“Touch me,” she whispered.
And he went completely still.
Minnie bit her lip, cringing.
Had she really just said that?
The man had kept himself away from her for weeks now, sleeping on the floor so as not to lie beside her. Now, she had practically forced him into the bed, and from how tense he was behind her, she had the feeling that he would have preferred to have stayed where he was despite the discomfort.
He was just being nice, again. Not wanting to hurt her feelings. The very same reason he had married her – to be polite, to look after her, though he didn’t actually want her. Not anymore.
Why, he wasn’t even letting his hips touch her, as though she offended him. She had nearly told him that he could leave, but when he had willingly allowed her to intertwine their fingers, she finally willed up the courage to ask him to touch her. The responding silence had gone on far too long.
If he denied her, that would tell her everything she needed to know.
“Minnie,” he said, his voice breaking, “are you sure?”
“Would I have asked otherwise?” she said, annoyance in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. She was practically throwing herself at him, and he was responding as though he were appalled by her. But they were married, and he had agreed not to go into another woman’s bed. Didn't that mean he might be interested in sharing his own with her?
She wasn’t sure if she was ready to truly join together, but at least they could have some sort of intimacy. Somethingmore than this tense awkwardness that had developed between them.
He lifted their joined hands, allowing their knuckles to brush against the underside of her breast. She felt the jolt of heat from where he touched her through her nightgown, the thinnest she owned, all the way down to her very core. Goodness, if this is what he could do to her from a simple touch, what would be the result of more?
He released her fingers, only for his hand to trail up, cupping the weight of her breast in his palm. Minnie's breath caught as his calloused fingers traced gentle circles through the thin fabric. Heat blossomed under his touch, sending tingling sensations racing through her body. She arched into his hand, craving more contact.
Tommy's breath was hot against her ear as he whispered, "Like this?"
"Yes," she breathed, hardly recognizing her own voice. Desire coiled tight in her belly as his thumb grazed her nipple, teasing it to a hardened peak. Pleasure raced through her, sharp and electric.
His other hand slid down, trailing over her ribs, her waist, before his fingers settled, splayed across her abdomen. Minnie trembled, aching for his touch to dip lower. He pulled her flush against him, and she gasped, feeling the hard evidence of his desire pressed against her backside.
So that’s what he had been holding back from her. Perhaps he wasn’t so disinterested after all.
Slowly, torturously, he inched her hem up her thighs.
Cool air whispered across her heated skin, followed by the rough warmth of his hand, which inched downward, slipping beneath her nightdress. She gasped and trembled, equal parts nervous and eager, as his fingers danced along the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh.
"Tommy, please..." The words spilled from her lips, unbidden. She needed him, needed his touch like she needed air.
"Tell me if you want me to stop," Tommy rasped, his voice strained. But stopping was the last thing on Minnie's mind as his fingers danced higher, skimming the juncture of her thighs.
Minnie's hips bucked involuntarily, seeking his touch.
The first brush of his fingers against her most intimate place sent a jolt through her body. Minnie whimpered, her hips rocking instinctively into his touch. Gentle exploration quickly gave way to more purposeful strokes as he was there, parting her slick folds to find the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center.
She cried out as he stroked her with knowing fingers.
She had known that a man’s touch could be pleasurable, but she had never known that it could be so intoxicating.
She never wanted him to stop.
Minnie panted, her head thrown back against his shoulder as unfamiliar but exquisite sensations built inside her. Tommy's fingers moved deftly, circling and stroking, each caress stoking the fire in her blood as his other hand continued to caress her breasts, tweaking her nipples. Pressure coiled tighter and tighter low in her belly, winding her like a spring.
Tommy's breath came faster, mingling with her own gasps. His hardness pressed insistently against her, but he made no move to seek his own release, focused solely on her.
"That's it, Min," he murmured, his voice rough with desire. "Let go for me."
His words were her undoing. The coil inside her snapped, and ecstasy crashed over her in wave after wave. She shuddered in his arms, his name falling from her lips like a prayer.
