Page 96 of The Texan Duke
Would God understand?
“Please,” she said again, and this time she wasn’t certain if her entreaty was to Connor or God himself.Understand me. Realize how weak I am. How much I want this. How much I know it’s wrong and I’m wrong and how much that doesn’t seem to matter.
Blessedly, thankfully, Connor wrapped his arms around her, her breasts pressing against his bare chest.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
He lifted her to the bed as he removed the rest of his clothing.
“You’re taking off your boots,” she said.
He stopped and glanced at her, a small smile curving his lips. “I was only jesting about that, Elsbeth.”
Should she tell him it didn’t matter? He could still wear his boots and his hat and she wouldn’t mind. Just as long as he was with her and could kiss her and touch her and make her feel what he did.
When he joined her on the bed, his gaze was intent, almost as if he were asking the question again.
Did she want this?
How did she say yes? She did the only thing she could think of, reached up and pulled him down to her, kissing him the way he’d already taught her.
In the next moment her pantaloons were being pulled from her. Somehow Connor had untied the drawstring, loosened it, and the offending garment was thrown up in the air to land somewhere she couldn’t see.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
Should she feel so giddy at a moment like this? Should lovemaking be accompanied by amusement?
It seemed as if it was, because he was suddenly above her, his smile and the look in his eyes pinning her to the mattress.
She’d never thought to kiss a smile, but she did now, her hands locking at the back of his neck.
Oh, there was something marvelous and wonderful and almost otherworldly about the feel of a male body on hers. A male body that was so different from her own, and yet it seemed as if they fit together so perfectly.
How could anyone bear to wear clothes again once that discovery had been made?
He kissed her breasts, his tongue dancing on her nipples. She wanted more of that, and when she said as much, she felt him smile against her skin.
“Your arm. Your shoulder?”
“Is fine,” he said, his voice deeper than normal.
He kissed her again and for a few moments she lost herself in the kiss. Was it always like that with a kiss? Did your head go spinning somewhere among the stars? Did colors always appear behind your closed lids? Or was it only kissing Connor?
His kiss seemed tied, somehow, to the very depths of her. Virgin or no, her body seemed to know what to do. She spread her legs almost instinctively, but he only moved aside, his head propped on his hand.
He seemed to be a great deal calmer than she felt. Her heart was racing; she couldn’t breathe deeply. He stroked his hand from the mole next to her left breast, down and over her abdomen.
“You’re so beautiful, Elsbeth.”
She wanted to be, for him. She wanted him to truly think it and not to say it just to be kind.
She wished, for the first time in her life, that she was experienced, that she knew more about lovemaking. If she had been versed in the necessary skills, she might have been prepared for his hand moving down her body, exploring nooks and places she’d always been told were not proper to think about, let alone touch. But every time he did, her body responded.
“Are you sure?” he asked as he rose above her.
No, she wasn’t at all sure.
“Kiss me,” she said. If he kissed her, she wouldn’t be able to think of anything else.
