Absolute Surrender (31 page)

It could not have been Charles. He would never be so coarse. And yet…he knew what to say to spark her curiosity. She looked at Charles, then a shiver ran her spine, settling at it
s
base. Hugh moved close behind her as she gazed at Charles.

The rending of her chemise was something she would remember for quite some time, the sound like the whisper of a tear, not loud enough to be satisfactory, but just enough that she knew it could never be worn again.

She sank into Hugh, letting the warmth soothe her, allowing it to traverse her skin, loosen her nerves. She nodded slowly, then watched as Charles moved to the bed. He took up at the head of the bed, his back against the wall, his legs spread before him.

“What are we…I thought that—”

“We have more to show you,” Hugh said.

“More?” She was jelly again, and Hugh lifted her from her feet, moving toward the bed. He laid her out like a banquet, first arranging her bottom between Charles’s legs. Charles took her head onto his chest, removing pins and spreading her loose hair across him, making sure none was caught.

Amelia looked at her tiny form surrounded by this man, the man who should be her husband. Charles had not run yet. Hugh had not sent him away. She had come apart in Charles’s arms and remembered every soul-shattering second of it. She tilted her head back to find him looking down at her, patiently, then his warm arms closed in, surrounding her rib cage, his hands settling on her breasts, his fingers swirling the small buds.

Amelia closed her eyes and sank into the sensations, willing the shadows he brought with him to recede.

What
’
s it feel like?
she thought. It
wa
s rather like the ripple in a pond, him tossing stone after stone, and she the water at his command. And the ripples, oh, the ripples.

It was then that she did scream. Charles’s name perhaps, or just the possibility of it, she wasn
’
t sure of its coherency. But he stilled, so she was quite certain it was aloud.
Please don
’
t stop,
she thought.

She opened her eyes on Hugh, and her world centered. Hugh stood at the foot of the bed, watching, his eyes so dark, his chest bare and moving steadily up and down. She watched it move, then saw the rapid flutter at the crest and reached up to Charles behind her. She put her hand on his neck, feeling the beat of his heart as she watched Hugh
’
s. Hugh. She concentrated on Hugh, and her breathing steadied, the shadows receded, the fear subsided, her bravery returned.

“I
’
m not sure what your intention is here. I realize you meant to…to introduce me to this, to make me…” She closed her eyes, then shook her head to clear her thoughts. “We are not done?” she choked out finally. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on something.

The ceiling needs dusting.

“Amelia.” The vibration against her back told her Charles had spoken before she heard her name. She smoothed her thumb across his shoulder to let him know she
’
d heard him, because words were beyond her at the moment. “We are far from done with you. Can you feel my heart race? This is what you do to me. To both of us.” The words were warm air across the crest of her ear.

Her eyes closed against the spin behind her eyes, the falling, then Hugh lightly touched her feet, ran his thumbs over their bridges in tandem, squeezed them gently.

“Come back, Amelia,” Hugh said, and she did.

Charles’s hands resumed their work on her breasts, and she arched into them.

“But I
’
m not ready. I
’
m not yet married, and my husband should—”

Charles’s hands stilled, and his arms wrapped about her carefully. She was more at ease with her breasts covered and attempted to forget that her nether bits were still out for perusal, as it were.

“I
’
m not yet married,” she whispered.

Hugh spoke then. “Our intention today is not to ruin you, but to do nothing more”—the bed dipped as his knee came up and his full weight was placed between her legs—“than to introduce you”—he pushed her legs up and open, resting them against Charles’s own knees—“to passion.”

Hugh
’
s hands skimmed up her thighs, and he lowered to the bed before her, his blond head sinking between her legs. He said one last thing that she thought would send her over the brink. “Oh, Amelia, but you are the most beautiful thing I
’
ve ever seen.” And he wasn
’
t looking at her face when he said it. The heat of a blush raced her skin. Hugh
’
s hand skimmed down her folds. “Soft as petals and pink as the blush on a rose.” Hugh
’
s fingers played, and she pushed back, her heels digging into the bed, pushing her into Charles’s
chest.

“
Oh, no no no, I can
’
t, I—”

“Hush, dear sweet Amelia. Remember, I have you,”
Charles said.

We will help you. We will not judge you.

“Charles?” She was worried and clenched her eyes, the image of Hugh between her legs more than she could bear. She felt Charles’s hands on her thighs just as she tensed, and they nearly snapped shut on Hugh
’
s head. Charles massaged her thighs. Then his legs lowered to the bed, and he moved hers over them, resting her legs across his knees, spreading her even wider, keeping her open. Then Charles wrapped his arms around her torso again.

Amelia was naked, and they still had their shoes on.

Their shoes. On the bed. With her…naked. On the bed. They were all on the bed. The three of them. At least my breasts are covered.

“Amelia.” The voice rumbled through her as Hugh dipped, and his tongue ran the length of her most intimate parts.

Amelia opened her lungs, and she screamed.

So inappropriate.
Hugh
’
s mouth was on her…
on
me
.
This was beyond the pale…surely unacceptable. Surely. Surely not something proper gentlemen would do. Surely not something a proper wife would allow.

Hugh looked up to her. “You taste so good, like lilac, honey, and woman,” Hugh said, before bowing his head once again.

I don’
t even know what that means. What does that mean?

Charles’s hands came back to her breasts, and she screamed again, arching away from him even as he held on to her, massaging, teasing, holding and caressing her heated flesh.

Her hand flung out, tangling in Hugh
’
s thick hair, but he was too far away for her to push, so she simply held on as Charles spoke. “Let it out, Amelia. Give it to the world. Nobody can hear you out here at the ends of the earth but us, and we
’
re here with you. We want to hear you, every bit of the passion you have, whatever you say, however it comes. Give it to us. Don
’
t hold back. Give us everything you have, my brave Amelia.”

Brave.

Her foot twitched, and Charles lifted his leg, no doubt to prevent Hugh from being kicked in the head.

“Talk to me, Amelia, talk to us. Seeing you laid out here before me, as Hugh gives you pleasure, is one of the most erotic things I
’
ve ever been witness to. Tell me what you feel. Tell me what you like.”

“I…I like…”

We will not judge you.

She closed her eyes to concentrate. “I like the feel of…of his tongue.”

She felt something. What did she feel? She concentrated, looked down at Hugh and realized what it was. She felt him smile against her.
There
. She felt Hugh smile against her most intimate parts. It was the oddest sensation.

She
’
d felt him smile against her neck, against her mouth. Perhaps that
’
s why this was so familiar—yet so
not
. Then his tongue flicked out and delved between her lips, and she simply lost her train of thought.

“Oh God oh God oh God, I can
’
t—” She twisted, and Charles’s arms roved. He tucked his head to the crook of her neck and sucked at her, kissed, bit her flesh then soothed it with the sweep of his tongue.

Hugh blew a breath over her. “Amelia, there are no words for the beauty that is you. This—” He circled and licked the little crux at the top of her quim, and she shuddered against his mouth. Hugh moaned.

Our hands, our mouths, our tongues
…your body.

Her other hand flew to Hugh
’
s head, as though she attempted to push him off again, but she found herself holding on tighter, not wanting him to leave.

Our hands, our mouths, our tongues
…your body.

Nothing between us.

She spun. Like a sudden drop, then complete darkness. She could hear muffled words, as though someone spoke on the other side of a linen closet.

Amelia concentrated.

Amelia, stay with me, darling.

Amelia concentrated, but knew it was too late. She succumbed to the darkness as the wet warmth left her to the cool air of the Cliff House.

Charles knew the second she was gone. Her body swayed and released, but not in the way they
’
d wished. Charles had never held her, been close to her, at the point at which her episodes took away with her completely. He saw her hands fall away from Hugh, and he lifted, shook his head, her arousal clear on his face. “It was so sudden. There was no—”

“Just…
give me a moment,
” Hugh said.

He smoothed his hands down her chest and abdomen, then back up. “Speak softly to her,” Hugh said.

Charles brought one of his hands to rest just above her heart. Then, because he simply couldn
’
t help himself, he leaned in and licked her ear before he whispered, “Amelia, my darling, my life, my love. Come back to me. Come back to us. Hugh is here. We
’
re both here. We haven
’
t gone anywhere.”

Hugh
’
s hands continued to minister to her, running across her body, and he smiled up at Charles, calming him, as Charles continued to speak. “Amelia, you haven
’
t gone anywhere. You
’
re here with us, in the Cliff House. There
’
s no judgment here. There
’
s no pain. Only joy, only happiness, only love. Come back to us. We
’
re waiting for you.” Charles’s voice broke on the last words, and he saw her skin react to Hugh
’
s touch, the blush chasing the movement of his hands.

Hugh knelt and moved closer to them, his hands lighting on her torso again, and Amelia
’
s chest heaved under his hands, as though her breath was the first of her to return.

“You
’
re safe. You
’
re with us,” Hugh whispered.

Amelia took another breath, and Charles felt his life was returned with the words that followed.

“Why did you stop?” She said the words so quietly Charles thought Hugh could not possibly have heard. But her answer came in the return of Hugh
’
s mouth, his tongue, and the scream that rent the peace of the moors in two.

Amelia
’
s hands returned to Hugh
’
s soft, blond, locks between her legs, as though nothing had happened, as though she
’
d never left them. Her nipple peaked beneath Charles’s hand, and he stayed the desperate need to hold her tightly against him and never let loose.

Amelia screamed again and again, indecipherable words that included both of their names in innumerable ways, woven tightly with
God
and
please
and
more
. Charles was overwhelmed, overwrought, absolutely spent in the most wonderful and joyous way imaginable.

Charles saw Hugh
’
s hand smooth down her thigh, below his mouth and knew when she surged forward on yet another scream that he
’
d breeched her, and she was spent. The racking sobs shook her body and his soul, as Hugh rode the wave of her body to the shore, then soothed her aching muscles as she relaxed across Charles’s
chest.

Hugh reached up and massaged her hands until they released his hair, then laid them on her chest. Hugh leaned back on his knees and scrubbed his hands across his scalp. Charles shifted with her, bringing her in front of him on his side. He motioned to Hugh, who crawled up the bed, pulling a sheet with him.

They tucked her between them and let her sleep.