger, felt the gossamer thin barrier of her maidenhea
d and knew, with relief, he wouldn’t have to hurt her.
And he also knew he couldn’t wait a second longer. She was soft and wet, writhing beneath him, aware of nothing except the overwhelming need for release. He withdrew his finger and she sank her little nails into his back in a protest that nearly finished it for him then and there. He moved her legs further apart and lifted himself over her, slowly letting her get used to his weight. She clung to him, her lovely eyes dazed with passion, but widening with sudden awareness as he began to enter her.
She made a frantic little sound as her body stretched to admit him. “Hugh, nay—you’re too— Ohhhh.” Her eyes closed and her head tipped back over his arm as he reached down between their bodies to stroke the sensitive little bud there.
“Trust me,” he demanded, at that moment completely unable to gentle his voice. He gritted his teeth, feeling tiny muscles quiver around him as her body adjusted to his invasion. The tight clasp of her feminine passage was a siren call to madness. She moved tentatively, lifting her hips in an instinctive need to take more of him, and his control shattered, exploded beyond recall. He surged forward, filling her completely. “That’s it, sweetheart. Take it. Let it happen.”
She screamed, a short, sharp sound of shock and excitement, and convulsed beneath him. And in that last second of rational thought he knew she’d been so close to completion, his entry had been enough to sweep her over the edge into ecstasy. Then his own release roared through him, the force of it almost tearing him apart, until he knew nothing but the pounding of his heart against her breast and her soft little gasps as she went limp beneath him.
CHAPTER TEN
Annith surfaced a long time later to feel Hugh kissing her, brushing his lips gently across her lashes, her cheeks, her mouth. He was lying half over her, wrapping her in the heat of his body. She wondered vaguely if she should retrieve her shift, but lying with him like this, feeling his strong heartbeat against her breast, their legs entwined, was simply too seductive. Modesty didn’t stand a chance.
“Annith,” he murmured. “Sweetheart.”
She opened her eyes to meet a gaze of such heart-shaking tenderness, she felt her breath catch.
He heard the tiny sound, and stroked his thumb across her lips. “Did I hurt you, darling girl? I—”
“Oh, nay,” she said swiftly. “Never. Indeed, ’twas…”
“What?”
“Oh, Hugh, ’twas the most wondrous feeling, but so unexpected. It startled me and I couldn’t hold on to it, and then…’twas over.”
He winced. “Aye, you don’t need to remind me,” he said gruffly. “I know I rushed you at the end, sweetheart. I fear you have a very potent effect on my control.”
“Oh?” She thought about that, her lips curving. “I think I like you losing control.”
He laughed softly, kissed her, then disentangled their limbs and rose from the bed. Completely unconcerned by his nakedness, he walked into the alcove that housed the bath.
Annith pulled the sheet over herself, watching dreamily when he emerged with one of her drying cloths, dampened, in his hand. He moved with a fluid masculine power that was riveting, and his body was a sight she could have studied forever. When her gaze dropped to his sex she was fascinated to see that his proportions were slightly less alarming than they had been earlier.
He smiled as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Here—” He took hold of the sheet. “Let me make you more comfortable, little wife.”
Her fascination with the male form promptly vanished as she realized his intention. “Oh, nay, ’tis not—”
He smothered the rest with a kiss, then removed the sheet and gently parted her legs. The cloth felt deliciously cool, even if the rest of her was turning a bright shade of pink.
“Better?” he asked, smoothing the cloth between her legs. She barely suppressed a gasp. He was using just enough pressure to stir her senses all over again. And then he tossed the cloth aside, bent, and pressed a kiss to the place he’d been soothing.
Annith shot straight upright in the bed. “My lord, what do you think you’re doing?” she squeaked, snatching at the sheet to cover herself.
Hugh promptly pinned the sheet to the bed. His grin was unbelievably wicked. “You were lying there like a feast laid out before me and I couldn’t resist,” he said outrageously.
“Ohh! You…you…” She stopped, stunned to find that her still quivering senses were causing her to entertain an equally outrageous notion. Her gaze lowered to his chest. She put out a hand and stroked him, rather as she would a large, unpredictable beast. “Hugh?”
His response was a low growl in his throat.
Aye, she thought in shivery delight. Definitely a beast. She wondered how far he could be pushed before he lost control again. “Do you think we could do it again? Now that I know what happens, I want to feel every moment.”
The muscles beneath her hand turned to steel. “Whenever you wish,” he said softly, but his eyes were anything but soft. They glittered with an intensity that sent more thrilling shivers through her. “Whatever you want.”
“I want to touch you this time,” she whispered.
With one searing look, he shifted over to her other side and stretched out on the bed. He folded his arms behind his head. “Then touch me, sweetheart.”
Annith gazed at the fascinating male territory spread before her. For an instant shyness hovered as she remembered she was sitting there naked, but what she wanted was too tantalizing to let shyness intervene. Especially when she realized Hugh was ceding control to her.
For the moment, anyway, she corrected herself, with a swift glance at the tense set of his face. His lashes were half lowered, but he watched her; she could see the gleam in the hazel depths of his eyes. The moment might not last; she had to take advantage of it.
Tentatively, and then, when he didn’t move, more surely, she curved her hands around his shoulders, savoring the strength there, before lowering her palms to his chest. Her fingers threaded through crisp black hair and encountered two male nipples. When she stroked them experimentally a low sound rumbled in his chest.
“Oh,” she breathed. “You like that, too.”
He didn’t answer, but his eyes narrowed further. Feeling very daring, she continued to stroke him until he made a move as though he might stop her. Then he went still again and she slid her hands down to the ridges of muscle across his belly. Her gaze followed, until both hands and gaze collided with the rigid length of his erection.
“Saints above,” she said faintly. It wasn’t only her voice that was suddenly faint. How had she ever taken him into her body? Apparently that question was going to be answered very shortly because she could feel herself growing soft and moist in readiness to take him again. And he hadn’t even touched her.
“I did say you have a potent effect on me,” he said, sounding as if he was speaking through his teeth.
“Aye, but—” She stroked a finger down the length of him and was startled when he got even bigger and harder. “Oh my goodness! Hugh, such a transformation is truly astonishing.”
A predatory grin flashed across his face. “It happens a lot around you, so I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”
She barely heard him, so enthralled was she by the effect of her touch on him. She put her head on one side, studying him, then before she had even realized her intention, she bent her head and kissed him.
The next thing she knew she was on her back and Hugh was lying over her.
“That’ll do it,” he said, the roughness in his voice sending excitement feathering over her skin. He began to kiss her, deep invading kisses that had her consigning further experiments to another night. She felt his hands on her breasts, and cried out at the fierce urgency in him. His touch was firmer this time, his mouth harder, more demanding. By the time he nudged her legs apart and pressed himself against her, she was almost drunk with pleasure, the hardness of his chest against her breasts both torment and delight.
He framed her face between his hands and gazed deeply into her eyes as he began to enter her. “How did I ever get so lucky as to find you?” he rasped.
Annith had to blink back a sudden rush of tears as emotion threatened to overwhelm her. He saw them and bent his head to kiss her lashes. “Am I hurting you, darling? Do you want me to stop?”
“Nay,” she breathed, and held him tighter. She was a little tender from the first time, but she would have to be in far greater pain to have him stop, and even then she would probably bear it for the breathtaking intimacy of becoming one with him, the unimaginable pleasure flooding her as he completed their joining with devastating care.
Nay, her tears weren’t because he was hurting her; he wasn’t. ’Twas her heart that was filled to overflowing. She had loved him before this moment, but it had been a girlish love, she knew now, innocent and gentle. Now, as she felt Hugh become part of her, love for him filled her entire being. She felt as if she belonged to him, utterly. As if she was his, heart, body, and soul, for all eternity.
Then he moved, retreating an inch before pressing forward again, and physical sensation began to take over. His invasion of her body still shocked her senses, but the thrilling excitement of lying, deliciously crushed, beneath him, of feeling him inside her, hot and hard and deep, swept her beyond shock, beyond thought even.
He began to move again, and this time there was no gentleness. She was caught up in a fierce whirlwind of passion that left no room for anything except the building tension that demanded release. She clung to him, every powerful thrust of his body making her cry out with the incredible pleasure of it, until she had no more breath and surrendered to the storm of ecstasy sweeping through her. Somewhere through the whirling winds, she heard the rough sound that burst from his throat, felt the muscles in his back turn to steel as he found his own release. Then she sank into the sweet darkness of utter completion.
