Merry Christmas, My Love

He ran his hands over her back, massaging, kneading her flesh. He pulled away, and leaned his chin on the top of her head, his thumb stroking her cheek. “Tell me no now, and I will let you go. Or yes, if you wish this as much as I do.” He tilted her chin up.

She hesitated only a moment. “Yes.”

He swept her into his arms and strode to the door. Merry buried her face into his chest, inhaling deeply the scent that was only Penrose. Leather, brandy, and Bay Rum.

Blood pounding in his ears, Penrose sprinted up the stairs. He made short work of the distance to Merry’s room. He shifted her in his arms to open the door, then closed it with a swift kick of his foot. Thank God his mother slept like the dead and wouldn’t hear them.

Merry slid down his body, every delectable inch of where their bodies touched setting him on fire. He was drunk on her nearness, scent, and warmth, overwhelming him like no other woman in his life. She shuddered, reminding him he held an innocent in his arms.

He kissed her first with his eyes, then slowly with his mouth, nibbling at her lips. Her slight moan sent all his blood to the one place in his body he wanted to join with hers.

Merry slid her palms up his chest and held onto his shoulders as if anchoring herself. He prodded her lips with his tongue, and she opened, allowing him to sweep her sherry-flavored mouth. He leaned back. “I want to see you.”

She drew in a breath, drawing his glance to her full breasts, the nipples prominent against her gown. Quickly his nimble fingers untied the back of the garment, drawing it down her shoulders. Two perfect orbs, their surging peaks barely hidden behind a linen chemise, dried up all the moisture in his mouth.

“You don’t wear stays?”

She shook her head slightly, a slight smile gracing her lips. “No.”

“What am I to do with you, Miss Chambers?” he murmured against her forehead.

She drew back and regarded him with half closed eyelids, her voice deepened with desire. “Take me to bed?”

With no idea how sensuous she sounded, she’d almost brought him to his knees. He released the grip he had on her gown and it hit the floor in a rustle of fabric. A flick of his fingers, and the straps of her chemise slid down her arms. He sucked in a breath at the creaminess of her skin, the pouting of her rose-colored nipples.

Gently he eased her onto the bed, stretching out alongside her. He fondled one generous breast, its nipple marble hard. When she arched her back in response to his touch, his tongue licked a path from her neck to nip at the rosy peak. She drew in a sharp breath as he suckled.

He shifted his head to nuzzle and kiss her other breast. “I love your response to me.” He eased up on his elbow and tucked a loose tendril behind her ear. “I don’t want to frighten you, sweetheart. Do you know what will happen?”

“I think so. Will it…will it hurt?”

Penrose ran his fingertips over her forehead, down her cheek to her chin. “Since you are an innocent, it will hurt a bit at first. But then I assure you, the pleasure that awaits you will more than make up for it.”

“Why am I the only one with no clothes on?” The mirth in her eyes eased his concern about her fears.

“I’ll correct that situation right now.” He stood and tugged his shirt from his breeches.

Merry’s eyes widened at the sight of the bulge in the front of Penrose’s trousers. Then her gaze drifted up to his chest where he’d unbuttoned his white linen shirt and pulled it off. Her breath hitched and her stomach slid to her feet. All that golden skin, with lightly feathered dark hair down the center, leading to a place below his waist. She didn’t realize she’d licked her lips until she heard his groan.

“Don’t do that, or this will be over before it starts.” His voice sounded strained.

Her eyelids snapped open and she stared at his flushed face. A sense of power rushed through her to know she could wring such a response from this confident, arrogant man.

He stared at her for a moment before shoving his breeches down.

Oh my God. That will never fit!

“Yes it will.”

She felt the heat rise to her face, not realizing she’d spoken aloud.

Penrose climbed on the bed and ran his hand down her cheek. “Don’t think so hard. Let me be concerned about how this will happen.” He gathered her into his arms, once more kissing her with enough passion to turn her brain into mush and force any thoughts about size and fitting, to flee from her brain.

His strong hands skimmed up the sensitized skin of her back to grasp her shoulders, bringing their bodies together to rub her soft breasts against his hair-roughened chest. He nuzzled her neck, and she could feel his uneven breathing as he held her close to whisper into her ear. “You set me on fire, my beautiful vixen.”

In a feathered touch, his fingers drifted over her ribs from under her arm to her hip, where he kneaded the globes of her bottom. No longer able to deny herself, she slid her hand to Penrose’s waist, her hand wandering below until she reached that part of him that throbbed, almost as if had a life of its own.

She gasped at the feel of silk over steel. Her eyes met his as he groaned.