Lady of Pleasure (41 page)

A bulging, thick line pressed against the buttoned flap of his wool trousers.

Caroline’s fingers dug into the linens.

His hands reached up and his bare fingers smoothly and effortlessly undid his white silk cravat, his arms shifting to accommodate the movements. His full lips parted slightly as he slid the cravat from around his neck. He flung it over his shoulder and let it disappear behind him, now exposing the smooth sun-kissed skin of the strong neck hidden beneath.

Her entire body was ablaze. Ronan was stripping. Her heart fluttered as she placed a shaky hand to her chest and tried to steady her breathing and her heart.

“Don’t be nervous,” he whispered. “You and I are going to be doing this until we are old and unable to see out of both eyes. And then we will do it all blind and by touch. As when we first started.”

She bit back an exasperated smile.

He lifted his shaven chin, causing a few strands of his blond hair to fall away from his forehead, and slowly pulled out his shirt from his trousers.

Caroline bit down onto her lower lip with the top row of her teeth and unblinkingly brought the linens up and around her, staring.

This was hers.
He
was hers.

Ronan casually lingered, his body positioned toward her and one by one by one, he undid the buttons on his ivory waistcoat. Stripping it from his body, he tossed it past her and onto the bed, standing only in a shirt, trousers and boots.

He moved toward her. “Sit on the edge of the bed for me, will you?” There was a raw huskiness to his voice that made her stomach squeeze.

She shakily pushed away a misplaced curl from the side of her face and scooted herself over to the edge of the bed, letting her feet dangle.

Closing the space between them, he stood before her. “I’m almost done,” he softly said, as he undid the three small buttons around his throat. The open slit of the shirt fell open to his mid-chest, displaying well-defined muscles beneath.

She swallowed again.

He yanked his shirt up and over his arms and head. Muscles rippled in cascading unison as his shirt floated off to the side and ruffled his wavy, blond hair.

Caroline would have fainted if she hadn’t locked her knees into one another.

Ronan straightened, his broad, smooth shoulders set, showcasing a gloriously wide chest and muscled, lean arms. Soft golden blonde hairs trailed from his chest down to a narrow path that made its way toward his lower half that still remained covered.

His shaven jaw shifted, but otherwise he continued to motionlessly stand there. “Can I undress you?”

She was clearly dreaming. Without thinking, she rose and drifted into him. Slowly, she set the slippered toes of her shoes against the tips of his large leather boots and allowed her skirts to cover both their feet.

She released a shaky breath, her gaze drifting up the length of his naked broad chest which rose and fell in slow, even breaths, up toward his shaven chin until she rested upon the view of his full lips. The clean and simple scent of soap mingled with gin and strawberries drifted toward her, causing her already heightened senses to flutter. “Yes,” she managed. “Undress me.”

The clock in the room chimed, startling her for a moment to glance toward the far wall behind her. It chimed a total of two times before clicking back into silence.

Ronan’s large hands slid over her shoulders, causing her heart to nearly come up and out of her throat in astonishment. He reached down and around her with his bare muscled arms, his large hands grabbing each round cheek of her bum hidden beneath her skirts. He yanked her body hard up against his towering smooth, solid and broad body, and held her firmly in place against his erection, his jaw tight.

He slid his hands from her bum and up along the back of her gown. His fingers gently grazed the hidden hooks at her back which held the material of her gown in place.

Her mind blanked and nothing mattered in that moment. Nothing but his touch. She stared up at him in complete awe and wonder, her chest falling and rising a bit too quickly.

Without a word, he released the hooks, the muscles in his taut arms shifting around her. One by one by one he released them, until he had opened the entire back of her muslin gown, exposing her corset and the chemise beneath it. He slipped his large hands beneath the parted material and swept it down from her shoulders and arms, letting it fall to her waist and then the floor. He unfastening the petticoats and let them drop to the floor with her gown.

His hot hands skimmed the length of her arms, causing her to catch her breath as bumps frilled her skin. He slid his hands up toward her neck and dug his long fingers into the base of her nape. He tilted her head up toward him and bent his head, lowering his lips onto hers.

The warm softness of his lips grazed her mouth.

Caroline closed her eyes in utter bliss and slid her hands up the tight, smooth length of his muscled back. She pressed her body against his warmth and reveled in it.

His wet tongue slid into her mouth and touched her tongue. He pressed his lips harder to hers and moved his tongue more urgently against hers, demanding she make love to his mouth.

For a moment Caroline felt awkwardly inexperienced against the growing demand of that hot, glorious mouth.

His tongue withdrew from her mouth and methodically outlined her entire lips. Circling, tasting. Circling, tasting. He drew her upper lip slowly, playfully between his teeth. “I can’t believe I never wanted to use my mouth against yours,” he whispered.

His hands methodically unlaced the lacing of her corset, tugging and tugging it loose in between their kisses. It was a blur. He eventually lifted his head and said, “I need to turn you around. The lacings need to come off.”

She swallowed and let him turn her. His fingers tugged, loosening the remaining laces on the corset until a breath escaped her and the corset fell away, leaving her only in a shift, her stockings and slippers. She officially felt naked.

He turned her back toward himself and lowering his gaze to her breasts which were visible through the sheer shift, he lifted her shift from around her thighs and pulled it up and over her head, letting it float aside.

She felt awkward but as his large hands smoothed over her breasts, she could think of nothing but how it felt to be his.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he hoarsely said. “I can’t believe this is real.”

She wrapped her arms around him, giving into being his. He made her feel beautiful. Her hands dreamily left the expanse of his broad, smooth back and slid down between them.

“Open the flap on my trousers.” His voice was a velvet murmur against her forehead. “I can barely breathe, let alone do it.”

She blindly obeyed, unbuttoning the wool flap between them.

He pushed the material down past his muscled thighs. “Touch me.”

She hesitated and slowly grasped hold of the solid hard length of him with one hand. She slid her hand against the smooth head of his cock and stared up at him in disbelief, wanting and needing his reaction. She rubbed it.

His lips parted as he threw his blond head back and held her firmly against him. His chest heaved unevenly as his body tensed. He groaned and grabbed hold of her wrists to keep her from touching anymore.

Yanking her hands away from his body, he seized her naked waist, and dragged them both onto the bed behind them. Rolling onto the bed, he yanked her down onto the mattress. The cool linen pressed against the exposed, heated skin of her back and she felt herself drowning in bliss.

Ronan rolled off to the side and threw off his boots and everything else on his body, until he was naked. He rolled back toward her, his weight shifting on top of hers.

She was too entranced and overwhelmed by all that was happening. She wanted this. She wanted him.

His hands slid up the length of her stockings, past the tied garters that held them in place, and pushed her legs apart. Cool air pressed against the wetness of her folds as Ronan lowered his head.

His hot wet tongue met her core. She gasped and closed her eyes as that powerful sensation of pleasure rippled up through her body. His tongue pressed harder against her, lapping her moisture. His tongue increased its rhythm and she gasped yet again in complete disbelief that Ronan was between her legs and that she was already so shatteringly close to divine intervention.

She rolled her hips against that mouth, wanting and needing more and already felt herself edging closer and closer. She moaned in disbelief.

His lips suddenly disappeared, as did the warmth of his hands.

Her eyes popped open as her breaths came in short, desperate takes.

He slowly kneeled on the bed. “I need to sheathe myself,” he said in between ragged breaths.

She paused. “Why?”

He let out a gruff laugh. “Because although I want babies and lots of them, I want to ensure they don’t arrive until
after
Paris. I want you to enjoy our trip.”

“Oh. Well…that is certainly lovely of you to think of.” She pushed herself up and steadied herself against the haze of gin that was now digging into her sensibilities. “Uh...where is it? Can I get it for you?”

“In my waistcoat.” He waved his hand in a direction that was anything but the right direction.

She lifted a brow. “You carried it with you all night?”

He leaned down and nipped her shoulder.

Caroline pushed at him with a laugh and crawled over to his waistcoat, which was on the bed, and yanked out a small leather pouch hidden within its left pocket. Her fingers clumsily undid the woven strings, working the leather pouch open. “I don’t know how it goes on,” she confessed. She yanked out the milk-soaked sheath, and crawled back over to where he was, stumbling against her gown.

His mouth quirked. “Do you want to try to get it on?”

Her cheeks grew hot. “I…well…I might as well learn how to do it.” This ought to be entertaining. She kneeled before him, teetering for a moment from the weight of her dress, and awkwardly said, “Uh...hold it...out.”

He smirked. “I thought it was out.”

She burst into laughter. “This is so awkward.”

He laughed and obliged her all the same by positioning his cock toward her with one hand. “Slip it on and then tie the ends. That is all.”

It was fairly obvious he had done this many a time before. And despite the fact that knowing it unnerved her, she was staking her claim to him now. He would never be doing this with another woman who wasn’t her again. Caroline drew in an unsteady breath knowing there had to be a first time for everything. She slid his length slowly into the sheath. It fit snugly. She tied the small pink ribbon which was attached to it, ensuring it remained in place, then sat back on her heels. It was like a present meant for her.

He yanked her back down to where he was on the bed.

She scrambled up beside him, let out a shaky breath and placed her hands against the sides of his face, her fingers grazing the stubble that was already forming. “I love you.”

He slid his arms around her, guiding her back to the bed with suave determination, his body hard, yet so warm and welcoming. “I know.” His shaven jaw tightened and his hand affectionately skimmed the side of her face down the curve of her throat.

She swallowed, caught up in the haze of him. This was hers. All hers. He was hers. To have. To hold. To love.

He slid down the length of her, causing her to melt, and skimmed his forefinger from the inside middle of her exposed thigh up to the very spot she wanted and needed him to touch. Her heated skin tingled in response as she further melted into the world of pleasure she wanted so desperately to escape to.

He slid his finger deep into her, keeping it perfectly tilted so that she could feel every movement of his finger. He moved it in and out of her, pushing her once again toward climax.

She fisted the linen around her, her mind momentarily blanking. It was amazing.
He
was amazing.

He leaned over her, placing both hands on each side of her head and rubbed his sheathed cock against her. His mouth found hers and he kissed her, his tongue pushing erotically and rhythmically against hers.

She moaned into his mouth as he lifted himself onto one arm and used his other hand to guide himself into her.

He pushed the sheathed rounded tip against her. She gasped as the pressure of his cock resting against her nub. His body tensed as he slowly slipped into her.

Caroline stiffened but was relieved when no pain seized her body. She dug her nails into the flesh of his taut skin, trying to feel and breathe her way through the moment of knowing that she was holding him and loving him and showing him how much he meant to her. How much he had always meant to her.

He stroked into her again. And again. And again.

She could barely breathe against the sensations scorching her body. She instinctively moved against every thrust as the core of pleasure built and grew.

“Caroline.” His voice simmered with fierce passion as he licked her entire mouth, leaving it cool and wet. He quickened his thrusts into her. “God. Caroline.”

A remarkable haze grasped her body and mind. Her name entwined upon his lips and the escalating pressure of his hard length moving against her threw Caroline into a spiraling paradise.

She savagely held onto his velvet naked waist and cried out as endless ripples roared throughout the entire length of her body, that both tightened and released her core.

He pounded his length into the wetness which her climax had created. After several more vigorous thrusts, he threw back his head and let out a guttural moan of pleasure that reverberated throughout her entire body and soul.

“Caroline.” He moaned again as if in utter disbelief and collapsed against her.

They clung to each other, their breaths still heavy.

He buried his head against the curve of her neck and whispered, “I have never known such aching peace.”

She smiled. “I wouldn’t call this peace.”

A gruff laugh escaped him. He kissed her throat. “Can’t we get married sooner? Do we have to wait?”