'Andy will fetch us if there's any sign of trouble.'
A rustle sounded from the chair by the fireplace. 'Aye, I will. Jonah has already spoken to me.'
He shot a warning look at his younger brother, who was still half horrified in his choice of wife. Jonah had made it clear to both brothers he and Tessa were to have their privacy tonight.
With the way the urgency beat in his blood, he was already hard with wanting her. So much want. So very hard. And all she did was look at him.
Aye, Father was right. He would not mind the binds of marriage overmuch with Tessa to satisfy him. She smiled faintly, her chin wobbling. Aye, she must be feeling this need too. He remembered how she had tossed her head when he'd stroked the peaks of her breasts, and how she arched her back, readily offering up those sweet dusky nipples.
Fie on Ely for interrupting him. But that would not happen tonight. Need wrapped around his lower spine, swift and keen. He took Tessa's hand in his and stood.
She did as well. She had changed out of the soft beige gown of her mother's and now wore a somber homespun dress. The dark fabric shivered around her hips and thighs when she stood. Such a sensuous movement, supple and light. He had no doubt that was the way Tessa would behave in his bed, head thrown back, arching up to meet him.
'Come.' He cleared his throat, but his voice sounded husky to his own ears. ' 'Tis time to retire for the night.'
In the corner, Andy blushed and turned to face the fire. Mayhap he did not see the true nature of Tessa Bradford the way Jonah did.
'Andy, make certain to steep the tea at midnight and again at three in the morning. 'Tis a medicine that will aid his recovery.' She brushed at her skirts, a nervous gesture.
Andy made some grunt of agreement, still red-faced. Jonah held back his chuckle at the young man who was more sheltered than the rest of the Hunter brothers.
He held open the door for Tessa, then followed her out into the hall. The shadows and darkness swallowed her, but her hand was warm within his. 'I have been thinking of this all day.'
'So have I.' She sounded shy, and he liked that.
'I have not forgotten our night together in the forest.' He led her to his chamber-theirs, now- and released her hand so he could light a taper. Just one, 'twould be enough to see her by.
'Do you regret it?' A weak flame flickered to life, revealing the wide depth of her eyes.
'Only that we could not finish what we started.' He still remembered how free she was, this woman renowned for her sharp tongue and no-nonsense attitude. How well she had hidden her true nature all these years, passion smoldering beneath dark homespun.
A spark of want blazed to life in his chest, brazen and possessive, building with each beat of his heart. That passion would be his, as she was his, now and forever.
She had retreated to the corner of the room, cloaked in shadows near the window where a constant rain tapped at the glass. So, she was shy, preferring darkness to the light. Well, he would soon fix that.
'Come, show me your wanton nature.' He curled one hand around her nape, the silken luxury of her curls teasing his knuckles, and the heat of her skin scorched his palm. ' 'Tis what I crave.'
'Jonah,' she breathed, as his mouth descended on hers.
He tasted the sweetness of his name on her lips. She was heated satin, and he was spellbound. He flicked his tongue across the seam of her mouth and she opened up to him with a tentative brush of her tongue to his.
Fire streaked through his chest, burning hotter, brighter. Aye, she responded to him, molding her lips to his, licking and sucking. She was but a temptress. The flames in his chest built until every part of him felt on fire, until he laid his hands on her breasts, despite the barrier of cotton, and kneaded and rubbed.
On a moan, she arched into his touch, head falling back. Hell, but she was going to destroy him. Already his hands shook with want, his body trembled with every pulse of his beating heart, and his shaft stretched his breeches to the limit.
He tugged hard at her collar and the wooden buttons at her nape gave in one swift ripple, leaving the fabric loose around her shoulders. He licked his way down her neck, feasting on the salty sweetness of her skin and her throaty moans, dragging the fabric down with him. The straps of her chemise slipped easily down her creamy shoulders to reveal breasts shadowed and untouched by light. But not by him.
He dragged one pebbled nipple into his mouth, and she groaned low, breathing his name.
'Oh, Jonah. Yes.' Her hair cascaded over her shoulders to brush at his cheek. She arched hard into him and her fingers wrapped around his neck to hold him there.
Pulse thundering in his ears, Jonah ran his tongue around the silken nub, taut and supple, and then suckled hard enough to made her gasp, to make her body tremble with hard coursing pleasure. Aye, he knew how it felt, to want, to ache. It was in her glazed eyes, dark and pooled with emotion. The same need beat within his veins and sparked the air between them.
Aye, he could wait no more. He gave her dress a mighty pull. One button popped and hit the wooden floor, rolling to a stop, and her garments slid down her hips to pool in a dark puddle at her ankles.
'Jonah, I don't think-'
'Don't think,' he advised, as he scooped her up and laid her back on the bed. How bewitching she looked wearing only a set of drawers and her shoes. He knelt to take them off, and her stockings, too. 'You know what I want. And thought has no place in what we're about to do.'
He straddled over her, his knees on either side of her thighs, and tugged off his shirt. Aye, she was a beauty, lying within the brush of candlelight, her skin gleaming gold and her breasts firm and inviting. Her eyes darkened as she studied the breadth of his bare chest. So, she liked what she saw. He loosened his breeches, determined to show her more.
Hard as steel, his shaft sprang out How her gaze clamped onto that sight, her mouth opening slightly. Her intake of breath confirmed she had not been expecting so much of him.
'Is this what you have been thinking of too, seeing me like this?' He untied the bow at her waist and her drawers loosened. 'For 'tis all I have been wanting since we last met'
'Jonah?'
'What is it, sweet?' And how sweet she was. He parted fabric and discovered a softly curving belly, and below a thatch of dark hair.
'I know what happens, but-'
'But what?' Her thighs opened and his fingers parted delicate folds to discover dampness and heat.
'You're so very big.' Her breath came swift and broken.
'Aye, and you'll like it, I promise.' How wondrous she felt here, heat and satin, and his fingers explored the texture of her there, where the candlelight did not reach.
'Truly? I'm told there is much pain the first time.'
His fingers continued to stroke and explore. She lay before him, thighs apart, naked and aroused and ready, so ready. 'I'll be gentle. Do you like this?'
'Aye, your touches are good. So very good.' A small grain of fear lived in her voice. But even more desire.
'Aye, 'tis good.' She looked so wanton, 'twas all he could do to keep himself from taking her now. ' 'Twill feel even better, I promise.'
'How could it possibly be better?' Pleasure glazed her eyes, and she felt liquid at his persistent caresses. 'How long I have wanted you, just like this, and now you are ready.' He stretched out over her, and he felt her sink more deeply into the mattress. 'Show me how passionate you can be. I want to know that part of you.'
'But I-'
He silenced her with a kiss, a fiery kiss that involved lips and teeth and tongue. He felt her body's reaction, for it was stretched full out beneath him. She strained up to take more of his kiss and her breasts pillowed his chest, her nipples scraping his chest hair. Her thighs parted just a bit, and he took advantage, pressing with the inside of his knees so she opened just for him.
'You like the feel of me, don't you?' The swollen head of his shaft thrummed against her dampness and heat.
'Jonah, 'tis not what I expected.' She gasped, fighting for breath and for control.
He could feel it too, how they were both on the edge. Blood thrummed through his veins, rich with want,
