‘They haven’t.’
‘The other day you couldn’t wait to kiss me and now you can’t wait to get away!’
‘Not because I don’t find you attractive!’ The idea was so absurd that it gave him the impetus to stand up. ‘I don’t want to leave, Henrietta, but I have to! If I start to kiss you, then I won’t want to stop.’
‘Then you don’t have to.’
‘Don’t say that. We should wait until you’re completely recovered and you’ve got all your strength back. Then we can—’
He didn’t get any further as she kissed him. She moved so quickly that he barely had time to react before her lips were pressed against his, and she wasn’t gentle about it either. On the contrary, she was rough, as if she were determined to show him just how recovered she was. It was the fiercest, most potent kiss he’d ever experienced, so unexpected and mind-spinning that it rendered him utterly powerless to do anything but kiss her back. And then she pulled away and stared up at him, hands gripping the front of his shirt as her eyes blazed a challenge and that was it, he realised—he was lost.
The next few seconds were a frenzied blur. He was vaguely aware of reaching for her, of catching her up in his arms as her own curved around his neck, until her feet were trailing along the floor and they were both stumbling towards the bed. And then his clothes were being discarded, scattered in all directions at once, and her nightdress was being pulled over her head, and they were lying side by side, only not quite side by side. He was lying half on top of her, one of his legs draped across hers while he kept his weight on one arm, trying to keep from crushing her.
‘Mmm...’ He kissed her again, one of his hands smoothing a path over her stomach and up her ribcage until he found her breast and cradled it. ‘Mmm.’ He slid his tongue inside her mouth as he drew his thumb across the bud, swallowing her moan of pleasure. She was a perfect handful, he thought, even more perfect than he’d imagined, and if she moaned like that again, she might just unman him before they could get any further...
‘Tell me...’ He broke the kiss. ‘If you change your mind. If you want me to stop...’
‘I will...’ she arched her back as his hand slid downwards again, curving gently around her hip ‘...but I won’t.’
‘But if you do...’ He almost growled the words, needing her to know she could trust him, before he moved downwards, placing his mouth where his hand had left off.
‘Oh!’
She cried out as his lips closed around her nipple and suckled. It was beyond any shadow of a doubt the most seductive sound he’d ever heard. It made him feel an even greater need to hurry, although he didn’t want to rush her or do anything before she was ready. Which meant that he was going to have to think of something powerfully un-seductive to hold himself in check, though frankly it was a wonder he could still think at all when all the blood in his body appeared to have sped straight to his groin.
Flags again?
‘Sebastian...’ She placed her hands on either side of his head, lifting his mouth back to hers, her breathing fast and erratic. ‘I want you.’
‘I want you, too.’ He rolled on top of her, nudging her legs apart and settling his body gently between her thighs. ‘But it might hurt at first.’
‘I know.’
He smiled. ‘You know a lot.’
‘I know that I trust you...’ her eyes were wide and intense ‘...and I can’t wait any longer.’
There was only one way he could think of to reply, holding her gaze as he pushed inside her. She gave another gasp, one that sounded like pain this time, and he stopped at once, counting to ten as he tried to remain completely still. He was only part way sheathed. Maybe if he pulled back, it would...
‘No.’ She moved beneath him suddenly, as if she’d sensed his retreat, pushing upwards until he was fully embedded.
‘Hen...’ He couldn’t even finish her name, pressing his face into the curve of her neck and breathing heavily as they both lay completely still for a few seconds.
She felt so, so good, her body moulded against his, her inner muscles clenching around him so tightly he could have groaned aloud. She was his, his wife, his Henrietta, and she fitted him as if they were made for each other. And then they both started moving, pressing together and pulling apart in an awkward and then less awkward and then almost flawless rhythm. He wouldn’t have believed the feeling could get any better and yet it did, so close to perfection that he didn’t think he could hold on for much longer. He tried stopping, pushing himself up on his arms to cool them both down, but her breasts were slick with a sheen of perspiration and one of her legs was around his hip and there was nothing he could do. He sank back into her, thrusting one last time before he found his release.
‘Sebastian?’
It took him a few oblivious moments to realise that she was speaking to him.
‘Are you hurt?’ He rolled quickly away from her.
‘No.’ She placed a hand on his chest and gave a low laugh. ‘Stop worrying.’
‘Says the woman who collapsed due to nervous exhaustion.’ He fell on to his back, raking one hand through his hair. He could still feel his own heartbeat, beating so hard it felt like a drum inside his chest. It was no wonder. The last half-hour—he hoped he’d at least lasted that long—had been the most intense experience of his life. He had a feeling it might take him the rest of the night and then some to recover.
‘Well, I’ve learned the error of my ways.’ Henrietta laid one arm across his chest and rested her chin on top. ‘That was as good as any medicine.’
‘It didn’t hurt at all?’