“Good.” He moved his hand, sliding the phallus in and out until he found a rhythm he liked, and she enjoyed. Once he’d become accustomed to it, he let himself relax and watch Jane’s face. With each stroke, he’d roll or pinch her nipple. Sometimes he’d kiss her neck, nibble the soft skin. When she lifted her hips to match his thrusting, his breath caught. He remembered what the act had felt like, and in his mind’s eye he saw himself on top of her, making love to her body as he did with the leather-covered toy. His chest tightened. Heat spread through his torso. As he worked her over with the phallus, he slid his other hand down to play with her swollen bud, further bringing her to the brink with exquisite torture.
“Oh, Finn, oh, oh…” Jane bucked her hips against his hand. “Oh!” She sucked in a breath, no doubt in anticipation to scream out her pleasure, but at the last second, she turned her head, pressed her face into his neck as her body shuddered and she shattered in his arms.
A rush of affection rolled over him. He held her close while she came down from her release. As discreetly as he could, Finn removed the phallus, let it drop to the floor. Perhaps he could adapt to this new way of giving her pleasure. As bizarre as it was, he felt closer to her now than he had on their failed first attempt, and in that thought came the new realization intimacy was merely the act of being together in whatever capacity they chose.
“That was amazing,” she whispered as she turned in his arms. Jane snaked a hand around his nape and drew him down for a lingering kiss. When she pulled away, she smiled. “You were amazing.” A couple of the combs had come loose from her hair, allowing some of her lovely tresses to tumble about her shoulders. Already she had the look of a woman who’d been thoroughly ruined.
Perhaps he wasn’t as useless a man as he’d thought, and it had taken her to make him see that. Another piece of his heart flew into her keeping.
“I’m not certain I was.” How could she say that when it hadn’t been him doing those things to her body? Well, it had been, but not in the usual way.
“Trust me. You were.” Then she kissed him again, and he was lost on another wave of bonding. She burrowed her hands beneath his clothing. Slowly, as she devoured his mouth, she caressed his chest, his abdomen, worried his nipples with her fingertips and nails.
Oh, God, had they always been so sensitive? Hot, urgent sensation filled him. The feelings swamped him, and he reveled in them, for he hadn’t thought he could enjoy anything having to do with intercourse. This was different, but as satisfying only in a new way.
“I’m anxious to try the ring.” Jane kneeled between his legs on the sofa as she made swift work with the buttons of his frontfalls. “One of these days, I want to see you naked, Finn.” Mischief twinkled in her eyes. “Not that I mind these quick trysts.” When she unpinned the towel shrouding his privates, the heat of embarrassment burned his cheeks.
Would he ever become accustomed to this? “Jane, I…” He reached for her hands, but she batted him away.
“There is no shame, just you.” When his shaft fell out of the fabric, she wrapped her fingers around him. “Let me do this for you.” Up and down she worked his shaft, and he was helpless beneath her ministrations.
Never had he known how erotic watching a woman fondle him would be. Before, the whole of his concentration had been worrying over when he could bury himself inside a woman’s warmth before he lost control, but now, all his previous thinking had been challenged. There was more to closeness than that, more to the trust and promise such physicality brought.
She licked the underside of his member, squeezed his stones, sucked at his tip. At no time did she appear disgusted by his inability to feel. In fact, the delight and desire in her emerald eyes stole his breath. Little by little, as he grew more aroused, he hardened. “Now, Finn. Put it on, unless you’d like me to do it?”
“No.” He could barely speak, so great was his wonder. With a shaking hand, he yanked the leather aid from his pocket. “I’ve practiced a few times so it would be easier if you and I came together.”
“I’m proud of you.” She released him so he could manipulate the sheath onto his erect member and then pull his stones through the leather loop.
Once he’d tied the ends that would keep him hard, he looked at her. “I think I’m ready to try again.” For the first time since his injury, his prick maintained its rigid shape. Due to the ring, the skin was turning a shade of red. He held her face between his hands and brought her over his body. “Without you believing in me, encouraging me in this and so many other things—”
“Hush.” Jane straddled his waist. She kissed him with abandon, and he quickly followed her lead. Their tongues dueled for dominance until they both panted with need. “If this is successful, you can share your experience and give other men in your same situation hope.”
“That hadn’t occurred to me.” Now that she’d mentioned it, he marveled at the opportunities to change other men’s fate as his had been changed. Then every thought flew out of his head when she guided his tip into place and gently eased herself down his shaft, fully impaling herself.
“Oh, goodness.” Intense pleasure lined her face. A shudder of need went through her, and she began to move. Up and down, faster and faster she rode him.
Though he couldn’t feel her on his member or lap, he watched her, and his mouth went dry from the ravishing picture she made. She leaned over him, her hands firmly planted on his shoulders as he reclined against the sofa arm and bolster, and since her breasts were there, he cupped them, squeezed them, suckled and nipped the nipples while she ground on him.
Annoyance visited him, for he couldn’t thrust into her lush body, but when she opened her eyes and smiled at him in that special way she had, he tossed the emotion away. It no longer served him; there was no more reason for it. With her steadfast belief and unwavering support, she’d upended his world, polished it, and set him back into it while encouraging him to try again.
Quick tears stung the backs of his eyes. No one had given him so much while wanting so little. Finn blinked them away and lost himself in her. As he stared, something was exchanged between them, something that pulled at his soul, touching him deeply. He gripped her hips, helping her to move more effectively, guiding her. Needing to send her over again, he delved a hand between them to play with her button once more. Apparently, that added stimulation was enough to break her, for she shuddered, her breath labored, her cheeks flushed. Her body stiffened, her eyes drifted closed, and when she opened her mouth, he yanked her down on top of him, kissing her hard, taking her scream into himself.
The scrape of her pebbled nipples, the rasp of her escaped hair against his bared chest sent heighted awareness through him, adding to the pleasure-filled sensation he’d reaped during their joining. Tingles zipped through his right leg. That foot twitched, but he had no time to gawk in wonder, for she went limp in his hold. A long, satisfied breath escaped; her warm breath skated across his cheek.
Shock sank into him, for having her in his arms after such an act was a transcendent experience. A juddering sigh left his throat. How had he been so fortunate as to meet this woman? “Ah, Jane, what are you doing to me?” he whispered into her hair and gathered her even closer. It grew more difficult to think she might belong to the duke. For the first time he allowed himself to dream, to see her by his side years into the future.
For long moments, the only sound in the room was their breathing and the frantic beat of his heart. Eventually, she stirred. Jane lifted her head and met his gaze. “I’m not nearly done with you, Phineas Storme.” After a quick brush of her lips over his, she slipped off his lap. A wobble of her knees when she attempted to stand made him grin with supreme masculine satisfaction. “I had no idea how potent you could be.”
Without comment, he untied the cock ring and removed the sheath. He had no idea if he’d come, for there was copious moisture present, but it was interesting to think about. “I do what I can.” She’d found pleasure at his hand, and what was more, he was happy for the first time since his injury—happy and content.
He snagged a serviette from the table then wrapped the ring and the phallus in it and tucked the pieces into his interior jacket pocket for cleaning later. After setting his clothing to rights while she did the same, he gave into a grin. “I don’t know about you, but this has been a most pleasant teatime.”
“You, Major, are too adorable for your own good.” She shocked him into silence when she returned to the sofa and stretched out next to him. “I intend to enjoy the remainder of my uninterrupted hour with you, but if I fall asleep, please wake me. I don’t trust Boswell not to have footmen burst the door open.”
“I promise.” He wrapped his right arm around her and held her close. She rested her head on his chest. Intimacy was what a person made it, but was what they’d attained here today enough for a possible future?