“Now.”
Adrienne’s brow furrowed in confusion as she attempted to shake off his strong grip. “I beg your pardon?”
Green eyes flashed with irritation as they stared down at her when she dug her heels stubbornly into the sand beneath her feet.
“Miss St. John you’re going to be begging for much more than a pardon if you don’t start walking with me back to the house. There’s only one of me and far too many of them.”
She turned to look over her shoulder and saw the growing group of men who now were drawing near to where she stood with Nicolai. A lump of fear formed in her stomach.
“I see. Perhaps you’re right.”
No longer fighting against his hand on her upper arm, Adrianne allowed him to pull her along the beach. It took three of her strides to match one of his and she was fast running out of breath in her attempt to keep up.
When they reached the weathered driftwood fence that lined the boundary of his property, Adrienne dug in her heels again. The men on the beach hadn’t followed them after they rounded the first bend in the shore. Seeing that they were alone, she saw no reason to continue the fast pace toward the house now that she was sure they were safe.
“Would you like to explain to me what that was about?” She asked.
Nicolai didn’t look back as he continued pulling her onward. Through the yard he led her, into the house and through a door, which he promptly closed, shutting them inside a library that held more books than she ever imagined possible.
Shoving her toward a leather chair near a fireplace, Nicolai moved to stand in front of her, his eyes glittering with temper. He’d out on his personal balcony attempting to engross himself in a book to take his mind off their encounter when he’d looked up and saw Adrienne meandering on the beach. It seemed the little vixen would not only invade his thoughts, but his vision as well.
At first, he’d been entranced at the way the breeze caught her hair, swirling it about. He gloried in watching her, so beautiful it seemed the sea even paled in comparison but when she’d moved well past his property line in the direction of the tent city, Nicolai was pulled from roughly from his musings. Cursing, he had thrown down his book and set off after the woman who was completely unaware of the danger she was about to encounter.
Pirate Shanties were places even he was reluctant to go. Filled with hardened criminals, mercenaries and cutthroats, he knew if he didn’t reach her before she reached the shanties, which lined that side of the island, there would be nothing he could do to save her. He would be outnumbered and outmanned. He was at a near run when he finally intercepted her, her presence already well known to the men ahead. Had she not willingly accompanied him back to the manor, he’d have slung her over his shoulder and carted her back with him, kicking and screaming. Now that they were safe inside his home, he decided she needed a lesson of her own in pirate culture.
“Do you understand what almost happened back there?” He asked with admonishment.
“Aside from garnering unwanted attention from a large number of men? No, I don’t.” Adrienne said, watching him with cautious eyes.
Nicolai ground his teeth so hard he feared they’d shatter.
“Miss St. John, those were not just men. They’re quite possibly the roughest, most dangerous lot of cutthroats and murderers on this island. They’re the pirates no one will hire because they cannot be controlled and do not follow a captain’s orders. Had you gone any further into their territory, I would have been killed trying to save you and you would be wishing for death at this instant while they continued to pass you around their camp, raping you until you were dead.”
Her face paled at his words, the truth of them sinking in. “I had no idea. I was only out for a stroll.”
Nicolai pinched the bridge of his nose as he struggled to remain patient while visions of a fate worse than death for her danced through his mind.
“I realize that your innocence on such matters has you at a disadvantage, but please listen to me when I say, under no circumstances are you to venture past my property line unescorted and even then, only when there are several men available for your protection. Are we clear?”
She nodded.
“You’re free to go,” Nicolai said, turning from her to rest his arm on the mantle of the fireplace.
Adrienne rose to leave, but before she did so, she wrapped her arms around the hulking man from behind and squeezed him, laying her cheek against the middle of his back. It was a forward gesture and one that she wasn’t sure he’d welcome but this was the third time he’d saved her from an uncertain fate and she wanted to express her gratitude and growing affection toward him.
Nicolai stiffened as her slender arms embraced him and her body pressed against his. Immediately he hardened in his trousers at the touch and the scent of her. His resolve to keep his distance weakened as he turned to wrap his arms around her as well. One large hand captured her head, which he held tightly to the space just below his chest.
Wrapped in his arms this way, she was so small and felt entirely too fragile. Nicolai closed his eyes and groaned at the thought of what her delicate body might have endured had he not gotten to her in time.
“Thank you,” she whispered against the soft linen of his shirt.
He attempted to shift his lower half away from her frame so that she couldn’t feel how his body reacted to close proximity of hers, but she held tight, keeping them firmly planted against one another. Involuntarily, his fingers wound in her tresses as he relaxed against her. If she wouldn’t allow him to spare her the details of what a man felt when he held a woman this closely, then he wouldn’t shield her from the reality. After frightening her in his office a few nights ago, he’d have thought she would have balked at any contact with him, but perhaps the most startling aspect of all was how badly he’d needed to be close to her again. These past few days had been a struggle to stay away.
Adrienne felt the hard length of his cock as it pressed into her and she pushed aside the ingrained fear of what it meant. This time she would be prepared to accept whatever took place between them. He wanted her, of that she was certain, though he tried to hide it. And while she might be afraid of the mechanics due to her lack of experience, she wanted him in return.
Truth be told, she’d wanted him from the very first day he’d found her on that tiny island, but had allowed fear at all she’d been told throughout her youth about the rigors of copulation for a woman, to overpower that desire. The morning he’d touched her on the ship, he’d awoken a curiosity that wouldn’t abate and had only grown in intensity since the incident a few night ago. Said curiosity was more piqued than ever and she was determined not to allow any of her previous fears to show.
Lifting her head from his chest, she raised her face to look up into his. Nicolai’s green eyes were hot as they peered down at her.
“Be careful, Myshka. I’ve been long without a woman and you are far too desirable for me to continue to remain noble.”
His voice was dark with warning that stirred something deep within her. The part of her body that he’d awakened throbbed and became damp at his words. She further heated at the knowledge he’d abstained from his carnal urges since he’d been home. Adrienne had wondered about that. His admission gave her the confidence to do as she so desperately wanted. Reaching up, she placed her hand on the side of his rugged face, loving the feel of the day’s worth of stubble against her palm.
“Careful is boring to those who seek adventure,” Adrienne whispered as she rose on tiptoe to brush a feathery light kiss over the corner of his mouth. Her breath fluttered with excitement when his hand tightened its hold on her hair and he turned his lips into hers.
Exerting pressure, Nicolai demanded she open under him and she obeyed. The sensation of having his tongue stroke against hers was both foreign yet wonderful and she reveled in the way his kiss caused a thousand tiny sparrows to set flight in her stomach.
Nicolai deepened the kiss, wanting more of
the woman who beguiled him with her innocence and bravery. Too long denied the pleasure of feeling a female’s curves against his hard body, yet instinctively knowing only this one particular woman would do, he pressed her closer as he passionately made love to Adrienne’s mouth.
Lifting her, he turned their bodies and walked until he collided with one of the many bookshelves in his library, using it as leverage to pin her against him as he ravaged her mouth. Her small hands sought out the planes of his wide chest, exploring without fully understanding the effect she was having on him, but Nicolai was powerless to stop her.
Since the moment he’d met her, all he’d dreamed of was feeling her against him like this, of touching and tasting her. He’d never imagined she’d be this responsive after their last encounter. She was like liquid fire against him, all previous hesitations so far removed it was as if he were holding a different woman. A woman who knew what she wanted and exactly how to take it.
He was nearing the point of being unable to stop, as their kiss grew more heated and her hands continued to stroke him through his clothing. Hoisting her further up, he spread her thighs and stepped into the space he created. Rocking into her, his movements restricted by his trousers and her voluminous skirts, he instinctively sought out the warmth of her body and groaned against her lips.
His head dipped down to suckle against the skin of her elegant neck, tongue lapping at her flesh. Her gasp was audible as her thighs flexed around his. Following his lead, Adrienne rubbed against the rigid member between Nicolai’s legs, her movements inexperienced but effective all the same. Her murmured moan echoed in his ear while her body struggled for more pressure and contact from his.
“Myshka,” he groaned. “I’ll be unable to stop what happens next if you continue to move against me such as you are.”
Adrienne loved how his voice became more heavily accented when he was aroused; loved the way it deepened and the syllables rolled off his tongue. His words held warning but she was passed the point of fear, her body crying out for his.
“Show me what to do,” she whispered.
Her words served to clear his lust-ridden mind, reminding him that her whispered plea wasn’t just an attempt to be coy. She genuinely had no knowledge of what took place between a man and a woman. Because of that, he lifted his lips from hers in assessment.
His eyes took in the sight of her swollen lips, the flushed face, and heavily lidded eyes. The turquoise of which had deepened to a cerulean blue.
“There is no going back from here, Adrienne,” he whispered, leaning in to nip at her lip. He couldn’t stop kissing her, couldn’t stop moving his body against hers even though his mind cautioned him against moving too quickly. He needed to give her an opportunity to realize what surrendering to him would mean.
“Twice you have put your hands upon me and twice I have allowed fear to intervene,” she said, her lips searching and clinging to his before she continued.
“If my future is to be mine alone, then I want to know what it is to feel passion, Nicolai. I can think of no one better to introduce me.”
Seeing nothing but honesty reflected in her eyes as well as her words, Nicolai shifted his hold on her until she was cradled against him.
Through a separate door rather than the one he’d initially led her to upon entering the library, he took her through winding corridors until he reached his private chambers. Unfaltering in his stride, he stood her on her feet at the foot of the bed. Carefully, he fingered the neat bow at the top of her bodice, his eyes full of question. When she nodded her acceptance it was all the permission Nicolai required. Slowly, he began to unlace her gown.
Adrienne shivered under his fingers as he pulled apart the corset lacing of her bodice. She suspected he was holding himself in check, measuring his movements and taking special care to be gentle as he undressed her. The heated green of his eyes glittered with the need to rend and tear the garments free, but he refrained, going slowly in order to give her an opportunity to change her mind.
It was because he was being so gentle and so careful that she firmly decided she would stay the course and have this night with him.
Nicolai pulled the brocaded fabric away from her breasts, leaving her clad only in her shift and skirts. Untying the ribbon, which held the heavy material around her hips, the skirts dropped free in a mound of taffeta around her feet. He brought his hand up to the laces of her shift and looked at her in question again, giving her one final opportunity to stop him. Her full lips curved in a soft smile, encouraging him further and he pulled the delicate string that kept her hidden from his view.
Candlelight flickered around them, casting their shadows onto the walls of his quarters as one by one, Nicolai unthreaded the lace. When the last eyelet was free, his hands cupped her shoulders and pushed the garment down, baring her completely.
He trailed a finger over the skin of her chest, just over the top of her heaving bosom.
“You are exquisite, Miss St. John.” His lips dipped low to land on hers as he filled his hands with her soft curves. He picked her up again only to lay her down on the bed while he began to divest himself of his own clothing.
Adrienne watched, desire filling her features as he removed the silk vest he wore and began to work the laces of the shirt underneath. Once shed, the muscles of his chest and stomach rippled in the dim light of the candles and Adrienne thought she’d never seen a more beautiful sight than the one before her.
He put Michelangelo’s David to shame with his virile masculinity. His chest was covered by a light smattering of hair across the muscled flesh, which tapered down to cover his stomach before thinning into a line that disappeared below the trousers he was now opening.
Adrienne sat up straighter, eager to see their biological differences. Aside from children, this would be the first time she’d looked upon a member of the opposite sex without clothing.
Her breath left her chest in a rush as his trousers fell and he stood beside the bed in all his naked glory. The thin line of hair she’d noted before widened into a thick thatch at his pubis, while a very large, very thick cock protruded outward. It seemed to pulse and throb with a life of its own under her gaze. Below it, his sack hung heavily at the juncture of two very powerful looking thighs.
He was the epitome of strength and manhood and she wanted to feel the force of nature that was Nicolai against her hot, wanton body. Unsure of what to do next, but more than willing to learn, she held her arms out to him in silent surrender.
Nicolai couldn’t have stopped himself from lowering his body into her waiting arms if he tried. Seeing her stretched out in a reclining position on his bed had been nearly been enough to make him spill his seed on himself. But when she’d watched him so brazenly while he’d undressed and then opened herself to him, he’d known then that nothing would stop what came next. His home could burn around him but he would sink himself deep into her, even if it meant using his last breath to do so.
Settling himself between her thighs, he took his time exploring her mouth, giving her the opportunity to relax into his embrace as her tiny hands learned his body. Her stroking fingers were torture to him, but it was of the sweetest kind as they delicately traced the muscles of his back, shoulder and arms before shyly retreating to his buttocks, where she smoothed and gripped the firm globes.
Nicolai pushed against her hips, rubbing her folds with his engorged member and reveled in her sharp gasp as wetness seeped from her body. He moved his hand between them, rubbing her and spreading the moisture that would ease his entry into her.
“I cannot stop the initial pain you’re going to feel, but I can lessen it,” he whispered into her ear, while his fingers began to stroke her heated center.
Adrienne embraced the sensations that were traveling from her core to dance along every nerve ending in her body. It was as beautiful and wonderful as it had been that morning on the ship, only now, she was fully aware of what was taking place and where it would lead.
Cur
ious to know if there was more bliss to be found, she bucked upward into his hand, seeking answers. She was rewarded when he slid one finger into her tight channel while he continued to stroke the nub at the top of her sex. The single digit stretched her but not to the point of pain. It was strange feeling, yet one she welcomed. A second finger had her stiffening under him uncomfortably, but his whispered encouragement and the resulting pleasure that radiated from that bundle of nerves he was caressing, shored up her resolve and she began to mimic the rhythm of his movements as she rode his fingers.
Adrienne clutched at his shoulders frantically as the pleasure mounted within her, spiraling tighter and tighter in her womb until it exploded, filling her senses and causing white lights to flash behind her tightly closed eyes. Her back bowed off the bed as she cried out her release and felt him remove his hand, replacing his fingers with the head of his thick manhood.
Nicolai clamped tightly down on his self-control as he eased the tip of his cock into her heat. She was unbelievably tight as he breached her and he heard the whimpering cry when her flesh gave, allowing him to push through her maidenhead.
A few more gentle strokes had him fully seated deep in her body and he waited, giving her the necessary time to adjust to the length and the girth of him. She pulsed around him, her channel a wet, hot well of desire though her mind was still struggling to come to grips with the pleasure-pain aspect of the act.
Adrienne’s first thought when he penetrated her was that he was going to cleave her in two. He was impossibly big while she was impossibly small. The sharp pain of his invasion was short-lived, however. When he stilled within her, she focused on the union of their bodies, finding the connection alien, yet wholly satisfying. Experimentally, she moved under him and in that moment, knew everything she’d ever been told about the act of procreation had been a lie.
“Oh,” she whispered as she moved again, tingles and a hot rush of pleasure moving through her. “I didn’t know.”
Nicolai heard the wonder in Adrienne’s voice as she discovered the sensual secrets that had been hidden from her. He gave a low chuckle, which rumbled against her chest.
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