he asked, gesturing to the buttons on the placket of his breeches.
Feeling as if she was about to unwrap a highly anticipated present, she rose to her knees and crawled towards him. Kneeling before him on the bed, she stroked the pads of her fingers over his warm chest. She didn’t think she would ever grow tired of feeling his skin against hers.
He caressed her arms and kissed the sensitive area where her neck met her shoulder. Dropping her hands lower, she ran her hand over his hard length. He was breathing more deeply into her neck, and when Katrina had opened the last button on his breeches she took him into her hand.
Wanting to see all of him, she moved back a bit. Their foreheads touched. They both watched Julian cover her hand with his and show her how to give him pleasure. Was this part of him always this hard?
The tip of his length grew slick. Lifting her hand, she marvelled at her wet finger. She wasn’t the only one growing wet from all this touching and kissing. Wondering what it tasted like, Katrina licked her thumb.
‘Oh, God...’ Julian groaned.
She looked up at him, worried she had done something wrong. ‘Should I not have done that?’
He answered by pushing her back onto the bed and stretching his body over hers. ‘Please tell me you know what occurs in the marriage bed.’ His chest was rising and falling as if he had run a far distance.
She nodded. Julian closed his eyes, and Katrina held her breath. Then he thrust himself inside her.
Her body stiffened at the invasion and she clutched his shoulder. His motionless body felt like marble above her. She wished he would go back to doing what he had been doing to her earlier. It had felt much nicer.
She shifted a little, to adjust her position. Julian lifted his eyelids slightly and looked down at her. ‘Please, Kat, don’t move.’ He let out a breath and closed his eyes again.
Was this painful for him? Having him inside her was very uncomfortable. She was certain she was going to be sore afterwards. But Katrina refused even to twitch.
‘How long do we have to stay like this?’
Julian opened his eyes, a questioning look on his face.
‘For there to be a child,’ she explained.
He started to laugh, and it reverberated throughout her entire body. Grinning, he kissed her forehead. ‘We need to do a little more than this.’
Well, that wasn’t an answer. Would they stay like this for a few minutes? Surely he couldn’t mean an hour?
He must have noticed her confusion, because he lowered his head and kissed her slowly. Then he pulled his hips back. Katrina thought they were finished—until he thrust into her again. This time she grabbed his hips to hold him in place. That had felt good—very, very good! Her eyes dropped to where their bodies were joined and her lips parted.
When she looked back up at him, Julian arched his brow. ‘You like that, do you?’
Unable to form words, she nodded and wrapped her legs around him, trying to bring him closer. What had started off as gentle soon became urgent.
He seemed to grow even larger inside her.
Katrina’s muscles tightened again.
The veins in his neck became more pronounced and he let out a loud groan.
She might have made a noise. She wasn’t certain.
Suddenly his body dropped down, pressing her into the bed. They were each struggling to catch their breath and the sound was loud in her ears.
He eventually propped himself up above her on his forearms and she wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt safe and secure.
His gaze was laced with concern. ‘Did I hurt you?’
Shaking her head, she traced his lips with her finger. He caught it between his teeth and drew it into his mouth. His warm, wet tongue twirled around it before he began to suck on it the way he had sucked on her nipples—pulling and drawing. There was a ripple from her finger down to where they had been joined.
‘Oh, you’re very good at this, aren’t you?’ she said.
He grinned and released her finger.
‘I’m glad you convinced me to leave our wedding breakfast early,’ she said, drawing circles with her nail on the small of his back. ‘I find I am very content with you here.’
He lifted his head from where he was nuzzling her neck. ‘Did you just say you were content with me?’
‘Yes, I believe I did.’
‘Content. Content? That seems a bit...insulting,’ he said with a twitch of his lips.
‘Forgive me. I did not intend to injure your pride. Perhaps I should say I’m pleased with you.’
‘Pleased? Yesterday you said you were “pleased” with the book you were reading.’
She grinned. ‘Very well. Perhaps you should tell me what you think of me. It may serve as inspiration.’
‘Somehow I believe you are simply looking for pretty compliments.’
‘And you are not?’
His eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘Had I only known I would be facing discourse such as this across the breakfast table each morning, I might have reconsidered speaking with you on the de Lievens’ terrace.’
She recalled that night, and how they had bumped into one another in the drawing room. What if her father had never been asked to come to London? And what if Julian had stood somewhere else? If it had been raining, would they even have spoken? They certainly would not have done so on the terrace.
He kissed her temple. ‘I love you, Katrina.’
‘And I love you, Julian.’
Life could be strange that way. Moments you thought were mundane could be the moments that change your life forever.
* * * * *
Laurie Benson
Confessions of a Regency duke...
When the Duke of Winterbourne proposed to Olivia, she felt like the luckiest girl alive. Their happy marriage was the envy of the ton. But all that changed when Gabriel wasn’t there the night Olivia gave birth to their son...
Gabriel’s life is rooted in darkness, and he’s learned the hard way not to trust anyone with the truth. Yet, now his wife wants to try for another child...and Gabriel must bare his secrets in order to bring Olivia back into his bed, and by his side, forever!
