CHAPTER NINETEEN
R uben turned to her, “Ye daenae want that, lass.”
“Why nae?” Paige asked.
“Because I believe ye are nae thinkin’ straight.” Ruben said, “Ye are still reelin’ from the attack and yer emotions are in a tangle.”
“Or,” Paige held her head high. “It could be because I see how ye look at me. I may be somewhat of a novice desire, but whatever it is, I can feel it when ye look at me. Can I nae?”
“Nay,” Ruben said honestly. “Ye’re nae wrong. But I daenae think ye want to lay with me, lass—” he grasped her arm. “—I am a beast, remember. T’is inside, rearin’, clawin’ at me to be free and I’ll let ye guess where it wants to be the most.”
She swallowed, her eyes flickering to the bed. “In…there?”
“Aye,” his tone dipped to dark and ominous. “That side of me has voracious appetites that an innocent like ye?—”
Rising on her toes, Paige kissed him. It was barely a brush of her lips across his, softly at first then with more firmness as he gripped her hips in his huge hands. When she flicked the tip of her tongue against his lips, demanding entry, he groaned and took control.
He steered her backward into a wall, securing her wrists above her head, then leaned into her, pinning her with his hips. His lips closed over hers, the kiss rougher, more forceful than before, and she writhed under his touch.
His kisses branded her bare throat. In his arms, she was truly alive. The recognition blazed right through him and at that moment he knew he wanted her and only her.
“If we do this, we do it me way,” he growled. “Do ye agree?”
“Aye” she whispered.
“I’m nae going to take ye fully, but I will see to yer pleasure. If there’s anythin’ ye daenae like, ye will tell me to stop. Otherwise, ye will do as I say. Are we agreed?”
He claimed her mouth again, and heat flared like the Beltane fire, wrapping, pulling pure sensation. Her lips parted and she welcomed him deeper inside. Their tongues met in another flickering tangle of delight, and he groaned at the way the tips of her breasts stiffened against his chest.
They kissed with open mouths and wet tongues, with passion that bordered on desperation. Pulling away, he ordered, “When I take that damned tunic off, get on me bed.”
With ruthless purpose, he bunched her tunic in his hands and ripped the linen shift over her head, tossing the damp garments away.
Then, he allowed himself the reward of drinking in Paige’s exquisite form. God above, she was beautiful. Her hair, her face. The fullness of her breasts and belly and hips.
Everything about her was exquisite. She gently lay back on the bed and braced herself on her elbows. Her pale pink nipples were taut, and further down, the darker pink flesh peeking through her blond bush was dewy with moisture.
His mouth watered to taste her, but he would work his way down. Leaning forward, he kissed her, the force of his desire bruising.
Her breath left her mouth in forceful pants as he trailed his mouth downward. Dropping searing kissed on her neck and collarbone, his stubble lightly scratched the creamy skin of her breasts before he fastened his lips around her right nipple and sucking hard.
“Ruben—” she cried out and tangled her fingers in his hair, an attempt to pull him closer.
“So sweet,” he rasped, flicking the taut peak with his tongue. Trapping the tight bud in-between his teeth and tugged, the tight spike of pain made her back arch.
The fingers of his other hand found her taut nipple. He circled the broad disk, once, twice, three times, then lightly pinched them with his forefingers.
Grasping her thighs he parted her, and his finger grazed over her inner left thing; one blunt finger traced a pattern on her inner thighs. Her eyes fluttered as parted her bush but swept up her throbbing, drenched core.
“Ruben,” her breath was faint. “What are ye going to do?”
He did not reply with words, instead, his mouth sealed over her and his tongue lashed her like a panther savoring its prey.
She made a raw, needy sound as he coaxed the opening to her fluttering channel.
He aggressively licked against her tight hole until it surrendered and allowed entry to just the tip of his tongue.
“More,” Paige groaned. “More tongue. More, more, more.”
He plunged his tongue inside her as far as it could go, until he moved on to suckle on her swollen pearl. His tongue was lapping and suckling while his finger delved inside her channel.
Every time she came on the brink of release, he pulled away, waited a few moments then started again, heightening the sensation when she did shatter.
Now she rocked, moaning, begging, grinding against his chin, a woman on a mission for release. “Please,” she groaned.
“Daenae fret, lass,” he soothed. “I’ll give ye what ye need.”
His fingers sped up inside her, thrusting slowly but with enough force that her body jerked and shuddered. Her completion, wild and untamed, took control of her body, and she bucked, her nails clawing his shoulders, her mouth wide with pleasure.
An untamed cry tore from her throat as her release wracked though her like storm waves, the spasms of bliss lasting.
Eventually she slumped on the pillows, her breath coming out in short, panting gasps.
“That was…that was…”
“Just the beginnin’,” Ruben said, while his eyes roamed over her face. “Ye’ve had me fingers, ye’ve had me tongue inside ye,” he said. “And from how ye reacted, I can see how ye will do when I am inside ye meself.”
Was that a threat…or a promise?
Just a moment of pain. That’s what her mother had said. She would get through it.
The embers remained in the fireplaces, the only remaining source of light as the oil lamp on her bedside table was unlit. Paige sat up and drew the covers around her, watching him wearily.
“Does that mean ye intend to couple one day?” she asked.
Flopping on his back, Ruben replied. “Aye. One day.”
His chest felt like rock beneath her hands; tight and hard. She looked up at him. His eyes were the color of flint – grey, with a speckle of green through them.
There was a long silver scar zigzagging down the left side of his face. How did he get that? She wondered idly. His long black hair fell against her forehead, tickling it slightly. She felt a flush spread over her, a strong warmth springing up from her chest.
Her eyes traced over his chest to his middle and heat seared her cheeks seeing him so burgeoned. “Ruben are ye—” she did not know the words to phrase the question. “—do ye need help?”
“With what?” His eyes were still closed.
“Erm… yer arousal?” Her voice was faint.
At that moment, the rain which had been threatening suddenly poured down. Ruben’s chuckle was thick over the battering rain. “And what do ye propose ye can do to help me?”
“I—” she paused, feeling woefully inexperienced when it comes to men. “Can ye show me how ye pleasure yerself?”
This time, his eyes slit open. “Are ye ready for that, lass?”
Nay….aye.
“Aye,” she replied, “Show me. T’is only fair if I attend to ye. Please, let me.”
As he undid the fall of his trousers, she leaned up on her elbows to watch. Her eyes widened as his erect member sprung free from its confines. Goodness…he’s huge. How will he fit in me?
The rosy-brown pole was long and thick, ridged with prominent veins. When he gripped it in his big hand, his fingers barely reached around the girth. The complexions were stark, her pale, slender fingers against his ruddy skin. She gripped his length and stroked, tentatively at first.
He reached for her hand and fixed it around him and with his hand atop hers, he guided the motion. “Like this,” he instructed.
The pressure he exerted was far more than she would have dared.
“Am I doing this right?” she said.
“Too right,” he said thickly. “Keep going, lass.”
He was a contrast in texture, soft velvet over a core of iron. Its eager pulse filled her with heady feminine power. As she stroked over him, Ruben reached over and fixed his hand around her neck, pulling her in for a kiss.
His kiss ravished through her and Paige wrapped an arm around his neck, luxuriating in the fit of his ridges against her curves. As he plundered her mouth, she kept stroking him.
His tongue stabbed into her mouth, he guided her to masturbate him harder, faster. She sucked on his tongue, and his flesh reared, straining against her hold. She stroked him harder, while his growls of pleasure spurred her on.
He grew so engorged that she had to pull her arm from around his neck and had to use both hands. Pushing to both knees, she jerked on his meaty staff, and when she lightly brushed his broad tip, he suddenly shuddered.
“I’m about to come in yer palms like a green boy,” he groaned.
The idea shivered through her. “I want ye to… to come…to feel the way ye made me feel.”
His hot seed pulsed over her hand, spilling like lava in fast bursts as he panted her name. When she trailed her wet fingertips over his granite-hard chest and his corrugated abdomen, his muscles leaped beneath her touch.
The sound of thunder boomed loudly through the walls as rain hammered the windows. Ruben caught his breath and turned to her, took her hand and wiped it on the sheets.
“Put yer smock back on and get into bed with me,” he said. “It’s cold and it’s going to get colder as the night goes on. I would nae want ye to get ill.”
She did as he asked and slid back between the sheets, and he pulled her into his arms.
With the remnants of his release still thrumming through his body, Ruben lay in thrall of peaceful, contented feeling. When he turned to Paige, he realized that she was passed out with pleasure beside him.
Her face, in pleased slumber, was so divine, and beautiful that something rattled in his chest. He had an instant awareness of the woman in his arms and the fragrance of her hair.
His wife. His hot, passionate, responsive wife.
He took a deep breath of satisfaction, feeling Paige in his arms, and tightened his hold around her.