Guy, the wretch, was content to remain on his back simply kissing her even though his sawing, ragged breath told her that he wanted more too. But he was waiting for her, the noble wretch, and wasn’t going to take their lovemaking to the next level unless she instigated it.
Instinct told her to unbutton his falls, which she did with clumsy, eager fingers. As she tugged the garment from his hips, the bulge sprang free in all its glory, and she had a brief moment of panic if everything would fit. Swiftly followed by the overwhelming urge to make it fit regardless. Because she ached so much. Yearned so much.
For him.
Suddenly in a hurry, she stripped his breeches from his legs as he toed off his boots, then straddled him again. Sitting on his thighs so that she could scrutinize his erection properly.
His eyes locked with hers as she touched him, closing slightly as she explored his length. His penis was warm and smooth, and yet seemed to have a core of steel as it twitched in her hand. She found a bead of moisture at the tip and rubbed it away with gentle circling movements that made his hips buck off the bed. Fascinating…
“Do you like that?”
“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth.
“How about this?” She wrapped her fist around him and lightly squeezed, and he nodded.
“What about this?” She bent to kiss him as he had kissed her and he growled as he grabbed her and flipped her over on the mattress.
“If you do that then…” He groaned and kissed her. “It’s been awhile, Lottie, and I’m so close already I might explode… and I want to be inside you when I do.”
And even though his body strained against hers, he still hesitated. Still waited for her permission to take what was already his. “I want you inside me too.” She widened her legs and tilted her hips in blatant invitation, and he sighed her name. Then in one swift movement pushed himself inside.
She made a little squeak and her eyes widened more in panic than pleasure and Guy froze. “Did I hurt you?”
“No… I just need a moment to get used to you. I’ve never…”
“What do you mean, you’ve never…” Guilt swamped him. Guilt because it hadn’t even occurred to him. He’d never had a virgin before and assumed that it would be obvious. “Oh, Lottie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t feel any sort of…” Bloody hell, what was the polite word for it? “Barrier.”
“I ride horses a lot. Astride. Very fast. I’m not surprised it’s not there.”
They were both breathless. His damn body was still straining. So much it took every bit of his willpower not to move. “I assumed because you…” Guy closed his eyes, feeling awful. So what if she knew how to kiss or how her body worked? It was no excuse. “I shouldn’t have made assumptions. Again. I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because…” Her body softened beneath him as she hooked her calves around his. Her lovely eyes so trusting. “You might have decided to be all noble and wouldn’t be here with me now.”
Guy gently eased his body out, almost all the way, and then slowly slid it all the way back in. “Yes, I would…” He copied the action and pushed deeper, enjoyed the way her eyes widened with pleasure this time. “I’d have just used a little more finesse.”
She smiled as she kissed him, her soft sighs music to his ears as she became more and more accustomed to his intrusion, his restraint agony. Sheer agony but in the best possible way. If it killed him, he was contentto go like this. Her legs and arms wrapped around him, her perfect body awakening to a wholly new form of pleasure beneath his, and his cock hugged by the tight, slick walls of her body as he moved within her. Both humbled and overwhelmed that she had never granted this honor to anyone else.
He wanted to tell her that he loved her. That he was hopelessly, completely, head over heels gone. But those words wouldn’t come because the usual blasted fear held them back and her eyes were heavy with desire again, her body quickening and arching and ready for more.
He used that as an excuse to not say what his heart begged him to.
Then her hands raked down his back and grabbed his buttocks, pulling him closer, and the weak walls of his restraint began to crumble bit by bit. But it was her lovely legs that finished him off. And how she tilted her hips so that she could hook them around him and there went his last rational thought. From then, like their steeplechase this morning, it was all about speed and haste and competitiveness. And, as usual, they were too well matched.
Almost.
Because the moment Guy felt the first tremors begin in her body, he was done for. The pressure in his groin reached a breaking point, white lights blinded him, and he called her name in gratitude over and over as he spilled inside her. Then hugged her close as she tumbled into ecstasy right behind him, thanking his lucky stars that he had finally found the one.
ChapterTHIRTY
Bill was helping Guy saddle the horses by the time she reached the stables. “Good morning, Miss Travers. Are you ready for your morning ride?” The devil asked that with a completely straight face and a sinful twinkle in his eyes. “I know how much you like a good dawn gallop.”
“I do.” Although they both knew that he was referring to a very different sort of ride. The one that happened an hour ago just as the first glimmers of sunrise shone through her bedchamber window, and it hadn’t involved any horses.
“Fancy saddling up for an invigorating morning gallop, Valkyrie?” he’d asked in a sleepy, seductive voice as he had awoken and caught her propped on one arm watching him.
“I’m not ready to go riding just yet, Guy.” She’d traced his lips with her finger, hoping that would be enough to let him know what she was actually contemplating.
“That’s a shame,” he’d said, whipping off the blankets, his manhood pointing rigid. “Because I am.”
