Page 40 of A Countess Never Tells

All the tension Kitty had been carrying melted away. This was Ash, the man whose kisses she craved as much as she did the air she breathed. Immediately, he deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth, exploring here and there with an urgency he’d not shown hitherto. Such passion must be met in kind.

Slipping her arms around his neck, Kitty pressed herself against him, rubbing her bodice against his chest, her breasts aching for his touch. She wanted that throbbing feeling from last night, wanted him to make the fireworks explode within her as he’d promised at Vauxhall. She wanted him to do everything he’d ever done before and more.

His arms were around her, at her waist, then miraculously her skirt fell to the floor. He was wasting no time. So much the better. To encourage him even more she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He seized it and sucked gently then harder, and the throbbing deep within her began. Such exquisite feelings couldn’t be denied. Kitty groaned and writhed, wanting to be rid of all her clothing immediately.

Ash was ahead of her, unlacing the bodice, dropping it onto the floor. The other undergarments followed with lightning speed until Kitty stood before him in only her thin linen chemise, garters, shoes, and stockings.

Breaking their kiss, Ash stepped back, his gaze devouring her. “You are so beautiful, Kitty.” He cupped her face and stared deeply into her eyes until her world became the blue pools of his. “I am amazed at how lovely you are.” One more soft, indeed chaste, kiss, and he drew back. “I cannot wait for us to be together as one.”

Backing away until she bumped into the bed, Kitty stared mesmerized as, bit by bit, Ash revealed himself. His jacket had been disposed of as soon as they entered the bedroom. Now, he unbuttoned his fall, and his shirt came out, draping itself over everything as he snaked his breeches down. Shoes and stockings went next, kicked off with abandon.

Kitty still could not take her gaze off him. All she could see was his golden hair, broad shoulders, and narrow feet, but she could tell he was a sinfully beautiful man. And he was going to be hers.

Now attired only in his shirt, Ash stalked over to stand right in front of her. He tipped her head up and gazed into her face. “Are you ready, my love?”

“Oh, yes.” The words came out low and guttural. “So ready.”

With a fluid movement, he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it behind him.

Kitty’s sharp breath was loud in the quiet room. She breathed deeply, heart racing so fast it might actually escape her chest. Her cheeks heated, but she stood her ground and stared back at the first completely nude male body she’d ever seen. What a superb one it was too.

Broad shoulders, with a chest well-muscled and free from hair, and his nipples were hardened peaks, just like hers. Smooth skin, a little tanned in places, in others pale, stretched over his perfectly proportioned body. The wide chest tapered to a neat waist and below it stood his magnificent member, jutting out well over a hand’s span from the thatch of blond hair at the apex of his thighs.

He ran his hands down her arms, making her shiver. “Your turn.”

Kitty nodded, her only fear now that he would find her somehow lacking. Reaching for the hem of her chemise, she bent over, but Ash stopped her. “Wait. Let me do it. Here. Step up here.”

He held her hand as she stepped onto the stool at the end of the bed. Standing there, her body about to be revealed to a man for the first time, Kitty’s legs shook, and she had to grab the bedpost.

“Ready?”

She nodded, not taking her eyes off his face. Slowly, he untied the string at the neck of the garment, pulling it down over first over one shoulder then the other. The lower the chemise dropped, the more avidly Ash’s gaze roamed over her. When it dropped to her waist, he swallowed hard. “Truly exquisite.”

He licked his lips, and Kitty was certain he’d lean in for a taste, like he’d done last night, but he remained upright, the chemise still covering the lower half of her body. His gaze, so intent it made her throb more insistently, remained on her breasts until he’d looked his fill, then he slowly lowered the garment to the floor, leaving Kitty standing naked before him, blushing from head to foot.

What did he think of her? Did he like what he saw?

He simply stood there, his breath coming in short gasps. “Oh, Kitty.” He licked his lips again, a broad smile spreading across his face. “How very beautifully you are made, my dear. Every man’s fantasy come true.”

“Yours too, Ash?” Dare she be hopeful?

“Especially mine, love.” With that, he buried his face between her breasts, his hands filled with them, squeezing, stroking, tweaking the nipples until they hardened and sent an ache to her core. His mouth strayed to her nipples, shifting from one to the other like last night.

Kitty pressed closer to him, closed her eyes and threw her head back. Oh, yes, this was what she’d wanted almost from the moment they’d met. Now sucking on her nipples, Ash brought the throbbing deep within her to a point past which she thought something should happen, but it didn’t. She’d been expecting the fireworks, but perhaps there was more to come. “Is there something more, Ash? I feel so…incomplete.” She panted fiercely. “I need something.”

He smiled against her skin. “Something like this?” Suddenly, his hand was at the apex of her thighs, his fingers searching through the thicket of curls there.

Kitty could scarcely breathe and then he touched a spot—right there above her opening—and she cried out. Her knees went weak, and she fell back on the bed, his finger still circling the little nub, making her throb more incessantly until he engulfed her nipple and once more sucked deeply.

The explosion within—just like the fireworks he’d promised—shook her to her core. Waves and waves of pleasure she’d never known before washed over her as her body wound down at last. All she could do was lie there, limp and spent, and so, so happy. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.

“Don’t doze off yet, love. There’s still more to come.” Ash climbed onto the bed beside her, rearranging the covers and putting pillows under her head and hips. “This position will help you for the first time. It won’t make it hurt less, but it will make it easier to bear.” He peered down at her. “You do know that it hurts your first time?”

Kitty nodded. She’d learned from Judith and overhearing other matrons that there was pain the first time you laid with a man. But what he’d just done hadn’t hurt at all. Quite the opposite. “Why hasn’t it hurt yet?”

Ash settled the pillow beneath her head, glancing at her furtively. “Because I pleasured you without taking your maidenhead—this time.” He lay beside her, his head propped up on his hand. “What we do next is the part that will hurt, my dear. And once it is done, no matter what you may think afterward, that part of you is lost forever.”

She stared back into the beautiful blue eyes gazing at her with so much tenderness, she had to touch him, cup his face. “I understand, my love. I want you to do this. Show me the fireworks you promised at Vauxhall.”