The Jezebel (Taskill Witches 3)

“You are a beast,” she blurted, then instantly regretted it.

“Perhaps I am, but I am not blind. I can see you are enjoying it, no matter what you say.” With that he set about stroking her with even more deliberation. Abandoning the cloth, he extended one finger inside her and then rubbed at her swollen nub with his thumb.

“Oh, oh, oh, I cannot allow it....” Her words trailed off.

The rhythmic movement of his thumb while his hard finger was inside her was a dangerous combination, one made to drive a woman mad. Maisie’s body tightened at the intrusion, her hips rocking as he stroked his thumb back and forth. It was a fleeting, almost feathery touch, and it made her throb with want. His actions tormented her, yet drew her close to a rapid release.

She reached out blindly, catching at his arm while she lifted her hips to meet his hand. Pleasure washed through her in a dense, hot wave, and for a moment the clutch and spill of her release made her feel faint. Panting for breath, she felt her body grow limp. It was astonishing, and she relished the way the heat seemed to reach every part of her. Minutes later, she found she was still clutching his arm. Reluctantly, she loosened her grip.

“Apparently you can allow it,” he teased.

There was humor in his expression and it reached her, warming her. Breathlessly, she accused, “You have the advantage of knowing how to touch a woman.”

His expression grew more serious. “I did not believe you were a novice, for which I apologize. I’m sorry, too, for my rough handling of you, my demands.”

“Did not believe?” She repeated his words, confused, barely able to speak because the sensations he had aroused in her were so oddly invigorating. Her body tingled, and the source of her magic, deep within, felt freshly stoked.

“That you truly were a virgin.”

She was not offended, for her virginity had become an immense burden to her, but she did not understand his confusion. She had stated her condition quite honestly to him. “Why didn’t you believe me?”

“Virgins do not appear so wise nor so wily, nor do they brazenly offer themselves to complete strangers.”

Maisie considered his words. What he said was most likely true, for most young women. She was not like them, but if she had been she supposed she would have thought differently on the matter. She did not have many friends amongst her own age group, having been brought up in a very particular and controlled world, but she knew that a girl’s maidenhood was what gained her a good marriage. “I had no other choice.”

The captain wrapped his hand around one of her thighs. “I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t be. My virginity was a burden to me.” The words were out before she considered how strange they would sound to him.

He cocked his head, looking at her as if she were not in full possession of her faculties.

It seemed necessary to offer an explanation. “It was of value to someone who...who wanted to use me in ways I could not endure.”

She could say no more.

He reached out and cupped her face. “You have enjoyed this?”

She knew what he was asking, and nodded. He wanted to be sure he was not using her in ways she could not endure. He seemed to be a decent man. No doubt he would think her a fallen woman, probably had done since the moment she approached him. It had not discouraged him, though. In fact his kindness toward her now that he knew the truth of it touched her deeply. Maisie had known the protection of a man, a guardian, but she had never been in a position such as this, where a man who knew nothing about her treated her as a lusty, desirable woman, then cared for her in the aftermath.

Was this how it was between a man and woman?

She did not want to consider such things. It had been important that a stranger take her virginity because she didn’t want to be bound to someone who knew of her ways and knew how the carnal act would enrich her. Neither could she risk becoming attached to a man. She was vulnerable to that, being accustomed to a sheltered existence. She had taken her first steps along the path to independence and she would need to gird herself and be strong if she was to continue all the way to the Highlands. This man was merely someone she had done a trade with, nothing more.

“I would not enjoy it, if you did not,” he whispered. Then he smiled and lowered his head to her groin, where he placed a kiss upon the cleansed flesh of her mound.

Maisie leaped at the touch, then almost fainted away.

As if that kiss was not startling enough, he then proceeded to lick and tease her sensitive folds with his tongue. She cried out, not only from surprise, but from the dizzying pleasure that his actions caused. He ran his tongue over her intimate places, licked, stroked and sucked on her exposed folds with slow deliberation, and then pushed his tongue inside, lapping at her entrance.

Maisie writhed on the bed, driven to distraction by his attentions. She felt wildly empowered, yet exposed and trapped, all at once. The way his tongue explored her had her nub swollen and pounding again. She felt hot and weak, and as if her whole body was being drawn into the spot he currently lavished with openmouthed kisses.

Never had she felt more alive than she did this night, in his bed.

“You are delicious,” he said as he lifted his head to look at her.

Eyeing him with curiosity, she had to ask. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to.” His mouth quirked. “You enjoyed it, did you not?”