Western Widows

"My shirt next." His voice was a harsh rasp as if each word took effort.

I was removing his clothes, not mine, which was all well and good for me. It filled my eager curiosity to see Liam's body, to touch it, feel it, learn it, a need I hadn't known I had until just now. I'd seen Richard without a shirt, but this was not the same. It had been in passing, when he washed at the pitcher and ewer, even as he climbed into bed in his drawers. I'd felt it beneath my hands as he took me, but it was all rather clinical, as he'd never offered me an opportunity to explore him. Just as he'd never had interest in seeing me. He'd just wanted to put himself inside me, move in and out and then fill me with his seed. He'd been kind to me, but I was quickly learning he'd been negligent.

Liam, however, seemed to be the quite different. He was offering himself to me one layer at a time, patiently allowing me to fumble as I undid one button down his white shirt, then the next, exposing his hot skin and dark chest hair. It felt silky beneath the backs of my fingers and I hastened my motions, tugging the shirttails from his pants. He allowed me to part the shirt so I could look my fill, noting the dark, flat nipples, so different than my own. I couldn't resist and I ran my palms over them, making Liam hiss out a breath. I pulled my hands back, worried I'd hurt him.

He gently gripped my wrists, staying my retreat, then placed them back on his hot skin. "I've longed to have your hands on me. Don't stop."

"What should I do?" I asked imploringly. My ignorance in men was becoming vastly apparent. Richard would have been done by now and snoring beside me.

"Anything you want," he replied softly. His thumbs moved in small circles on the pulse points of my wrists.

"Can...can you take your shirt off?" I asked bravely.

Once again, he sat upright and tugged off his shirt, this time his motions a little more frantic. His eyes held mine the entire time, a wicked grin forming. As he leaned back, his knees came up and I slid into the cradle of his hips, his hard length pressing against my woman's core, only his pants and my dress separating us. I gasped at the contact and tried to shift up and off of him, afraid my weight would hurt him. My motions were stilled by Liam's hands on my hips and a slight shake of his head.

"Feel what you do to me?" His eyes had narrowed, his cheeks became ruddy at his growing arousal.

I nodded and bit my lip.

"My cock's been rock hard since the first time I saw you."

CHAPTER FOUR

LIAM

I loved the way Charlotte's eyes widened at my crude—and truthful—words. My cock had a mind of its own around her, leading me consistently to her over the past few months as would a divining rod led a man to water. With her lush ass in my lap, I couldn't help but grow longer and thicker, pulsing against her as if trying to root through our clothing to find her pussy, which I knew would be hot, slick and tight.

She may have well been a virgin based on what she knew about fucking. Richard had claimed her, there was no doubt about that, but it seemed my friend had not been adept at pleasuring his wife. What they'd done in bed was not something I wanted to consider, but I had to know if Charlotte would be a little wildcat in bed or if she needed me to teach her what it was like between a man and woman.

I wanted to do the latter first then make her my little wildcat. No one else's. There was no doubt of her passionate nature and it had been kept hidden, as if stored away in a safe, waiting for me to unlock it and discover all the secrets held within. Oh, the things I wanted to do to her. With her. And now I had the chance and for the rest of our lives. But I had to go cautiously, not wanting to make her afraid because it was going to get intense and quickly. I gritted my back teeth to maintain my control, but just having her small hands touch my chest, innocently and full of curiosity, had me close to coming.

"Now you," I said. I could hear the roughness in my voice, the deeper timbre. I couldn't help it.

"Me?" she asked, that little crease back at her brow.

I tilted my chin to indicate the front of her dress. "Undo your bodice."

Her eyes flared in a combination of fear and arousal. I kept my hands on her hips, loving the feel of her soft flesh beneath my palms, letting her know she had all the time in the world to heed my words. It wasn't the case, for if she waited too long, I'd flip her beneath me and rut her just as Richard had done. I took a slow, deep breath to curb my need. A need so strong my cock ached. If she denied me now, I wasn't sure I'd be able to walk.

Her hands began undoing the tiny buttons on her dress, slowly working her way down over her breasts and to her belly. Why did there have to be so many? Another time I'd grip the two sides and rip the dress open, but not now. Soon, I'd show her how much pleasure could be wrought from being rough and wild.

Slowly, tentatively, I lifted my hands to her bodice, parting the two sides wide so they slipped off her shoulders and down her arms to catch on her wrists, keeping her arms pinned at her sides. I eyed her, watching her for any signs of panic. There was none, only keen interest in her pale eyes. I wanted to kiss her plush lips again, to taste her sweet flavor, but it would be over too fast if I did. Besides, I was about to see her delectable breasts for the first time. Her mouth could wait.

She wore a white corset, the fit snug to make her waist narrow enough for my hands to almost span it entirely. Her hips flared wide beneath my fingers and above. Oh Christ, her breasts. Only the soft, full upper swells were visible, but they were plump and lush. The stays were tricky to undo, cinching them tighter starting at the top to release one catch at a time. Once the garment lay against my thighs behind her did I behold her bounty. I couldn't hold in the groan at the sight of her and when I cupped the heavy weight in my palms, I had to speak.

"Charlotte, you are so beautiful. Perfect. I knew your nipples would be bright pink." My thumbs slid over the puffy tips as I spoke and I watched them tighten.

It was her turn to groan, a breathy sound that escaped from her throat. Her head fell back, her eyes closing and thrust her chest into my hands. I played with her breasts, kneading them learning their curves, how the tips tightened as I gave each a little pinch between my thumb and forefinger. Her eyes widened in surprise at the slight bite of pain and I couldn't help but grin. "Like that?"

She nodded, a long tendril of hair coming loose from a pin as she did so. Her skin was hot beneath my palms, her scent becoming stronger, as heady as if I'd downed a shot of whiskey.

Charlotte tugged at the confines at her wrists, but could not free herself. I continued to stroke her, from her belly, over her breasts, across her dainty shoulders, down her arms and back, ensuring extra focus on her turgid tips. Bending my knees up further, I pulled her in closer so that her breasts were right there, right at my mouth and I couldn't resist. I sucked a nipple into my mouth. The sound that escaped her lips was a mixture of a groan and a cry of pleasure.

I pulled my head back only far enough that I could look up into her surprised face and grin. "Like that?" When worry replaced the first flush of desire, I flicked my tongue out over her pert tip. "No. Don't be afraid or ashamed. This is as it should be." I paused. "More?"

When she nodded, a male sense of pride filled me. "Then more you shall have."

I worked her breasts then, for her pleasure and my desperate need to taste her, to hear her breathy sighs, to feel her fingers tangle in my hair and hold me against her, reveling in knowing I was the one to awaken this in her.