Treacherous Temptations(51)

“Yes, but—”

“There is no ‘but’.” His warm, smooth lips now skirted her jaw and lingered in the exquisitely sensitive spot behind her ear. “As your husband, it is now my privilege to guide you. If you will but follow my lead, I will show you the greatest delights.” His gentle touch and persistent kisses warmed her blood, and his words sent it pulsing through her veins to heat every inch of her body. “There are many way to pleasure, Mary, ways you still know nothing about. These are things I wish to teach you. Will you let me, my sweet?”

How could she deny what she wanted most? Yet the words would not emerge.

“I want to hear it from your mouth. I want you to tell me that your greatest desire is to release your passion, Mary. Do this, and I promise before this night is out, you will scream in ecstasy.”

Dear God! A pool of heat gushed to the place between her thighs. He would show her no mercy at all. “But if we only need to make the marriage legal is all this really necessary? Can we not just get the business over with?” Yes, just get it over with and stop this slow torture that would surely destroy her.

“Necessary? Not at all,” he answered darkly. “I assure you at this very moment I could spread your legs and thrust into you to my heart’s content, without you ever having to touch me or even look at my cock. I assure you it’s done thusly all the time, but is that what you desire? Is that what you want from your wedding night?”

No, it wasn’t what she wanted, but neither did she wish to suffer heartache and disillusionment later. “You talk almost as if this was a real marriage between us.”

“It is as real as you want it to be, Mary. And I assure you the consummation shall be very real indeed.” He slid his hands to her shoulders, and plied his mouth to her throat in hot open-mouthed kisses that sent racking shivers through her body. Yes, this was real. It was real and divine, and a vivid reminder of how he had made her shatter once before. He made a leisurely exploration of her throat to the juncture between her collarbones, kissing, and caressing her to such distraction that she hardly noticed her wrapper slithering to the floor.

He cupped her breasts and gently squeezed. “Tell me now, Mary,” he murmured hotly against her skin. “Tell me that you wish for us to be lovers.” He punctuated the request with a long and languorous kiss, a kiss that swept her away into the perilous sea of desire. She entwined her arms about him and clung as if drowning.

“Yes, Hadley.” The effort of speech stole what little breath still remained in her lungs. “I do. Please show me what can be. Kiss me again. Please.” She closed her eyes and offered up her mouth but he only brushed it lightly.

“While I wish very much to lavish particular attention on that luscious mouth of yours, first I would look at you. I wish to see my new bride in all her natural glory.”

Her virginal qualms returned with a vengeance. “Can we not get into the bed first?”

“All in good time.” He pulled at the top ribbon of her nightrail. “Your body is nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, I marvel at and adore the graceful lines of the feminine form.” He plucked another ribbon. “And I intend to explore you and learn what pleases you, just as you shall learn what pleases me.” He loosed another tie and slowly parted the gown. “Such as the silky softness of a woman’s skin…The milky whiteness of her shoulders.” He kissed each one in turn and drew the gown even lower. “Her glorious breasts.”

When he made to bare them completely to his view, Mary covered herself.

“No, my dear,” he scolded. “You are mine now, to do with as I will.” He jerked at the gown and it slid to the floor. “To view.” His heated gaze lingered on her breasts and then tracked lower. He circled behind her, enveloping her in his strong arms and cupped her generous breasts. “To caress.” He anchored her tightly against him, his arousal pressing against the furrow of her buttocks. He whispered warm and sultry in her ear. “You were made for me, Mary. You see how perfectly we fit?” He caressed her breasts while his lips played at her nape, sending blissful ripples down her spine. “You have a form akin to Voluptus and were designed to be worshipped.”

“You think me beautiful?” she asked on a breath.

“I would not call you beautiful.”

Her heart sank.

He strummed his thumbs lightly over her nipples. They instantly tingled and hardened. “True beauty can be cold…lifeless.” He rolled the taut peaks between his fingers. “Whereas you are warm…Responsive…”

His teeth scored over her neck.

Her heart ricocheted against her breastbone when he pressed his lips again to her skin. “And eminently more desirable.” His hand slid down her belly, circling her navel, and then skirting over the curve of her hip, as his wondrous mouth found the sensitive juncture between neck and shoulder.

He gently bit down.

She cried out.

He stroked down her outer thigh and then back up again, searing a blazing path over the sensitive flesh on the inside. A gush of warmth filled the cleft between her thighs. She clamped her legs together, but the action trapped his hand, increasing both the pressure and the excruciating ache inside her.

“Don’t you want me to touch you?” His breath was hot in her ear, sending more ripples through her body.

“No! Yes! I don’t know,” she whimpered. “It frightens me, Hadley. The way you make me feel.”