Captain and a Corset (13 page)

“But I’m suddenly not satisfied with mere observation.”

His tone was thick with promise, but she recalled too well the iron strength of will that had seen him turning away from her before. She moved her hand into the opening of his shirt, but she grasped a handful of his chest hair and twisted it.

“Don’t tease me, Bion. I’ve had enough of it.”

His lips curled back from his teeth for a moment, betraying the pain she was inflicting. But he didn’t budge.

“Aren’t you the one who just teased me with the recollection of your suitor?” His eyes darkened dangerously. “Because I find myself agreeing with you.” He pressed up against her, trapping her hand. “I am jealous.”

Surprise held her in its grip and the kiss he pressed against her mouth ensured that she remained that way. Her wits deserted her, but she didn’t make any true attempt to maintain them. His mouth demanded submission, but she kissed him back with every bit of passion she felt. It was like an energy current; once she let it loose, there was no control—only need.

She fought to free her hand, still kissing him. Bion pressed his body against hers, letting her feel every inch of him, and she was eager to do so. The chest she’d so often watched him cross his arms over was something she wanted to feel. Stroke really. Her fingertips were far more sensitive than she’d ever noticed. The shirt wasn’t open enough and she fought with the buttons in her quest to free him from the garment.

He pushed away from her, drawing a frustrated sound from her. But she sighed with appeasement when he ripped the shirt up and over his head.

“That sounded like a purr.”

Sophia bit her lip, trying to decide what she thought of his tone. He laughed softly, almost wickedly, and beckoned to her with one finger.

“Come here, sweet lady, if you have not lost your nerve, that is.”

“You’re challenging me on purpose.” She stepped toward him but brushed past him to the other side of the cabin. She turned to face him while she toyed with the top button on her shirt. “It’s almost as if you need me to prove that I am not too delicate to rise to your provocative statements.”

“Or actions,” he countered as he undid the top of his waistband.

“Ah yes.” The button was free and she moved to the next one. “You have proclaimed yourself a man of action. Yet I wonder if I shouldn’t put you in your place and expect you to stand there.”

A dark eyebrow rose, but it was the look of raw hunger in his eyes that threatened to hypnotize her. She fumbled with the button, her fingers trembling. A moment later, he had taken over, easily working the button through its hole.

“Never fear, sweet Sophia, I will be happy to assist.”

Her top opened and he pushed it back over her shoulders. But instead of sliding it down her arms, he only pushed it far enough to bind her arms behind her back. It left her cleavage on display, with only the edge of her chemise covering the swell of her breasts above the edge of her corset. She was suddenly nervous, confidence a mere whisper in the very back of her thoughts.

“I don’t fear you.” Her voice was less than convincing.

“And that is exactly where you went wrong, my lovely.” He clasped her waist, flattening his hands on her sides, and pressed gently until the metal eyelets of her busk popped open. “I can ignore shrieking maidens quite easily. A confident woman, though, I am powerless against.”

The night air was chilly when it made its way through the open side of her corset. Bion pulled the undergarment away, letting it fall to the floor. The waistband of her skirt gave him little trouble and soon it too was puddled around her ankles.

He cupped her face and kissed her again. This time there was something different about the motion of his mouth, something more intimate, more intent. He didn’t rush her. He teased her lips, the tip of his tongue brushing along her lower lip, then tasting the upper one. She shivered, once again willingly being swept away into the sensation his touch unleashed. It was as though she’d never experienced what her body was fashioned to feel, never understood what her mouth was for.

Sophia reached for him, eager to touch his bare skin. Her rapid heart rate might have frightened her if it didn’t feel so very wonderful. Her breath was keeping pace, pulling his scent into her senses with every agitated breath. She stroked his neck, the warm skin making her tremble. This time the quiver moving along her muscles was welcome, making her almost giddy.

But she wanted more and so did Bion.

He cupped her nape, angling her head back to deepen the kiss. She surrendered. His tongue played across her lower lip for a brief moment before thrusting straight and deep into her mouth. It was the most intimate thing she’d ever experienced. She wasn’t sure where to touch him, was only sure that remaining still was impossible. She wanted to be closer to him, and her chemise suddenly felt too warm. His pants irritated her bare thighs, and she reached for the half-open waistband to finish the job.

“We’re going too fast.” But Bion’s tone made it clear that he was fighting to slow down enough to even say that much. Sophia kissed his neck, trailing kisses along the column of his throat as he groaned.

“Minx,” he breathed. He pushed her hand aside and finished opening his fly. Part of her wanted to look down at that forbidden part of the male anatomy, but Bion blinded her as he tugged her chemise up and over her head. He tossed it over his shoulder, the thin fabric fluttering like a butterfly until it was out of sight.

“You’re ravishing…”

As a compliment, it wasn’t so much his words that made her feel attractive, as it was his tone and the way he cupped her breasts, his dark gaze settling on them. Ladies didn’t look at their bare forms, but she was fascinated by the way Bion was fixated on her breasts. He handled them gently, stroking and kneading them, brushing her nipples with his thumbs. Both had contracted into tight nubs that he teased with several back and forth motions. Delight spread through her, stunning her with how much she enjoyed being handled. He leaned down and captured one nipple between his lips unleashing a flash of heat so hot she forgot to draw breath.

She twisted for what seemed like an eternity as hunger began to claw at her. Her body refused to stay still, her hips moving toward him in a sultry motion. She had no concept of where she might have learned it. The tempo pounded through her blood stream. It seemed to target her belly and deeper into her passage, where she felt empty. It was a deep yearning that had her reaching for Bion because she was sure he could satisfy her.

“I should slow down—”

“Don’t.” Her voice was just as raspy as his. He stroked her sides, his hands pausing for a moment on the curves of her hips. He gripped them slightly harder than before, and it jolted her with pleasure that went all the way into her bones. Between the folds of her sex, her clitoris began to throb. It was so intimate a feeling that all she wanted to do was close her eyes so that she might be immersed in the sensation. “I don’t want to think.”

“Neither do I.”

He grasped the backs of her thighs and lifted her. He pressed her back against the wall and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips. Bion held her away from him for a moment. She could feel him shaking with the effort, then he gently eased forward, his cock parting the folds of her sex gently. Fluid eased his way, as his cock sought the opening of her body through the folds. Her body protested the first thrust, pain interrupting her euphoria, but he didn’t prolong the torment. Bion thrust smoothly into her, stretching her passage as she gasped and wound her arms around his shoulders. He pressed against her completely, his body holding her against the wall as he waited for her to adjust to the hard presence of his cock.

“It won’t hurt like that again,” he whispered. His tone was tender. She opened her eyes in surprise and found him watching her. For a moment they locked gazes, and she was sure she had never really understood what intimacy was because she felt him touching her soul.

But he groaned, his face creasing with strain. His grip tightened before he withdrew. It felt as though he’d been ripped from her, the loss tormenting her with how much she wanted to be filled. Bion didn’t let her suffer the need for long. He thrust forward, filling her again and, true to his word, the pain was only a memory. Now there was satisfaction and a growing need to move in unison with him. She met his next thrust, lifting her hips to help him enter her faster. Both their hearts were racing, their breathing more like panting as they strained toward one another. There was no thinking, only responding as her hunger dictated what actions to take.

Something was building inside her. Sensation was gathering beneath the spot that the head of his cock returned to again and again. She wanted whatever it was building up to—needed it—and worked her hips faster in her quest. Bion didn’t disappoint her; he kept pace with her, driving into her again and again until she felt something being unleashed inside her. It was a brilliant burst of pleasure, unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It wrung her like a dishcloth, twisting every fiber of her being until she cried out because she just couldn’t contain everything she was feeling any longer.

Bion bucked between her thighs, growling as he buried his length deeply inside her. For a moment that felt far longer than it really was, his body was drawn taut, straining toward hers before his seed filled her. The hot spurt set off another ripple of delight that wasn’t as sharp but felt deeper.

“Christ that was too quick.” Bion sucked in a deep breath before pulling away from the wall. “And I didn’t mean to deflower you against the wall as if I couldn’t control myself long enough to take you to bed.”

He laid her down in the bed, then joined her before the bed ropes finished creaking.

“I believe I rather like knowing you were not completely in control.”

Sophia moved over to make room, but Bion hooked her around the waist and pulled her back against his body. She shifted, wiggling because she was suddenly unsure of how she felt. Nothing made sense as she tried to return to not letting him see her feelings.

“You would feel like that.”

Bion smoothed her into place along his side. He pressed her head onto his shoulder, doing it a second time when she lifted it to get a look at his expression. He crossed his legs around one of her ankles to keep her in place as he drew in a deep breath and let it out.

“Relax, Sophia. For the moment, the rest of the world may rot.”

She choked on a giggle, holding her breath to try and smother the ones that wanted to follow. Giggling was for girls. The stinging walls of her passage made it quite clear that she was a woman now.

“Now that wounds me.” He tipped her chin up. “Why can’t you laugh in my presence?”

“Because it’s, well… girlish to giggle.”

He stroked the side of her face, the touch so tender tears burned her eyes. Why was she so emotional so suddenly?

“I do believe we’ve passed the point of maintaining appearances.”

She lowered her chin, uncertainty making her look away before he read how unsure she was.

Bion let out a frustrated sound. “I suppose it’s my doing, but I won’t apologize for trying to harden you against those who would try to use you.”

She sat up, managing to escape his hold and lock gazes with him. “You were correct.”

For a long moment he stared at her. He was every inch the stern taskmaster she’d struggled with for the last few months, and yet, he was something else too—the man she’d just clung to in need and hunger, allowed into her body without any hesitation. Somehow, it felt like the climax in their relationship, as though they had been circling one another in a slowly decreasing circle that had finally diminished so much, the only thing they might do was collide.

“Yet we are still landing here.”

He reached for her, pulling her back down into his embrace. The facts of their circumstances floated through her mind, but she could not seem to worry very much about any of them. Not while she felt the steady heartbeat of the man holding her. His scent filled her senses, lulling her to sleep where nothing was so bad as it seemed in the darkness of night.

“But you are a man of action,” she muttered in the last few moments before surrendering to slumber completely. “You’ve proven it so many times…”

***

Sophia settled into sleep but Bion stayed awake. He would have liked to think that the reason he wasn’t resting was because of the lumpy parachute beneath his head. That wasn’t exactly true—it was certainly a factor, but that wasn’t what his mind was truly occupied with. He was fixated on the woman in his arms—the way her skin felt, the way she lay so trusting in his embrace. Even her scent was alluring, captivating him as though he was some bloodhound that couldn’t stop tracking until he found the source of the trail he’d been following.

She believed in him. It wasn’t the first time someone had depended on him. Being a captain meant shouldering responsibility for the well-being of others. But this was different. There was no denying it, just as he’d failed to mask the fact that he was in fact jealous of her beau.

Jonathon
Saddler.
Bion stroked her hair and felt his teeth grinding. It was an irrational reaction, but he was fascinated by it because he had never felt anything like it before. Miss Sophia Stevenson seemed to carry a great number of new experiences with her—at least as far as he was concerned. It was both vexing and surprising. He’d be lying if he tried to tell himself that he wasn’t fascinated by her effect upon him. Raw cadets had loose emotions, not seasoned captains such as himself.

But he was still jealous of Jonathon Saddler. It was an unruly emotion he wasn’t comfortable with.

Sophia shifted, making a delicate sound as she rubbed her cheek against his chest. He toyed with the tendrils of hair that had escaped her braids and hairpins, and felt fear rip through his confidence. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d admitted to being afraid of anything. Facing the fact that their circumstances were dire sent an unmistakable bolt of fear through him. But there was something else too. Determination.