Tiptoeing along the corridor, past her sister’s room, she reached John’s door. For the first time, she hesitated but only long enough to take a deep breath, glance down at herself for reassurance, and then push the door open.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cam watched Margaret enter, and the mere sight of her caused his loins to tighten. How was he going to do this without embarrassing himself by spending before they even got started? It had been a long time since he’d enjoyed a woman. At that moment though, he couldn’t even recall the last one he’d been with. There could be no other in his thoughts except Margaret Blackwood. And no wonder.
Entering quietly, after locking the door, she padded across the carpet, a sensual vision in a sapphire-blue robe with her hair hanging loose around her shoulders.
“Am I dreaming again?” he asked when she reached his bedside.
“Don’t tease me,” she said, “or I might come to my senses and retreat.”
“I am definitely going to tease you,” he promised.
Patting the bed, he held her hand as she climbed upon the mattress. Settling on his left side, opposite to his cast-bound leg, Cam propped himself upon his good arm and looked down at her. To his delight, a thin, braided belt was the only closure for her robe, and he swiftly untied it.
Underneath, she wore only a sheer nightdress of the palest pink. He could see the darker shade of her nipples beneath, and he thanked God his vision hadn’t been impaired in the accident. Not wanting to hurry, he bent low to claim her warm lips in a long, languid kiss, which she returned with equal ardor.
“I want to kiss more of you,” he told her, before nibbling a trail down the soft skin of her neck and lower.
Hearing her swift intake of breath, feeling her hands clasp in his hair, he pressed his mouth to one of her nipples through the soft fabric, then tugged ever so gently at it with his teeth until she arched toward him.
When he pulled away, she gazed at him, her lips slightly parted. “I liked that,” she confessed.
“Good.” Leaning farther, he gave her other pearled nipple the same attention, and then he desperately needed to see her bare skin.
“Will you sit up and slip your arms from your robe?”
Wordlessly, she did as he asked. The nightdress had long sleeves and no buttons or ribbons he could see.
“I think this might have been the time to wear a nightshirt which opened in the front.”
“Oh, yes,” she said, her voice breathy and soft. “My error.”
“We can easily fix it if you’ll let me raise it from the bottom or …”
“Or what?”
“I could simply render it down the front, tearing it in two,” he told her matter-of-factly. “With my teeth!”
Her eyes widened. “Like a pirate?”
She stroked his healing facial scars, and he found he didn’t mind at all.
“Exactly. I feel like I could be a raiding corsair when I look at you.”
“I rather like this nightgown,” she told him. “That’s why I wore it. If you don’t mind—”
Reaching for the hem, Cam began to raise it, exposing her bare legs inch by inch.
“I wish I’d left more lamps lit,” he said ruefully.
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Don’t be shy, Miss Blackwood. You are so lovely, you should never be clothed.”
He said it to relax her, and by her answering giggle, he had succeeded.
“I decree when we are married, you shall never wear a nightgown to bed. It’s a crime to hide this beautiful body.”
She laughed again.
Distracting her with his words, he had lifted her gown to her waist and was raising it even more to expose her most intimate places to his hungry gaze.
However, when she felt the cool air on her skin, she instinctively reached to cover herself. Before she could, he bent low again and blew on the soft curls between her thighs.
“Ohh,” she murmured.
He wanted to put his lips there, to kiss her where she would feel it most intimately, but he restrained himself.
Start slowly, he cautioned.
Raising her gown higher, he revealed a flat stomach, which he softly kissed, first below and then above her navel. Her skin was like satin. Kissing his way higher as he lifted the hem, eventually, he revealed her gorgeous breasts, full and firm.
“Touch me,” her shaky voice commanded, surprising him.
He palmed them, stroking, circling, kneading, and then ever so slightly pinched each nipple. Her hips bucked.
“Raise your arms,” he instructed, “and I’ll pull your gown over your head.”
She did. As he tossed the offending garment over his shoulder, she crossed her arms over her breasts.
“Don’t hide yourself, sweet lady. I wish to worship every inch of you.”
It was more than Margaret’s physical appearance that captivated him. His heart was entirely engaged, and because of this, he wanted to make love to her but also to cherish her, to protect her, to bring her a world of delight.
In that instant, he decided they would pleasure each other without the final act. Perhaps he was old fashioned after all, but he wanted to enjoy the honor of claiming her body on their wedding night. He hoped he wouldn’t come to regret this newfound reverence.
Gently tugging at her arms until she uncovered herself, Cam lowered his mouth to her breasts again and latched onto the closest peak. A lick evoked her sigh, suckling made her moan, and a gentle bite caused her to whisper his name. He did all three and then trailed his hand down her stomach to the heart of her passion.
Damp curls met his touch. She was already taut with desire. He slipped a finger between her folds, feeling her body tense.
“Easy, darling. You’ll enjoy this.” Speaking with his mouth against her breast, he felt her relax again before lifting his head to watch her face as he stroked her for the first time.
Margaret’s head tilted back, her white, slender neck arched. She wouldn’t last long, he could tell. Careful not to apply too much pressure to her nub, when she seemed near to spending, he inserted a second finger inside her. She peaked, lifting her hips from the bed while gripping the bed clothes with fisted fingers.
*
Opening her eyes as she settled back onto John’s bed, Maggie felt too exhilarated and languid at the same time to be embarrassed. Gazing at the face of the man she loved, a man wearing a slightly smug but tender expression, she shook her head.
“Gracious! I had no idea. I mean I’ve … well … by myself, but when you do it to me, it’s magical. I lost track of where I was.”
“As long as you didn’t forget whom you were with.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. After a moment, however, he reared back.
“Sorry, my darling, I have to untwist and lie flat a moment. Keeping my right leg down on the bed while leaning over you has caused a cramp, I think.”
As he lay staring at the ceiling, she sat up. Was he going to take a sip of laudanum to ease the pain? And what of his enjoyment? It seemed as though he had given to her without taking. Could she give the same back to him?
“John.” Grabbing the edge of the counterpane, she held it against her naked body. Where was her nightgown?
“Yes.”
Gazing her fill of his broad chest and the brown hair sprinkled across it, she suddenly wanted to touch all of him. Reaching out, she gently smoothed her fingertips over first one nipple, then the other. To her amazement, they hardened. His body was similar to hers, she realized. Undoubtedly, he would enjoy similar sensations.
“May I do for you what you did for me?”
A slow grin spread upon his face.
“Not necessary. I think you will need some instruction, and I feel encumbered with this plaster cast.”
“Nonsense,” she told him, and yanked at the counterpane, which covered his waist and legs.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, seeing his midriff
was entirely bare. What’s more, his male member was stiff and, since she’d moved the blanket, was protruding at an angle toward the ceiling.
He groaned.
“Are you well?” Was he in terrible pain?
“Having you look at me is exciting, but I need you to touch me, or I may have to touch myself.”
She understood at once. When her body was exposed, if he had simply stared at her, making her feel heated and prickly, she would have needed to touch herself to ease the wanting.
Clearing her throat, she bit her lower lip and grasped him halfway down his shaft. He groaned again.
Nervous laughter over what she was doing bubbled up, but she fought to tamp it down. Instinctively, she understood laughter would be the incorrect response at an intimate moment such as this.
The skin over his shaft was softer than she’d anticipated, certainly smoother than an arm or a leg. Thinking of how he’d pleasured her, keeping her fingers curled around him, she stroked him up to the oddly shaped tip, hooded like a mushroom with a slit in the top, and crowned with a bead of liquid. Then she stroked down to the base.
When she looked more closely, Maggie saw his sacks, which she knew contained the seed necessary to make a baby.
Steering clear of those, she began to rhythmically pump her hand up and down, lightly, unsure of the pressure she should use.
After a few moments, his large, strong hand closed around hers, helping her to stroke him more forcefully and quicker. A glance at his face showed his eyes to be closed and his jaw clenched. Clearly, he was enjoying himself.
Maggie saw the moment he arched his head and opened his mouth to let loose a short, guttural cry. At the same time, his fingers squeezed hers harder, his member stiffened, and pearly liquid shot from the slit in an arc he aimed away from her.
Good Lord! His release was quite a display, far more impressive than her silent spending. Imagining full relations, she knew his warm seed would have gone straight into her womb to create a child. Baby Angsley!
“Why are you smiling so serenely?” he asked her, his voice husky and his eyes open once more.
“I was thinking of the child we will make some day.”
“When that day comes, I will be the happiest of men. You can let go now.”
“Pardon?”
“My yard. You can release it.”
Looking down, she realized he had removed his hand and now only her fingers remained, fisted around a softening shaft.
She let go. “You were splendid.”
“I am the one who is supposed to say that, not you, silly woman. And thank you,” he added.
Feeling her cheeks heat, she shook her head.
“No, I thank you. It was all truly wonderful, and you made it not at all awkward.”
“It will be even better when I can sink myself inside you. Imagine the same pleasure but expanded.”
“I cannot imagine it any better,” she confessed.
On the other hand, she knew he didn’t need to merely imagine it. He had done this and far more with other women. Previously, she hadn’t begrudged him his prior associations. Moreover, she was benefiting from his experience. However, now she knew what this was all about, knowing he’d already shared such intimacy saddened her.
“You wear every emotion upon your face. What is wrong, my love?”
My love. She liked the sound of that. Then another vexing thought crossed her mind. Perhaps he had said the same term of endearment to every woman he’d bedded.
Drat! She would drive herself mad if she let jealousy over his past consume her.
“I am new at this, and I know you have had similar interactions with women who knew what they were doing and with whom you experienced the expanded pleasure you mentioned.”
Sighing, he pulled her down until her cheek rested upon his chest.
“Margaret, I will tell you something with absolute honesty. You must believe me and then never let my past trouble you again. Will you promise?”
She nodded.
“Very well. No one I’ve ever known compares with you, not in any capacity. How can I put this delicately?” He paused a moment.
“Other women were necessary because a man has particularly strong urges at my age. About the time I needed to shave, likewise, my physical cravings needed particular attention. Do you follow me?”
Maggie rolled her eyes at his explanation. “You are saying the women you lay with were only for utilitarian purposes.”
He laughed heartily, jiggling her head where it rested on his chest.
“When you put it that way, no. Obviously, pleasure was involved, but in comparison to being with you, it was like a practical transaction as opposed to an act of love. It was never that.”
“You never loved before?” She held her breath.
“No, I promise you. I have felt infatuation, attraction, even admiration, but not what I feel for you. I have never experienced love until I came to know one Margaret Blackwood.”
Smiling to herself, she was satisfied by his explanation. Still, she had another question.
“And you don’t use the term lightly?”
“Which term?” he asked, then yawned broadly.
“My love.”
“No, I don’t say anything to do with love lightly.”
She was utterly content. “Very well.”
He pressed her close with his arms tightly around her.
“You are my love and, soon, my wife. How did I get to be this fortunate?”
“I am told I can be demanding and even sharp-tongued. However, I think I am only exacting and forthright.”
Chuckling, he kissed the top of her head.
“Either way, I accept you as you are.”
“As I do you.” Except for the laudanum, she reminded herself, but she wouldn’t bring it up right then, not when everything seemed idyllic.
John’s yawn brought on one of her own. Easily, she could drift asleep in his arms, but it would be dangerous. True, they were engaged, yet if her sister went to Maggie’s room and found her gone, she would set a bad example.
Moreover, Lady Cambrey might consider it a pattern of indecent behavior if Maggie were once again discovered in the earl’s bed. This time, bare as her day of birth.
“I should return to my room.”
Immediately, his grip tightened on her, and she laughed.
“It’s only down the hall, not across the world.”
Relaxing his hold, he stroked her shoulder. “I know. That was my honest reaction to your leaving my arms empty. The bed will feel cold the instant you have left it.”
“Kiss me again to warm us,” she said, climbing on top of him, relishing the sensation of her skin against his. “And then I will go.”
Immediately, his hands were in her hair, threading through her tresses as he pulled her down and claimed her mouth. For a long, intimate and silent time, they simply kissed. Her body was tingling everywhere as if she hadn’t felt satisfied only minutes ago. Was it immoral of her to think of doing it again, right then? Feeling his swelling shaft under her indicated he was of the same mind.
Raising her head, she knew she had better climb off John or risk getting with child before the wedding. The promise of experiencing everything sensual with him, she held close in her heart. Sometime soon, they would enjoy the full coital relations, and it would be beyond anything. This taste of intimacy had shown her that.
Dropping another kiss upon his lips, receiving another in return, she climbed off him and slipped from his bed.
Goodness, she was standing entirely naked in the lamplight in a man’s bedroom. Where were her clothes?
“I tossed your nightgown over there,” he said helpfully. “I’m going to watch while you bend to pick it up.”
She couldn’t help laughing at his lascivious remark. Instead of being embarrassed, she felt like a beautiful goddess because of the way he’d made love to her and the things he had said.
“I give you leave to watch.” She found
her gown on the carpet. Bending slowly, her rear end facing him, she heard him groan.
“You have become a temptress in an evening.”
“You have made me one.” She slid her nightdress over her head before returning to the bed for her robe. It lay crumpled in the spot where he’d slid it from her. She’d been a different person then, an innocent.
“I very much like the new, experienced me.”
Reaching for her robe, she was startled when he grabbed her arm.
“There is much more to learn. You’re hardly a skilled lover yet, my darling, but I intend to teach you and take great pleasure while doing so.”
“I am a willing pupil.”
“Only with me,” he reminded her.
Had the throaty, sensual laugh really come from her?
“Of course, my lord. Only with you.”
“Go now, or we shall have to have another lesson at once.” He released her arm.
Sighing at the wonder of it all, Maggie left him to what she hoped was a good night’s rest. For her part, with her body and mind both equally pleased, she would sleep exceedingly well.
*
As soon as the door closed behind Margaret, Cam opened his bedside table and extracted the bottle of medicine, as he thought of it. For that was what laudanum truly was—pure and helpful medicine. Nothing more.
Taking a small sip, he put it back, covering it with clean, pressed handkerchiefs.
Then he relaxed back onto the bed, waited for relief from any lingering pain, and contemplated his life.
Margaret was perfect, and perfect for him. Their marriage would be supremely successful. He was confident of that. For he liked her mind and humor. Moreover, they were going to have passionate, fulfilling relations, and he couldn’t wait to touch her again.
His cast would come off in a matter of months, and he would work like the devil to get his strength back.
Yes, everything was in order. Except he had to lie to his fiancée because she didn’t understand how necessary it was to keep the pain at bay. When he was no longer in pain, of course he would once again go through the agony of ceasing to take the opium tincture. Until then, he would do what he knew was best.
Beastly Lords Collection Page 59