Page 64 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
“Maybe not,” he allowed, closing the door behind himself. “But I’m not certain that you fully understand what the act entails.”
Emma ground her teeth together, frustrated by his attitude. “Then explain it to me.”
He hesitated and then moved a little closer.
“It will hurt,” he said bluntly. “For the first time, at least. You will probably bleed too.”
Emma swallowed. She’d been prepared for discomfort, but imagining herself bleeding—presumably from the place where he would insert himself—made her head swim.
“It won’t feel like it did yesterday?” she asked. Last night, he’d made her fly. She wanted to experience that again.
He lowered himself onto the bed but didn’t touch her. “Maybe eventually, but the pain is unavoidable. It might not hurt in the future, but it’s my understanding that the first time always does.”
Emma thought quickly. She ached to shatter as blissfully as she had when he’d put his tongue on her, and she also wanted to fulfill her role as his wife. If all other wives engaged in this act, then it couldn’t be too bad, and delaying would only make her more anxious.
“I want to do it,” she said, and then an awful possibility occurred to her. “Unless you don’t. If you don’t ever plan to undertake the act with me, then please tell me now.”
She’d assumed that they would do it eventually, and he hadn’t said anything to contradict that, but he wasn’t an easy man to read. It was possible he didn’t want to be with her at all. The thought made her stomach churn. If that was the case, she was doomed to spend her life childless.
“I do,” he hurried to say. He caressed her cheek, resting his palm against her soft skin. “You are exquisite, Emma. I just don’t wish to rush you.”
Leaning into the gentle touch, she closed her eyes and breathed in the faint scent of oranges that lingered on him. When he held her thusly, she could believe that he found her attractive and forget the way he’d run from her previously.
His lips feathered over hers, and a shiver rippled through her. When he did this, he made her feel as though he saw her as more than the second-best Carlisle twin.
His lips brushed hers again, more firmly this time. She shifted closer so that their thighs pressed together.
“I will make it pleasurable for you,” he said. “At least, as much as I can. I promise.”
“I know you will.” Her tone was thready. He’d already shown her could play her body in ways she’d never imagined, so she didn’t doubt him when he said he’d make it enjoyable.
He shed his jacket, hung it over the back of a chair, and climbed onto the end of the bed. He pressed her knees apart. She squirmed, but he didn’t let go.
“Trust me.” He bent and kissed the inside of her thigh. “Let me in.”
She stopped resisting, and he shuffled upward, his shoulders wedging her thighs further apart. Her nightgown barely covered her softest parts now, and she felt ridiculously self-conscious.
Never mind that he’d had his mouth on her yesterday. Now his gaze locked on the apex of her thighs as he pushedher nightgown the rest of the way up, and she burned at the knowledge of what he could see.
“Beautiful,” he rasped, and heat flooded her core.
She wished she could rub her thighs together. She needed the pressure, but with him between them, she couldn’t get it.
He sucked his thumb into his mouth, wetting it, and rubbed it down her center, spearing her open and bumping a bundle of nerves that sent tendrils of pleasure rocketing through her.
He circled his thumb around the nubbin, and her hips arched. A moan slipped from between her lips, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Don’t,” Vaughan said, stopping his ministrations to pull her hand away from her face. “Let me hear how much you like my touch.”
Oh, God.
How was she supposed to stay calm when he said things like that?
He rose over her and claimed her mouth, teasing her with his tongue and lips until she was boneless, unable to think or to do anything other than feel.
One of his fingers swept through her wetness, then pushed against the place where he’d entered her yesterday.
“Relax, sweetheart,” he urged, nuzzling the side of her neck.
