The range of emotions that had played over his face since he’d come into her chamber indicated how vulnerable and wary he was, despite the cold, brutal exterior he’d shown. She wanted nothing to bring shadows back into his eyes again on this night.
She wanted only to see the rise of pleasure and the flush of release. She wanted him to see her, only her. To say her name and know it was she who brought him there. To be one with her.
Thus, when he stepped back, releasing her, she feared he might have misunderstood. But then she realized he was no longer so wary and that a bit of a smile lurked behind his lips.
“Your purpose?” he repeated.
“Aye.” She knelt at his feet and gave his hard belly a little push. Understanding, he settled back on the bed so she could pull off his boots. Then he stood while she unlaced his braies and dragged them down over his hips and the very insistent erection that jutted forth. A little drop gleamed enticingly at its tip.
Marian pulled herself upright on her knees and curled her fingers around the red purple cock. Will started, jolting against her, and then sighed as if catching himself. She glanced up and saw that he was looking down at her with hot, dark eyes, and she smiled up at him as she moved her hand. Once, quickly, suddenly, from head to base and back, she used her thumb to swipe over the glistening drip and ease her way.
He gave a little shudder and his eyes widened in response. “Marian, take care or you will overset me too soon.” His voice was so deep and filled with emotion-warmth, desire, affection-that it set shivers down her spine. He’d always sounded so flat or angry, so demanding or cold. Now he sounded like the rich sable furs in which she wrapped herself during the winter.
Simply in order to be contrary, and to let him know she was in control, she gave another quick stroke that made him suck in his breath again. Then she released him and stood.
When he reached for her, she danced out of his range again. “Nay, Will, you must not touch me. Not until I give you leave.”
“Marian,” he protested in that low, rough voice that sent delicious shivers curling in her belly.
“Now, lay yourself down,” she said. “I want to kiss you. And remember, Will. . you may not touch me. In fact, you cannot move.”
“Marian, are you mad?” he said. Yet he followed her direction and stretched out on the bed, lying on his back. His long legs left his feet dangling a bit off the edge, and he was so large he nearly filled the narrow pallet. There would hardly be room for her to lie next to him.
She looked at him and felt dizzy for a moment. So beautiful, so hard and dark and lean and powerful. . from those broad, angular shoulders to the curve of the muscles in his arms, which he’d tucked behind his head. Dark hair, thick and wavy, fell from his head and half covered his wrists, exposing a face taut with desire. . but no longer with harshness or frigidity. A shadow of whiskers brushed his square jaw and beneath his chin onto the lines of his throat. His lips, parted slightly, were full and sensual. . so unlike the flat, disgusted grimace she’d become used to. His face like this was beautiful.
The slabs of chest muscle were covered with the same dark hair that trailed down over his belly and down to rise, thick and dark, between his muscular, corded legs. His cock stood nearly straight up, proclaiming agreement to his previous protestations. . and she eyed it appreciatively.
This night, she would enjoy the slide of that cock deep inside her, when she could touch it. . and him. . and when there would be no other eyes watching and taking. When it meant aught more than a simple physical release. Oh, there would be that too. . but more.
“Could you not at the least remove your shift so that I may look if I cannot touch?” Will asked.
“But you already know what I look like,” she reminded him teasingly.
He responded with a heartfelt groan. “Please.”
Licking her lips, for the deep sound made her stomach curl again, Marian glanced up at his face, and was delighted to see that he could not seem to pull his eyes away from her. So she pulled her simple gown up and over her head, tossing it into a corner. Her hair lifted as the linen rose, then fell down in a soft, sensual swirl about her shoulders, breasts, and torso. The gentle brush over her taut nipples reminded her how sensitive they were, and how she would like to have his mouth on them. Oh, aye.
A glance at Will, who hadn’t so much as flickered an eye-lash, told her that he would be more than willing to oblige. Smiling, her belly fluttering deep inside and her core already tingling in anticipation, Marian climbed onto the bed. She settled herself over his warm, ridged belly, sliding her bent legs alongside his hips, lifting her hair up and then letting it fall into place.
When she sat, her quim wide and wet over him, he drew in a long, deep breath and closed his eyes. But he did not move, though she saw the muscles in his arms twitch.
Then he opened his eyes, and they fastened on hers, avid and hot. His lips moved soundlessly. . Marian. . I love you. The words were inaudible, as if they were too sacred to say aloud. But she read them on his mouth, and felt the truth of it in his breath and the way it radiated from him. . now that the specter of John was gone.
She nudged herself forward, feeling the rough texture of his chest hair beneath her sensitive, swollen quim, and, placing her hands around the smooth expanse of his biceps, bent forward.
Her nipple just brushed his lips and he opened them to capture it, but she did not pause and allow him to. She tipped to one side, then the other, and back, and his tongue slipped out and flickered over one taut point. . then the other. . and even that brief sensation sent tingles down into her belly and beyond.
Then she settled with one breast over his mouth, her hair falling down to pool on either side of his torso. He lifted his head to close his lips around her. Marian sighed at the warm, slick sensation, the pressure, the tugging and pulling and the sliding of his tongue.
She closed her eyes and felt the familiar pooling of dampness at her quim, the sharp, tingling spiraling down from her belly to center there. Her fingers wrapped around his biceps, and she felt the smooth sensitive skin inside his arms and she bent to kiss him, tracing her tongue gently and delicately over the light-colored flesh. She took a lock of her hair and swept it lightly over his other arm, noticing how the skin leapt and trembled.
He tensed beneath her, his belly, his mouth, his arms. . then relaxed, sucking harder on her sensitive nipple. Marian felt a twinge between her legs and a wave of delicate tremors from her little pearl. . and she sighed as the pleasure flowed easily over her, surprising her with its intensity.
Will need have no concern that she would overset him too soon.
When she pulled away, her breast stretching a bit, he lifted his head to go with her, his muscular shoulders rising from the bed. . but she reminded him with a sharp, “Nay, Will. . surely you have more willpower than that.”
He gave a soft, tortured laugh and collapsed back onto the bed. “Not so much, when you are wriggling and writhing over me. Have pity, Marian.”
She smiled back, delighted to see his mouth curve in real humor, and bent to cover those full lips with hers again, briefly, sweetly. She pulled away when he began to shift beneath her, his breathing growing deeper and faster. Easing down his body, she found that his skin was now warmer and shiny with a faint sheen of damp. . and musky from her own scent. She kissed a trail through the springy hair on his chest, and paused to flicker her tongue over his nipple for a moment.
But she really wanted to move lower, and though she took her time kissing and nibbling over his hard stomach, she kept moving. At the tender crease between thigh and torso, she slid her tongue down and around and finally arrived at her destination.
With a quick glance up at him, she settled between his splayed legs and cupped his erection with both hands, sliding them slowly up and down, using more of the glistening drops from its head to slick her way. Then she had an idea and, with a mischievous glance at him, slipped one of her hands into her own warm, wet folds and pulled slick fingers back out with a soft, wet sound.
Will watched avidly, heavily, as she wiped her own juices over his cock, his face raised, eyes fastened on her movements, breathing audible. She felt the surge in the hot flesh she held, felt the little rising and shooting sensations inside the warm shaft, and began to stroke. . long and slow. . easy. . so easy.
She watched him, felt his body tremble and gather, focused on his face as her own body tightened, swelling and pulsing, while his face grew darker, more taut and arrested. He flushed, his nostrils flared, his lips parted, and she moved faster and faster, watching, building up and up. . Her heart beat harder, her breathing rose, her hand flew up and down, up and down. .
“Marian,” he breathed, his gaze flashing to hers, eyes bright with desire, holding her as if he were touching
