“Jacob,” she moaned, clearly unwilling to stop. She yanked at the strings of his trousers. “Please.”
“Are you sure,” he managed, so aroused it hurt. “Are you—”
Prudence put a finger to his lips and looked at him with so much desire, there could be no mistaking she knew exactly what she wanted. Exactly what she was doing.
“I have never been surer of anything.” Her cheeks were flushed with desire, and her breathing uneven as she moved her hips slowly. Enough to make him want to roar like a beast and slam into her until he slaked his lust. “So now I suppose the question is, are you?”
Their gazes held for a long, excruciating moment before he said all he was able.
“Since the moment I pulled you onto the dance floor.” They never lost eye contact as he freed himself. Never looked away from one another as he slowly steered her onto his throbbing shaft. Her eyes drifted, and her breathing grew choppy. He clenched her backside again and groaned at the exquisite sensation of filling her hot, tight sheath.
Prudence braced her hands on his shoulders and sank down slowly. Like him, she seemed to relish every minuscule movement. Wanted to cherish and chase it all at once. Her mouth fell open, her eyes slid shut, and her head fell back when she fully seated herself.
“This is…” she whispered, her voice as choppy as her breathing. When she opened her eyes again, they were glassy with emotion. “You are…”
He gave her no chance to go on when he wrapped his hand around the back of her slender neck, pulled her against him, and kissed her. Not hard like he wanted to, but gently. With heart. All he felt which was more substantial than she might imagine.
Unending.
He hoped she felt as much when he let her remain in control. Let her do something he suspected had never even occurred to her late husband. Why would it when Prudence was vibrant and sensual, and Barrington was nothing of the sort? So even though Jacob touched her, loved her with his hands and eyes, he did nothing more than encourage her to take what she needed from him.
And she did.
She rolled her hips at first and made love to his arousal. Soon enough, however, she grew more confident and slid up and down his shaft so slowly it took almost more than he was capable of not to let go. Give in to the pressure building inside him. The incredible need to fill her with his seed.
To see her lose herself in climax like she had on the battlements.
This moment was for her, though. Hers to discover what it could be like with a man. Not one who pleasured her with his hand but his erection. With passion and a desire to see her satisfied before himself. Something he imagined her late husband had never afforded her.
Prudence’s cheekbones flamed pink. Delicate beads of sweat pearled on her porcelain skin. She bit her lower lip as she drew closer. When a guttural groan began in her chest, he pulled her against him so she could bury her voice if need be. Then, he thrust up at the same pace she had been riding him until she locked up against him and muffled a ragged cry against his neck.
He bit back a groan at the feel of her sheath clamping down hard, then the untouchable sensation when she trembled in his arms and milked him. While not letting go might have been the hardest thing he had ever done, he stayed strong.
Gave her this.
Wanted it to be all about her.
When her breathing slowed at last, she pulled back and looked at him. Realized that he had not found fulfillment. Distressed, she drew her eyebrows together. “Was I…did I not please you?”
“You pleased me greatly, love,” he said before he could stop himself. “But that was not about me.” He brushed back the tendrils of hair slicked to her forehead. “That was about you. About finding your way back to the lass you were always supposed to be.”
“Why does it sound like you were on a mission?” she murmured, skirting dangerously close to the truth. “As though you were never in this for yourself?”
“Because in some small way, I suppose I was not when we first crossed paths at MacLauchlin Castle.” Closer still. “You deserve better than what your late husband gave you, Prudence. Better than what he made you become.” He cupped her cheeks and searched her eyes. “Is it so wrong for me to want you to feel what you just felt? Find something I suspect you never did in your marriage?”
“No.” Her eyes grew glassy again. “I just…” She swallowed hard and clearly decided against saying too much. Against making this moment about her late husband any more than need be. “Yet again, thank you, Jacob.”
He went to respond but was unable to when she shifted, and his arousal leapt, by no means done with her. Clearly feeling as much, wanton in the womanly power she undoubtedly felt filling her, Prudence started rolling her hips again. He stopped breathing at the feel of her. The sight of her as she put her hands over his on her backside, slid up his shaft and stopped, making it clear he was in control now.
While tempted to give her time to bask in the afterglow of her orgasm, there was no man on earth who could refuse such an offering. Certainly not him. Therefore, despite his best intentions, he was helpless to do anything but steer her down then back up his arousal.
Thrust into her moist, welcoming heat.
Much to his delight, despite finding her own pleasure so recently, it seemed Lady Barrington very much enjoyed having matters taken out of her hands because she gasped, and her eyelashes fluttered. Lost in her response and how quickly she had become aroused again, he pulled her close once more and thrust harder. Deeper. Took all she offered.
Needed it like a dying man needed to breathe.
Yet drawing in air was impossible as blood rushed through him and drowned out all sound. Did away with anything but her tiny gasps of pleasure in his ear. Everything but her muffled cries as fire raced down his spine. His ballocks tightened so intensely he knew he was out of time. Knew it best he pulled out despite her assurances.
