The fire crackled softly in the hearth, sending sparks into the chimney as Richmond swept Arissa into his arms and deposited her upon her curtain-shrouded bed. Gently, he deposited kisses over her face, her eyelids, her nose, moving to her chin and neck as his fingers went to work on the stays of her surcoat.
Arissa turned on her side, allowing him free access to the garment, wondering how far they were going to progress before he called a halt to their mounting passion. With a growl, Richmond flipped her onto her stomach, kissing the flesh of her back as the last of the fastens were disengaged. Arissa groaned softly with the pleasure of his scorching lips, realizing that she did not want him to cease the process of their new-found desire. She never wanted him to stop.
Richmond removed the surcoat inch by exquisite inch, running his lips and tongue over every delectable portion of exhibited flesh. Arissa remained on her stomach as the surcoat came off her shoulders, her arms, baring her breasts against the fluffy bedrug. Although she should have been properly embarrassed when he pulled the surcoat over her hips and slid it the length of her buttocks, she was not fearful in the least.
He moved down her legs, kissing the back of her knees and drawing giggles amidst the moans. Tearing the surcoat free of her feet, he gently removed her slippers and ran his tongue over the tips of her dainty toes.
Arissa wallowed in the boneless, lethargic state of desire as control left him. Aye, he’d promised not to ravage her by way of fancy speeches and displays of restraint, but gazing at her perfect body, nude and supple in the soft illumination, he was not entirely sure that he could keep his promise. Trouble was, he did not seem to care.
He ran his hands up her legs, feeling the satin skin beneath his calloused palms. His breathing came in ragged gasps as his fingers delicately traced the rise of her bottom, perfect and heart-shaped. Up her back his hands moved, touching her, feeling her, loving her. God’s Teeth, he’d waited so long for her.
His hands reached her shoulders and he straddled her slight body, seductively massaging away the tension and concerns of the day. Arissa groaned softly under the care of his experienced touch, loving the erotic sensations his unhindered power provided. Although his strong hands against her spine was a remarkable experience, she distinctly liked it better than the way he had touched her once before.
She rolled onto her back. Pale green eyes bore into eyes of brilliant blue, glistening with all of the uncontrolled passion and emotion she was feeling. Grabbing his hands, she pressed them to her breasts.
“Like this, Richmond,” she whispered, gazing deep into his smoldering eyes. “Touch me like this.”
The last shred of control left him and he growled, descending upon her luscious body. His mouth slanted over her lips savagely, licking and stroking her into the unbridled world of madness. Arissa’s cries were muted against his ferocious lips, gasping softly into the still night air as his mouth moved hungrily over her breasts, whimpering softly when he took possession of a taut nipple. Writhing beneath him, her legs instinctively parted to make way for his substantial weight and, without further thought or reservation, Richmond moved to touch the unfurling flower between her legs.
Arissa cried out with surprise when his fingers delicately touched the thick outer lips, matted with a fine fluff of black hair. Richmond maintained his hold on her nipple, fondling her silky exterior flesh with the utmost gentleness to allow her to become accustomed to his touch. She gasped and panted as he continued to caress her, gradually relaxing as she became accustomed to his tender fingers. Only when her body loosened beneath his restrained touch did he attempt to part her lush, quivering petals.
She was as slick as rain, unbelievably hot. He stroked the tender folds until his own finger was drenched with her moisture, his entire body literally shaking with the force of his need. God’s Teeth, he was out of control and loving every minute of it.
Richmond knew, doubtlessly, that he was about to break his promise to her. To hell with his wise reasoning and righteous motives; he would make her his in every sense of the word, and he would dare Henry to deny him.
He slipped a wet finger into her sheath, so incredibly tight that he very nearly soiled his breeches with the pure pleasure of it. But he calmed himself by focusing on Arissa’s gasps of surprise, whispering words of encouragement and comfort, crooning softly to her. Pants of shock quickly turned into groans of pleasure and he could feel her tight passage contracting about his slick finger, pulling at him.
Rising to his knees, he ripped off his tunic so aggressively that he tore a sleeve. One boot hit the floor with a loud thud, the other went sailing into the wall. His breeches came off so quickly that he nearly ended up on his arse in his haste to remove them.
On the bed, Arissa watched with panting, wide-eyed wonderment as Richmond stood before her, nude and proud and the most magnificent sight she had ever beheld. His broad shoulders sheltered an exquisitely muscled chest, covered with a delicious carpet of silky dark hair. His flat stomach and narrow waist caught her attention and she was awed by the flawless details of God’s most unblemished creation; indeed, the perfection that was intended for every man.
Richmond watched her as she studied his nude form, smiling faintly when her gaze came to rest on his enormous arousal. As she stared at the proof of his desire, he was deeply pleased to note that there was no fear in her expression. Only wonder. He stood a moment, allowing her to inspect him, before returning to the bed. As he pulled her close, she smiled and wrapped her arms about his thick neck.
“You are going to couple with me, are you not?” she whispered.
His gaze was filled with more desire and remorse than she could possibly fathom. “I am sorry, Riss. I gave you a pretty speech today, informing you that I would adhere to a slow pace. I did not want to frighten you with my attentions,” a slow finger moved across her beautiful shoulder, his eyes incredibly tender. “I am not frightening you, am I?”
She shook her head. “Not at all, my love. I want to know the experience of coupling. I want to feel your love.”
He kissed her chin tenderly. “God’s Teeth, Riss, when I think of how long I have dreamt of this and considered myself depraved for harboring such thoughts…. I still cannot believe that we are about to complete a most intimate action.”
She held his gaze for a long moment. “This will hurt?”
“A little, I am told.”
The corners of her mouth twitched. “I will not go to the convent a virgin.”
“You shall not be in the damn convent long enough for it to matter.”
Her smile faded as she gazed deep into his eyes. “Promise?”
He kissed her slowly, gently. “That I do, kitten. That I do.”
One kiss led to another, led to several, deep and long. She gasped for breath as he tore his mouth away from her lips, his brazen tongue moving down the length of her torso. Arissa felt every sensation, every touch, like a bolt from Heaven.
“Richmond,” she panted softly. “Do…. do you remember when you said that you wanted to teach me to crave your touch?”
“Aye,” he mumbled into the flesh of her belly.
She swallowed hard, gasping when he plunged his tongue into her navel. “I do not need to be taught such yearnings. I have craved your touch longer than I can remember.”
His head came up, a wolfish smirk on his face. “I am flattered.”
She met his grin until he returned his mouth to the tender target of her groin. Gasping with ecstasy, she attempted to retain her escaping thoughts.
“I…. I do not want you to go slowly with me,” she whispered. “I want to know everything, now. I want to sense everything at this very moment.”
He wedged his huge body between her legs, lifting her knees as his mouth moved along the soft flesh of her inner thigh. “That is about to happen, kitten. But I refuse to allow you to chatter through the entire event.”
“I am not chattering,” she said with as much indignity as she could manage. “I�
�. I am simply trying to tell you how I feel.”
Suddenly, he was looming over her, his massive arms braced on either side of her slight body. Knees between her thighs, his piercing gaze like liquid fire.
“I know how you feel, for I feel the same,” he whispered. “There is scarcely more we can say to one another on the subject, though I shall never tire of hearing it. What I do now, I do to demonstrate my emotions for you. Never in my life will any single event mean as much to me as what we are about to do. This I swear.”
She gazed up at him, feeling the sincerity flow from his eyes like a raging river. A small hand reached up and touched his stubbled cheek, caressing his masculine features gently. Even as tears of sentiment glimmered in her eyes, a faint smile of encouragement creased her delicious lips.
“Show me, then,” she whispered. “I would feel your love for myself.”
He met her smile, kissing the corners of her mouth tenderly. Holding himself aloft from her slender body, he rubbed his manhood against her private core, stroking the outer lips as he had done with his fingers. She was glistening with wet heat, spilling down onto the linens, and he bathed himself in her virginal juices as she watched his face without fear.
He moved slowly, wrestling against the natural instinct to ram into her like a rutting stallion. He worked carefully, gaining headway bit by bit, feeling her tightness draw him inward. She was so slick that it would have been terribly easy to simply thrust into her and be done with her maidenhood in a flash of pain and power, but he unsteadily refrained. Better to allow her to become accustom to his intrusion before the sting of losing her innocence cast a measure of reality upon their union.
In spite of the approaching truth of pain, Arissa was amazingly calm beneath him, gripping his massive biceps for support as he forged into virgin territory. Beneath her hands, she could feel his body quivering, straining to maintain control in the face of his most raging desire. She, too, was quivering with anticipation.
As he laboriously made his way inside her, she smiled bravely, silent words of joy and encouragement conveyed upon the green depths. Although she felt as if his manhood was stretching her beyond the limits of physical endurance, she refused to reveal the apprehension she was coming to encounter. Apprehension she was attempting to ignore, without much success.
She was unaware that she did not have to say a word about her anxieties. With every tiny thrust, her body tightened with uncertainty and Richmond knew that her courage and determination would only last so long. He was buried within her nearly half-way, a remarkable achievement in itself considering her petite size, when he felt the resistance of her maidenhood. When he paused and withdrew completely, her entire body went limp with relief.
But he would not allow her the chance to renew her apprehension. Falling atop her, he grasped her breast firmly and descended upon a peaked nipple. Suckling furiously, Arissa forgot her fears and responded to him with the low moans and pants that he had come to expect. Her cheeks began to flush with desire as her fingers wound themselves in his thick brown hair, and he knew the time was upon him to act. With Arissa properly distracted, it was time to take her.
Pulling her knees up, he continued to nurse against her breast hungrily. Arissa was hardly aware of his hands on her knees, his manhood pressing against her tender threshold once again. The next she realized, he was thrusting into her harder than she ever thought possible, driving himself the full long length of his throbbing manhood.
Arissa gasped loudly with surprise at the savage action, a sharp sting of pain rippling throughout her loins. He was seated to the hilt in less than a second and she felt all of the fullness and maleness of him that she could have ever hoped for. The pain, coupled with his closeness, brought tears to her eyes as she clutched his shoulders with white-knuckled intensity. In spite of her vow of bravery, his swift movement had startled her and she couldn’t help the soft sobs that escaped her lips.
Fully sheathed within her delicious tightness, Richmond struggled to remain still as Arissa writhed and panted beneath him. When he heard the faint sobs of fear and pain, however, he raised his head from her swollen nipple in a brief return of control and reality.
“I am so sorry, kitten,” he whispered huskily. “I would not have hurt you had there been another way.”
She wiped at her eyes daintily. “It’s not…. I mean, ’tis not the pain, but… but the closeness. I never knew it could be like this.”
She trailed off, attempting to regain control of her sobs. Folding his arms about her slight body, he began to move gently within her. Slowly at first, relishing the feel of his erection embedded within her unbelievably slick folds. She clutched him tightly, wrapping her legs about his hips and clinging to him with an instinctive need.
Richmond’s pace increased, quickening his thrusts as he was blinded to all else but the feel of her flesh encompassing his maleness. It was the most satisfying and amazing thing he had ever experienced. Against him, Arissa’s resumed pants of passion told him that she was beginning to experience the same pleasure that had so easily engulfed his senses. Now, they were experiencing it together as it was always meant to be.
But it was a pleasure that was building to a scalding peak faster than he ever thought possible; in fact, nothing on earth could have prepared Richmond for his lightning-quick climax. With a roar, he spilled deep into her womb, feeling every last spasm of his spent desire with the greatest of pleasure. But even as the evidence of his passion erupted, he continued to move within her, wanting her to experience the same searing joy that would erase the sting of her innocent pain.
He shifted his weight, gazing down at her flushed face as he continued to thrust. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown back, and he found his gaze drawn to her magnificent breasts as they bounced against every thrust he delivered. One hand trailed down her neck, encircling a breast tenderly before moving toward the junction where their bodies were joined in passion. Where the magic of her pleasure pulsed and throbbed, begging for release.
Seeking the hard little nub, he manipulated it fiercely, watching as Arissa’s eyes flew open with surprise. In the next moment, she pealed off a loud shriek that echoed against the very walls of the chamber and he could feel her passage throb and spasm as her own pleasure was attained. Not only could he feel the delicious convulsions of her gratification, he deeply sensed it like nothing else.
From pain to pleasure, gentleness to the heights of ferocious desire, Richmond introduced Arissa to a world where they would cease to exist as two separate beings. A world where the only matter of import was the love and emotion they held for one another, binding them together more tightly than any other circumstance. It was done.
Enfolded in the protective warmth of his massive embrace, Arissa was not sure if she was dead or alive. Her body was limp, her mind a warm void of satisfaction as she felt the remains of Richmond’s arousal twitching within her tender folds. It was the most remarkable, private sensation she had ever experienced and she would have been perfectly content to remain as they were for the rest of eternity.
“Are you all right?” he whispered against her ear.
Weakly, she nodded. “I do believe I am close to dying from contentment. Is such a thing possible?”
“I hope so,” he murmured, snuggling closer. “But I am truly sorry that there was pain for you, Riss. It couldn’t be helped.”
She raised her head to look at him. “Stop worrying so. I have already forgotten about the discomfort. It…. it was an amazing experience. Much more than I ever imagined.”
He smiled faintly. “You are incredibly brave, my lady. I should possess such courage.”
She returned his smile, pressing herself against him tightly. The fire in the hearth was dying, casting a heady chill about the shadowed room. But against Richmond, Arissa had never been so warm or so loved.
“Will you stay with me all night?” she asked softly, her delicate fingers lingering on his chest.
He stroked her black
hair, watching the distant flames. “That would not be wise, Riss. We cannot allow anyone to become suspicious of our relationship. Moreover, I promised Gavan I would take the watch tonight since he’s been occupied all evening with Lambourn’s security.”
She knew what his answer would be, but was disappointed nonetheless. She sighed faintly. “I do not think I like the idea of being alone. Now that I have experienced you in my bed, I never want you to leave. I shall be empty without you.”
He kissed her forehead. “You fail to consider my feelings, kitten. Do you not think that I will miss you, too?”
She rolled onto her back, gazing up at him with bright eyes. “Did you know that you are a silly, sentimental fool? Not only do you love me, but you miss me when I am not by your side. I thought only women had such ridiculous, romantic thoughts.”
“Then I suppose I am a ridiculous romantic.”
They continued to gaze at each other warmly as Richmond toyed with a tendril of silken dark hair. He was so caught up in Arissa’s delicious vision that he failed to notice the slight movement in the giant wardrobe at the opposite end of the chamber.
One of the carved paneled doors inched open, paused, and then slowly closed. After several moments, it inched open again, wider. As Richmond kissed Arissa’s cheek tenderly, the door proceeded to yawn even further. When he moved to cover Arissa’s body with his massive frame once again, giving in to the rejuvenated desire flooding his veins, the door flew open wide with a resounding crash.
“You…. you hypocrite!”
Richmond bolted out of the bed faster than he had ever moved in his life. His natural protective instinct was surging as he flew over the mattress, feet to the cold floor, fully prepared to do battle with the unknown intruder. Only when his hands closed over the dark, indistinct figure did he realize the shadow was a weaker being, non-threatening to a man of his incredible strength and size. His grip met with fleshy soft arms, struggling furiously within his iron grip.