At The Stroke Of Midnight (25 page)

Reaching out once more, Sebastian
took her hand.
 
"May I?" he
asked and she nodded quickly, allowing him to guide her hand to his
erection.
 
He hissed when she
instinctually wrapped her fingers around him and stroked him lightly.

"Did I hurt you?" she
gasped, releasing him quickly.
 
Oh,
God.
 
She prayed that she had not.

He shook his head and swallowed
hard.
 
She would be the death of him if
he was not careful.
 
"No.
 
But your caress feels so good that I am
afraid that my legendary restraint in these matters will be sorely
tested."
 
Then he brought her hand
to his cock once more, and slowly helped her find a pace that he liked, though
he realized that the sheer softness of her hands might yet be his undoing.

Finally, when she was confident
that she could please Sebastian without making him lose control - for that she
did understand that much after overhearing so many young widows in the retiring
room - she stroked and caressed him gently, feeling her own desire begin to
rise as well, even though she was fully clothed.

He was velvety soft and yet hard at
the same time, a curious mixture of silk and iron.
 
He was also hot, so very hot beneath her touch and she longed to
do more, to give him more pleasure.

When she felt the need to
experiment, she used her other hand to stroke his balls and then later, his sac,
both of which were smooth and hot and felt sinfully decadent in her hands.
 
She loved this, pleasing him and making his
face twist and grimace with a pleasurable pain.
 
Then again, she loved everything about Sebastian.
 
It was useless to pretend otherwise.

She explored the hard muscles of
his thighs as well, stroking her hands over his lower body before skittering
her fingertips up his chest.
 
Over and
over again she slid her hands over his frame, learning the fine lines of him
and marveling at the sheer strength that laid coiled in his muscles.
 
He was a work of art, at least in her
opinion, and one that she wanted to savor.

He looked at her a time or two
incredulously and once even asked if she was certain that she was still an
innocent young miss, even though she knew he was only teasing.
 
She had never so much as even kissed a man
before Sebastian.
 
Never had she
imagined doing anything close to this.
 
Yet with him, she felt safe and perhaps it was the hour or perhaps it
was the knowledge that in the morning, her life as she knew it would end.
 
Whatever the reason, she gave free reign to
her desires, kissing and caressing him however she liked.
 
Wherever she liked.

She received no complain from him,
after all.

"My turn," he finally
gasped, pulling himself free from her maddening caresses.
 
She was far too clever by half with her
hands and, though he was a master at reigning in his desires, she was fast
pressing him close to his limits.
 
Not
to mention that she was still fully clothed.
 
That would never do.
 
At least
not if this evening was going to end with him inside of her, showing her with
his body how much he adored her.

She made a small sound of
protest.
 
"But I was not
finished."
 
And truly, she
wasn't.
 
She had heard of women who took
men's erect cocks into their mouths and suckled them.
 
She wished to try that.
 
It did not seem pleasant, but for Sebastian, she would learn.
 
Then again, maybe it would be far more
pleasant than she anticipated.

When she voiced her idea to
Sebastian, he groaned with a mix of raw need and pent-up desire.
 
"Good God, woman!
 
Do you wish to kill me?"

"Will it kill you?" she
asked with a frown.
 
She doubted it, but
then, she wasn't altogether certain.

"No, but I might die of sheer
pleasure if you do."
 
He could only
imagine the slide of her soft lips over his cock, of her tongue lapping at his
stiff length and tasting him as the very crown of him began to leak.
 
Oh how he loved this woman.

"Then perhaps we should
wait," she said with a wicked grin, fully aware now that he was
teasing.
 
"I do not want you to
expire before I have had my taste of pleasure."

That seemed to bring him back to
himself and suddenly, Sebastian was pulling her back to her feet.
 
"So you want pleasure, do you, my
lady?"
 
He could see the way her
body fairly trembled with need, saw the tips of her nipples hard beneath the
bodice of her gown.
 
"And you want
it from me?"

"You know that I
do."
 
Sebastian made her
breathless, but Jane would have it no other way.
 
"You and only you.
 
I
want to be yours."
 
Then she stood
there and waited, watching as he swallowed, his Adam's apple moving up and down
in his throat as he fought for control.

"And I want to be yours,
Jane.
 
Only yours.
 
If you'll allow me."

She nodded and moved into his arms
once more.
 
"Please me,
Sebastian.
 
Take what you want.
 
There will never be another for
me."
 
She meant those words more
deeply than she could say and was gratified when she saw him draw in a deep
breath and felt his cock twitch against her leg.

His first kiss was light, so much
more tender than the impassioned one he had given her when he had first picked
the lock on her door.
 
Then, he kissed
her cheeks, her eyelids and then her brow, each caress feather-light, like a
strand of gossamer web blowing across her face.

The kisses were meant to tease and
tease they did - down the slender column of her neck and across her delicate
collarbone.
 
He moved down the slope of
her chest to the tops of her breasts, leaving the barest of touches in his
wake.
 
All the while, he stroked his hands
over her skin, whispering how soft she was to the touch, how lovely and
exquisite.

The combination of his words and
his caresses seduced her mind as well as her body and soon, Jane found herself
relaxed and pliant in his embrace.
 
So
when he kissed her lips again, this time more urgent and demanding, she opened
for him immediately, her tongue darting out to tangle with his.
 
Then, as if sensing her body's own ultimate
acquiescence, she sighed and melted into him, allowing him greater access to
her mouth.

Sebastian took full advantage,
plundering her mouth like a man possessed, tasting all of her, every nuance and
flavor that was uniquely Jane.
 
She was
like a drug, or perhaps more like a miracle.
 
His miracle.
 
The only woman he
had ever met who could inflame him with just a kiss and a caress.
 
When he bared her breasts to his gaze once
more, he still marveled that such a perfect creature was allowing him to make
love to her this way.
 
A proper, more
restrained woman would have slapped him silly.
 
Thank God his Jane was not at all proper.

Each kiss from Sebastian made
Jane's blood heat further and she pawed at his shoulders, seeking release from
this growing, restless need inside of her.
 
It was far more powerful than anything she had ever felt and she thought
it might drive her to madness.
 
She was
certain of it when he moved lower to take a nipple into his mouth and suckle at
her breasts, teasing the distended bud with this teeth and tongue.

"Wicked man," she
whispered, though she also arched her neck, giving him better access to her
body and allowing him to caress her other breast with his hands.

She felt him grin against her skin
where he still lapped at her breasts.
 
"Wicked woman," he teased in return.
 
In that moment, Jane felt loved.
 
She felt cherished.
 
And she knew
that whatever came the next day, for this night, on Christmas Eve, she was
loved beyond reason.
 
It was her
Christmas miracle.
 
The one she had
never thought she would receive.

Then Sebastian was kissing her
again, his talented fingers undoing the corset-style lacing at her back and
loosening her gown until it slipped to her waist.
 
Then, before she could even think, it was gone completely, and
she felt the rasp of Sebastian's chest hair against her skin.
 
It felt good.
 
He
felt good, all hot and rough against her cooler
softness.
 
Within moments, her corset
and chemise followed and when he backed her up against the bed again, she
kicked off her slippers, eager to be as naked for him as he was for her.
 
She wanted nothing between them.
 
For tonight, she would make love to
Sebastian.
 
She would stop putting
others' needs before her own and, for once anyway, take what she wanted.

However, when she reached up to
unfasten the emerald necklace, he stayed her hand.
 
"Leave it on.
 
I want
to see you draped in nothing but jewels.
 
Were it up to me, that would be all you wore."
 
His gaze roamed over her body and she could
almost feel the scorching trail of heat he left.
 
She moved her hand up to cover herself, suddenly embarrassed, but
he pulled it back to her side.
 
"You are perfect to me, Jane.
 
Never think otherwise."
 
Then he gave her that wicked, crooked grin.
 
"And wearing nothing but those emeralds, you look like a
pagan queen about to be adored and ravished by an unworthy servant."

"It is I who am
unworthy," she replied, but he silenced her protests with a kiss before
easing her back onto the softness of the bed.

She wanted to say more but then she
felt the press of his body on hers, the heat of his skin and the steady
pounding of his heart.
 
She felt the
twitching of his cock against her thigh, this time with nothing between
them.
 
He was so much bigger than her
that, for the first time in her life, she felt small, like the other women she
knew felt around their husbands.

She felt the soft mattress against
her back, the heavy, warm weight of his body and the need curling inside of
her, begging for release.
 
It had been
there for so long that she was almost afraid of what would happen when she
finally let go.
 
Would there be anything
of her left?
 
Perhaps not, though at the
moment, she did not really care, either.

He shifted and she felt his cock
between her legs, this time pressing at her entrance.
 
Instinctively, she shifted her hips, opening herself wider to him
just as he slid a finger through the curls at the apex of her thighs.

"You are so wet for me,
sweetheart.
 
Jane.
 
My Jane."
 
There was a reverence in his tone, as if he could not believe
that she wanted him.

"I am yours, Sebastian,"
she replied, tears pricking her eyes.
 
"I think that I have always been.
 
I love you.
 
There can be no
other."
 
She knew she was taking a
chance in laying her heart bare to him, but she would have it no other
way.
 
They would not make love without
him knowing how she felt deep in her most secret heart.

He stilled above her, the weight of
his body resting on his arms as he tried not to hurt her.
 
"Oh, Jane.
 
Do you not know?
 
I love
you as well.
 
For me, it has only ever
been you."
 
Those final words were
her undoing and she reached for him, dragging him down to kiss her just as he
slid inside of her welcoming heat.

Sebastian swallowed Jane's cry of
pain as he pierced her maidenhead.
 
The
last thing he wanted was to hurt her.
 
He didn't like hurting any female, which was why he normally avoided
virgins.
 
But Jane was different.
 
She was meant to be his.
 
Somehow, that made it better, at least in
his mind.

"Are you well?" he heard
himself ask as he seated himself deeply within her, barely able to control his
need to both seek his pleasure and give pleasure to her at the same time.

She nodded, shifting a bit,
seemingly uncomfortable.
 
"I think
so."
 
Then, Sebastian thrust,
slowly at first and then a little faster, testing her body to see how she would
react to him.
 
She was a virgin and
therefore extremely tight.
 
However she
also felt exquisite around him and he knew that he wouldn't last long.

"Oh!"
 
The exclamation was nearly torn from Jane as
Sebastian withdrew slightly and then slid back inside of her body.
 
It had hurt at first, as she had expected,
but now?
 
Now she was finding that with
each undulation of his body, each thrust of his hips, she really was rather
enjoying the experience.