Intense sensation streaked from her breasts to settle between her thighs. When she whimpered, need flared deep in his eye, and spurred him into action. In short order, Brand divested her of the remainder of her clothing, even the slippers and stockings. As she stood completely nude before him—except for the opal necklace—a sudden fit of modesty overcame her. She attempted to cover her private parts as best she could, but he shook his head.
“No, Lizzy. You were made to be seen, either in your clothes or out of them.” He slipped his arms around her. “A life of servitude beneath men who treat you little better than a slave in the church is not your destiny.” Then he dipped his head and nibbled a path under her jaw, along the side of her neck while he fondled her breasts and brought the tips into tight, hard buds.
“Then what is?”
“I’m not certain.”
“Neither am I, and I don’t have much time to discover it. That’s the problem.” She tugged on his cravat until it came loose in her hands. “Let me see you.” Oh, she couldn’t wait to feel his body against hers.
“Of course.” He shed his clothing with the ease of a man who is used to doing so at a moment’s notice.
“Oh, my.” Elizabeth lost the ability to think as she stared unabashedly at his erect member that bobbed in front of him. His torso, neck, and arms were a golden tan that spoke of hours of work in the sun, while the rest of him was as pale as a fish’s belly. It made him approachable and a bit endearing. Such freedom men had! “I should hide in embarrassment.” After all, she was as naked as he, and they weren’t married. Even then, intercourse wasn’t for recreation, was it? Not according to the church.
“Will you?” He prowled the brief space between them regardless of the various garments that littered the floor. “Will you cower under the counterpane so that I’ll have to come hunting for you?”
“No.” The one-word answer was naught but a squeak.
“Good, because there’s so much I want to teach you.” It took next to no effort on his part to tumble them both onto the bunk.
The weight of him was pleasing, but she wanted to explore. How to go about it? Did one wait for an invitation? Then it didn’t matter, for he settled himself between her bent knees. The coarse hairs on his chest tickled her skin, and when he took a nipple into his mouth, her world shifted. She buried her fingers into his thick hair and held his head to her breast. Pleasure twined through her body and ignited tiny fires in her blood. When he teased her other nipple with a hand, her back arched, but there was nowhere to escape the torment, for his body blocked her flight.
Brand’s hands were seemingly everywhere as he caressed her skin and played her body, touching her in places she’d not previously known were sensitive. When a moan left her throat, he chuckled. “I adore the sounds you make, Lizzy.”
She couldn’t form words even if she’d concentrated. Her world existed in sensation and pleasure, heat, and chills. His fingers were rough due to his work at fishing and sailing, but that texture only provided an additional layer of friction that drove her wild. When he moved to his side, she murmured a protest. It died prematurely as he delved a hand between her thighs like he’d done the other day. Quickly, his agile fingers found the center of her being, and when he rubbed it, circled it, she thought she might break apart from the exquisite delight.
Over and over, he worked that button. Elizabeth emptied her mind of everything except what he did to her. Terrible pressure built and stacked in her lower belly, seeking a release she had no idea how to find. “Brand…” Restlessly, she thrashed her head from side to side on the shallow pillow. Her thighs clamped about his hand, but that only deepened the sensations. “I need… something.”
“I know.” He increased the tension and friction on that nubbin while taking a nipple into the warm cavern of his mouth. The second he suckled the bud and teased her in just the right way, the mounting pressure inside broke.
A scream of surprise and gratification wrenched from her throat, and this time she didn’t have the wherewithal to stifle it. Wave after wave of bliss rolled over her, throbbing in her core, until she had the strength of cooked porridge.
“I knew you’d be transcendent when you found release.” Brand kissed her lips and once more maneuvered himself in the small space so that his body covered hers.
“Can I touch you?” If she played with his hardened shaft, would he experience the same pleasure that he gave to her?
“Later.” His voice was hoarse with need as he pushed her thighs wide and settled between them, the tip of his member kissing her opening. “Right now, I want you so damned badly.” He held her gaze as she drew her hands up his arms. “I apologize if this hurts.” Then he flexed his hips and in one, powerful thrust, he impaled her on his rigid length.
A sharp prick of pain assailed her and brought quick tears stinging her eyes as her maidenhead was breached. There was no turning back now. She’d leave the sloop a different woman than the one who boarded it.
“Lizzy.” The sound came from around clenched teeth. When she opened her eyes, a muscle flared in his cheek, a testament to his control. “All well?”
She wriggled beneath him as she accustomed to his girth and how well he filled her. When he hissed a warning, she giggled. “Yes, I’m fine. The pain is already fading.”
“Good.” Slowly, carefully, he withdrew only to join with her again with equally slow, tender strokes.
New sensations washed over her, different but the same as when he had his fingers on her sex. These were all-consuming, went deeper than anything else she’d experienced before. Nearly lost, Elizabeth looped her arms about his shoulders and held him close. She locked her ankles at the small of his back and gave herself into his care.
In and out he stroked, and with each movement need shivered through her belly and down her spine. A moan burst from her, for this was miraculous indeed. The man was all muscle, primed and taut, beneath her fingers and she couldn’t wait to explore. Feeling a tad naughty, Elizabeth dared to trail a hand down his back, following his spine, past a collection of scars, to his buttock. When she squeezed the firm cheek, a moan and a curse escaped him.
Such power a woman could command! Oh, if only she had more time.
As she grinned, he claimed her lips in a hard, demanding kiss that vaulted her back to the present. She kissed him back as best she could while he pumped in and out. Pressure returned to circle inside her like a relentless beast, hungry for another release. “Brand, more.” Was it proper for her to say that?
“I was only going slow because it’s your first time.” Urgency threaded through his voice. He shifted his position slightly by gripping her hips and tilting them upward.
“I’m not a shrinking violet… at least not anymore.” He’d emboldened her on many levels. “Give me all of you.”
“Gladly.” This time he thrust so deeply she feared she’d faint from the intensity of the feelings swamping her. Faster, shorter, harder he moved, joining with her until there was no him and no her.