Page 36 of Pursuing Mr. Mattingly

Oh, he was ridiculously adorable and naïve. “Like this.” With a shaking hand and a racing heart, Sophia showed him how to caress her, how to open her up and find that all-important tiny pearl at her center. In some breathlessness, she said, “Apply various degrees of friction as the bud swells. You’ll soon find a rhythm.”

Of course, the ambassador proved a quick study in that as he had in everything else. “The female form is mysterious and amazing.”

He laid to her side while continually rubbing the pads of his fingers over that nubbin. First with authoritative caresses then with the lightest of touches. Always, he kept her guessing, and as her body strained with coiled bands of pressure, she writhed from his torment. With a pleased chuckle, he took possession of her lips while granting her no mercy from his ministrations. Over and over, he plundered her mouth, and then he surprised her when he penetrated her with first one finger and then two.

Never, not even once, did he cease to boss that little pearl. That determination was the catalyst for the bands inside to break. Sophia tumbled over the edge into bliss before she was ready. The wave of pleasure crashed into her, and it stole her breath. Immediately, every muscle in her body went taut. She pressed her hand over his and clutched at his arm with the other while a cry of surprise left her throat. Contractions fluttered through her core, carried her away into the dark void that she both welcomed and feared, where her heart raced entirely too fast and heat blanketed her body, and through it all, Oliver watched her with heavy-lidded eyes and a grin of pure male satisfaction.

“The fact that you were able to hit release merely from my touch is breathtaking.” He kissed her, again and again, and Sophia wrapped her arms around him to hold him close.

Perhaps she’d been entirely too primed, had thought about joining with him entirely too much, but knowing she’d found bliss so quickly was a positive sign. “Some men pleasure women with their mouths. So that’s something to think about.”

He lifted his head. “Do you enjoy that?”

Gooseflesh popped over her skin, for he had that look in his eye. “My first husband used to do that, and it was quite lovely.”

Oliver kissed a path down her neck. He teased a nipple before continuing between her breasts, along her torso, and over her abdomen. “And your second?”

“It wasn’t something he liked overly much.” More’s the pity.

“Well, then, let’s see what side of that coin I fall on, hmm?” Down, down, down he went until he kneeled at her bent legs. With a grin that accelerated her heartbeat, he buried his head between her thighs and touched his tongue to the spot he’d only just tormented.

“Ol-i-ver!” It was too late to recall the startled cry, and truly, as soon as he warmed to his task, he was in complete control.

Sophia clutched the bedding in her fists, and when he slipped his hands beneath her buttocks to lift her more comfortably to his mouth, she lost all semblance of control. His lips and tongue were seemingly everywhere she wanted him to be. Probing and nibbling gave way to licking, sucking, and even penetrating her body with his tongue until once more she danced on the edge of bliss.

“I can see why this would prove highly stimulating.” When he chuckled against her flesh, she bit her bottom lip, for the sensations were exquisite. “But let’s finish the job, hmm?”

Where she had at first thought his fingers on that nubbin were wonderful, she hadn’t counted on him being so accomplished with his lips or tongue, for he suckled that bud until she cried out for the torture to end then he soothed it with his tongue before beginning the process over again. All too soon, she toppled over the edge, fell hard and fast into that realm of brilliant light and then darkness where nothing except pleasure waited.

And she tumbled down, down, down, at first as light as a feather and then quicker, faster as the contractions caught her up as if she were as heavy as an iron ball.

In the end, Oliver caught her, came back over her body with his arms wrapped around her and his lips pressed to the crook of her shoulder. He murmured endearments and words of calm, some of which implored her to come back to him and out of the darkness, for it simply wouldn’t do to expire on their wedding night.

Why the devil were there tears on her cheeks? She had no idea she’d been crying during that flight, but the release of emotion had left her deliciously relaxed and ready to return the favor to him. When she opened her eyes, immediately her gaze crashed into his. “That was incredible.” As she kissed him, tasted herself on his lips, the longing inside grew into something more entirely. Would that she could have a lifetime with this man instead of the weeks or months the doctor had warned her about.

But then, that was her lifetime. There was no wry amusement in the thought.

“I rather think that it’s you who made the difference.”

For a few moments, she let him hold her, then she reached between their bodies and gently took his hard, hot length in her hand. “Turnabout is fair play, is it not?”

A moan shuddered from his throat. “I cannot guarantee it won’t end in disaster.”

“Not disaster. Only learning, and we have all night to indulge.” Slowly at first, Sophia stroked her curled fingers up and down his shaft. “I think for this first time out, I’ll simply bring you to release like this. That way, when we do couple, there’s a better chance we’ll come together.” Knowing no other woman had been with him thusly was quite heady indeed. This man was all hers, would forever know her touch, would remember how she’d pleasured him first.

No one else could say that. Finally, she understood why men enjoyed that so much.

As she worked, she planted tiny kisses and nibbles to the underside of his jaw. He was an easy conquest, for everything she did to him made him moan from enjoyment. Up and down, up and down she pumped, and with each pass, his length stiffened further. His hips moved in time to her ministrations, and she could imagine what it would feel like having that hardness inside her. When she left off long enough to massage his stones, a cry of warning left his lips, and she smiled.

It wouldn’t be long now.

“Sophia, perhaps you should leave off.” Frantic warning echoed in his tones. He fisted the bedding in one hand, plucked at her wrist with the other.

“Oh, I think not. We’re arriving at the fun part.” With a laugh, she renewed her efforts, and once more took his member in hand. “You have quite an impressive tool here, Mr. Mattingly.”

“Sophia, please…”

“Please, what?” Her strokes came faster and faster with varying degrees of pressure.

---