Page 22 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife (Cinderellas of Mayfair #1)

Now that you’ve become my lover

How the devil can I ever recover

The woman I’ve been so many years?

You’ve made me love, despite my fears.

Hugo kissed Athene with all the joyous passion in his heart and gathered her up in his arms. She moaned with pleasure and curled her legs around him.

When she bit his shoulder, a bolt of arousal sizzled through him. “Don’t wait.”

“I wanted to—” he began.

“Later. I need you inside me.”

The provocative confession had him shifting to plunge into her. God knew he was ready. He’d battled for restraint since he’d washed her, wanting to serve her after she’d given him such joy. Touching her lissom body always turned his blood to flame.

He pulled her hips forward and thrust. His awareness shrank to the hot clench of her muscles around him. Because he was a large man, he was usually careful with a lover. But Athene fitted him as if created to be his.

As she released a long sigh of satisfaction, he buried his face in the warm curve of her neck. He drew in a lungful of her rich scent: woman, soap, arousal, need.

This intimate contact stirred up such a powerful mixture of reactions. The wish to linger in the transcendent peace. The masculine urge to rush toward the explosive crest. The yen to take his time, so that she claimed her peak again and again before he lost himself.

She wrapped her arms around him and wriggled down in the bed to take him deeper. He loved being this close to her. When he possessed her, he believed nothing could ever part them. Elusive, scintillating Athene would be his forever. He began to move, establishing a driving rhythm.

“Hugo…” she gasped. Unbelievably, he felt her flutter into quick orgasm. She rolled her hips and gave a long, shuddering moan that was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

Every time he went to the hilt, it was like coming home after a long, arduous journey. He’d never felt this with a lover before. He could already tell that losing it would leave him bereft.

It wasn’t long before Athene succumbed to another orgasm.

She was so magnificently responsive. Her ragged cry of completion rang in his ears, as he finished with a few short thrusts then pulled free to sit on the edge of the bed.

Fumbling hands grabbed the towel that he’d left on the nightstand.

With a groan, he pumped into the linen, while Athene watched him out of glowing eyes.

At first, she’d been a little uncomfortable with her nudity, but now she let him feast on the sight of her.

She laid one hand on his bare hip. “It happened twice.”

Warmth seeped into him from a touch that should be casual but which was anything but.

He liked the surprise in her expression.

He liked that he was the first person to show her just what her body could do.

“If I’d lasted longer, it would have happened again.

But you must know by now, you’re irresistible to me. ”

Gratification shone in her eyes. “I can’t resist you either.”

He dropped the crumpled towel to the floor and turned to kiss her with every ounce of thankfulness in his heart.

He’d wanted more from her than an affair.

He’d wanted a lifetime commitment from her before they shared a bed.

She hadn’t given him that. In grimmer moments, he wondered if she ever would.

What they had was still mighty fine. He retained just enough sense to know that if he pushed Athene too hard, he’d end up with nothing.

But dear Lord above, he couldn’t help wishing that she was his wife. That he could present her to the world with no need for shame or subterfuge. That he could fill her with his seed. That the arrival of a child wasn’t a disaster, but instead a welcome step in their ever-closer union.

He kept his tone light, when he raised his head to stare down at her in wonder. Even if declarations and entreaties and demands queued up behind his lips and fought for release. “That bodes well.”

Her pleased smile made her look unexpectedly impish. Her lips were full and red after all their kissing. Hugo wouldn’t be human if he didn’t imagine her using those lush lips on his prick.

Was that something she’d tried? Despite her claim to being a scarlet woman, he gained the impression that her youthful sins hadn’t taken her on too many sensual adventures.

No doubt she’d liked having a lover, but she displayed an endearing innocence, now she came to his arms. While she wasn’t untouched, she was sweetly inexperienced.

She stretched out against the sheets, as lithe and graceful as a cat. “Doesn’t it just?”

Athene had a spectacular body. He hadn’t paid it near enough attention. Partly because looking at her led to wanting her. And wanting led to fucking. He’d never been so voracious for a woman. One glance from those flashing dark eyes and he was harder than a steel bar.

Now he studied her elegant form from her straight shoulders, down over her unexpectedly voluptuous breasts to the beguiling curves of her hips and those long, long legs that she wrapped around him when he was deep inside her.

He saw her shiver with sensual awareness. She was comfortable enough with him now for his admiration to stir her rather than make her feel awkward. “Goodness me. I feel like you want to eat me up.”

He gave a short laugh. “I do.”

She looked puzzled, confirming his suspicion that the dreadful George hadn’t tried too hard to please her. The fact that she’d found enjoyment spoke more to her inherent sensuality than to her first lover’s skills. “You mean to bite me?”

Heat seared him, as he recalled the brief sting of her teeth. “Well, you bit me. It’s only fair.”

She blushed and avoided his eyes. “I was so wound up, I couldn’t help it.”

Her bashfulness charmed him. She was the most arousing woman he’d ever met, yet whenever he glimpsed the young girl she’d once been, poignant emotion squeezed his heart. “I liked it.”

“And you think I’ll like it if you bite me?”

“You’ll like what I’ve got in mind.”

Curiosity gradually overcame her qualms, he was glad to see. “I’ve liked everything you’ve done so far.”

Hugo loved her candor. He wasn’t a man who liked to play games. “I want to kiss your breasts.” At least to start with.

“Will you bite them?” The prospect didn’t seem to trouble her, he was pleased to hear.

“I’ll use my teeth, unless you find it uncomfortable.”

Her sinuous movement against the crumpled sheets made his dick stir. He was surprised that he’d recovered so swiftly. Athene had such power over him.

“Ooh.”

The rising note of intrigue made him chuckle. “Lie back.”

She cooperated with an alacrity that did nothing to dampen his growing interest. But he was determined that this time, he wouldn’t just leap on her. She had the capacity for rapture beyond measure. He wanted to give her that, before seeking release again.

So he rose to shrug on his robe, only to find her frowning at him. One hand stretched along the sheets in a silent plea. “I love to look at your body.”

“The robe helps control my urges,” he said wryly. “The way you stare at me doesn’t help.”

“I want to touch you.”

Her throaty declaration went straight to his balls. “I’ll make a deal with you, lass. Let me do what I want now, and I’ll let you explore to your heart’s content next time.”

“I can’t touch you?”

Her pout was foreign to the buttoned-up woman he’d first met. She’d hidden from him then. She’d hidden from the world. God gave him the chance to bring her out into the open, not just here in the private paradise of this bedroom, but everywhere. “Not unless you want to end up under me again.”

Her expression became more animated. “I’d like that.”

He gritted his teeth against another gust of heat that promised to melt his not terribly robust willpower into a steaming puddle. “So would I.”

“Then?”

“Athene…” he said in helpless surrender, throwing off the robe and diving back into the bed. As their limbs tangled together, she squealed with adorable excitement. He hauled her up until she sat opposite him. “Put your legs around my hips.”

“I’m not sure if…” More uncertainty. More proof that her carnal experience was limited to the basics.

“Trust me.”

She stared into his face, as if she sought to read his soul. Then with his help, she wiggled around to balance on his thighs. His cock rose hard and needy between them. She hooked her hands over his shoulders and crossed her legs behind his arse.

Hunger made him quake. She was so close to where he wanted her.

Hugo caught her waist. She wanted him, too.

He could smell her excitement on her skin.

He leaned in to kiss her and the contact expanded into a rapacious exploration.

When they finally drew apart, he’d buried his hands in the silky tumble of black hair.

It was thick and soft, and warm from the contact with her body.

“Oh, my,” she said with such awe that he smiled.

“Oh, my, indeed.”

“I love how you kiss me. It always feels like the most important thing in the world.”

He glanced his lips over hers again. “Isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she murmured and pressed forward to nestle against his chest. He felt the softness of her breasts and the jut of her nipples.

“Now take me,” he murmured into her hair.

“Take you?”

“Yes.”

She straightened and pulled back to study his dick. He thought that he might have to explain what he wanted, but she rose on her thighs and adjusted her position.

When her breasts shifted against him, his prick twitched in eagerness.

Then there was a delicious pressure, as she took the head inside her.

For an excruciating, exquisite moment, she poised above him.

Then with an audible exhalation, she slid down.

When satiny heat caressed his entire length, his racing heart crashed so hard against his ribs that he feared it must burst free.

“Oh!” Her eyes rounded in delighted astonishment. She squirmed a little closer.

“Good?” he asked in a strangled voice, although her rapt expression told him what he needed to know. The impulse to move, to take over rose. But he wanted to give her this. Show her that she could be an active partner.

“More than good. What happens now?”

“You decide.” His jaw set as hard as basalt. “Like this, you’re in charge.”

“Oh.” He saw that the idea pleased her, although she didn’t budge, which was probably a good thing where his self-control was concerned. “Should I move?”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes.”

Thank God for that. Her body clasped him so tight, he was on the verge of spilling.

It was astonishing, given what they’d already done.

He was generally a man of measured appetite, who took his time with a partner.

There was nothing measured about how he felt now.

Athene drove him to such a pitch of craving, he had to resist the urge to swive her every time she touched him. “Well?”

Her grip on his shoulders firmed, as her hips performed a tentative circle. “That’s nice.”

Hugo closed his eyes in an agony of pleasure. “Yes, it is.”

It was better than nice. It was bloody marvelous. Her brazen appreciation for this new position stirred both his body and his emotions. Even more tentatively, she rose on her thighs. He gulped and closed his eyes. The slow rocking tortured him with the wildest extremes of pleasure.

“You don’t look like you’re enjoying it,” she muttered, stopping without moving away.

His eyes cracked open, and he greeted that fatuous statement with an incredulous snort. “Don’t be a henwit, Athene. I’ve dreamed of this ever since we met. You’re the most perfect lover I could imagine. In fact, you’re so perfect, you incinerate my wildest imaginings to dust.”

A frown drew her winged dark brows together. “Hugo, you can’t say things like that.”

“I can if they’re true,” he protested. Despite his promise to leave her in charge, he couldn’t help tilting his hips up.

The doubtful glance she sent him dissolved into a haze of pleasure. She moved more confidently. He released another groan and placed his hands on her breasts. Her satiny skin was soft beneath his touch. His thumbs flicked against the pert nipples.

“I like that.”

He squeezed the generous curves. “This position has its advantages.”

“Easy access?” she asked with a giggle of such salacious suggestiveness that his balls tightened.

Relishing the way his caresses made her grip him, he went back to toying with her pink, pointed nipples. She breathed in erratic gusts as she undulated over him. The smallest shift set pleasure roaring through his blood, even as her uninhibited enjoyment made him fight to hold back.

Hugo took one nipple into his mouth, using his tongue.

Then, as he’d promised, his teeth scraped across the sensitive peak.

She cried out and buried her hands in his hair.

The next time, he was less gentle, and he felt her tremble then crash over into a climax.

As she quaked and moaned, she squeezed him.

He bore it as long as he could. Which wasn’t very long at all.

Watching Athene reach the summit was the most thrilling sight in the world.

With urgent, clumsy haste, he pushed her back against the pillows then pulled free to spill on her stomach again. He grabbed for another towel to wipe the mess away. Then he dipped his head to place a kiss just below her navel.

As her orgasm ebbed, her breasts rose and fell.

Her arms draped at her sides, as loose as string.

Her palms lay open against the sheets. Her expression was soft and dazed as if she, like Hugo, had visited a new universe and now had trouble adjusting back to this world. She was the image of female satiation.

He settled beside her and drew her into his arms. “You’re incomparable, Athene.”

Hugo couldn’t be sure she heard him. With an incoherent murmur, she relaxed in his hold.

Already half asleep, he tangled his hand in her hair and gathered her close.

Another of those sweet little murmurs. Hugo remained alert enough – just – to sense the moment that she yielded to exhaustion and slept safe in his arms.