Page 57 of Retribution

“Anger is not amusing.”

“Yours is.”

She was back to scowling again. “I told you not to laugh at me.”

“Or what?”

“Keep laughing and find out.”

He snorted. “That, my lady, is an invitation.”

He kept chuckling and she lurched forward, her open palm flying at his face. He was fast enough to catch it, and then the other one, as she growled and twisted like a cat in a snare. He continued laughing because he simply couldn’t help it, and the more she twisted and fought, the more he laughed. When she stood up and stomped on his toes, hard, he roared with pain but that was only a momentary break in his laughter. He yanked on her, pulling her against him, with the intention of spanking her. He was going to spank her good. But in the midst of their struggles, something strange happened.

Cleodora’s face was inches from his own because of the way he had her in his grip—that beautiful face, those luscious lips—and suddenly, he was seized with the urge to kiss her. Of all of the misplaced urges, this one was the most misplaced he’d ever had, but it suddenly occurred to him that if he kissed her, she might stop fighting him. Maybe it would stun her into a calmer state and he could continue the conversation with her. It might make her more compliant.

Besides… he wanted to.

In a flash, he slanted his lips over hers and wrapped her up in his big arms, kissing her in a way he’d never kissed a woman before. Deeply, meaningfully, and without any hesitation whatsoever. There was something about her that fit so naturally against him and, strangely enough, she wasn’t resisting him. Not in the least. He was feasting on her and she was letting him.

Impulse took over.

The bed was behind them and, somehow, they ended up on it. Aidric didn’t even remember making a conscious effort to take her there, but that was where they ended up. He was stripping off his tunics, his weapons, functioning on an instinct he never knew he had. Stranger still, Cleodora was helping him. Everything he was wearing above the waist came off and ended up on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her again, that soft vision in white wool, and his mouth descended on her neck, suckling it.

He could hear her gasp with pleasure.

But that wasn’t all she was doing.

Cleodora’s hands had moved to his breeches, untying them, sliding them down his hips. God, it was all passing in a blur, like a wildfire. It was white and blinding, flaring with no control. Aidric hissed as Cleodora grasped his throbbing erection, stroking it before gently grasping his testicles. Her touch was like magic. She rolled him over onto his back and pulled his boots and breeches off, eventually settling between his legs. He lifted his head long enough to watch her take his erection into her mouth, but after that, he remembered little. His eyes rolled up in his head as her tongue did wicked things to him.

It was beyond belief.

There was a very small part of him that wondered if he should stop this, but his lust, his attraction to her, had control over his common sense. What was it de Velt had said when it came to the woman he’d fallen for? For a brief moment, I surrendered.

Good God.

The same thing was happening to him.

Lying flat on his back as Cleodora used the techniques she’d been taught at Margit Barkwith’s brothel, it began to occur to Aidric how she’d learned to do this. On other men. She wasn’t a virgin, something she’d told him and also something Edward had alluded to. Most men wanted a woman unmarked by another man unless they preferred a more experienced woman. Some did. In truth, Aidric was wrestling with it, but not enough to pull her away.

The truth was he rather liked what she was doing to him.

Still, he didn’t want her to pleasure him to the point of release. He wanted to give her pleasure, too, and he finally sat up, pulling the white wool garment over her head, and then the delicate shift, leaving her nude in the dim light of the chamber. He took a moment to simply look her over, her perfect breasts and slender waist. She was magnificent. She might have shared her body with others in the past, but he didn’t see it that way.

He was going to be her last.

Cleodora ended up on her back when he pulled her onto the bed and assumed the dominant position. She gasped when he suckled her nipples, gently at first, and then with more force. Bolts of excitement ran throughout her and she had to make a deliberate effort not to cry out in passion. But her gasps of delight told Aidric how much she liked what he was doing to her, the hands in his hair encouraging him. She held him to her breasts as he nursed hungrily, his tongue lapping at her soft flesh.

Cleodora could feel Aidric’s hands all over her, his mouth in tender places. This had been done to her before by men who had been paid to do it, men who trained other Jewels, but she’d found it horrifying and disgusting. It had never been arousing. What a difference it made when it was a man she actually wanted to touch her. When Aidric’s mouth moved to the mound of dark curls between her legs, Cleodora instinctively parted her thighs to welcome him. She couldn’t help the cries of passion as his naughty tongue lapped at her, pleasuring her as she’d never been pleasured before. With every stroke of his tongue she was ready to scream.

But she was quickly reaching her climax and her body began to buck. Sensing this, Aidric lifted himself up and drove his massive manhood into her slick body, slanting his lips over her mouth at the same time to drown out her cries of pleasure. Cleodora reacted by throwing her arms around his neck, her knees coming up and her body arching to meet him. Aidric groaned as he thrust into her tight, hot body, feeling every stroke with the greatest of pleasure. His thrusts were measured and deep, pelvis against pelvis, as they matched each other move for move. Sweat began to form; breathing was heavy. Aidric finally lifted himself up on his arms just so he could watch her beneath him, the way she squirmed and heaved.

It was like a drug.

His thrusts grew deep, harder, as he felt his release approach. She met his thrusts, and he could feel her tightening her walls around him as she approached her own release. The same thing that was happening to her body was happening to his and he welcomed it. As her climax approached, Cleodora reached down between their bodies, touching where they joined, and began caressing his groin area.

That was his undoing.

Her gentle touch was enough to throw him over the edge and he released into her body, biting his lip and drawing blood in the throes of passion. She opened her legs wider, taking his member out of her body and rubbing it against her core to stimulate her own climax. Aidric was panting heavily, seeing stars, feeling her caressing his member, which seemed to prolong his release. But then she put him back into her body, still semi-hard, and began to reverse-thrust against him—he remained still while she moved her hips forward and backward, forward and backward, very slowly, mimicking a male’s thrusting motion.