Page 21 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife (Cinderellas of Mayfair #1)

She caught one of his hands and placed it over the damp curls covering her sex. “Yes, I am.”

As he stroked her, he released a low growl. “You can want me more.”

Athene shook her head. She wanted him so much, she was close to splintering into jagged pieces. “I don’t think so. I’m mad for you.”

“Not mad enough.” He dipped his head to kiss her neck. An electric thrill zapped through her. Then another stronger thrill when Hugo’s large hand flexed against her mound. She parted her legs to encourage him to touch her there, where he’d soon fill her.

Devil take him, he might be right. She’d been wet for him since exploring his chest, but his caresses now lifted her responses higher.

Arousal cascaded through her, building her anticipation.

With an incoherent sound of approval, he stroked her cleft before finding the center of her pleasure and teasing the pearl of flesh.

She slid her hips back and forth against the sheets, as simmering desire spiked to roaring flame. Her shaking hands hooked over his shoulders. “Please, oh, please don’t wait.”

“I want to take you to heaven, Athene.”

Her protest at the delay died under a long, succulent kiss. While his lips moved on hers, he slid one finger inside her. Then two fingers. He began to move his hand in and out in an action that presaged what he’d soon do with his penis. How she craved that blazing peak of experience.

He curled his fingers to stimulate a place that left her quaking with pleasure. Athene released a long moan. Already, the flight to ecstasy started. Her fingers formed claws in Hugo’s shoulders.

He dipped his head to take one nipple between his lips, drawing on it.

The barrage of sensation submerged her in an ocean of desire.

As Hugo kissed the other nipple, he lifted his hand from between her legs.

When he raised his head, he settled in the cradle of her thighs and stared down into her face.

He was heavy-eyed and his lips were swollen after their kisses.

Athene hadn’t felt a lover’s weight on her in ten years. She’d forgotten the delicious intimacy of this breathless pause just before sexual congress. Her hands flattened against Hugo’s shoulders and glided down to encircle his upper arms.

“Now, Hugo. Please.” Her plea was husky and broken.

If he didn’t take her soon and allay the agonizing emptiness inside her, she feared that she’d explode. Her frantic hands kneaded his firm buttocks, coaxing him forward. His muscles hardened under her touch, as he prepared to enter her.

He kissed her again, then slowly and carefully pressed forward.

It was so long since she’d had a lover, her body automatically tensed against him.

He was much larger than George. For one hectic second, she feared this wasn’t going to work.

Then as smoothly as a diver slipped through the water, he slid deep and settled to the hilt.

A long huff of satisfaction escaped her, and she curled her fingers into his buttocks to hold him where he was. She’d always loved this moment when a man filled her. She loved it even more when the man was as big and masterful as Hugo. He banished the loneliness that had haunted her since Vienna.

“Oh, yes.” It was a sibilant expression of joy. She felt stretched. She felt complete. She felt as if this union nourished soul as much as flesh.

“You’re hugging me from inside,” Hugo murmured, rocking to go deeper.

Athene was so overwhelmed, she hadn’t realized that she clenched and released around him. “Do you like it?”

“I damn well do.”

“Good.” She loved that she gave him pleasure. This time, she did it deliberately, contracting her internal muscles in welcome.

He closed his eyes with visible enjoyment, and she basked in his transported expression. “Shall I move?”

She pitched her hips up. “Yes, please.”

The humor that she’d always found so attractive tugged at his lips. “Such lovely manners, my love.”

He shouldn’t call her his love. But lying beneath him like this, she couldn’t summon a shred of protest. Nor could she deny the warmth that softened her lonely heart now they were joined.

So slowly that she felt every potent inch, he withdrew then shifted forward. That satisfying sensation of being crammed to the brim returned. She raised her hips in eager welcome. Since he’d touched her cleft, she’d been on the verge of climax. Now ecstasy bloomed inside her, became invincible.

She moaned as he thrust. He adopted a pounding rhythm that echoed the beat of her blood. Every muscle strove toward the ultimate peak. She flung her legs over his, changing the angle yet again.

“Come for me, Athene.” His command was gruff as he scraped his teeth over the sensitive curve of her neck and went deeper yet.

She was powerless against the blazing pleasure. Shuddering response tossed her high into a new universe. With a cry, she broke free from reality and tumbled over the edge to soar through dazzling fire.

“Hugo!” she gasped, as the wild ride flung her amongst the stars. Heat blasted her from all directions and jolted her with bursts of extraordinary pleasure. She was so transported, she barely noticed when he struggled free with a muttered oath.

On a hoarse groan, he spilled his hot seed onto her bare stomach.

Her body still spasmed when Hugo collapsed on his back beside her. His rough, effortful breathing sounded shockingly loud in the quiet room.

Sensual satisfaction flowed through Athene like a river winding toward the sea, even as she tried to ignore a faint clang of disquiet. She’d wanted everything, but that would be criminally reckless. However, knowing that didn’t stifle the regret that he hadn’t spilled inside her.

“Devil take it, you took me so high, I nearly forgot to keep you safe.” He sounded as if his throat was lined with gravel. His chest heaved so violently that the mattress moved beneath her.

Still panting, he rolled onto his side. He studied her face in the flickering candlelight. “Are you all right?”

Athene touched his lean cheek with a trembling hand. He’d shaved before dinner, but now she felt the prickle of whiskers. That intimate detail stirred her, as if she claimed part of him that the world outside didn’t share.

Her impetuous rush of blood gradually ebbed to lazy swirls of pleasure. “Never better.”

When his lips twitched, she felt the muscles of his cheek move. Another intimate detail. “Did I hurt you? You were very tight.”

George hadn’t been a talker after intercourse. But then, George, she’d quickly realized, had been far more interested in his own pleasure than hers. It seemed that wasn’t true about Hugo.

“The result of ten years of chastity, I expect.”

He tilted his head to kiss her caressing fingers. “Not uncomfortable?”

“A little at first. Not for long.” While she’d climaxed before, the experience had never been this profound.

Hugo caught her hand and carried it to his lips. “I want you to be happy.”

The kiss, as much as what he said, melted her heart all over again. After the furious animal passion, this tenderness carried such power. “I’m happy.”

“So you like what we did?”

With a huff of laughter, she took her hand back. “Hugo, if you couldn’t tell that you transported me to the stars, you’re not the man I believe you are.”

His kiss communicated his infinite joy in her. Something in her settled, and she realized that she hadn’t lied when she said she was happy. Which was a surprise, because she hadn’t been happy since she’d run away with George.

“I’m glad.” Hugo curled his arm around her and nestled her into his side with her head on his shoulder. She sighed with repletion. Never could she remember feeling so warm and safe and contented.

For a long while, they lay quietly. When he shifted, she couldn’t muffle a whimper of complaint. She was drowsing, her body unspooling after that almighty climax. Since their parting at Sylvie’s, sleep had been a stranger. Not to mention that today’s jumpiness left worn her out.

He rose on one elbow and kissed her briefly. “Let me clean you up.”

When Athene shifted on the sheets, she remembered the sticky mess on her stomach. “You’re a considerate lover.” He was a considerate man. It was one of the first things that she’d noticed.

Hugo rolled out of bed and crossed to go behind the screen that hid a washstand. “A baby would complicate things for you.”

An understatement, although she couldn’t help noticing that he said “for you,” rather than “for us.” Another sign that he hadn’t given up on marrying her.

“I suspect I’m barren. I didn’t conceive when I was with George.

” Who had never withdrawn. She’d been too unworldly to understand the profound selfishness of that.

Would he have married her if she’d fallen pregnant?

Would she have married him if she had? By the time she left him, she was enormously grateful that he had no legal hold on her.

“Perhaps it was you.” She heard splashing, as Hugo poured water into a bowl. “Perhaps it was him.”

She frowned, wondering if George might have been sterile. Despite his local reputation as a rake, she’d never heard of any bastards.

More sloshing hinted that Hugo had washed and now poured water for her. He came around the screen, carrying a blue and white china bowl. A couple of linen towels hung over his arm. “What?”

She pushed up against the pillows and feasted on the view. “You’re a marvel to behold.”

To her delight, he blushed. He set the bowl on the nightstand and folded the towels over the base of the bed. He bent to pick up his robe to cover his nakedness. “You talk such nonsense, lass.”

“It’s not nonsense. You’re a handsome man, Hugo Brinsmead. Don’t cover up on my account.”

Humor brightened his face. “If you’re overcome by lust, I won’t be able to make you comfortable.”

Athene gave a brief laugh. “You know, if you saw yourself as I do, you’d know that’s not entirely a joke.”

He cast her a sardonic glance, as he wrung out a flannel and wiped his sperm off her pale skin. His seed had started to dry, so she appreciated the wash. “Is the water too cold? I can ring for more.”

She shook her head. It was only lukewarm, but it wasn’t unpleasant. “I love what you’re doing. Anyway, I don’t want anyone intruding.”

He dipped the cloth in the bowl and washed between her legs. His touch on her sex was stirring and her breasts tightened with longing, which astonished her, given what they’d just done. His expression was careful and serious. That level of attention fed her arousal.

By the time he washed her breasts, she was panting and her body readied itself for him. Nor was Hugo immune to the rising temperature. His breath turned uneven, and she made out a promising bulge beneath the robe. He must notice her tight nipples, but he remained quiet as he toweled her dry.

After wetting the flannel again, he began to wipe her arms. She gave a wordless complaint. “Hugo, I want you.”

“You aren’t sore?”

She sighed. Sometimes, he was too considerate. “I ache for you. Does that count?”

“Let’s say that it does.” Anticipation curved his lips. “I’m going to linger on this occasion. I was in a rush last time.”

He dropped the cloth into the bowl and dried her with a towel. The linen’s friction on her too sensitive skin made her squirm. “I didn’t mind,” she said faintly.

He bent to kiss her bare stomach. Her muscles clenched with response as hot moisture flowed into the secret hollows of her body. He picked up the bowl and the damp towels to return them behind the screen. “Don’t go anywhere.”

She pressed her hand over her vulva to soothe the storm raging inside her. It didn’t help. “Hurry, Hugo,” she said in a raspy voice.

He emerged to the sight of her splayed across the sheets. Flinging off his dressing gown, he surged forward to join her.