“Oh, Mattie mine.” He hugged her tight, lost in the wonder of her unflinching spirit. “I hurt you.”
“Am I complaining?”
“No, but then again you never do.” He began to move, slowly at first, giving her time to grow used to him being inside her. After a time he pulled back, resting his weight on his hands so he could see her face as he quickened his rhythm. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she took her bottom lip between her teeth.
Fearing he was hurting her, he froze.
Her hands clamped down on his hips and her legs brushed his. She lifted her gaze to his and he saw desire, pure raw hunger in her expression. “Don’t stop,” she begged. “Oh, please stay with me. I never expected this. I’m so close.”
He moved again, watching her face now. She frowned, grimaced, and twisted against him, clearly enthralled by their tryst and desperate for the inevitable conclusion. He cupped her breast with one hand then pinched her nipple hard. Matilda gasped softly, a sound he’d grown to love hearing as he spanked her, and he twisted his fingers to give her more pain.
She came around him, a soft shriek filling the room, and he released her breast to watch her face relax. She lay beneath him afterward gasping, a wondrous smile spreading over her face. Her body quaked around him for a long time, and when she was spent, her hands slipped off his skin slowly. “I’m glad it was you.”
William shifted over her fully, cock hard and eager to pump into her body every feeling he possessed. No one ever but him would have this honor. He would never give her up now. He braced his forearms around her head and flexed his hips, driving into her tense sheath, relieved that she appeared not to be in any great pain.
A dreamy smile lingered on her lips. “Do that again.”
“I have wanted this for so long,” he confessed as he thrust again and withdrew with a little more vigor before claiming her again. “I never expected for one moment to have my heart’s desire in my bed.”
“And I have mine. I belong to you now, Billy Boy.”
He raised a brow while he loved her as gently as he could despite the provocation. “Careful, darling. I’m on edge already. I don’t want to hurt you more than necessary tonight. Corrections can wait for another time.”
“For the first time in my life, I know what I want. I am happy that I am with you like this. I want you to be this happy too.” She stretched her arms over her head, pressed her palms against the wooden headboard, smiling, and then chanted, “Billy, Billy, Billy.”
“No,” he gasped, fighting an arousal that threatened to overtake his control.
“Yes, Billy.”
Her defiance was like lightning stroking down his spine. The taunt snapped his control and he shuddered at her provocation. He shoved into her hard and then withdrew, pumping his hips while lust filled his mind with desire and passion and unstoppable love. Matilda braced herself against the headboard as his thighs slapped into hers. He rose above her, desperate and wild not to miss a moment of pure bliss. He hooked her leg around his hip, and she curled the other around him too. With her hips raised from the bed, he could take her the way he needed to. The way she seemed to want him to as well. He twisted her a little to the side, exposing her rear even as he thrust. He slapped her bottom—once, twice. And then fucked her long and hard until he could wait no more.
He slapped her bottom again and then held her steady as he pumped his seed deep into her body with a hoarse shout that should have been heard all the way to the attics of the house. His spasms lasted forever, but he struggled to focus on her face. She smiled at him; her face flushed a deep red but no tears. “Thank God,” he whispered.
All the pain and uncertainty had been worth the wait. Matilda offered a shy smile, the kind that never failed to affect him. He collapsed in a tangle of her arms and legs and held her to him. Her softness was a balm for his soul, her trust the most precious gift.
He’d known, that first day when Mrs. Young had introduced Matilda as a prospective employee, that he’d sacrifice his honor to be with her just once. She had been forbidden to him then, and he’d carried his desire for her in secret. Now he could treasure every moment, shape every interlude to bring them both happiness.
She stroked his hair from his face, and he recalled a memory from his time as her unwilling charge. He shifted down the bed, lying between her spread legs, and rested his chin gently on her chest, watching her face closely. “You did that when I was first brought home. I remember thinking it would be the last caress of my life, the best thing that ever happened to me. I did not deserve your kindness then.”
She did it again and raised one brow. “I surprised myself that day too. I didn’t want you to die. It seemed unthinkable.”
“How fortunate for me. How lucky that we didn’t miss this opportunity to know each other.”
Her face clouded but then she smiled. “Was it luck? How did you know I could like what you would do to me?”
“I didn’t know. How could I suspect that beneath such beauty lay a woman after my own heart? I’m glad you agreed to marry me. I’m grateful for this time with you.” He brushed his lips across her skin, overcome by emotions that threatened to unman him. He was truly in love. He’d never felt this way before about any woman.
“Me too.”
He jostled to glimpse her face. “Sleep in my arms tonight. If you can bear it, I’d like to make love to you in the morning before we start our day.”
She pushed him off and then settled in his arms, one arm slung across his chest, her bare leg pinning his down in a way she had not embraced him before. It was possessive and made his heart skip a beat.
Matilda took a long breath and then kissed his skin. “I would not deny you.”
“Thank heavens.” He kissed her brow and then cuddled her close. Marriage was what he needed. Marriage to Matilda and all the tenderness she could spare him.
Twenty-Three