Andrea Kane (23 page)

Braden gave it to her.

He moved to her other breast, tugging hard at the aroused nipple without preliminaries at the same time that his hand slid between Kassie’s shaking thighs, claiming her warm, wet softness in a devastating caress that made her sob out his name and dig her fingers into his shoulders.

Openmouthed, Braden moved down her body, defining every inch with his lips and tongue, his fingers sensuously stroking the pulsing, yearning flesh between her legs. Kassie was writhing beneath him, unable to lie still and endure the nearly painful pleasure that coursed through her veins at each hungry caress.

“Braden … stop … I can’t …” she begged.

This time he understood that her plea had nothing to do with fear.

“Yes,” he whispered back. “You can.” He circled her navel with his tongue at the same time that he slid his fingers deep inside her.

Kassie cried out, her inner muscles tightening reflexively around his fingers.

Braden felt his own body leap in response. “You’re so tight,” he rasped. He moved further down in the bed, pressing apart her legs and sliding his hands beneath her before she knew what he intended.

At the first stroke of his tongue her eyes flew open in shock. “Oh, Braden … don’t … you can’t …”

He was lost in her taste, her scent, the very essence of her. “Yes,” he breathed, “I can.”

Kassie never knew when her protests became pleas. All she knew was that she would die if he stopped, that a pleasure like none she had ever known was building inside her, coiling tighter and tighter with each stroke of Braden’s tongue, each brush of his lips, until she was sobbing aloud for him to ease the unbearable longing inside her.

Again and again Braden took her to the very edge, refusing to relinquish her to the finality of her release, unwilling to give up the sheer ecstasy of this ultimate possession of his wife. At last, when Kassie’s cries became frantic, when Braden’s own need was so out of control that prolonging the moment became untenable, he tore his mouth from her dewy sweetness and moved his powerful frame up and over her soft, shaking body.

She opened to him without hesitation, wrapping her arms about him and gazing up at him with hunger, with adoration, with trust.

Braden ran his hands down her body, lifted her legs to hug his flanks. “I don’t … want … to hurt you,” he managed through clenched teeth, struggling for a control that had long since evaporated. With a will of their own his hips flexed forward, forcing his rigid, engorged manhood into the warm opening of Kassie’s body. “Kassie,” he groaned, closing his eyes and bracing himself as he fought to slow the penetration.

Kassie’s inexperienced young body was desperate for release, a release that was a mere pulsebeat away and that she knew only Braden could give her. She sensed he was holding back for her sake, but she no longer gave a damn whether he hurt her or not. She was frantic.

Urgently she reached between their bodies, her fingers closing around his throbbing shaft, forcing him deeper into her wet, pliant body.

Braden’s eyes flew open. “Kassandra …” He dragged her hand away and plunged into her with a driving thrust that made them both cry out.

There was no turning back, no slowing down. The floodgates of their passion burst open, and Braden took her with a wild desperation that he had never known he possessed. Again and again he buried himself inside her, helplessly surrendering to feelings that had everything and nothing to do with desire. He felt Kassie’s nails score his back, felt her legs tighten about him mere seconds before she arched up to him on a broken cry. Braden crushed her to him, melding their bodies, swallowing her cry with his mouth. She shuddered beneath him, her inner muscles rhythmically contracting around him, caressing him in spasms of completion.

And then it was upon him. A climax that ignited inside him like a blazing inferno licked through his veins like live flames and erupted in scalding bursts of fire, flooding from Braden’s body to Kassie’s in an explosion of sensation that tore a hoarse shout from deep within his chest.

He called her name over and over, whispered it into her hair long after the highest peak had been reached and passed. Slowly he rolled to one side, cradling her in his strong arms, their bodies still joined.

Kassie couldn’t stop shaking. She felt drained and renewed and more in love than she had ever dreamed possible. Closing her eyes, she buried her face against the warmth of Braden’s powerful, hair-roughened chest, reveling in his tenderness, rejoicing in the passion and the pleasure she had brought him.
He loves me,
she thought with wonder,
I know he does.
No man could make love to a woman with such selfless intensity unless he felt something far greater than lust.

She sighed with pleasure, pressing herself closer to her husband’s hard, damp body.

“Keep that up and I’m going to make love to you again.” Braden’s voice was a lazy caress, his lips buried in her hair.

Kassie leaned back in his arms and looked up at him with a dazzling smile. “Would that be so bad?”

Braden looked startled, then he chuckled, delighted by her enthusiastic response to their passion. “No, my beautiful, honest wife, that would be magnificent.” He rubbed his thumb thoughtfully across her kiss-swollen mouth. “I would never have waited so long to make you mine,” he confessed huskily, “had I not been worried about hurting you … frightening you.”

Kassie parted her lips, her warm breath teasing his thumb as she spoke. “I could never be afraid of you, Braden,” she murmured reverently. “Never.”

Braden watched the mesmerizing motion of her tongue, his body reacting instantly to her words, her mouth. “No,” he said aloud. He eased gently from her clinging warmth but kept his arms locked tightly around her. “Your poor body has endured about all it can for one day.”

Kassie looked puzzled. “Endured?” She slid her hands up his back to his shoulder blades. “But Braden,” she whispered, still shivering a bit, “it was heaven.”

Would he ever get used to the unique wonder of her astonishing, unspoiled innocence, her utterly guileless charm? Braden felt his chest tighten. “I’m glad I made you happy, sweetheart,” he said softly, stroking her hot cheek with his knuckles. “But today was your first experience with lovemaking. I think you should rest.”

Kassie flushed, reminded of how naïve she must seem to him. Braden had known so many women … had he shared these intimacies with them? The thought cast a small cloud on Kassie’s euphoria, but she forced it away. Braden was hers …
hers.

“It’s been difficult for you, hasn’t it,
ma petite
?”

Braden’s words made Kassie tense. He couldn’t know what she was thinking, could he?

“Difficult?” she repeated.

“Um-hum.” He kissed her shoulder, wishing he hadn’t promised himself not to make love to her again. Already he was on fire for her. With a resolute sigh he rolled onto his back and pressed her head against his chest. “You’ve been alone a great deal these past weeks.”

Kassie looked up at him in surprise. “I’m used to that, Braden. I’ve been alone most of my life.”

She said the words without bitterness or anger, but they made Braden wince all the same. “I wanted more for you once you came to Sherburgh,” he told her. “I want you to be happy.”

She smiled, stretching like a contented kitten. “I am happy.”

Braden’s gaze fell to her full, naked breasts, feeling his body harden painfully in response. She was so incredibly beautiful … so totally uninhibited in his arms. Reflexively he bent his head and touched one nipple lightly with his tongue. “How would you feel about a house party?” he asked, knowing that in seconds he would lose his train of thought entirely.

Kassie’s eyes were already becoming smoky with passion. “A house party?” she echoed, gliding her fingers down the taut planes of his abdomen.

Braden’s breath came faster. “Yes. A party. Here. At Sherburgh,” he managed, conscious only of her teasing fingers moving lower and lower on his body.

“It sounds wonderful,” she murmured, hovering, watching his expression grow hard with passion, his eyes darken to a deep gray.

He caught her wrist. “I’ll invite a minimal number of guests. But it is time for the world to meet my duchess.” His burning gaze held hers.

“Yes, Braden,” she said softly, tugging her hand free and snuggling closer. “I think it is a splendid idea.”

He inhaled the scent of her skin, the musky smell of their lovemaking, and he felt his resolve deteriorate. “I’ll go over the guest list with you,” he rasped, licking his dry lips, “and answer all your questions so … you’ll … feel … prepared. …” He broke off as Kassie’s small hand found him and began to explore his hard, pulsing length. She caressed gently, reverently, enthralled by the velvety texture of his rigid flesh.

“I do have one question,” she whispered, wriggling down in the bed.

“What?” Braden was aware of nothing but her touch.

“The way you loved me before … with your mouth. Would it give you pleasure if I loved you that way?”

Braden didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Kassie got her answer in the way Braden’s hands clenched in her hair and drew her to him; in the wild leap his body gave when her lips closed around his throbbing shaft; in the broken, erotic words that poured uncontrollably from his mouth; and finally in the violent way he dragged her from him, crushed her beneath him, and buried himself within her wildly shuddering body.

“You’re mine, Kassie,” he gasped, pouring himself deep inside her. “Mine. Now. Always. You belong to me.”

The words echoed inside Kassie’s heart, lulling her to sleep in Braden’s arms.

There were no nightmares that night.

“ARE YOU
SURE
THE
bodice isn’t too low?”

Kassie turned anxious eyes to Margaret, who shook her head firmly from side to side.

“The gown is perfect on you, Your Grace! Why, it is the very height of fashion! Stop fretting so. The duke will be speechless with admiration!” Her eyes twinkled.

Kassie raised a skeptical brow. “I doubt that, Margaret. I have yet to see Braden speechless.” She cast another anxious glance at her reflection in the huge oval mirror. “Do you really think I will do?”

Margaret beamed. The rich sapphire gown swirled in delicate folds of silk about Kassie’s ankles. The deeply cut bodice and long, tapered sleeves were trimmed with velvet, and the hemline was embellished with fine layers of lace. Kassie’s cheeks were flushed with excitement, the brilliant color of her eyes more vivid due to the gown’s vibrant blue shade. Her carefully arranged ebony curls provided a startling contrast to the creamy expanse of skin revealed above her bodice. Around her neck sparkled Braden’s latest gift, a magnificent strand of emeralds and sapphires identical to the ones that shimmered on Kassie’s wedding band.

“Will you do?” Margaret repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. “Why, not another woman in the room will compare to you in beauty or grace!”

Kassie chewed her lower lip, still plagued by insecurity. “They are all accomplished noblewomen,” she reminded her maid.

“
You
are a duchess,” Margaret countered.

“A duchess in name alone,” Kassie replied sadly. “No amount of finery in the world can make me what I am not.”

“Nobility of the blood pales beside nobility of the heart” was the wise reply.

Kassie gave Margaret a tender look. “ ’Tis a shame it is not my heart that will be on display tonight.”

“But it is your heart that has captured His Grace’s.”

Kassie’s face lit up with hope. Margaret had given voice to Kassie’s most fervent wish, one that seemed more plausible with each passing day … and night. Could Braden be falling in love with her?

Suddenly all her doubts seemed foolish, her reservations inane. She might be going into the lion’s den, but she was going on her husband’s arm. And
that
made all the difference in the world.

With a determined nod at her reflection Kassie made note of the time and headed toward the door. She had agreed to meet Braden at the foot of the stairway in five minutes, and she had no intention of being late.

“Thank you again, Margaret,” she said with a smile. “And wish me good luck—I shall need it!”

She made her way down the stairs leading to the ballroom Braden had designated for tonight’s festivities. Already the musicians were playing, the sound of soft music drifting out into the hallway mingled with laughter and conversation. In the ballroom’s open doorway Kassie could see Braden chatting with a group of gentlemen and patiently waiting for her to appear. The sight was both reassuring and oddly touching. Obviously her husband had not forgotten his promise to stand by her side and ease her way through the numerous introductions that would accompany her debut.

Head held high, Kassie glided toward Braden and the onset of the evening.

“Well, hello.”

A deep masculine voice from behind her made Kassie jump.

“I am terribly sorry. I did not mean to frighten you.”

Kassie studied the tall, lean man before her. He was very handsome, with dark brown hair and a ready smile. He was elegantly attired in formal evening clothes, a warm, interested look in his light brown eyes.

“I wasn’t frightened, only startled,” she denied. “I had no idea anyone was out here.”

He smiled. “Nor did I. But I must say that I am delighted that I was wrong.” His admiring gaze drank in her radiant beauty.

Kassie inclined her head, giving him a curious look. “Have you just arrived?” she asked in her customarily straightforward manner.

He looked surprised, then pleased. All the women he knew would have dropped their eyes and feigned a blush at his openly hungry appraisal, while this luscious beauty was doing neither, but staring back at him with candid interest. Perhaps tonight would not be so unpleasant as he had originally anticipated.

“Yes, it would seem I arrived at precisely the right moment,” he answered in a voice as smooth as honey. “And forgive my poor display of manners; we have not been introduced.” He took her hand, caressing it lightly with his thumb. “I am Grant Chandling, Viscount Chisdale. Our host and I are old friends.”