Page 41 of The Virgin and the Viscount

She thought of his words, of all of his arguments against her silly complaints. Her skin warmed, despite the water beginning to cool. She could not deny the physical evidence of his arousal. “I shall consider your words.”

He grabbed the sponge off the tray to the side of the tub and rubbed the soap into it. Then he ran it up her spine and across her shoulders. The soap smelled of him. Sandalwood and pine, perhaps. She allowed him to bathe her as she further pondered his words. She knew she wasn’t beautiful. Her own mother had told her she’d never be a beauty. It was possible, though, that he found her attractive enough to want her. It might not make her beautiful, but she could pretend he believed her to be.

She shivered as he ran the water-soaked sponge over her to rinse off the suds. “It’s getting cold.”

“Indeed. Let us get out of this cooling water so I can rut you properly.”

His wicked words were as effective as an intimate caress. She whimpered and felt her sex clench with need.

…

Sullivan stood from the tub and stepped out.

Then he helped Tilly out. What a ridiculous notion, her not seeing her own beauty. No, she wasn’t classically beautiful like her sister or Agnes, but Tilly’s beauty was original and surprising—a bold and vibrant bloom against the starkness of winter. More than likely he could attribute her view of herself to her sister’s vitriol. He’d witnessed Melanie, on more than one occasion, insult Tilly. Though the older woman tended to mask her words cleverly so they almost sounded like compliments instead of the cruelty they were. It was a ridiculous game women played.

He wrapped a towel around Tilly, then led her over to the bed. “Would you like to know another benefit of you being taller than most women?”

She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I suppose.”

“I do think you’ll like this one.” He rubbed the towel against her body, wicking off the remaining moisture, then he quickly toweled himself off. God, he was hard. Like a damned pipe. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of arousal ever since he’d married her. Hell, since they’d spent that fateful night together at the inn. That night when he’d touched her bare breast the first time. And he hadn’t been able to get her out from under his skin since then. As if by simply touching her naked flesh, she’d branded herself upon him.

He slid his hands up her back and she shivered under his touch. He bent her body so that she pressed into the mattress. “From this position, I can stand behind you.” He swept a hand up her leg to her bare center, and she hissed out a breath. Two fingers slipped inside her slick channel. “You’re the perfect height.” He pumped his fingers into her, curling them right against that spot that made her legs wobble. He swiped at that hidden nub with his thumb, making slow circles. “I’ll get so deep inside you from here.”

Her fingers gripped the bedclothes and she whimpered. “Yes, please,” she said. “Sullivan, please.”

God, he loved the way she said his name. He’d never much cared for his name, but when she said it, like a prayer, like a pledge, it was everything. “You’re so wet for me.” He continued moving his fingers inside her and circling his thumb. “Before we were married, when you’d lay alone in your bed at night, did you ever slip your hands between your thighs?”

“Never,” she whispered.

“Did you ever feel this kind of desire?”

She rocked against his hand, chasing her release. “No.”

“So this is all for me? This sweet, sweet honey from your body.”

That was all it took and she came apart and pushed against his hand and she cried out. Her legs buckled, but he held her up with his other arm across her middle.

“No one is more beautiful than you when you climax like that.”

She watched him over her shoulder as he licked her orgasm off his fingers. “So sweet.” He didn’t give her any time to relax. Instead, he centered himself against her opening and pushed inside. Christ, she felt good. He stood still for a moment, trying to restrain himself, because what he wanted to do was take her so hard, pump into her until she forgot anything but how beautiful she was to him.

She arched her back, pressing herself against him. “Sullivan.”

“You have no idea how good you feel.” He moved then, pulled out, then plunged back in, and her heat fisted him so tightly. It was like nothing he’d ever felt before. No woman could compare. Would he ever get enough of her?

He rounded his body over her, pressing his chest to her back. One hand snaked around her and cupped one of her breasts. He rolled her nipple between his fingers, plucking at it all the while he thrust into her. In and out. Again and again until he swore he’d lose himself inside her. She was so slick, so hot and tight. With her, his wife, it wasn’t about chasing the end, getting to that blast of pleasure that brought everything to a stop. No, inside Tilly, he was home.

She broke against him, her inner muscles contracting with another climax, squeezing his cock and pulling his own orgasm to the surface. He shuddered against her, her name a prayer upon his lips. Then he leaned over her, wrapping both arms around her middle. They were skin to skin from foot to head, and he’d never been more content.

Reluctantly, he withdrew himself from her, cleaned them both up, and then pulled her into the bed with him.

“Sullivan, it is the middle of the day.”

“And I want to nap with you. We are on our honeymoon. What else is there for us to do? Nothing so pressing we can’t relax during the day.” That wasn’t precisely true. Though he hadn’t explored the entire village, he had seen enough since they’d arrived to know that David’s words were true. The conditions of the roads were abysmal. The estate itself wasn’t being tended as it should, and the staff had been cut in half. He’d already instructed the housekeeper to contact the former servants and reinstate them immediately with back pay for their time away.

He pulled her flush against him, her backside to his front. “Tell me about Matilda as a child. What did you use to dream about? What did you want for your adult self?”

She was quiet a moment as if considering the question. “I don’t know. I suppose I dreamed about getting married and becoming a mother.”

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