When he returned to her and took her hands, his own shook. Did he experience the same nervousness as she? It was quite different than his usual anxiety, and it was endearing. “Are you quite certain, Sarah? After the last time…”
“I suspect this time will be different.” Please let that be so.
Andrew tugged her into his arms and claimed her lips with gentle insistence, and she eagerly surrendered to his mastery.
They connected without words, for there was no need for talking. While he nibbled at the corners of her mouth, she twined her hands around his neck, furrowed the fingers of one hand through his hair. This kiss was so much more than she’d hoped; so far removed from her wedding night it brought tears to her eyes. He drew her closer to him, so that they were essentially locked together, pressed into each other, fitting completely and seamless as if always meant to nest together like bookends.
The solid manliness of him beneath her hands, the warmth of him that seeped into her, the insistent bulge of his arousal that lay against her belly all worked to accentuate her need, and she fell beneath the wave of awareness sweeping over her. She pulled away long enough to whisper, “This is nice.”
“It’s merely the beginning.” He trailed his lips along the underside of her jaw. At a particularly sensitive spot near her ear, a moan escaped her. How had she never known about that before? He took the hint and teased the area with his tongue, went so far as to take her earlobe and give it a nip, then he resumed exploring the column of her throat. “I want—need—so much more, but only if you’re willing.”
“I am.” Her lips were so close to his that with each word, she brushed them. She didn’t move; neither did he, and for the space of a few heartbeats, when he exhaled, she inhaled. They exchanged air, breathing in tandem. Then her eyes shuttered closed. “Kiss me again.”
“Gladly.” He settled her more comfortably in his arms and followed her instructions most splendidly. The kiss was more intense than the first, but not violent or forceful like his showing on their wedding night. This time, he chased her tongue, fenced with her as she sought his, and there was a slight hesitation to his embrace, almost as if he sought her permission, asked for her invitation, and finally he claimed her mouth as she clung to him until they panted with mutual need.
“You’re quite… potent,” Sarah gasped out, her words soft and breathless. She lifted her chin as he dragged his lips down the side of her throat. Cheeky man, he slid his hands to her hips and held her tight against him.
“Not as much as you.” Andrew traced the bodice of her gown with his lips. He licked and nipped at the skin there and pulled another moan from her. With an arm supporting her back, he lowered her to the sofa and quickly followed her down, covering her body with his. A searing kiss muddled her thoughts, and the sensation of flying came over her. He kissed her so deeply she wondered if he wished to touch her soul, but then she responded in kind.
A guttural groan rumbled from him. Her eyes fluttered open. He watched her, desire glinting in those stormy blue-gray depths, the same want that thrummed through her veins. With a half-growl that conveyed his feelings, he kissed her again, more insistent. Sarah fairly drowned in the sensations racing over her.
She fisted a hand in his cravat while her hand at his nape encouraged him closer. “Touch me, Andrew.” With a tug, she unknotted the crisp fabric and then moved on to the buttons of his jacket.
He treated her to a string of baby-fine kisses. All the while he pulled at her bodice until her breasts popped free of the fabric layers. She shivered at the sudden exposure to cooler air, but then he was there, reverently kissing the quivering globes, circling around the hardening nipples until she couldn’t stand the teasing. She guided his head to one tip, and when he closed his lips around it, sucked it into the warm cavern of his mouth, she uttered a half-cry, half-moan. Wicked sensation streaked from the breast to between her thighs.
And it was the most glorious thing she’d ever known.
“God, you’re so beautiful, so soft,” he murmured against her skin as he licked, nibbled, and sucked his way between her breasts. “I should have told you that night…” His hold on her tightened.
“Shh.” She didn’t want him sidetracked. “But you said it now, and that’s all that matters.” One by one, she had his buttons undone, and once his waistcoat gaped, she tugged his fine lawn shirt from his breeches. “Let me see you. All’s fair, you know.”
“Minx.” He lifted off her long enough to shed the clothing from his torso.
“Oh.” The word was uttered on a breath as she drank in the look of him. Those wide shoulders hadn’t been exaggerated by padding. A dark mat of black hair shot with gray decorated his chest. When she slid her gaze lower to his nearly flat abdomen, the hair collected into a thin ribbon that disappeared beneath his breeches. Her pulse hastened its cadence, and she desperately wished to see where that trail led.
“Can I trust from your expression you approve of this old man?” The insecurity in his eyes was adorable.
“You’re hardly that. Perhaps seasoned or experienced.” She swallowed to encourage moisture into her throat. “But you are quite handsome and…”
“And?” he asked softly as he covered her body with his once more.
“You make my mouth water to taste you,” she finished with heat in her cheeks. Goodness, what had possessed her to say that?
“There’s nothing stopping you.” With care, Andrew removed her spectacles and set them on the small table near her head. Then he claimed her lips again with a kiss so gentle and moving that tears accumulated in her eyes.
Sarah smoothed her hands over his shoulders and down his back. Muscles tensed and flexed beneath her touch, and that strength called out to her. The coarse hair on his chest tickled her breasts to increase the desire swirling through her body. There was no use denying what she felt. “I need you,” she whispered with a look into his face. “Please.”
Slowly, he nodded. “I need you too.” In that moment, understanding passed between them. Honestly shone in his eyes, unclouded with anything else. As if he couldn’t bear another moment from her, he kissed her, made love to her mouth, sought out her tongue over and over, and in doing so, hinted at what was to come. Slowly, almost reverently, he drew her skirts upward, bunching the fabric at her waist. Then he settled between her partially splayed legs.
“You’re certain?”
“Oh, yes.” She’d never wanted anything as badly as she wanted him now. Running a hand down his chest, she combed her fingers through the hair there. So much power banked within him. Would that translate to carnal attentions?
“I hope to God this goes better than the other night.” He fumbled with the buttons at the front of his trousers, shoved the panel out of the way and then he gripped her hips, fitting his tip to her ready opening.
“It already has.” Sarah trembled, for it was much like the first time with him. She didn’t consider her wedding night as proper intercourse. Due to the limited space on the sofa, she couldn’t maneuver as much as she would like, so she wrapped her legs about his waist.
A groan escaped him, and he held himself above her, one forearm resting on the bolster pillow near her head. Andrew thrust into her, penetrated her as deep as he could go, and then he paused, presumably to give her time to acclimate. “Bloody hell, Sarah. You’re so tight, feel so wonderful.”