She was torn by two reactions. One was to run away before it was too late to turn back. The other was to sit up and pul him down onto her flesh. To wrap his warmth around her, fil herself with it. She did neither
—just lay there, helpless as she let his hands touch her again.
This time his palms settled on her bare thighs. She found her back arching as powerful pleasure moved through her at the shocking touch. The tingling between her legs grew stronger, and she felt the same wetness that gathered there when she touched herself rush to her body now.
His hands glided up until they reached the lower hem of her chemise. He met her eyes and slid it up, pushing the fabric over her hips and baring her from the waist down.
“Wait,” she gasped, grasping his wrists and pushing gently as sensation and emotion overwhelmed her.
“Are you changing your mind?” he murmured as he settled down lower. His head hovered over her stomach, his eyes locked with hers, his body comfortable between her thighs.
She hesitated. Was she?
“I–I don’t know,” she final y admitted. “This is al so strange.”
“Let go,” he whispered and then his head dipped down. “Just let go, Beatrice.”
Before she could think, let alone respond, his hands moved to her inner thighs, pushing her wide and spreading the outer lips of her most private places open. She was exposed as his head dipped there and she couldn’t help but gasp out a cry when his lips touched there.
“What?” she cried out, her elbows giving out as she fel back against the mattress. “Gareth?”
He didn’t answer, just glided his tongue out and pressed it to her hot, wet flesh. He simply lapped at her entrance at first, reminding her of the second time he kissed her in the park. He had breached her lips with such unexpected delicacy and gentleness. Now he did the same, but with her lower lips. And just as she had in the park, she felt herself surrendering to the sensation. When she relaxed, it seemed to be a cue to him, for the lapping strokes of his tongue intensified. He flattened his tongue to her flesh, the pressure of his mouth growing more insistent and focused, like he was determined to clean away every drop of her juices and replace them with his own.
And it was magnificent. If her sheath had fluttered and ached before, now he awakened her nerves, her flesh al the more. Nothing she had ever done alone in the quiet of her bed could compare to this touch. This utterly wicked tasting.
His fingers joined in, spreading her open, tracing her entrance with seductive slowness. And then final y, with a flick of his wrist he found that place she always rubbed, that little hard, smooth pearl of her pleasure that was hidden within her folds. While his tongue breached and pleasured her channel, he rubbed that hidden pearl with his finger and thumb in a way more intense than anything she had done. Her hips began to buck in time to his pleasuring, moans escaped her lips and final y, with a burst of wetness and trembling, pleasure overwhelmed her and she lost al control. By the time the overpowering sensations subsided, Beatrice couldn’t have said if moments or hours had passed. Al she could do was lie back, panting, feeling her heart throb and her body twitch out the last few grasps at the pleasure she had experienced. She looked down the stretch of her body to see Gareth licking his lips as he moved up toward her.
He kissed her as he settled over her and she tasted an earthly, salty flavor on his lips. With a start, she realized it was herself she was tasting. Her mind told her to turn her head, but her body arched up instead, molding to Gareth’s hard angles.
“Now you’re ready. And I am most definitely ready,”
he said when he broke from her mouth. His eyes sparkled with intent and desire as he stared down at her.
She tensed when he positioned his hips and she felt the nudging of his cock against her entrance. Reality pierced her fog and she looked at him with what she knew was fear and hesitation. He held her gaze for a moment before he dropped his lips to hers and slid forward.
Beatrice stiffened at the breach, but instead of ful y seating himself inside of her, Gareth hesitated. The moment of respite al owed her to truly experience the moment. She felt ful , far ful er than when she touched herself, but it was not unpleasant as she had feared when she first looked upon his member. It was simply foreign and strange, but also thril ing.
She shifted below him, squeezing her internal muscles experimental y and reveling in the tingle of pleasure that echoed from that action. Above her Gareth closed his eyes with a harsh groan and she stared at him. Had she done that?
“You are testing my patience,” he murmured and slid forward another inch. “In the very best way possible.”
“Why be patient?” she panted as she strained up around him.
“Because I want this to be pleasurable for you,” he gasped as he moved forward again. “And if I rush it wil be less than so.”
Beatrice met his gaze again, taken aback by how intimate it felt to be so close to someone else. Being joined as they were was frightening because she felt so revealed, so dangerously vulnerable…and yet, for the first time in her life, she was wil ing to be so because the reward for her vulnerability was so sweet. His mouth dropped down, covering hers. She sank into the kiss, tightening her arms around the broad expanse of his muscled back. Her remaining anxiety faded and she simply felt, just as he had asked her to when they began.
Gareth took that moment to drive the last few inches home into her body. She stiffened as he breached her maidenhead, the pain of the final joining a stark reminder that pierced her haze.
He looked down at her and Beatrice was surprised to see the empathy and guilt that darkened his gaze.
“It wil never be like that again,” he reassured her softly.
She nodded, though she wasn’t total y certain she could trust any promise he made. Stil , her sisters did not seem to mind what they shared with their husbands, so that gave credence to his pledge.
“And now I want to erase this pain,” he whispered. His mouth returned to hers in a deep kiss that made her stomach clench and her blood boil. Despite the remaining pain, she shivered at his touch. At the feel of him stretching her untried body. Then he moved and she forgot everything but the new sensations that rushed through her in a powerful burst.
He arched his hips against her, driving himself deep within her womb and rubbing her pelvis in such a way that the pleasure he had evoked earlier with his tongue was intensified to new heights. She arched into each driving motion, lifting herself to meet him, digging her nails into his bare flesh as she cried out in pleasure over and over.
He had promised he would make her forget the pain of their joining, and he was fulfil ing his word with great skil . Al she could feel now, could see now, could experience now, was him. In that moment, the pleasure exploded.
She slammed her hips against his from below as she wailed out a great sound of pleasure and completion. Then she col apsed back on the bed, gasping for air as she watched him withdraw and spend against the bedsheets.
Shutting her eyes, Beatrice heaved out a great sigh. There. It was done. And there was no going back, not until she had this man’s ring on her finger.
Chapter Six
G areth found himself staring at Beatrice as she lay, a bare arm flopped over her eyes, her breasts rising and fal ing as she panted out breath. Her skin sparkled with sweat, made pink from his touch and from the flush of orgasm.
He hadn’t expected their first joining to be so powerful. Or to find her such an enthusiastic and exciting partner. After al , her reputation was an icy one and she was a virgin, not experienced in matters of the flesh. And yet she had brought him great pleasure and reinforced his thought that she could be a very good partner to him.
If only she passed his tests.
As if she sensed him staring, Beatrice moved her arm away from her face and looked up at him. To his surprise, he could not read her expression.
“You are not the monster you pretended to be,” she final y said as she pushed up on her elbow
s.
He arched a brow at her unexpected statement.
“What do you mean?”
“You made me think you would be utterly depraved, that you would demand unconscionable things from me that I might not be able to accept. And yet, what happened between us did not seem to be so…” She hesitated. “Bad.”
He almost laughed. Was she trying to be insulting or could she simply not help herself? He rol ed on his side to face her, watching how her nipples tightened when he came nearer, how her eyes glazed. She wanted him, and he liked that he could coax such a response from a woman known more for her sharpness than her passion.
“I think you may not understand,” he said softly as he reached out to trace her arm with a fingertip. Her pale skin flushed at even this light touch. “Today I took your virginity. That is an immense responsibility and I took it seriously. I wasn’t about to introduce you to al my
‘depravities,’ as you put it, when you were untried and uncertain. And what we did together did give me great pleasure.”
He could have sworn that her eyes lit up with surprised delight before she turned her face.
“But…” she supplied.
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be kept satisfied for long by the simplicity of what we just shared. I need more.”
She sat up now and grabbed for the coverlet to wrap around her body. He recognized the action was a way to shield herself and for now he al owed it. Soon enough he would peel away al her protection, break her shel .
“But you have never ful y explained to me what more means, Gareth. What is it that you want that is so fearful to other women?”
He cocked his head. He supposed she did deserve to know.
“It is not enough for me to claim your body, Beatrice,” he said softly. “When you are in my bed, I need to own you. To feel you bend to my wil . To see you accept me as your master.”
She was silent for a long while, simply staring at him with eyes wide. “You want a slave.”
“In bed, yes,” he admitted without a hint of shame. He felt none.
She shook her head as she threw the covers back and scrambled from the bed.
“You tricked me!” she cried as she grabbed for her discarded chemise and threw it over her head. He watched without moving. “And how did I do that?”
“You should have told me you wanted a slave, you should have told me before you took my virtue.” She looked around as she covered her mouth. “Good Lord, I can’t do that. I can’t surrender everything to you.”
“Why not?”
He pushed off the bed and she took a long step away from him as he grabbed for a robe that was draped across the foot of the bed.
She blinked. “You have seen my nature, you have heard what others say. I–I am not built for such a thing. To give a man everything, especial y one whom I know so little about…that is asking too much.”
“But you already did that.” He smiled. “You could have asked me at any time about what I expected from you, what my proclivities were. Instead you came here and blindly offered yourself to me.”
She shook her head. “Because I had no choice!”
“No.” Gareth smiled. “You always had a choice, but some part of you wanted to be under my control. Part of you was titil ated at not knowing what I would do once I had you under my power.”
“That isn’t true,” she whispered, but despite the strength of her denial, he saw the truth glittering in her eyes, even if she couldn’t yet accept it.
“Yes, it is.” He reached out and covered her shoulder with his hand. She blinked, but didn’t move away. He could have crowed with delight. “Don’t you see? Al this could have crowed with delight. “Don’t you see? Al this is the first step, Beatrice. You are already on the road to total and utter surrender. And your sharp nature is part of why I desired you so deeply. You are like a wild fil y that needs to be broken.”
“You are the most insulting man. I’m not a horse!”
she snapped and turned away.
He slipped up behind her. She was trembling and the slight movement ricocheted through him. This time, he didn’t touch her, but leaned in close to her ear.
“No, you most certainly are not. But think of how much pleasure I gave you today.”
She drew in a breath to refute what he already knew but he reached around and covered her lips gently with his fingers.
“Don’t deny it, I felt and saw your pleasure very clearly. Think of it, Beatrice. And think of what I could do to you, for you, if you were mine in every way.”
There was a moment where he felt her considering this, but she wouldn’t al ow herself to yield. She spun on him.
“No!”
He folded his arms. This was al part of the dance, and in the end, it would be he who led her, or else they could never be truly happy together.
“If you cannot even try, then you should probably go now,” he said softly, knowing exactly what her reaction would be. “I’l fulfil my end of our bargain and provide you with the settlement we arranged. You may return to London at any time; you are not a hostage here.” He hesitated. “Return to your mother.”
That made her flinch, and he almost felt sorry for her as she paced away from him to look out the window over his gardens. Although she tried desperately not to show it, Gareth sensed the vulnerability and desperation in Beatrice that she fought so hard to hide beneath her sharp exterior. She knew exactly what would occur if she gave up on their arrangement now. And he was wil ing to wager that she wasn’t prepared to let that happen.
She turned on him slowly. “Wil you hurt me? Beat me?”
He shook his head just as slowly. “Of course not. Dominance does not have to involve pain. And I would never raise a hand to a woman.”
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him with an appraising stare. He almost flinched away from it, for he knew she was thinking of his late wife. Of the rumors that he had, indeed, hurt a woman.
“I cannot promise I’l surrender,” she said. “It isn’t in my nature.”
“That is half the pleasure, Beatrice,” he said, unable to keep a feral smile from his lips. “You are a chal enge.”
He stepped toward her and she lurched back. His smile faded. Clearly, he had not yet ful y convinced her that he would not hurt her physical y. He sighed as he gathered his clothing from the floor.
“You are likely sore at present. I have already made arrangements for you to have a warm bath. You may take your time and join me for supper at seven.”
Beatrice stared at him. “You–you are finished with me?”
He nodded. “For now.”
“But—” She hesitated. “But why?”
A shrug was his answer as he pul ed his trousers over his hips. “I have a fortnight for my pleasure.” He smiled at her again. “Why rush? I wil see you tonight.”
Then he turned and left her to think about what had occurred. And, he hoped, to fantasize about what was to come.
Beatrice would not have admitted it out loud, but the bath was quite restorative, not just to her sore body, but to her racing mind. As she sank down deeper beneath the warm embrace of the water, her troubles and fears drained away, leaving her with only memories of the pleasures she had experienced that day.
She had often imagined what making love to a man would be like. Even as it became clearer and clearer that her chances at marriage were fading, she had stil dreamed of passion and, even in her sil iest moments, love. She had even touched herself, though she had never felt anything like the explosive, blinding release he had given her today.
No, nothing she had dreamed or done came close to sharing her body with Gareth. His hands, his mouth, his cock…they had brought her such sensations she had never imagined. She had never felt closer to another person in her life.
And yet he wanted more. He wanted surrender, obedience. He wanted to be her master.
The very thought terrified her, but lurking behind the terror was something else: excitement. She c
ould try to deny the thril al she wanted, but the idea of turning herself over to Gareth completely did make her insides tingle and her hands shake.
She frowned. Less than an hour had passed since Gareth touched her and yet she ached for more pleasure. More than ached—she was obsessed. Al she could think about was her throbbing sheath, the tingling pearl hidden within her folds.
On the other side of the screen that surrounded the tub, she could hear a servant bustling about and tidying up as she put Beatrice’s things away. Did she dare bring herself pleasure when the young woman could hear or see?
Her body throbbed and Beatrice slipped her hand below the water’s surface to cover the mound between her legs. The touch did not ease her ache, but intensified it. She increased the pressure against her folds and bit back a sigh of pleasure at the feel. Just a few moments couldn’t hurt. Not if she was quiet. She bent her fingers and the tips slid between the folds until she caressed the slick wetness of her slit. The flesh was tender from Gareth’s invasion, but that only served to make her more sensitive. Even just this slight touch made her hips buck and a gasp escape her lips. Never had her own fingers brought her such stimulation. It was intense. Addictive.
“Are you quite wel , miss?” came the servant’s voice from around the screen. “May I bring you something?”
Beatrice closed her eyes and tried to measure her breathing before she answered. “N–no. I’m fine. Just continue in your duties.”
She heard the girl moving about again and shivered. There was something so wicked about doing this with another person in the room. Someone who had no idea about how she was touching herself. She let her fingers slide deeper into her sheath and began to slowly work them in and out of her body, mimicking what Gareth had done to her earlier.
To her shock, the tingles of pleasure began to rise, giving her a faint taste of the explosion of release she was working toward. Could she truly give herself that?
She certainly craved that feeling with an intensity that was almost frightening, for it was out of control, guiding her emotions and actions more than her logic was. She ground down over herself, driving her fingers deeply inside of herself, then she found the pearl of her pleasure with her thumb and flicked over it. Unexpectedly, release overtook her, powerful and intense as her hips bucked wildly, making water slosh over the tub’s edge to thwack onto the floor. She didn’t care. She rode out the pleasure, breathing heavily, trying to keep herself from a scream of pleasure. Final y she covered her mouth with her free hand, biting into the flesh to remain silent.
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