“Now, where were we?” he asked as he started all over again.
The corset didn’t take as long as the dress, and he must have been starting to feel impatient, too, because the chemise vanished with one long stroke of a knife—she had no idea where the knife had come from—after the corset fell from her body. Then his arms came around her and lifted her onto the bed. She was burning with need again as he settled beside her, the mattress dipping under his weight. He still wore his shirt and breeches. The boots were gone. She hadn’t noticed that part of the process, which, given how long it took a man to remove tall boots, only told her how lost she was in the haze of longing he was creating.
“I want to see you,” she said.
Cameron shook his head. “Not just yet. After all, there are whole parts of you I haven’t even touched yet.” To demonstrate his point, he brushed one finger across one of her puckered nipples and she arched up off the bed with another moan.
“Goddess,” he said fervently. “I do like the noises you make.” Then he set himself to exploring her breast with the same excruciating leisurely pace. First with fingers, then with tongue and teeth until she was writhing beneath him and begging again, legs falling open. This time his fingers found her and stroked just right until she came a second time, even harder than the first time, the room dissolving in a wave of pleasure.
It took a few minutes for her to open her eyes. To remember exactly who she was. And who the man next to her was. Her husband. Who was looking very pleased with himself.
“That’s two,” he said.
She rolled onto her side and fisted her hand around the front of his shirt. “Cameron Aled Mackenzie, if you do not exert your husbandly rights very soon, I might just have to kill you.”
“Wildcat.” He grinned widely as he said the word. “But who am I to deny a lady?”
“You seem to be doing pretty well denying me,” she said.
“Nonsense. You’re the one who’s already screamed my name twice. I’m the one being denied.”
“No denial here,” she said. She lay back on the pillows. “Take off your clothes.” She let a hand drift down to her breast, wondering idly if it felt the same if she did to herself what he had been doing to her. Not exactly, she decided. But it was still pleasant. She sighed, and this time it was Cameron who groaned. He pulled his shirt over his head with remarkable speed. The breeches took a little longer, but they soon joined the shirt on the floor.
He came back to her then. Naked. His cock was hard, straining, jutting toward her. She’d never seen a grown man fully naked before. Never thought a man would be beautiful. But he was. Lined with muscle and furred here and there with dark hair but still beautiful. Her hand reached for his cock, curiosity overriding need for a moment.
He let her wrap her hand around it, let her fingers explore, but only for a few seconds. Then his hand closed over hers.
“If you keep that up, then you’ll spoil the next part of the process for both of us.”
“You got to touch me,” she protested.
“And I promise you can touch me all you want after this,” he said, rolling on top of her. She went still. His cock has hard and warm against her, where she was wet and soft and aching. Cameron moved slightly, settling his position, and the slide of him against her made her see stars. Still, he felt much larger than she remembered, and for an instant she froze.
“Just me,” he whispered in her ear. “Just us. From now on. You and me, Sophie. And this.” He lifted his head, kissed her. Kissed her in a way that was somehow both soft and fierce. Kissed her until she widened her legs of her own will, as the fire rose again and all she could think of was the need to be closer. To have him inside her.
Cameron groaned as he slid inside her, stopped, pressed his forehead to hers. A shiver ran through him, and she wondered if his extraordinary control was finally close to a breaking point.
“Merciful goddess,” he muttered, and began to move. But even now, with both of them trembling, he didn’t give in. Each thrust was long and slow and deep. Giving her time to adjust to the slide and length of him, to the pure sensation of hard flesh sliding across sensitive tissues. He urged her to put her legs around his waist, and he held her hands over her head. He kept up that slow, sure rhythm, letting her arch to meet him but not letting her go any faster than he wanted to go. Until all she could do was give in to him. Give in to the kisses and his determination to show her he was hers and to the sensations melting her into him. Until all there was was his face over hers and his eyes drinking her in and the pleasure building deeper and wider and hotter with each stroke.
Until at the very last, she gave in completely and called his name one last time as she exploded. Then his pace changed; then he drove harder and faster, lifting her hips and taking her hungrily as she shuddered around him, boneless and drowning in it.
He feasted on her, took her over completely. But it was her name on his lips as he finally lost control and shuddered into her with a shout. And the sound of it made her wonder if perhaps they’d both won something precious here in the darkness.
“You have to get out of bed sooner or later, little wildcat.” Amusement filled Cameron’s voice.
Sophie rolled over, still half asleep, and opened one eye. “Why? We just got married. People expect us to want to stay in bed.”