Page 102 of Never a Bride
Emmeline had sent a missive telling Blythe about the wedding, and hoped her sister would return in time. She prayed her brothers would be there as well, but she couldn’t know if her letters would reach them.
She must have finally dozed off, because suddenly she awoke and knew she wasn’t alone. She felt the press of a male body along her side. The fire had gone out and she could see nothing, but she didn’t need to see to know that it was Alex, even as he drew the blankets away from her. Her heart swelled to bursting.
She whispered his name and turned into him, wrapping her arms about him. He was naked, his skin warm everywhere it touched hers—which were only her feet and her hands. Yet her smock began a slow slide up her legs as he pulled it.
It felt so right to lie in bed at his side. Surely every night would be like this. He must love her, hemust. But she waited for the words in vain.
Instead, he spoke to her with his body, overwhelming her with a passion she had never imagined could exist between two people. He pulled the smock over her head, and she lay naked and embarrassed, praying he would touch her.
Instead he whispered, “I want to see you. Is there a candle on the table?”
“Yes, but Alex—”
“Just wait.”
He left the bed, and after a moment a candle flared to life as he lit it in the last embers of the fire. She stared at his body as he walked towards her, in awe at the elegant way his muscles moved. He was broad through the shoulders and lean through his hips; his penis was erect and full. The thought of it inside her made her shudder wickedly. Would he let her kiss it?
She realized he was staring down at her, and she lay back on the pillow and let him look. He grinned at her, then found even more candles, until the bed was surrounded in a romantic glow.
On his hands and knees, he crawled onto the bed and over her body, dropping kisses as he passed. His lips praised her feet and the backs of her knees, the inside of her thighs, and her hipbones. He dipped his tongue into her naval, then licked a long path up and around her breasts, even as she prayed he would kiss their peaks again. But he teased her, coming ever nearer with his teeth and tongue, until she wanted to put her breast into his mouth.
Finally, his tongue swirled about her nipple, and she cried out. She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth as Alex laughed softly against her breast. That felt almost as erotic as his tongue. Then he was kissing her and licking her and touching her everywhere, whispering impassioned words of her beauty. He came up to her mouth and kissed her, lowering his body on top of ours. Every inch of his skin burned her with a heat she gladly welcomed. She wanted him a part of her always, and she wrapped her arms about him. Feeling hesitant, she bent her knee and slid her foot along his leg. His hips settled deeper between her thighs, where the hard length of his erection teased her.
He groaned into her mouth and stroked her tongue with his. She slid her hands down his face and neck, then over the strong muscles of his shoulders. His back was warm and hard, so smooth. She brushed her fingers over his nipples. Between her legs, his erection pulsed against her.
“Em, I can’t wait,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Don’t wait. Just tell me what to do.”
“Bend your other knee, and I promise I’ll be as gentle as I can.”
He braced himself above her, and she felt him probe between her thighs. With a shudder, he slid a small way into her, then out.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, desperate to experience again what he’d made her feel in the coach.
“The first time will hurt you.”
“I know. But please—”
She tilted her hips up toward him, and was rewarded as he slid in deeper. With a groan he thrust all the way inside her, and a small pain stung her, then faded away.
“Are you all right?” he asked, bending to kiss her mouth. “Because you feel wondrous.”
“I am more than all right. Make me come alive again, Alex.”
He began a slow slide in and out of her, and every brush of his hips against hers made her long for completion. Rounding his back, he bent and licked her nipples, until the ache between her thighs ravaged her mind and her will. There was only Alex and her, his body joined to hers, his soul a part of hers. The spasm of pleasure she’d longed for jolted through her, and with a groan, he buried himself deep inside her and shuddered as the same pleasure took him.
Afterward, Alex braced himself above her, not wanting to move for fear he’d never again find the perfection that he’d discovered in her embrace. The candlelight glowed across her skin as she lay looking up at him, wide-eyed and sated. But there was more, because she smiled tremulously, and in her eyes warmth and trust shone through like he’d never seen before.
And it was all for him. He was overwhelmed, amazed and grateful.
She had orchestrated their betrothal—but did she love him?
He came down by her side, pulling her into his arms. As he stroked her back, he smiled and whispered, “So who is the father of your child?”
She groaned and pressed her face into his neck. “I’m not with child.”
“I know. But now that I’ve given you a demonstration of how babies are made, you won’t make that mistake again, will you?”
