Page 129 of A Woman of Passion

Men want what they cannot have, Bess reminded herself sternly, and will move heaven and earth to get it—I devoutly hope, she added, crossing her fingers. “Darling,” she whispered her first real endearment to him, “if you start kissing me, we'll never get to the food. We won't often be able to dine so intimately; let's enjoy it while we have the chance.” Bess knew that while they talked and ate, she had a small measure of control, but once he started to make love to her, all her control would be swept away by his passion.

Beneath the silver covers were a brace of plump partridge crisped in wine, followed by a venison pasty, redolent with leeks and herbs. She served him a hearty helping of each and poured them wine. She was acutely aware of his gaze, which never left her face. “For all the notice you are taking of your food, I could have served sheep brains.”

“I'm starving for you; all I can taste is breast.” He threw down his napkin and moved around the table. Then he lifted her up and slid beneath her.

“I'm not finished,” she protested breathlessly as the heat from his thighs seeped up through the material of her gown.

“I'm not started.” He lifted her hair from the nape of her neck and set his lips to it. He was already full and hard, but when he felt his cock throb with every heartbeat, he began to lick and suck her neck, unable to resist a passionate love bite.

Bess gasped as his hands came up beneath her breasts and cupped them possessively, loving the exquisite sensations he aroused as she felt her nipples harden with desire. “Darling, there's no need for haste. I want you to stay all night.” She knew her words inflamed him, for his hands slid from her breasts to lift her skirts and stroke her naked thighs above her gartered stockings.

“I've waited an eternity to hear those words from your lips.” The food was forgotten as his fingers stroked her. His hungry mouth took possession of hers, and as his insistent tongue slid inside, he thrust a long finger inside her sheath and thrust deeply, rhythmically. The way her sugared walls closed over his finger told him her body responded instantly, hungrily, to his foreplay, and he thanked God for this woman whose passion matched his own.

She clung to him as he brought her to shuddering climax with his fingers and knew this was just a foretaste of the dark velvet pleasuring he would give her this night. She felt his impatient hands on the fastenings of her gown and knew that any moment he would rip it from her in his haste.

She slipped from his knee and smiled as he protested. “I want to undress for you. Curb your impatience and watch me. It gives me unbelievable pleasure to see the desire blaze up in your eyes when you look at my body.”

The intense, hard look on his face thrilled her as she moved about the chamber, drawing the heavy brocade drapes across every window. Next she lit a long taper and set ablaze the dozens of candles in ornate silver candelabra. Then, very slowly, with sensuous deliberation, she unfastened the sedate gray silk gown and let it slither in a pool about her feet.

The impact of her tangerine undergarments made him draw in a swift breath of appreciation. Her clothes matched her personality perfectly tonight. Beneath her serene exterior lay a riot of flagrantly shocking color that revealed her passionate sexuality. Then, beneath that, he suspected there were dark erotic layers whose depths had never yet been plumbed.

She slowly stepped out of her petticoat, and as she flung it away, it flashed an arc of brilliant color across the candlelit chamber. She stood before him now, her sinuous body clad only in a short shift and black lace stockings. As she inched the shift up her thighs, she uncovered startling tangerine garters that held up her black stockings , but even more arresting was the riot of red-gold curls that covered her high mons.

Bess slowly licked her lips in a deliberately provocative gesture as she paused for a full minute before lifting off her shift to reveal her breasts. She knew the arousing effect they had on him and knew the wait would heighten his anticipation.

He looked his fill, in a growing agony of need but thoroughly enjoying the splendid show Bess put on for him. Her body was so lush, it spoke a language of its own, crying out to be mated often, and mated well. And it promised untold rewards for the man bold enough to accept the challenge of arousing and satisfying the towering passion she had held in check for so long.

“You make the most beautiful mistress any man could wish for in his wildest dreams.”

“Shrew, I don't want to be your mistress. That's a demeaning position where a man pays a woman for sexual favors and only a small step up from being a whore. I want us to be lovers, equal in every way and completely free in every way. Promise?”

He was ready to promise her anything and give her the earth as well. He stripped off his clothes in a fever of need and tossed them away impatiently as he stalked his prey. He gathered her up and lifted her onto his engorged phallus. He did not need to tell her to wrap her legs about his back. He could feel the texture of the black lace stockings against his skin, as well as the heated flesh of her naked thighs where the stockings left off. The contrast was so erotically arousing, he plunged up into her with a savage thrust and felt her nails claw his back. Her velvet sheath lured him deeper, and, unable to remain standing a moment longer, he took her to the floor so that he could bury himself all the way inside her. She felt like scalding honey, and his balls tightened so pleasurably, he growled deep in his throat like a wolf with its mate.

It was such a swift, dominant possession, Bess writhed beneath his big powerful body, relishing the fierce hunger he unleashed as he pounded into her, holding nothing back, like a rampant male animal. The mating became ferocious, with both of them making fierce demands upon each other. Bess loved the things he did to her, loved his hard hands on her body and the way they made her feel. He knew how to arouse her passion to madness. Her sheath gripped him convulsively as he buried his maleness inside her, harder and deeper with every savage plunge.

When her moans turned to gasps and a scream began to build in her throat, her lover took possession of her mouth, taking her love cries into himself, muffling her vocal response to keep them private from any who might be awakened by their passionate coupling. He felt her first flutters, knowing she was building to orgasm, and timed his climax accordingly. They spent together in an explosion that robbed them of breath and coherent thought. Then they collapsed together, his great weight pinning her to the floor as she sprawled beneath him in wanton abandon.

Shrew withdrew his weight and sat back on his heels. “That was spectacular, my love, and well worth the wait.” He stroked her breasts, softening now with surfeit. “Your body is so lush, I want to watch you walking about without your clothes.”

When Bess hesitated, he said, “Surely, you're not shy with me?”

“No, love. Your anointing was so thorough, I'm full of you.”

He laughed. “I'm sorry—it's been so long.” He picked up her goblet of wine and a clean napkin. “Open for me, beauty.” He dipped in the linen and watched with avid eyes as she let her knees fall apart, then arched her mons for him. She shuddered as he laved her in wine, then dabbed her dry. “Let me carry you to bed.”

“I thought you wanted to watch me walk.”

“Later—the wine has given me other ideas.” He lifted her high against his heart and carried her through to the adjoining chamber. He laid her on the bed and, lifting one of her legs, removed the black lace stocking with its bright garter. Then he lifted her other leg and did the same. He kissed her bare toes, then drew the tip of his tongue along the high arch of her sole. “First, I want to watch you writhe again.”

Bess drew in a swift breath, knowing where his tongue would lead. She was not disappointed, though he teased her unmercifully with the length of time it took to reach his goal. But once he did, she couldn't believe how quickly he was able to arouse her again. As she watched his dark head moving between her legs and felt the thrusts of his powerful tongue, the intimacy of the act drove her wild. When her climax came, it was so hard and fast she arched high off the bed, thrusting her mons against his hungry mouth. When he withdrew his tongue and covered the inside of her thighs with kisses, she thought her very bones would melt. When she could speak again, she said, “That felt so lovely, I want to do it to you. Get the wine; I want to drive you wild.”

Shrewsbury came up out of a deep sleep and his pulses began to race the moment he knew whose bed he occupied, whose woman's scent enveloped him, and whose lips brushed against his. To be awakened by a kiss from Bess was a fantasy he'd indulged in for years. His cock began to fill, and he reached for her with joy. “Sweetheart, I'll never have enough of you.”

Bess laughed softly. “Darling, that's very flattering, but I woke you because it's four o'clock. You must go now.”

He groaned as her words rubbed harshly against the grain of what he wished to do. “I can't leave you,” he protested stubbornly.

“You must. Though I am mistress of Chatsworth, I don't believe I can allow you to tuck your long legs beneath the breakfast table across from my mother and Marcella.”

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