Chapter Eleven
The moment Jason’s lips touched hers, the rest of the day faded away. Those foolish women and their treatment of her. Her feelings about being a princess. Right then she was merely Jason’s wife, and she wanted to shut off everything else and live only in that moment.
His tongue slid against her bottom lip, and she opened to him. Desire poured through her, seemingly liquefying her bones so that she was pliant beneath him. She ran her hands up his chest, and he sucked in his breath. She buried her hands in his hair and pressed her breasts against his chest. He released a low moan, then she felt his hands grip her buttocks as he pulled her to him.
“Oh God, I want you,” he said. His voice was low and deep, and his words shivered across her skin.
I want you, too, she wanted to say, but she didn’t dare speak for fear that he’d abandon her once more. She knew she was putting her heart in harm’s way, but she would take full responsibility for the heartache that was certain to come.
He pulled her to him again and kissed her fiercely. She busied herself with the front of his shirt and unbuttoned it the rest of the way, then ran her hands across the muscular hardness of his chest.
“Your hands are so soft,” he said. “And warm.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a sensual kiss to the inside of her wrist. His mouth created delicious sensations on her arm.
She tentatively leaned down and pressed her lips to his chest. His breathing stopped. She moved slightly, kissing her way across his torso. She felt invigorated, alive, and surprisingly powerful. He closed his eyes, and his jaw clenched in a sensual cadence.
She ran her hand down his chest to the thin line of hair that disappeared into his trousers. She did not, however, get the opportunity to explore that curious line of hair. She’d barely touched it when Jason grabbed her arms and drew her down to the padded floor, clearly shifting the position of power.
Desire surged through her. This would be a moment she’d never forget. He leaned down and trailed kisses across her neck down to her collarbone. She felt tingly all over, cold and hot at the same time. Sensations fired through her body, fighting for dominance. She didn’t know what to focus on, so she merely closed her eyes and ceased thinking.
He peeled off her clothes, layer by layer, until she lay before him completely nude. She’d never been nude in front of anyone, save some servants. On one hand, she wanted to cover herself from him. Hide her flaws. But he sucked in his breath as he removed the last piece of clothing.
“You’re exquisite,” he said. And her shame melted away. Instead of hiding, she wanted to spread her arms out and reveal herself fully.
Exquisite. And she felt that way, too, regardless of her less than perfect areas, because he thought her exquisite. That was all the invitation she needed to rid him completely of his shirt. She moved next to his trousers, but before she could unfasten them, he stilled her hands. “Not yet. There is much I want to do to you first.”
“But I want to see you,” she said.
“And you will, but first, this.” He pushed her gently back onto the padding. He ran a hand from her ankle, up the side of her leg, over her hip, and there he paused. “The birthmark.” His fingers traced the wine-stain mark that had been with her since birth. “It’s rather alluring. Shaped somewhat like a butterfly.”
She pressed her head back onto the floor and closed her eyes. His hand continued traveling across her abdomen, up her torso until it rested on her right breast. He leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth, and she nearly levitated off the floor. The warm sensation shot pleasure down her chest, pooling between her thighs. She felt the moisture gather there. The same had happened when he’d kissed her those few times. She was aroused, she knew enough to know that, and her body was preparing itself for him.
His hand rubbed against her left breast while he licked and nibbled her right. She squirmed about, never knowing exactly what position was perfect or where to put her hands. She felt out of control and disordered, as if only he had the power to make her body obey, as if she’d lost that privilege.
His hands and his mouth on her breasts felt so good, she would have allowed him to do that for the rest of her life, but his hand moved away. Trailing down her torso, he moved it slowly to her belly. Then down, farther, farther, until it rested on her hip. He left it there a moment, and she nearly forgot about it until she felt his hand creep across her hip to her most intimate place.
He passed his fingers softly through her hair, and she cried out. Goodness, but he created heavenly sensations. Something built inside her, making it increasingly more difficult to lie still. Her body bucked and squirmed and rocked against him, trying to find the right spot.
His hand slid down to the juncture of her thighs, and she parted her legs for him. He ran his fingers against her inner thigh, closer and closer until he touched her core.
“Jason,” she breathed. “That feels so good.” She wanted to say more, but words were becoming increasingly more difficult to string together into complete sentences. Her thoughts weren’t coherent.
His fingers continued to move in her nether regions, until she felt one slip inside. She moaned loudly. In and out. In and out, he moved it. That spiraling feeling built to an even greater point, and she lost her rhythm to capture whatever might be around the corner. “Oh my goodness,” she managed to say.
He brought his mouth back down on her breast while his hand continued its magic down below. Stronger and stronger the feeling became, until she thought she couldn’t take it anymore. Something was coming, she could feel it. What, she wasn’t certain, but she knew it would be intensely pleasurable.
She rocked her body against him as he sucked hard on her nipple. It felt as if cool water shot through her veins, and then a tight explosion pulsed through her. She tossed her head back and cried out as the pleasure overtook her. He stopped moving his hand, and pressed sweet kisses against her breast, then her cheek.
“That was beautiful,” he said.
She managed to open her eyes and met his blue gaze. “Amazing.” He lay down on his side next to her. Her eyes trailed the length of him, and she could readily see his desire pressing against his trousers. He had given her pleasure and taken none for himself.
She let her hands wander up his chest and around his back. Hard and sinewy, she doubted she’d ever get enough of touching him.
She reached between them, running her hands down his ridged abdomen. His muscles contracted beneath her touch. He unfastened his trousers and removed the rest of his clothes. Then led her hand to his arousal. Tentatively, she ran two fingers softly up the length of him. He closed his eyes and groaned.
Again and again, she ran her fingers up and down his length. The skin was velvety soft, while the member itself was stone hard. Growing bolder, she wrapped her hand around him and moved it back and forth. He moaned with each of her movements, never opening his eyes.
“Harder,” he said, his voice tight.
She did as he bade and her breath hitched just as his did. The power to arouse him so was heady.
“Don’t stop,” he told her as he rolled to his back. He pulled her partially onto him, enough so that he could reach her breast and mouth. His finger flicked against her nipple and he moaned into her mouth as she moved her hand against him. His groan of pleasure spurred her on and she intensified her movement. He deepened their kiss and cupped her breast.
“Isabel,” he cried as he lost his seed in her hand.
Isabel lay in a warm cocoon of coverlets that she shared with Jason. At some point, while she slept, he must have retrieved blankets for them, but he hadn’t left her here alone. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that last night had constituted a full consummation, but it was a start. If he was willing to touch her, pleasure her, and let her do the same to him, then eventually he’d make her his wife, in every sense of the word. She snuggled back into his embrace and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would begin their life together.