Desperate?
Cora didn’t know. At that moment, she was a jumble of impulses, and she craved acting upon them like drawing her next breath. She needed to be closer to him, and her clothing was far too hot. Faolan seemed to understand. He opened his arms so he could work the buttons on the front of her doublet. He broke away from kissing her long enough to strip the garment down her arms.
He left it around her wrists, though, binding her arms out behind her.
“No one will see these except me,” he muttered as he gazed on the tempting display the top of her breasts made above the edge of her stays. When he lifted his face, she gasped at the determination flickering in his eyes.
Cora shifted until the doublet dropped to the floor and freed her. She reached forward to work the buttons on his jerkin. “I’ll not be some meek and mild wife, Faolan.”
“What ye will be is mine.” He pulled her close once more.
His kiss was deeper now. He pressed her lips apart and stroked the delicate surface of her lower lip with the tip of his tongue. Cora gasped, for it set off a whole new level of sensation. Pleasure was building inside of her. She felt like water was gathering in her core, rushing faster and faster.
She had no idea what the end result would be, only that it was something couples risked retribution from the Church and their families to gain.
At that moment, she craved it.
Craved him.
Her waistband loosened, and Faolan was pushing at her skirts, but the hip roll was tied firmly in place. His chest rumbled with a sound of frustration. Cora pushed back, stepping away from him. The separation felt too great.
“Bare yerself for me, lass.”
There was hunger in his tone. It was a demand, and yet, there was a compliment in it, for she could see the way his gaze was stuck to her. A shiver went down her spine as he opened the wide belt that held his kilt in place. The fabric slid down his legs, leaving him in nothing but his shirt and boots.
She knew what a member was.
She shouldn’t have, but riding out with her brother’s men, there had been opportunities to peek.
“Go on, lass,” Faolan encouraged her. “Ye are bold.”
She was.
Cora found the tie to her hip roll and loosened it. Her skirts slid down her hips to puddle around her ankles. She dipped her finger into the valley between her breasts and pulled up the end of the lace, which closed them.
Faolan scooped her off her feet in the same instant. He carried her through the receiving chamber and toward his bed. He didn’t afford her time to look around but followed her down onto the surface of the bed.
His kiss was sweet, deep, and controlled as though he were savoring the moment. He trailed soft kisses along the side of her face as he gently stroked one of her breasts through the thin fabric of her chemise.
She shuddered. Sensation roared through her. Thick and sweet. When it hit her head, every last bit of thinking was smothered.
And she wanted more.
Her lack of experience frustrated her. She felt clumsy as she lifted her hands to touch him.
“Aye, lass…like that.”
His words encouraged her. Confidence grew from the dark tone of his voice. It seemed to reflect the same riot of emotions she was in the grips of.
So, they were together.
Somehow, her fingertips were more sensitive than she’d ever realized. In fact, all of her senses felt heightened. Every breath she drew filled her head with his scent. It was intoxicating, luring her deeper and deeper.
“Ye are perfect, Cora,” he muttered against her neck.
He pressed her back, and she pulled him down on top of her. Between her thighs, there was pulsing at the top of her sex. Faolan’s hand glided down the side of her body until he was stroking across her belly and toward the curls which crowned her mound.
Never had she ever thought her body might be so sensitive. Yet his touch made her quiver. It was so intense, she arched back, control completely beyond her ability.
Faolan found the spot that was throbbing. He teased it with the tip of his finger as Cora gripped the front of his shirt.
“What…what are ye doing?”
“Pleasuring ye,” he whispered against her mouth.
He smothered whatever else she might have said with a kiss. This time, it was hot and carnal. For the first time in her life, she truly understood the word carnal. It sent a shaft of enjoyment straight through her core and left her lifting her hips, seeking something more.
She had no idea what it might be.
But Faolan did. He was pushing her closer and closer to some peak. He leaned over her as his finger moved faster and harder. Her heart was pounding so hard, she feared she’d pass out, but the need building beneath the little bundle of nerves at the top of her sex was so intense, it was the only thing in her mind.
It suddenly burst. A sharp cry escaped her lips as pleasure exploded beneath his fingers. It was searing and white-hot. Cora twisted in its grip, withering as she felt wrung with the intensity of it. She was suspended between breaths, time frozen while the pleasure spiked through her.
When it passed, she collapsed onto the bed. She was panting, and her skin covered in tiny dots of perspiration. Satisfaction was glowing throughout her body as Faolan leaned down and trailed tiny kisses along the side of her face.
“That is the pleasure we can share, Cora.”
Her mind was clearing as she looked into his eyes. “But…did ye feel it as well?”
He slowly shook his head. “I wanted to show what lay beyond the moment of pain every virgin has to endure.”
“Oh…” Her mind had cleared enough to think. “Aye, I know what to expect.”
And yet she didn’t, for no one had ever mentioned the rapture Faolan had just sent through her body.
“Someone told ye…everything?” Faolan inquired. He was hovering over her as he cupped one of her breasts and passed his thumb across the tip of her nipple.
“Um…not precisely…everything… Do you feel the same if I touch ye?” Cora suddenly wanted to know. She reached for him, sending her hands down in search of his member.
Faolan grasped her wrists and carried her back to the surface of the bed. “No’ tonight, Cora.”
“But ye touched me.” The thought was past her lips before she could stop it. She wasn’t a stranger to the fact that men often did things women were forbidden to. But in the darkness, in his bed, she found it nearly unendurable to be curtailed.
“Aye, I did.” He pressed a hard kiss against her pouting lips. “And as much as the idea of allowing ye to return the favor, I fear I have not the strength to hold onto me seed if ye milk me.”
“Milk ye?” Her mind offered up a vivid picture of just how she might close her hand around his length. “Would that make ye feel as I just did?”
He let out a groan. Cora tried to break his grip.
“Must ye put me in me place even here, where no one sees us?” she asked in frustration.
“Aye,” he rasped. “Tonight, I will have ye, Cora, for no one will ever again have cause to doubt that ye are mine.” The bed shifted as he rolled over her. He settled between her thighs, and it seemed the most natural of things. He released her wrists and framed her face as she felt the head of his member slipping between the folds of her sex. “Ye are mine now, Cora. I promise ye that.”