THE CRITIC

  “Not really.”

  Then why are we discussing your friends on our honeymoon?”

  “Maybe I’m just a little nervous.” She looked toward the bed, then at Jared.

  Jared raised a brow. “Do you doubt that you love me, that you want to be married to me, or do you doubt that I can fulfill your request?” He too glanced toward the bed.

  Toreas smiled and turned toward the window. Her breath was coming in short pants and she was feeling flushed. She’d waited her entire life for this moment, for Jared. It was hard to believe this wasn’t a dream.

  She heard him move, felt the rustle of air. Then his hands were on her, pulling her close. He pulled her into him and she went willingly.

  Jared’s lips traversed her neck, his tongue licking a path of fire, of want and need. Toreas shivered as he continued raining kisses along her jawline, his fingers caressing the side of her face.

  A slight breeze caressed her skin as he moved the zipper of her dress an inch. More kisses rained down on her back and the pull came from her womb while her knees buckled.

  “This is one of the few times I’ve seen you in a dress,” Jared teased. The wedding gown and now this one. Your body is suited to silk. It feels almost as soft as you but not quite,” he purred and slipped the zipper down a little lower. “Did I happen to mention that purple is your color?”

  “Jared…” That was the only word she could utter. He nuzzled into her so close that not even air could get between them. She felt his erection pressing into her, and his groan shook her body as he attempted to hold her even closer. He was moving so slowly, only taking her zipper down an inch at a time, laving her skin with liquid fire, his tongue doing magical things to her libido.

  Toreas didn’t know how much longer she could remain standing. He’d once again turned her into melting butter. “Jared,” she moaned softly, “what are you doing?”

  “I’m tasting every inch of you, just like I promised myself I would. I had to make sure I wasn’t crazy.”

  “For marrying me?” Toreas sucked in a breath and felt him nip her lightly with his teeth.

  “No, silly, for thinking you tasted like strawberries. I thought I must have been losing my mind, that no one’s body could taste like fruit. But guess what, Toreas, yours does. It’s so yummy. Have you ever tasted it?”

  With that Jared licked a path from her neck to the three inches of skin he’d exposed. If he continued to go that slowly she’d surely die.

  Jared’s hands were trembling. He’d waited so long to be able to touch his wife in just the way he was doing. He’d thought for sure he would enter her the moment the door closed behind them.

  This wasn’t in his plan, this slow seduction of his wife. But when she’d turned her back to him it hit him squarely in the gut how much he truly loved her and wanted to make her his in every way. Every inch of her he wanted to touch, taste and savor and he was doing just that.

  If she thought the slowness wasn’t having an effect on him, she was nuts. Still, he was determined to know her body. Jared’s hand found the clasp of her bra and he undid it. He sucked in huge gulps of air as his hands found her breasts and he cupped them.

  Toreas was moaning his name, wanting more and truly he wanted to turn her to face him, bury his lips in her breasts, pull her plump nipples into his mouth, but he’d forgo it for now. He was finding too much pleasure in the tremors he was producing in his wife’s body.

  For once Jared was glad of the difference in their height. He didn’t have to remove his hands from Toreas’s breasts as he used his teeth to slide the zipper farther down her back.

  He groaned, kissing her skin, licking it, making his own flesh harder. For a moment he stopped and held her, nuzzling her close, afraid of coming right then and there. What kind of honeymoon would that be?

  “Jared.”

  He heard her whispering his name so softly that it gave him goose bumps. She was close to the edge. He could feel the vibration of her body clear to her legs.

  Jared chuckled and picked up the pace just a bit, pulling the zipper farther down. When the dress pooled about her waist, he dropped to his knees and laid his head in the small of her back, his hands trading her breasts for other areas.

  He moaned as his fingers came into contact with silk. He smiled. So they weren’t cotton. Jared rubbed one hand up and down over his wife’s nether regions, not wanting to go there yet, just enjoying the feel of her through the material.

  He moved lower, bringing his hand around to trace the roundness of her firm buttocks. Jared kissed each cheek. His hand trembled as his fingers traced a path up and down her before going into the dip of her behind. He felt her heat, her shiver, and her effort to pull away but he groaned and held her close, and shook away the need. Then he turned Toreas to face him. Her face was contorted by lust and she was shivering so hard that Jared remembered her leg hitting the table when she’d propositioned him.

  “Toreas, baby, are you scared? You did tell me you weren’t a virgin, right?”

  “No, I’m not a virgin, I’ve done it eleven and a half times.”

  “Eleven and a half,” Jared chuckled. “How the half?”

  “Don’t ask.”

  “How long has it been?” He thought at first she wasn’t going to answer, but then her voice came, trembling and breathy.

  “It’s been three and a half years.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “No, I’m not.

  “So you’re probably ready by now,” Jared teased.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think I haven’t finished with the taste test. He pressed his face into her abdomen and flicked his tongue into her navel and swirled it around, again feeling her heat. Her scent was rising up to meet him as he moved farther south, his mouth kissing her through the silk, his nose nudging the material aside. He had to have a taste. Toreas had gone still and was pulling back.

  “Have you ever done this before?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Jared, how am I supposed to answer that?”

  “Honestly.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why can’t you?”

  “Jared.”

  He grinned. “I’ll make the decision then, how’s that?” he said and this time used a hand to move the material aside. Before he could taste her, she’d scooted out of his grip and made for the bed.

  “Just for that, Mrs. Stone, you’re going to have to tell me what you want.”

  Toreas stepped out of her dress and crawled across the bed, kicking out as Jared’s hand pulled on her ankle, trying to bring her back to him.

  “You’re trying to get away from me?”

  “If you think that you really are dense. I’m just trying to get in a more comfortable position.” Toreas flopped on the pillow, expecting Jared to come alongside her. When he didn’t she raised up and glanced downward. He was eyeing her foot.

  “Jared, what the heck are you thinking of doing?”

  “Like I said, I want to know if you taste like strawberries all over.” His hand snaked out and grabbed her leg as she tried to get away.

  “Jared, if your mouth goes anywhere near my foot, I’m not kissing you.”

  “I don’t believe you. Besides, I don’t think if I do it right you’ll object. And I’m planning to do it right. I’m going to taste every inch of you, Mrs. Stone.”

  Before Toreas could object further Jared was kissing her foot as his hand caressed her leg. Then he moved upwards. He felt her shiver as his tongue connected with her bare skin.

  “Jared?”

  “Tesa, you said you wanted your eyes to roll back in your head. I’m trying to make that happen but you’re interrupting me.”

  “But, Jared, you’re having all the fun.”

  “I waited long enough. I deserve to have fun, don’t you agree?”

  “But you’re only going for the appetizers. What about the entrées?”

  Jare
d shook his head and grinned in disbelief. His little Baptist bride was a fast learner. “I have patience. I had to in order to wait all these months and you’re not going to deter me. I intend to finish.”

  “Do I?”

  “Do you what?” Jared smiled, lowering his head to lick her brown skin, heading higher toward her thigh.

  “Do I taste like strawberries?”

  “That you do, baby.” He moved higher still and the faint wetness tickled his nostril. He moved the silk aside with one finger and touched her wetness. A sigh filled the room and he smiled, thinking how hard he’d worked before to get her out of her pants and now here she was.

  Jared’s flesh throbbed with wanting. Too fast, he thought. If he kept his finger there it would be over in a matter of minutes. He rubbed his hand over her mound, felt her shudder, and he groaned. Damn. He gritted his teeth. He was determined to remain strong, he was on a mission. He would make his wife’s eyes roll back in her head or die trying.

  Mercy. He moved upward, dropping a kiss a mere millimeter from where his lips wanted to land. He would save that for later, he thought as he kissed her smooth abdomen, his tongue dipping into the valley of her navel. He should have known she’d have an innie. Such discoveries. Jared was unprepared for the moan that slipped out as one of his hands disobeyed him and sank down between his wife’s thighs. He found her wet, hot and wanting and touched her with the pad of his finger. A ripple of pleasure burst through Toreas and caught him in his very soul. Her essence combined with his and he held her tight.

  “Jared,” Toreas was moaning, her breath ragged. “You could continue the taste test later. We have forever.”

  “Mrs. Stone, don’t you know that the best part of any journey is the getting there? The little stops you make along the way are what make it totally worthwhile. Trust me, baby, I will make it worth your wait.”

  “Jared, I don’t want to wait any longer. Didn’t you tell me to tell you what I wanted? Well, I’m telling you.” Toreas groaned, knowing her husband was not going to give in to her demands. He was enjoying this sweet torture he was inflicting on her.

  He was moving his hand away, not what she wanted. She felt his hardness pressing into her. She wanted him to make love to her. She was ready for the main course.

  The feelings that were flooding through Toreas had never touched her before. She’d never wanted to be touched between her thighs. Now she wanted to beg Jared to touch her, to finish the game they’d only played at. She couldn’t believe it, all the times she’d slapped his hands away and now when she was giving him an open invitation he was taking it so slow. She wanted to touch him but he was too low for her to reach.

  “Jared, I want to kiss you.” She heard his chuckle. “Jared, I want to touch you.”

  “Which?” he teased.

  “Both,” Toreas answered.

  Again Jared’s flesh quickened. He couldn’t deny that he wanted his wife’s hands around him. She was right, playtime was over. He sat up to remove his shorts, shivering as Toreas’s fingers trailed down his back and came around to his front. “Ummm, no fair, baby.” His hand fell away and he kept the shorts on.

  “It’s fair,” she purred. “I want to do to you what you did to me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You were driving me crazy.” Toreas pushed Jared back on the mattress. “You said I had to tell you what I wanted and I’m telling you. Now you just lie there quietly and let me work.”

  Toreas teased his small pebbled nipples, nipping him lightly as he’d done her. She used her tongue in much the same manner as he’d done, tasting him. His sweat, the scent of soap, of cologne. It was nice. She ran her hands over his bare chest and smiled. No wonder Jared had taken it so slowly with her.

  Toreas liked touching him. Nothing about Jared’s body was soft, he was hard. Her eyes gazed downward, hard and firm. She kissed him slowly, touching him, getting to know his body with the tips of her fingers. Without warning Jared moved downward and captured her lips. “You’re moving much too slowly,” he said in a whisper against her lips.

  “Fair’s fair, you did it to me.” Toreas smiled beneath her husband’s lips.

  “Well, I can’t take it.” He was over her, leaning down. “I want you,” Jared moaned. “I’ve never seen you naked.”

  “And I’ve never seen you naked,” Toreas answered.

  “It wasn’t for my lack of trying,” Jared said and with one swift motion he yanked Toreas’s panties down from her hips, down her thighs and kicked them from her legs with one foot. Then he rapidly rid himself of his shorts. For a second his eyes lingered on her body. He smiled at her. “Perfect, I always knew you were hiding a treasure.”

  Jared’s head bent to suckle her while his hand made a home in her warmth. She was so hot and wet. The wetness pooled within her and spilt out. Her muscle constricted, bringing his finger in deeper.

  Sexual heat raced through his veins. Not a cell in his body was left untouched. Jared stared at Toreas, his question answered at last. He knew he was without a doubt the reason for his wife’s ability to blush. He knew now that despite whatever hormonal change produced the phenomenon in her, it was her sexual heat that flooded her skin and warmed it from the inside out, changing her cinnamon color to a tomato red.

  She stroked him and he stayed for a moment rooted to the spot, enjoying the touch of her soft, hesitant hand. God, he must have been crazy to have worried about her inexperience. Now he was thankful.

  Need pulled at Jared, stabbing him with heat in the center of his groin. A grunt of pleasure fell from his lips. Toreas’s touch was electric. He glanced at her, filled with wonder at her shy smile.

  “Am I doing okay?” Toreas asked.

  Damn, was she doing okay? Have you ever touched a man? His words slammed into his brain. Toreas had not really answered that question, Jared realized. But he knew the answer. She’d never touched a man. Virgin or not, Jared was without a doubt Toreas’s first real lover. The knowledge filled him with pleasure.

  “More,” Toreas moaned to Jared’s amazement. He hadn’t believed that she would ask for what she wanted. He inserted a second finger and felt the shudder it produced. He glanced upward. Her eyes were closed. “Hey, how am I going to know if I’m doing it right with your eyes closed?”

  “You’re doing it right,” she whispered.

  “I want to see,” he pleaded, moving into position. “Are you ready?”

  “I’ve been ready, Jared.”

  That was all he needed to hear as he drove into her wetness. The tightness rocked him and had him wondering if she’d lied about not being a virgin. It sure as hell felt like she was.

  “To…re…sa?” He caressed her name. “Baby, I love you.” He drove deeper, harder, faster and faster. Her legs clasped tightly behind his back, her writhing pushing him even deeper into her heat. He shuddered from the pleasure, felt hers, and took it into his body. Her breath was hot and hitching in her throat. That he took as well and kissed her, giving her his own.

  Never had it been like this, never. The thought struck Jared that he was also a virgin in a way. This was the first time he’d truly made love. Sex, yes, making love, there was a difference. It meant commitment, something that a woman like Toreas Rose Stone deserved.

  God, he was definitely committed to love her and bring her pleasure for the rest of their lives, and he was praying that God granted them a long life. Each thrust was becoming unbearable, the pleasure bringing him to the brink.

  Jared didn’t know how much longer he could hold out, but he refused to climax until he fulfilled his wife’s request. He plunged deeper into his wife’s body and her wet heat sealed him, burning him with their combined passion.

  “Oh God, Toreas,” he groaned. “Baby, I can’t stop it.” And then it happened. Jared smiled in satisfaction as his wife’s body rocked beneath his. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she screamed his name, digging her nails into his flesh. Still Jared continued, taking each shiver of her clim
ax and riding it to his own release.

  A low guttural groan came up from his soul tearing through his flesh, ripping through his lungs, filling his vocal cords and exploding from his mouth. He couldn’t believe the primal scream that issued from his mouth.

  Jared grabbed Toreas to him and held her tightly, riding out the last of their release together. Shudder after shudder tore through them like the aftershock of a earthquake. “I love you, baby,” Jared moaned. He heard her soft sobs and smiled. “What’s the matter, baby?”

  “You did it, Jared, we did it.”

  “To your satisfaction?”

  “I’m not quite sure, Jared. I might need to get my notepad and write this down. Do you want to show me again how it’s done?”

  Jared grinned to himself as his semi-soft erection swelled back to full attention. He was surprised when Toreas changed position.

  “This is my story, Jared,” Toreas said as she looked down on her husband, moving her hips, watching him close his eyes in ecstasy. “Now it’s time to make your eyes roll to the back of your head.”

  “You already did, baby, and you’re wrong, this isn’t just your story, it’s our story.”

  “Agreed, but still I want to make your eyes roll to the back of your head.”

  “You already did baby.”

  “But I’m going to do it again.” Toreas grinned as she moved up and down clenching her muscles, determined to give to him what he gave to her.

  “I love you, Jared,” she whispered as his hands came around her waist to help guide her toward his release. This she’d accept for it was their combined pleasure that she was after.

  And as Jared had said, the journey was to be enjoyed and she was definitely enjoying the trip. Her body was burning with passion for her husband. She grinned down at his face distorted by desire, her belief in fairytales renewed. With Jared thrusting upward to meet the downward sway of her hips, she knew all things were possible if you only believed.

  With that thought Toreas gave herself over completely to Jared’s love and to the burning desire flowing through her body.

  “What a lovely way to burn,” she whispered to Jared as another orgasm crested and she floated away to fulfill the promise.