It took a few moments before Thea realized that Ewan was standing in the glow of the candles wearing only his breeches. The firelight flickered over his bare chest. She allowed her gaze to travel from his slightly mussed hair, across his wide, square shoulders, down the thick muscles of his arms, to the flat plane of his abdomen. She swallowed, hard. The man was even better looking with no shirt on. Hmm. She hadn’t expected that.
Ewan’s blue gaze narrowed upon her. “Did you just ask me if we should ‘get this over with’?”
Thea winced. She’d been doing her best not to wring her hands since she’d stepped inside the room. She was not a handwringer, and she refused to become one, even over something as excruciating as this. Handwringing was Maggie’s forte. “Yes?” she finally offered. “That’s what I said.”
Ewan’s response was to burst into laughter. Oh, that made her feel better. She was supposed to be seductive, instead she was laughable. For an interminable moment, she considered turning and fleeing, but that would be the coward’s way out. And she had no intention of being a coward tonight or any night. She sucked a deep breath into her lungs and straightened her shoulders.
“I suppose it is funny,” she allowed, glancing down at her attire, “especially this nightrail.”
“No.” Ewan shook his head. He strode to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. The warmth from his touch sent a shudder down her back. “You look absolutely gorgeous, Thea. I was laughing at your words, not at you.”
“Yes, well, I’m not exactly trained in the art of seduction,” she said with another half-smile.
He returned her smile, lifting one hand to softly rub her cheek. “Unfortunately, neither am I. Would you like to just talk?”
Relief flooded through her and she silently nodded.
Ewan captured her hand and led her to the bed. They sat together on the edge of the enormous mattress, which was covered with a dark blue satin blanket. She spent a few moments looking around the huge room. It was dim in the bedchamber, but she could see enough to know it looked like him in here. The furnishings were a mixture of dark blues and grays and browns. Everything was in its place. A very conventional bedchamber.
It smelled like him in here too. A mixture of spice and soap and something indefinable that even now made her want to curl into him and lick his neck for some reason. Oh, for heaven’s sake, what was wrong with her? Why was she thinking about neck licking?
“I never expected us to be here,” Ewan began. He still held her hand in his and when he finished speaking, he squeezed it. His warm fingers engulfing her cold ones.
Thea squeezed back, but tears stung the backs of her eyes. He meant that he never expected her to be here. He was wishing she was someone else. They both knew it. But she had to put that out of her mind, had to forget about it … for tonight at least.
Ewan turned to face her. “Thea, I—”
She pushed herself up against the mattress on her free hand and touched her lips to his, silencing him.
Thea’s kiss was all the encouragement Ewan needed. He’d expected they would talk for a while. He wasn’t even entirely certain they would be intimate. He certainly hadn’t been ready to make love to a woman who had begun the night by asking, “Should we get this over with?” But he should have known that beautiful, courageous Thea wouldn’t do anything less than give herself to him completely on their wedding night. Just touching her made him shudder. He wanted to make this good for her. He wanted to make it extraordinary.
Ewan pulled her into his arms and opened his mouth on hers. He cupped the back of her head to pull her closer. Her tongue flicked out to touch his … tentative at first and then, when his tongue went deeper, hers matched his thrust for thrust.
He pushed her back onto the mattress and leaned down over her. He glanced down her body at her nightrail. “How much do you love this garment?”
“I hate it,” she murmured, smiling up at him.
“Then you won’t mind if I do this?” He grabbed the bodice and ripped the fabric from top to bottom in one decisive move. “There. That’s better.” His eyes devoured her.
Thea helped him as he pulled the remaining bits from her shoulders and she laid there, completely naked and perfect on his bed. His fantasies had never been this good. Her legs were long, and her hips curved, her breasts beyond imagination. Her skin was like silk.
He loomed above her, both arms braced tight against the mattress on either side of her head. He leaned down and kissed her again, stoking the fire inside of both of them. Thea cried out when he pulled his head away. But when he moved down to her bare breasts and took her nipple in his mouth, she cried out again, this time, his name. Would he ever tire of hearing his name on her lips that way? He gently bit her nipple, cupping her full breast in his hand, then he sucked the little bud sharply into his mouth. Thea gasped. Her chest heaved against him from her rasping breaths and her hands tangled in his hair. “Ewan,” she cried again. He smiled against her soft skin.
He took his time, lavishing attention first on one taut nipple, then the next, sucking, nibbling, pulling the hard little bud into his mouth and biting ever so softly until Thea was writhing beneath him. Her hands still tangling in his hair, her hips undulating beneath him telling him she wanted something she didn’t even know about.
“Ewan,” she breathed. “I ache.”
He closed his eyes against the desire to whip off his breeches and bury himself inside of her. He knew what she wanted, what she needed, and he had every intention of giving it to her before he took his own pleasure.
He let his hand wander down her tense leg to slowly move back up toward her hip. He stroked the outside of her thigh. Kissing her deeply again, he cupped her hip and let his hand ride there for a few moments before moving his fingers between her legs. He brushed against her curls lightly, once, before sliding one finger into her wet warmth.
Thea nearly came off the bed. He moved his mouth to her ear, quieting her. “Shh, darling. Don’t worry. Let me touch you like this.”
Her hips were still undulating against his hand. And when he slipped his finger back inside of her, she moaned. Then his thumb found the nub of pleasure between her thighs and he knew pure bliss watching her expressive face while her eyes rolled back into her head as she murmured “please” again and again.
“I want to taste you,” he whispered in her ear sensing that instead of being frightened by his words, she would be excited by them.
“Yes,” she whispered back, and Ewan couldn’t help the self-satisfied grin that spread across his lips as he moved down her body.
He slid a second finger into her tight sheath and her eyes widened in shock for one instant before she tossed her head back and moaned. He moved his finger within her stroking her, making her more wet, before he continued to move down her body, breathing in her intoxicating scent. He was obsessed with her. Couldn’t get enough of her.
He circled his thumb, once, twice, and her hips arched off the mattress before he replaced his thumb with the tip of his tongue. Thea’s breath caught in her throat. Her knees fell apart giving him more access. He dipped his head and licked her. She moaned. He licked her again. Her hips bucked. Another deep wet lick.
“Do you like this?” he asked, raising his head to look up at her over the plane of her flat belly.
Her lips moved, but she couldn’t seem to form the word. All she could do was nod and mouth the word ‘yes’.
He smiled to himself as he bent his head back to his task. He was going to make her come with his tongue. And it was going to be a pleasure.
Thea gasped when Ewan’s tongue touched her once more. The ungodly ache between her legs made her hips arch off the mattress. She’d never imagined anything like what he was doing to her, but she never wanted him to stop. He stroked her with his tongue again and again and the rough brush of it made her cry out, “Don’t stop.”
Thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, his hands cupped her buttocks, holding her hips in place as he lic
ked her even more deeply between the folds of her sex. Just when she thought she could bear no more, the tip of his tongue flicked across that most sensitive spot again and again in such unmercifully cruel nonstop licks that she clenched her jaw and groaned.
Her hands reached down to tug at him, her fingers tangling in his dark blond hair. “Ewan, I—” She wasn’t entirely certain what she wanted to say, and tears welled her eyes, which made no sense.
His tongue kept up the strokes until she was so wet the sheets dampened beneath her. Her breathing hitched and her vision blurred and finally, finally, a thousand sparks of light and pleasure exploded beneath her eyelids as the most amazing feeling she’d ever felt radiated out in pulsing waves from that tiny spot he’d been licking to throb throughout her thighs and her legs.
Afterward, she lay in a crumpled heap, her breathing heavy, her heart pounding, not knowing what to do next. What in the name of everything had that man just done to her? If this was what all wedding nights were like, then young ladies needed to know posthaste. They wouldn’t be interested in remaining spinsters if all gentlemen knew how to do what Ewan had just done.
He lifted himself above her, bracing himself on his muscled forearms, looking down at her with a grin on his face that told her he was aware of what had just happened to her. And that he was awfully proud of it.
“What was that?” she breathed, putting the back of her hand to her forehead. Her entire body felt limp. Limp and simply wonderful.
“That was an orgasm,” he said simply. “At least I believe that’s the scientific name for it.”
“What’s the unscientific name for it?” she asked with a laugh.
He leaned over and whispered the naughty word in her ear. She laughed again, moving her hand down to cover her hammering heart. “Whatever you call it, it was wonderful.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he replied.
“That’s an understatement.” Her body was still zinging with pleasure and she was still trying to get her breathing back to rights.
“What if I told you there’s more,” he announced, nuzzling her ear.
Thea pushed herself up on her elbow to stare at him as if he was a magical creature. “What? How can there possibly be more?”
“Well,” he chuckled. “I am still wearing my breeches.”
Thea’s entire body turned pink. He watched it happen. First her face and hairline and then the lovely color spread all the way down to her toes. It was absolutely adorable.
She clapped a hand over her mouth and mumbled, “I’m a fool. I’m an idiot. I’m—”
“You’re none of those things,” he insisted. He shifted onto his side and reached out to curl a strand of her hair around his finger. When he spoke, his voice was soft, caring. “Thea,” he asked. “How much did your mother ever tell you about lovemaking?”
Her brow furrowed into confusion. “Lovemaking?” she echoed.
“Or what happens between a husband and wife … in bed?” Ewan clarified.
Thea winced. “Mama never really had much of a chance to explain …” She trailed off, obviously mortified.
Ewan winced too. “And I’m guessing your father and your brother never told you anything about it.”
She shook her head vigorously, her cheeks still bright pink. “Nothing,” she breathed.
“Very well. I’ll show you. Don’t worry.”
She swallowed hard. “You telling me not to worry makes me worry.”
Ewan chuckled. He brushed a strand of her hair away from her cheek. “No, darling, don’t worry. I promise you don’t need to.” He leaned forward and captured her lips with his again.
After a few moments of kissing, Thea felt her body begin to relax again. It was lovely kissing Ewan. He was so handsome. And if he was able to do to her body again what he’d done before, she’d kiss him forever.
He pulled his lips away from hers and traced her cheekbones with his thumbs. “You’re gorgeous, Thea. Do you know that?”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to say that.”
His brows snapped together in a decided frown. “I would never say that if it weren’t true. I was captivated by your beauty the moment I met you.”
Captivated by my beauty? Why, that sounded lovely. She felt herself smile. “No. That cannot possibly be true.”
“It’s true,” he murmured, kissing her again. “I promise you.” He touched the tip of her nose with the tip of his.
His lips moved down to her neck and he nuzzled there while she gasped. “I thought you were handsome,” she admitted.
She felt his smile against the soft skin of her neck. “Did you?” He moved his mouth to her ear and licked inside.
She gasped again. “Yes, I wanted to slap you, of course, but I couldn’t deny you were handsome.” She laughed.
His smile widened. Next, he lowered his head to her breast and sucked on the nipple. Then he moved his hand down between her legs. She was still wet. He teased her with his fingers for a few moments before he slipped one inside of her.
“Ewan,” she cried.
“Do you like that?” he whispered huskily in her ear as he moved his finger in and out.
She bit her lip and nodded. “Um. Hum.”
His finger moved inside of her and she felt the tension building in her thighs again. Oh, heavens, would she feel that wonderful feeling once more?
“I’m glad you like it, Thea, because lovemaking is just me putting myself inside of you, just like this.” He pulled his finger out and slid in again.
She couldn’t breathe. “Your finger?” she managed.
“Another part of me,” he replied. He pulled his finger away and sat up.
Thea momentarily felt bereft. She wanted him back, wanting him touching her, kissing her, wanted his finger inside her again. Wanted his mouth on her, licking her and—
He rolled onto his back and began unbuttoning the fall of his breeches.
Thea shot up onto one arm. “Oh!”
He eyed her warily, still unbuttoning. “Oh, what?”
“I’m such a ninny,” she replied, biting her lower lip. “You need to be naked of course.”
His smile made her insides melt. One lock of hair had fallen over his forehead and he looked so roguishly handsome she ached.
“Do you want to help me?” he asked, glancing suggestively down toward his breeches.
Her eyes went round, and a smile spread across her lips. “May I?”
“Please do.” Ewan’s hands fell to either side of his hips. It was going to kill him to let her finish unbuttoning his breeches, but he needed to feel her soft hand on his cock.
Thea’s fingers looked tiny compared to his large ones as they moved to the fall of his breeches. She pushed the fabric aside and took up where he’d left off. He’d only managed to unbutton the top two buttons. Four more to go.
Her deft fingers moved to the first button on the right. She slowly pushed the button through the fabric. She paused to watch his face.
“Go on,” he encouraged, clenching his jaw against the unholy lust he was struggling to control.
She blushed beautifully and moved her hand to the button on the left. That one she unbuttoned even more slowly. His cock was throbbing. He fisted the sheets, his knuckles turning white. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Does this cause you pain?” she asked, watching his face with renewed interest.
“I ache for you,” he breathed. Her hand was so near his cock, so close.
Smiling at the knowledge of her power, Thea took a deep breath and reached for the next button on the right. She pushed herself down his body until her face was only inches away from his cock. The breath abandoned Ewan’s lungs. He stared up at the ceiling. “Heaven, help me.”
“Help you what?” she replied with a laugh. “There is only one button left.”
“I know and ...” He took a long, deep, shuddering breath.
“And what?” Thea teased. Her finger circled the last button, maki
ng him mad with wanting. His cock jumped each time she brushed her finger against the fabric. How in the hell did this innocent young woman know so instinctively how to tease him?
He took another long, shuddering breath and began his sentence again. “And I may very well unman myself if you don’t hurry, love.”
“I don’t know what that means,” she replied, pulling the final button through the final hole. “But it sounds like something that should be avoided at all costs.”
“It should,” he murmured, his breath coming in panting gasps as she pulled the fall of the breeches away to reveal his throbbing cock.
“God, Thea, touch me, please,” he begged.
The light flutter of her fingers against him made him clench his jaw so hard it hurt. She brushed her fingers over him before they fluttered away.
“Harder, please. Squeeze me.” He closed his eyes.
Her fist wrapped around him and Ewan forgot to breathe. She gripped his cock in her palm and it was a pleasure unlike any he’d known before. How did her simple touch do such things to him? “Stroke me,” he pleaded.
Her hand moved up and down his length and Ewan’s lips fell open. He sat there braced on his elbows while Thea made his entire body shudder. He allowed the exquisite torture for a few more agonizing moments before he grabbed her fist and pulled it from him, before leaning down to practically rip the breeches from his legs. He tossed the garment aside and took control once more, rolling Thea onto her back and covering her with the length of his body. His hard planes meshed with her soft curves. His mouth found hers again and their tongues tangled as Thea wrapped her arms around his neck and fit her gloriously naked body intimately against his.
Save a Horse, Ride a Viscount Page 18