Sleepless at Midnight (33 page)

“I don’t see any freckles here,” she said, her breath warm against his skin. She kissed her way across his chest in gentle nibbles while her hands skimmed up and down his back. A low rumble of approval vibrated in his throat. Her hands on him just felt so…incredibly…good.

Not wanting to interrupt her exploration but unable to keep from touching her, he rested his hands on her hips and lightly kneaded her supple flesh.

He watched her kiss her way across his chest, then, with her lips hovering above his nipple, she asked, “Is it safe to say that if I find something highly pleasurable, you would as well?”

“Absolutely ” His answer ended with a quick intake of breath when her tongue swirled around his nipple. Bloody hell, she was an apt pupil. He closed his eyes, instantly imagining all the things he planned to do to her and her responding in kind. The mere thought shaved several more layers off his rapidly diminishing control. Not a good sign, as he hadn’t even removed his breeches yet. After kissing her way back again, she lifted her head and reported, “I discovered only three freckles and one small scar. Right here.” She ran her finger over the faded mark. “How did that happen?”

“As a pudgy, clumsy youth, I found out the hard way that I wasn’t good at climbing trees. There’s another scar on the back of my thigh, courtesy of that same tumble.” He heaved an exaggerated put-upon sigh. “I suppose you’ll want to see that scar as well.”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” she answered in a prim tone.

“I’ll attempt not to complain overly much.”

He sat on the bed and pulled off his boots, then stood. Holding his hands out to his sides, he flicked his gaze down to his obviously tented breeches, then murmured, “Have at it.”

In that extremely apt way of hers that he was coming to appreciate more and more with each passing second, she quickly figured out the way of things and unfastened the front placard of his breeches. With his straining erection finally free of the confines of the snug material, he helped her remove the garment. After tossing it on their pile of discarded clothing, he stood before her and allowed her to look her fill, as she’d allowed him.

“Oh, my,” she whispered, her gaze riveted on his jutting arousal, which seemed to swell further under her avid scrutiny. She slowly extended her hand, and his entire body tightened in anticipation of her touch. “May I?” she asked.

“I may actually expire if you don’t,” he said through gritted teeth. Her fingers brushed over him, and his eyes slammed shut at the intense rush of pleasure. Bloody hell. She’d barely touched him and already he’d forgotten how to breathe.

“You’re so hard,” she said, her voice filled with wonder as her fingers danced over him.

“You have no idea.”

“Yet so silky smooth.”

Opening his eyes, he watched her fingers lightly encircle him, a sight that all but smote him where he stood. When she gently squeezed, a low growl escaped him. Looking into his eyes, she gave him another gentle squeeze, which elicited another groan.

“You seem to like that,” said his very apt pupil.

“You have no idea.”

Sheer delight glittered in her eyes, and she continued her explorations, each caress sweet torture. He skimmed his hands upward to tease her taut nipples. “It occurs to me that you’re doing more exploring than I am,” he said, his voice sounding as if he’d swallowed gravel.

“’Tis only fair. If you’ll recall our last encounter in my bedchamber, you’ve already touched more of me.”

One hand trailed down to brush over the dark curls at the apex of her thighs. Her breathing hitched at the caress, and he said, “I’m not likely to ever forget without benefit of a severe coshing.”

She flashed a teasing grin and arched her body back, away from his fingers. “There will be none of that not while I’m exploring. It’s far too distracting. While you are clearly experienced in these matters, I am not. I’m merely attempting to catch up a bit so as not to bore you.”

“I assure you, there is no…ahhh…” Damn. Inexperienced though her touch might be, it was driving him to the brink of insanity. “No chance of me being bored. Although I seriously don’t know how much more of that I can take.”

A slow smile curved her lips, and her eyes danced with mischief. “Then I must be doing it correctly. Because that is precisely how you made me feel.”

“I believe I detect a bit of the revenge seeker in you, Sarah. It is an aspect of your nature I wasn’t previously aware of.”

“If I recall correctly, revenge is exactly what you were seeking the last time you entered my bedchamber. Hmmm…to quote a very wise man who, oddly enough, greatly resembles you, ‘Finding fault with someone else for faults that are conspicuously their own…I believe that it is referred to as the pot calling the kettle black.’”

The entire time she spoke, her fingers never ceased their maddening strokes, and he now stood in jeopardy of spilling into her hands. “This talent you have of recalling my words verbatim I’m not sure I like it.”

Her smile widened, deepening her dimples. “When the words are used against you, I’m certain you don’t. But, as I’ve discovered, you do like this…”

She stroked her fingers along his aching length, and with a groan, he reached down and stilled her hand. “That’s all I can take.”

“Very well. I’ll see if I can find that other scar you mentioned.”

He wanted to simply snatch her against him, pin her beneath him, and put out this fire raging through his veins. But one look at the budding passion and discovery gleaming in her eyes, and he couldn’t deny her. Fisting his hands at his sides and praying for strength, he again said, “Have at it.”

Her fingers slid from his erection and he breathed a sigh of relief as she slowly walked around to stand behind him. His relief was short-lived, however, when she lightly circled her fingertips over the small of his back.

“You told me that this is one of the most sensitive spots on a woman’s body.” Her warm breath blew across his shoulders, tensing them. “Is it one of the most sensitive for a man as well?”

Bloody hell. It was one thing for him to stand still and allow her to explore, but quite another to attempt answering questions. Her fingers skimmed over his lower spine again. It felt as if every muscle in his body jumped in response. Gritting his teeth against the tingling pleasure, he ground out, “Seems so.”

“Interesting. Now where is that scar?” Her fingers cruised lower, tickling over his buttocks and the backs of his thighs. A shudder ran through him, and he knew his control was about to snap. Her arms came around his waist and she stepped close behind him, pressing her front again his back. The feel of her skin touching his from shoulder to knee, while her hands skimmed over his abdomen…one more touch and

Her fingers grazed the tip of his erection, and he was done. He turned and in one fluid motion scooped her up in his arms and deposited her on the counterpane, where she landed with a gentle bounce. He climbed onto the bed, gently parted her thighs then knelt between them. He drew a careful breath at the sight of her glistening sex, and reaching out, lightly caressed the swollen, wet folds.

A long sigh escaped her and she squirmed against his hand. She was ready. Thank God, because he couldn’t wait any longer.

He settled himself between her splayed thighs then lowered his mouth to hers for a long, deep kiss, his tongue matching the slow, teasing glide of the head of his penis along her wet cleft. Slowly lifting his head to end the kiss, he looked down into her beautiful, wide eyes and felt his heart shift. “As you are so fond of asking may I?”

“As you are so fond of answering I may expire if you don’t.”

He propped his weight on his forearms and watched her face as he slowly entered her, absorbing every nuance of her expression. When he reached the barrier of her maidenhead, he paused for an instant, then thrust. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

“Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No. Just…surprised me.”

Buried to the hilt in her exquisitely tight, wet heat, Matthew struggled to remain still. When he could no longer do so, he rocked his hips slightly. Again her eyes widened.

“Oh, my…Do that again.”

“My pleasure.”

Bloody hell, there he was, uttering another huge understatement. With his gaze on hers, he withdrew nearly all the way from her body then slowly sank deep into her slick heat. Again, again, long delicious slides into her body that clamped around him like a velvet fist. Her breathing deepened, quickened, her eyes slid shut and her lips parted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved beneath him, awkwardly at first, but it didn’t take her long to match his rhythm. He watched her arousal build and fought to keep his own in check. His thrusts lengthened, quickened, deepened, until she cried out and arched beneath him. The instant her rippling tremors subsided, he withdrew, an effort that nearly killed him. With his body pressed tightly against hers, his release thundered through him, racking jolts of pleasure that dragged a long groan from his very soul. Utterly spent, he collapsed on top of her, buried his face in the fragrant warmth of her neck and closed his eyes.

When his breathing had slowed to something that resembled normal, he lifted his head. And found her looking up at him through glowing eyes.

“Oh, my,” she whispered. “That was…”

He brushed a damp curl from her cheek. “Yes, it was.”

She cleared her throat. “Um, Matthew?”

“Yes?”

“Do you recall how I said I want to experience everything I can, just this once, with you?”

One corner of his mouth quirked. “I’m not apt to forget such an arousing statement.”

“Well, I’ve changed my mind.”

“I’m afraid it’s a bit too late.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean the ‘just this once’ part. I’m afraid that I found that so incredibly delightful that ‘once’ is simply not going to be enough.”

“I see. So you wish to have your wicked way with my body again tonight?”

“If you don’t mind terribly much.”

“I’ll try to grin and bear it.”

Her smile bloomed and she pulled his head down for a kiss. And as his lips met hers, he knew that just once wouldn’t be enough for him either.

When his inner voice informed him that one million times wouldn’t be enough, he managed, with a great deal of effort, to ignore it.

Chapter 16

Dull gray streaks of a rain-soaked dawn were just touching the sky when Matthew slipped from Sarah’s bed. Before reaching for his clothes, he gazed down at her, momentarily unable to look away from the picture she made, her hair fanned out across the pillows, one bare shoulder peeking from beneath the counterpane. After they’d made love a second time, she’d fallen asleep, her head pillowed on his chest, one arm slung across his abdomen, one thigh nestled between his. He’d remained awake, staring at the ceiling, listening to her breathe, brushing gentle kisses against her hair. Absorbing the feel of her cuddled against him.

But now their night was over and he needed to return to his own bedchamber before the household arose. With his gaze still resting on her sleeping form, he scooped up his breeches from the floor and donned them. Leaving her bed and walking out of this room were proving far more difficult than he’d anticipated. He’d expected to enjoy their night together, seducing her, introducing her to lovemaking, teaching her to enjoy pleasure.

But he hadn’t expected to feel as if he were the one being seduced. The one being introduced to the beauty of lovemaking. The one being taught all the nuances of true pleasure. In spite of his previous experiences, it was at her unpracticed hands that he’d learned the difference between merely slaking one’s lust and sharing the physical act of lovemaking with someone you cared for. Nor had he anticipated the profound sense of peace that filled every crevice of his being. It seemed as if he’d exhausted himself for years searching for that elusive calm to fill his soul. Never would he have expected to find it in the arms of a virgin spinster. In fact, if anyone had suggested he would, he’d have laughed.

Which just showed he had a lot to learn. And Sarah sheltered, innocent Sarah, who hadn’t seen or done even a fraction of things he had knew more about life and love, generosity and kindness, than anyone he’d ever met. And in only a few short days she’d be gone from his life. Unless he found the money.

If he did, he could and would marry Sarah. At the mere thought, all the lonely darkness he’d envisioned looming on his horizon turned bright gold with sunshine. Which meant he had to find the money. It had to be there. He had three days and the remaining acres of the rose garden in which to find it. And by God, he was determined to do so.

He grabbed up his wrinkled shirt and quickly finished dressing. Then, after brushing a tender kiss against Sarah’s temple, he quit the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Striding quickly down the corridor toward his bedchamber, he’d just rounded the corner when he halted. Walking toward him, less than a dozen feet away, was Daniel. Daniel who was frowning and looking down and clearly hadn’t noticed him yet. Daniel who’d obviously been outside because he was soaking wet and more than a little bedraggled.

At that moment Daniel looked up and his footsteps faltered. Their gazes met, and for just an instant something flashed in Daniel’s eyes, something Matthew couldn’t decipher; a look he couldn’t recall ever seeing from his friend before.

Matthew’s brows rose and his gaze ran down Daniel’s sopping, mud-splattered clothes. “Where have you been?”

In the exact same manner, Daniel’s brows rose and his gaze ran over Matthew, noting, Matthew knew, the rumpled, disheveled state of his clothing. “I think it’s obvious where I’ve been,” Daniel said in a low voice, walking closer to him. “Outside.”