He held her closer. “We’ll sort all that out. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” She was so soft in his arms, her honey smell wafting into his nostrils.
“I’m fine. My dress got the worst of the damage.” She looked down, touching her ripped sleeve. “My mother is going to—” Her eyes flew to his. “You don’t think she’ll force me to marry Walter, do you?”
He gathered her closer. “I’ll murder him first.”
“Blake.” Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. “You wouldn’t.”
“Fine. Not murder. Perhaps castration? He can’t marry if he doesn’t have—”
This time her mouth snapped closed. “Blake.”
He cupped her cheek, his thumb running along her lips. “I’ll not allow them to force you into a match with him, I swear it.”
She pressed a small kiss on the pad of his thumb. His cock swelled at the light touch. “Thank you,” she breathed against the sensitive flesh of his finger. “Can I ask you one more favor?”
“Of course,” he answered, his voice getting deeper with his growing awareness.
She kissed the sensitive webbing between his thumb and forefinger. “I thought that Walter was going to steal my first kiss.” She rubbed her nose along the inside of his hand, placing another light peck on his palm.
“I would have had to kill him then,” he answered, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Not because of his anger. Her light kisses were wreaking havoc on his body.
“Stop talking about violence.” She nibbled a path to his wrist.
His heart beat rapidly in his chest. Never had such small touches affected him so much. “Fine.” He slid his other hand up her arm and over her neck, cupping her jaw and tilting Ada’s head so that he could look into her eyes. “What do you want to ask?”
She swallowed then, her delicate throat working. “I want you to kiss me.”
He stopped, searching her face. He didn’t want to ask why, didn’t want to think about what this meant. He needed that kiss. “Ask and you shall receive.”
Chapter Ten
Ada knew it was unwise. If caught, they’d be married for certain. In fact, even now, being alone like this…
But something had shifted. When Walter had tried to steal that kiss, well, she fought him because she wanted to give her first experience away to a man who made her heart thrum in her chest. And that man was Blake.
With aching deliberateness, Blake reached for her face, cupping her cheeks in his palms as his thumbs made tiny circles at her temples. “Ada,” he groaned, searching her face as he leaned a bit closer. “Are you certain?”
“Yes,” she whispered, drifting closer to him. The world had slowed to an unhurried pace which only made her that much more excited, as if part of the joy was to be found in savoring the moment. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
He groaned deep in his throat. A small noise that was almost imperceptible to the ear but it vibrated through her, settling deep in her core and causing her to ache between her legs.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered, his lips but a breath away, so close, she could nearly feel them, or was she imagining the sensation?
“I don’t think I want to,” she said, lifting up on her tiptoes and sliding her arms around his waist. “I would hate to miss one single bit of this.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Trust me, love. You’ll feel all the more without your sight.”
She blinked twice, then closed her lids, trusting him to lead her where she belonged. In answer he placed his lips over hers. Just a soft brush, nothing more, but she gasped in response, drawing back and opening her eyes. “Blake,” she said as her lips parted and she stared into his eyes. “That was so…”
One of his hands slid down her neck, causing shivers to run all over her body. “Dreadful?”
It was her turn to smile. “Delicious.”
“That’s a much better word.” He slid his fingers into the back of her hair, massaging her scalp. “That ha
ir,” he said, his voice rough and craggy. “It’s so silky. I want to see it undone.”
Ada gave her head a small shake. That couldn’t happen, of course. This was just a kiss but he didn’t give her a chance to say so, his lips pressing against hers again. This kiss was firmer than the last, stronger, and more satisfying. She squeezed him tighter as he pressed her lips closed then lifted his mouth to do the same action over again and then again.