A Hellion In Her Bed Part 24

She found it hard to breathe. "And which of those two am I? A taproom maid or a lady of easy virtue?"

"Neither." He flashed her a rueful smile. "You're in a category all your own." He reached up to thread his fingers through her hair, tugging it loose of its pins. "Country G.o.ddesses. G.o.ddesses of the harvest, perhaps-Ceres or Demeter."

"They're also the G.o.ddesses of fertility, so I don't think that's a good choice, given what we're about to do," she said dryly.

He laughed.

"If I must be a deity, I prefer Minerva. She's clever and beautiful, and she's the G.o.ddess of commerce."

"Sorry, but that one's not a choice," he said as he spread her hair over her shoulders.

"Because she's a virgin?" she said, disappointed.

"Because my sister is named after her." He untied her s.h.i.+ft. "And what I'm feeling for you isn't the least bit brotherly, dearling."

Dearling. His use of the endearment, even after all that had happened today, made a lump catch in her throat.

He started to push her s.h.i.+ft from her shoulders, but she caught his hands. "Not yet. Your turn."

Eyes alight, he tore off his moleskin coat and striped waistcoat, then tossed them onto the writing table. His cravat and braces swiftly followed. When he removed his s.h.i.+rt, she caught her breath at the sight of his naked chest with its sprinkling of dark hair, the muscles clearly defined. It wasn't the body of the indolent aristocrat that she'd expected. He was rapier-lean and fit, a Greek G.o.d in the flesh. Apollo himself could not rival his well-hewn body.

"Like what you see?" he asked roughly. He threw his s.h.i.+rt aside and sat down in the chair to tug off his boots.

"Perhaps," she teased.

His eyes darkened. Leaning back in the chair, he spread his legs. "Come here, you coy minx."

Her throat went dry at the sight of his rampant arousal straining against his moleskin trousers. "I thought I was a G.o.ddess," she said lightly as she did his bidding.

"Ah, but we haven't decided which one." When she got close enough, he leaned forward to pull her between his legs. "I begin to think that Venus suits you best." He teased her bare breast. "The G.o.ddess of beauty."

And the G.o.ddess of love, she thought, though she didn't dare say it. As his mouth closed over her breast, she didn't even dare think it. Because he was being so tender, so pa.s.sionate, it made her want to weep. It made him even more dangerous to her than when he'd been angry.

Clutching his head to her breast, she prayed she could spend this night with him and not lose her heart. He wouldn't want it, and she couldn't bear to have it trampled on.

He tongued her nipple, then tugged it with his teeth, sending a jolt of pleasure from her breast to her belly. As if knowing what effect he had on her, he slipped his hand beneath her s.h.i.+ft and into the slit in her drawers, to find where she was already liquid and eager for him.

"My G.o.d," he murmured against her breast, "you feel like hot silk, warm and ready for my touch."

She wasn't the only one ready. She brought her knee up to stroke him through his trousers. With a low moan, he pulled her to sit astride him until her tender parts lay flush against his trapped arousal. He rocked against her, and the feeling was exquisite, the silky fabric of his trousers like a caress.

He returned to sucking her breast, teasing it with teeth and tongue, then sucking the other with the same intensity. Meanwhile, he thrust against her over and over, heightening her enjoyment, making her go all fluid and hot inside.

Next thing she knew, he'd edged her back enough so he could reach the little b.u.t.ton of flesh between her legs that ached for his touch. His mouth and hands fondled her in tandem, rousing such intense pleasure in her belly, she thought she might scream. Soon he had her gasping and leaning into his hand, wanting more, needing more.

"Definitely Venus," he growled as he strummed her like Apollo strumming his golden lyre.

"Jarret ..." she breathed. "Oh, heavens."

"I'll give you the heavens, my beautiful Venus. That's where a G.o.ddess belongs." He slid one finger, then another into her slick sheath. "G.o.d, you're tight. And so tempting, I don't know how much longer I can wait to be inside you."

"You don't have to wait." She reached down to fumble with the fastenings of his trousers. "There's no need."

His breath coming in great, hard gasps, he set her back and rose to shed his trousers, drawers, and stockings. Her eyes went wide at the sight of him-lean-hipped and sinewy, with a thin dusting of black hair. And between his well-wrought thighs ...

Lord save her. She hadn't seen his member half so well in the dim light of the barn, but now she was getting quite a good look. Fully erect, his rigid flesh sprang heavy and dark from a dense thatch of curls.

Rupert had been slender, his member long but barely over an inch thick. Jarret's was easily twice that large, and beneath her gaze, it seemed to grow even more.

"Take off your s.h.i.+ft and your drawers," he commanded in a guttural voice. "I want to look at you, too."

Though she slid out of her drawers and tossed them aside, she hesitated to remove her last piece of modesty. Would he be able to see the faint lines that her pregnancy had left on her belly? And if he did, would he realize what they meant?

It wasn't as if she had a choice. If she continued to balk at removing her s.h.i.+ft, he would wonder why. Perhaps the dim light would hide her sins.

Before she could act, he stepped forward to tug her s.h.i.+ft the rest of the way off. "I never thought to see you shy, dearling." He scoured her with a frank appreciation that made her breath stop in her throat. "And there's certainly no need for it. You are even more lovely than I imagined."

He slid his arm about her waist to pull her close, and his aroused flesh pressed into her below, reminding her that there was one thing she must make certain of before they went any further.

"You said you would take precautions," she whispered.

"Ah, yes." Releasing her, he went to the table and fumbled in the pocket of his coat.

"What are you doing?" she asked, bewildered.

He removed something and held it up to the light. "Taking precautions."

She stared in confusion at the long silky tube dangling from his fingers. "But that's not what Rupert ... I mean, he ..."

"Let me guess," Jarret remarked as he slid the tube over his erect member. "He withdrew from you before spilling his seed."

"Yes! He said that it would protect me from ... having a child."

"It's not the best method," he told her as he tied off the tube, then came toward her. "You were lucky that it worked. It doesn't always."

She certainly knew that to be true. Swallowing hard, she dipped her head to indicate his strangely garbed male member. "And does that work?"

A smile flitted over his lips. "Cundums have always worked for me." As he reached her, he drew her into his arms. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

She certainly hoped so. All his talk about the G.o.ddesses of fertility made her nervous. She didn't need any excess of fertility tonight.

Yet as he backed her toward the bed, his mouth seeking hers again, she wondered what it would be like to bear him a child as his wife. Would he stay by her side, as Hugh had done for all of Sissy's children, or would he pace the halls in a frenzy? Would he be delighted with a baby, or annoyed that his pleasures were to be curtailed by an infant's demands? She was sure he would make a good father-she had only to remember how he'd been with Geordie to realize that.

Stop thinking such things, she told herself as an old wives' tale rose in her head about how if one dreamed of a baby, one would conceive. G.o.d only knows what would happen if one dreamed of conceiving while bedding a man. That was surely asking for trouble.

Once he tumbled her onto the bed she had no problem putting the thought from her mind, for he was settling his body between her legs and fondling her below, his mouth scattering kisses over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and shoulders and throat. "I could taste you all night, my sweet Venus," he whispered. "You taste like honey."

The reverence in his voice made tears burn the back of her throat. Would any other man be so careful with a woman he knew was unchaste? His tenderness was about to destroy her.

Not all of him was tender, though. His member lay hot and rigid against her thigh, sparking the tiniest bit of fear in her belly. She wasn't sure she could take the whole thing inside. Rupert's slender shaft had been difficult enough to manage. Though she knew that the pain she'd suffered had been a product of her innocence, would a ... a thing as large as Jarret's hurt her?

If it did, she would bear it as best she could. That part only lasted moments anyway, thank heaven. This was what she enjoyed, the kissing, the touching, the caressing.

She was glad when he continued to stroke and caress her, to kiss and fondle her. It emboldened her to do the same to him, exploring the fine curls on his chest, the flexing muscles of his thighs, even the firm flesh of his b.u.t.tocks.

When he tensed, she whispered, "Do you mind me touching you?"

"G.o.d, no. Touch whatever you like. Though it will shorten this considerably."

"Good." She wanted to have the actual act over with, so she wouldn't start fretting over the possibility of pain. So they could do more of the enjoyable part. "I want you, Jarret. I'm ready for you."

Something in her tone must have alerted him to her fears, for he drew back to stare at her. "Are you all right?"

She forced a smile. "It's just been ... a very long time."

His gaze narrowed on her. "And you were young, and he was young, and neither of you knew what you were doing. Right?"

She nodded.

"And it hurt."

"I know it won't hurt this time," she said hastily. "I'm not afraid."

A wry smile touched his lips. "You look afraid. But there's nothing to fear, dearling. Trust me." He lowered his head to nuzzle her jaw as he rose up and pressed the tip of his aroused flesh inside her. "Trust me ..." he murmured, sliding ever so slowly in. "Trust me ..." he whispered and drove into her with one silken thrust.

"Ohhh," she murmured, feeling relief surge through her. The alien fullness was unexpected but certainly not painful. And the intimacy of it roused a heat in her that was almost as good as the kissing. "That's not ... bad at all."

He chuckled against her neck. "We're only beginning, my Venus." He drew out, then thrust in. Warmth curled up from low in her belly and spread through her limbs.

Pressing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, "Before this night is over, I promise to have you begging for more."

"c.o.c.ky as always," she responded, his words sparking a thrill through her veins. "But I never beg."

"You will," he vowed, and plunged into her again. And again. And again, each stroke fiercer, harder, faster. Bracing himself up on one elbow, he reached down between them to finger her and fan the warmth in her belly to flame.

"Put your legs around me, dearling," he ordered.

When she did, he drove deeper, and wildfire scorched through her, igniting her into a ma.s.s of heat. "Oh my sweet heavens ..." she choked out, her body singing to the cadence of his thrusts.

"Better?" he rasped.

"Yes ... oh yes ... Jarret, my word ..."

His heated breath came heavily against her ear. "You're so tight, so sweet and tight and hot. I'm losing my mind ..."

She was losing her heart. She felt it slipping away with his every word. He was taking such care with her when he had no cause to do so, and it made her heart ache and yearn as much as his body was.

"Annabel, my G.o.ddess ..." he breathed. "Let me take you to the heavens."

"I'm already there ..."

He gave a choked laugh. "Not yet, but you will be."

After that, he spoke with his body, pounding into her, relentlessly teasing that sensitive place between her legs. Soon the ache in her belly became a dark pleasure, and then a spiraling hunger that had her writhing against him, raking her fingers down his back. She could hardly think for the sensations rocketing through her until joy suddenly vaulted her, high and sweet, taking her right up into the heavens.

She cried out until her throat was raw with her ecstasy, as he drove into her and uttered a cry of his own. Straining against her, he threw back his head with a look of rapt satisfaction as his body reached its final release.

It was magnificent. It was terrifying. For as she clasped him close and let the shocks of pleasure wash over her, she knew she was in danger of making a great mistake.

Losing her heart to a rogue.

Chapter Eighteen.

Jarret lay wrapped in his pleasure, utterly enthralled. He hadn't dreamed lovemaking could be so piercingly sweet. He still couldn't believe how freely Annabel had given herself to him after all his harsh words. He must have been mad to think she was using her body to reel him in. He'd never seen a woman approach the act with such innocent joy.

Guiding her to her release had been a delight beyond any he'd ever experienced in the bedchamber. And now what was he to do with her? Could he really just ride away from her in the morning?

The thought made something twist in his chest. Good G.o.d, when had he become so besotted by the tart-tongued brewster? He must be mad. Or she really was a G.o.ddess come to earth to enchant him.

"Jarret ..." she murmured softly, pressing her hands against his chest.

He must be crus.h.i.+ng her with his weight. It wasn't like him to forget himself so completely with a woman. He slid off as much as he could and flashed her an apologetic glance. "This bed wasn't made for two, I'm afraid."

"No," she said with a little s.h.i.+ver.

It dawned on him how naked they were. "You're cold." He grabbed the folded blanket lying at the foot of the bed and pulled it up over them. "Better?"

"Thank you, yes," she said, her voice shy.

He'd never seen her shy. It enchanted him even more. "Am I too heavy on you?" he asked, since half his body still covered hers. Their legs were entangled, and her arm was trapped beneath him.

"Not at the moment." She s.h.i.+fted from under him so she could lie on her side facing him. Her eyes looked suspiciously misty as she met his gaze.

He rubbed a tear from her cheek. "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head. "It was just so wonderful. I never thought ... I never dreamed ... I-It wasn't like that before ..."

When she trailed off, embarra.s.sed, he said soothingly, "It usually isn't. The first time between two virgins is never comfortable, from what I understand."

"It wasn't just that. You and I ... well, I know it was probably nothing special for you, but-"