“So,” she said. “We’re going to do that now? Make love? Is there lots of blood involved?”
His eyes widened. “Not lots. Almost no blood, darling, if any. I suppose I’d better explain what’s to go on.”
“Yes, please.”
And he did, parting his dressing gown to show her how his body was made, and touching her gently beneath her shift to indicate how her body was made, and the place he’d join with her. As his male organ grew in his hand, she thought the entire thing far-fetched.
“It will be so tight,” she pointed out. “Far too tight to feel pleasurable.”
“It won’t be tight. Well, only in the nicest way.”
His eyes had developed a sort of tension as they spoke together. Her body had developed that tension also, a readiness that made her feel wide awake.
He turned to look back at the canopied bed. “I suppose we must consummate this marriage like dutiful royals. It’s a ridiculous business, isn’t it?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Is it?” She’d been suspecting so ever since he’d begun his talk.
He took her face in his hands and kissed the worry from her eyes. “No. A poor joke. It’s a lovely business, if you’ll but trust me. I’ll do my best to make you feel good.”
“How?”
“You’re full of questions, Cassy, but it’s too complicated to explain any more, except in the doing of it.”
She liked that he called her Cassy, since she’d never had a nickname in her life, not until now. It made her feel closer to him. When he held out his hand, she took it without trepidation and followed him to the bed. He took off his dressing gown and draped it over a nearby chair. She stared, she couldn’t help it. How different he looked from her. And yet, how pleasing...
“Would you like to leave your shift on for now?” he asked, pushing back the covers.
“I... I don’t know.”
“It might be nicer to lie together skin to skin, so we can warm one another.”
Cassandra already felt warm from the blush consuming her body, but the idea of nakedness was appealing, especially with the way he was looking at her, like she was the most enticing seductress in the world. “I suppose I’ll take it off.”
He knelt up in the bed to help her undo the delicate buttons at the neck. His male member, his cock, as he called it, pointed at her in an off-putting way, but she pushed that thought aside as he caught her gaze.
He helped her pull the silken garment over her head and discard it, then he moved over so she could lie beside him on the bed. He took her in his arms so she was enveloped in his strength and heat. His fingertips strayed over her shoulders, down to the tops of her breasts.
“How lovely you are,” he said, and she felt a rush of pleasure. He wasn’t only saying it to be courteous. She was almost sure he meant what he said. She thought she ought to say something complimentary in return.
“I think that you...” She ducked her head beneath his chin, overcome with shyness. “You are exceptionally kind. And you seem to be very good at this thing we’re about to do. At least so far.”
Goodness, what a stupid thing to say, but he didn’t laugh at her. She was grateful for that.
“What you must remember is that it’s very much like dancing,” he said, stroking her hair. “Trust me to lead you. Give your body to the rhythms when they come.”
“What rhythms?”
His fingers brushed over her nipples in a light touch. “You’ll see.”
*** ***
Gideon was trying to go slow. He was really, truly trying. The problem was, he’d never gone slowly at anything in his life. He’d especially never gone slowly with a willing woman in his bed. Her dark eyes were wide with curiosity. She trusted him, she wanted him, which fired his blood even more.
But he must take his time. He must bring her along with him, as Adele had advised. Blasted virgins. Why did they have to be so awful and so desirable at once?
“Darling, come closer,” he said, drawing her toward him and resting a hand at the base of her spine. She pressed against him, all restless legs and shaky, tentative touch. He kissed her and stroked her back in an effort to distract her from his stiff cock lying along her belly. She ended each kiss before he would have willed it, and looked in his eyes, searching them in her innocent, hapless way.
He responded by nudging her onto her back. He held her shoulders down—not too hard—and licked and nibbled the velvet expanse of her skin, dropping kisses over the racing pulse at the base of her neck. She moved against his palms as if to resist, but she wasn’t really resisting. When he released one shoulder to run his fingertips over her nipples, she made a breathless sound.
“What is it?” he said against her ear. “What’s the matter?”
“It only feels so...”
“So good, like last night?”
“When you do it now...when we’re both unclothed, and so close together...” Her hips inched forward, sending a jolt of pleasure through his cock.
“I know,” he said, suppressing a groan. “It’s exciting to be so close, and so naked together. That’s the fun of being a husband and wife.”
He stroked her nipples for several more minutes, thrilling to every gasp and sigh. Her curious eyes went half-closed in pleasure, then opened wide when he pinched one of her sensitized peaks. He held her gaze, smiling. Pinching harder.
“Oh,” she said.
“How does that feel?” he asked, returning to softer caresses.
“I don’t know. How is it supposed to feel?”
“There’s no hard and fast rule, but I’d like you to feel that you can’t get close enough to me. That you want my mouth everywhere.”
He wanted to kiss her everywhere. He held her shoulder again, and this time traced her nipple with his tongue rather than his fingertip. It was far more pleasurable to do it this way than over her nightshift. Based on her squirming reaction, she must have felt the same way. Her fingers rested on his hair, then wove into it so he felt an increasing pull.
Say what they might about virgins and their wedding nights—so far, he was the only one who seemed to be suffering any pain.
“Sir, do you want...” She could barely speak, as he was having his way with her other nipple. “Shall I put my mouth everywhere on you?”
“Eventually,” he said. “Not tonight, but soon. Mouths and fingers are a lover’s most useful tools.” He thought a moment, reminded by his throbbing organ. “Well, aside from the more central ones.”
Her hazy eyes narrowed in confusion.
“My cock,” he said with some strain. “And your pussy.” He traced a palm down her front to nestle over her soft triangle of fur. He hoped he was going slowly enough. He couldn’t wait another moment to touch the silken recess of her mystery. Her virginity. No, no, don’t plunge your fingers into her. Oh, she’s wet. She’s ready. No, don’t go too fast.
“Do you ever touch yourself here?” he asked, parting her folds, searching for her sensitive pearl.
“No. I—it—it was not permitted.”
She let out a gasp as he found his mark and swirled a fingertip over the swelling flesh. Not permitted? She’d only know that if she’d found her way to this “misbehavior” at some point. The idea pleased him, his virginal princess fighting the temptation to finger her pussy in her narrow convent bed.
“It’s permitted now.” He demonstrated his assertion with gentle, teasing strokes. Her hips bucked in the same rhythm as his finger, as if he played her like an instrument. He was coming to understand in the course of this slow seduction that she was a very sensitive instrument. He thought, if he learned her nuances well, she could play wonderfully rousing tunes.
“Mm.” Her hand moved to his shoulder, gripping him. “That doesn’t hurt at all.”
“Good. That means you’re ready for the rest.”
He’d been ready ages ago. It took all the willpower he possessed to slide his fingers deeper, to trace them around her slick opening without frightening or forcing her. He held her gaze and slid the tip of one finger inside.
“Feel how wet you are,” he said, easing his finger in and out. “That means we’re meant to be together in this way. It means that you want me. And this...” He shifted so the head of his steel-hard cock pointed at her opening. “This means that I want you.”
He gritted his teeth as she moved gingerly upon his finger, her face a mask of concentration.