There was only so much a man could endure, but he did. “Would you like for me to stop?” If she said so, he would, for he wasn’t in the habit of forcing women against their will.
“No. I want to know what this—everything—feels like.” She lifted a hand and wrapped it around his nape.
“God, you’re so responsive.” He adored women like that. As her back arched and put her breasts more firmly into his care, Brand drank in the sight of her. “Tell me where you want me to touch you, Lizzy,” he whispered into her ear.
“Anywhere,” she managed to croak while pressing her free hand to his and encouraging him to continue his torment. “Everywhere.”
“Aye.” The next few minutes were filled with him discovering just how reactive she was by experimenting with different levels of friction and play at her breasts. Every sound she uttered from the back of her throat brought him closer to the edge. Already, his member pressed painfully against his breeches, stoked and primed when she squirmed on his lap. Suddenly, he needed more of her. “I’m going to turn you around to face me.”
“Why?” She squealed when he jostled her from his legs only to lift her up and resituate her so that she straddled his lap. Her skirting bunched between them.
“So I can kiss you and have better access.” This time he made love to her mouth with determination, hoped to give her a taste of what was to come. Brand chased her tongue with his, bossed it until they fenced and fought for dominance. Oh, she was a quick study, but she was still an innocent and had no idea about relations between a man and a woman. Would that they both were naked with skin pressed against skin, but there was no time for that now.
A bit of his control slipped as he dragged his lips down the column of her throat to close them around a nipple.
“Oh, my!” Elizabeth shot upward on his lap, which only thrust that breast deeper into his mouth. “This is…” She panted. “I never thought… William said only harlots acted this way.” A muffled scream burst from her when he suckled that pebbled nub.
“William is quite misguided about relations between men and women, and I most certainly don’t wish to talk about him right now.” Brand ignored the pulsing insistence in his prick. He continued to tease the nipple with his tongue and teeth while he shoved a hand beneath the yards of skirting. The thought of her splayed thighs drove him mad. Had they been on a bed in private, he would have worked her over with his mouth, but this would have to do. Quickly, he found her sex that was slick with arousal. He slid his fingers through her feminine curls, encouraged the tiny bundle of nerves out of hiding.
“What are you doing?” Fear rolled through her tone. It clouded her eyes, battling with the dark desire in those sapphire depths.
“Showing you that coupling doesn’t mean what you’ve been taught.”
“It’s not natural, not proper.”
He snorted. “I’ll wager it is, since intercourse is as old as time, but no, it probably isn’t proper. That’s why it’s so damned fun.” As he claimed her lips in a kiss, he rubbed his fingertip over that nubbin, using varying degrees of friction.
“Merciful heavens.” She gasped and wriggled from his attentions. “I can’t… This is too wicked…” A moan escaped and she pressed her fingers to her lips. “I’m falling…”
“Keep going, for the landing is more than worth it.” Over and over, he stroked that bud. With his free hand, he pinched and rolled one of her nipples. “Come for me, Lizzy. Dive over the edge into bliss like you’ve never known,” he encouraged in a soft, crooning voice. God, if he didn’t bury himself into her heat soon, all this effort would be for naught.
“I don’t understand.” Panic set up in her voice.
“Shh. We’ll get there.” Brand renewed his efforts to bring her to completion, but it had no effect. He eased a finger into her passage, and Elizabeth nearly bucked off his lap. The tiny sounds of pleasure she made, the moans that left her throat, the way she blindly gyrated her hips seeking release worked at his own undoing. Need slammed through his shaft. Desire tingled in his stones, tightening them. He gritted his teeth. Soon… In and out he slid, priming her, and always came back to circle that swollen button, yet she didn’t fall.
Why?
To hell with it.He couldn’t wait any longer. His shaft pulsed with warning and he fumbled with the buttons of his frontfalls. “Elizabeth, please tell me you’re ready.” Lust graveled his voice. The urge to spend raised gooseflesh over his skin.
“For what?” Her head lolled onto her shoulder, her eyes half-lidded, her cheeks and chest flushed.
“Flying.” God, I’m so hard. He renewed his efforts on her nubbin. “Hurry, Lizzy.”
“I don’t know what that means.” She opened her eyes and met his gaze. Tears made those blue depths luminous. “What am I doing wrong? You’re waiting for something to happen, and I don’t know what that is.” The delicate tendons of her throat worked with a hard swallow. “I can see it in your eye.”
He paused at the last button on his breeches. What an arse I am. I’m worse than a cad. Of course she doesn’t understand. This is all new. The tears were off-putting, but he was determined to regain her attention. “Never mind. I’ll explain later.” Brand kissed her, harder than he’d intended. “This will be unorthodox but still good.”
“Oh!” Her spine straightened as he continued to pump his fingers into her. Though she moaned and squirmed from his attentions, she never found release. “Brand, help me do what you need.” She touched one of her nipples, pinched it and threw back her head.
“Of all things holy on land or sea.” That was the most erotic thing he’d seen. Before he could stop it, his length pulsed. He shot his wad, coming hard in his breeches. “Damn it.” He withdrew his hand from between her thighs to rub it against himself, finishing the job. His release wasn’t as spectacular as he’d hoped, and he certainly hadn’t won the wager. The heat of embarrassment crept up his neck and spread through his chest as he uttered a groan of completion.
How long had it been since he’d spent in his breeches like a green boy?
Elizabeth frowned. Worry creased her forehead. “Are we finished?”
More than she knew. “For tonight it seems. I, uh, lost control and came prematurely before I could join with you.” Cold frustration circled through his insides. This afternoon hadn’t remotely satisfied him, nor had it calmed his desire for her.
To say nothing of sending her to the heights of passion.