Great Protector (28 page)

Arissa
wallowed in the boneless, lethargic state of desire as control left him. Aye,
he'd promised not to ravage her by way of fancy speeches and displays of
restraint, but gazing at her perfect body, nude and supple in the soft
illumination, he was not entirely sure that he could keep his promise. Trouble
was, he did not seem to care.

He
ran his hands up her legs, feeling the satin skin beneath his calloused palms.
His breathing came in ragged gasps as his fingers delicately traced the rise of
her bottom, perfect and heart-shaped. Up her back his hands moved, touching
her, feeling her, loving her. God's Teeth, he'd waited so long for her.

His
hands reached her shoulders and he straddled her slight body, seductively
massaging away the tension and concerns of the day. Arissa groaned softly under
the care of his experienced touch, loving the erotic sensations his unhindered
power provided. Although his strong hands against her spine was a remarkable
experience, she distinctly liked it better the way he had touched her once
before.

She
rolled onto her back. Pale green eyes bore into eyes of brilliant blue,
glistening with all of the uncontrolled passion and emotion she was feeling.
Grabbing his hands, she pressed them to her breasts.

"Like
this, Richmond," she whispered, gazing deep into his smoldering eyes.
"Touch me like this."

The
last shred of control left him and he growled, descending upon her luscious body.
His mouth slanted over her lips savagely, licking and stroking her into the
unbridled world of madness. Arissa cries were muted against his ferocious lips,
gasping softly into the still night air as his mouth moved hungrily over her
breasts, whimpering softly when he took possession of a taut nipple. Writhing
beneath him, her legs instinctively parted to make way for his substantial
weight and, without further thought or reservation, Richmond moved to touch the
unfurling flower between her legs.

Arissa
cried out with surprise when his fingers delicately touched the thick outer
lips, matted with a fine fluff of black hair. Richmond maintained his hold on
her nipple, fondling her silky exterior flesh with the utmost gentleness to
allow her to become accustom to his touch. She gasped and panted as he
continued to caress her, gradually relaxing as she became accustomed to his
tender fingers. Only when her body loosened beneath his restrained touch did he
attempt to part her lush, quivering petals.

She
was as slick as rain, unbelievably hot. He stroked the tender folds until his
own finger was drenched with her moisture, his entire body literally shaking
with the force of his need. God's Teeth, he was out of control and loving every
minute of it.

Richmond
knew, doubtlessly, that he was about to break his promise to her. To hell with
his wise reasoning and righteous motives; he would make her his in every sense
of the word, and he would dare Henry to deny him.

He
slipped a wet finger into her sheath, so incredibly tight that he very nearly
soiled his breeches with the pure pleasure of it. But he calmed himself by
focusing on Arissa's gasps of surprise, whispering words of encouragement and
comfort, crooning softly to her.  Pants of shock quickly turned into groans of
pleasure and he could feel her tight passage contracting about his slick
finger, pulling at him.

Rising
to his knees, he ripped off his tunic so aggressively that he tore a sleeve.
One boot hit the floor with a loud thud, the other went sailing into the wall.
His breeches came off so quickly that he nearly ended up on his arse in his
haste to remove them.

On
the bed, Arissa watched with panting, wide-eyed wonderment as Richmond stood
before her, nude and proud and the most magnificent sight she had ever beheld.
His broad, broad shoulders sheltered an exquisitely muscled chest, covered with
a delicious carpet of silky dark hair. His flat stomach and narrow waist caught
her attention and she was awed by the flawless details of God's most
unblemished creation; indeed, the perfection that was intended for every man.

Richmond
watched her as she studied his nude form, smiling faintly when her gaze came to
rest on his enormous arousal. As she stared at the proof of his desire, he was
deeply pleased to note that there was no fear in her expression. Only wonder.
He stood a moment, allowing her to inspect him, before returning to the bed. As
he pulled her close, she smiled and wrapped her arms about his thick neck.

"You
are going to couple with me, are you not?" she whispered.

His
gaze was filled with more desire and remorse than she could possibly fathom.
"I am sorry, Riss. I gave you a pretty speech today, informing you that I
would adhere to a slow pace. I did not want to frighten you with my
attentions," a slow finger moved across her beautiful shoulder, his eyes
incredibly tender. "I am not frightening you, am I?"

She
shook her head. "Not at all, my love. I want to know the experience of
coupling. I want to feel your love."

He
kissed her chin tenderly. "God's Teeth, Riss, when I think of how long I
have dreamt of this and considered myself depraved for harboring such thoughts....
I still cannot believe that we are about to complete a most intimate
action."

She
held his gaze for a long moment. "This will hurt?"

"A
little, I am told."

The
corners of her mouth twitched. "I will not go to the convent a
virgin."

"You
shall not be in the damn convent long enough for it to matter."

Her
smile faded as she gazed deep into his eyes. "Promise?"

He
kissed her slowly, gently. "That I do, kitten. That I do."

One
kiss led to another, led to several, deep and long. She gasped for breath as he
tore his mouth away from her lips, his brazen tongue moving down the length of
her torso. Arissa felt every sensation, every touch, like a bolt from Heaven.

"Richmond,"
she panted softly. "Do.... do you remember when you said that you wanted
to teach me to crave your touch?"

"Aye,"
he mumbled into the flesh of her belly.

She
swallowed hard, gasping when he plunged his tongue into her navel. "I do
not need to be taught such yearnings. I have craved your touch longer than I
can remember."

His
head came up, a wolfish smirk on his face. "I am flattered."

She
met his grin until he returned his mouth to the tender target of her groin.
Gasping with ecstasy, she attempted to retain her escaping thoughts.

"I....
I do not want you to go slowly with me," she whispered. "I want to
know everything, now. I want to sense everything at this very moment."

He
wedged his huge body between her legs, lifting her knees as his mouth moved
along the soft flesh of her inner thigh. "That is about to happen, kitten.
But I refuse to allow you to chatter through the entire event."

"I
am not chattering," she said with as much indignity as she could manage.
"I.... I am simply trying to tell you how I feel."

Suddenly,
he was looming over her, his massive arms braced on either side of her slight
body. Knees between her thighs, his piercing gaze like liquid fire.

"I
know how you feel, for I feel the same," he whispered. "There is
scarcely more we can say to one another on the subject, though I shall never
tire of hearing it. What I do now, I do to demonstrate how my emotions for you.
Never in my life will any single event meant as much to me as what we are about
to do. This I swear."

She
gazed up at him, feeling the sincerity flow from his eyes like a raging river.
A small hand reached up and touched his stubbled cheek, caressing his masculine
features gently. Even as tears of sentiment glimmered in her eyes, a faint
smile of encouragement creased her delicious lips.

"Show
me, then,” she whispered. “I would feel your love for myself."

He
met her smile, kissing the corners of her mouth tenderly. Holding himself aloft
from her slender body, he rubbed his manhood against her private core, stroking
the outer lips as he had done with his fingers. She was glistening with wet
heat, spilling down onto the linens, and he bathed himself in her virginal
juices as she watched his face without fear.

He
moved slowly, wrestling against the natural instinct to ram into her like a
rutting stallion. He worked carefully, gaining headway bit by bit, feeling her
tightness draw him inward. She was so slick that it would have been terribly
easy to simply thrust into her and be done with her maidenhood in a flash of
pain and power, but he unsteadily refrained.  Better to allow her to become
accustom to his intrusion before the sting of losing her innocence cast a
measure of reality upon their union.

In
spite of the approaching truth of pain, Arissa was amazingly calm beneath him,
gripping his massive biceps for support as he forged into virgin territory.
Beneath her hands, she could feel his body quivering, straining to maintain
control in the face of his most raging desire. She, too, was quivering with
anticipation.

As
he laboriously made way inside her, she smiled bravely, silent words of joy and
encouragement conveyed upon the green depths. Although she felt as if his manhood
was stretching her beyond the limits of physical endurance, she refused to
reveal the apprehension she was coming to encounter. Apprehension she was
attempting to ignore, without much success.

She
was unaware that she did not have to say a word about her anxieties. With every
tiny thrust, her body tightened with uncertainty and Richmond knew that her
courage and determination would only last so long. He was buried within her
nearly half-way, a remarkable achievement in itself considering her petite
size, when he felt the resistance of her maidenhood. When he paused and
withdrew completely, her entire body went limp with relief.

But
he would not allow her the chance to renew her apprehension. Falling atop her,
he grasped her breast firmly and descended upon a peaked nipple. Suckling
furiously, Arissa forgot her fears and responded to him with the low moans and
pants that he had come to expect. Her cheeks began to flush with desire as her
fingers wound themselves in his thick brown hair, and he knew the time was upon
him to act. With Arissa properly distracted, it was time to take her.

Pulling
her knees up, he continued to nurse against her breast hungrily. Arissa was
hardly aware of his hands on her knees, his manhood pressing against her tender
threshold once again. The next she realized, he was thrusting into her harder
than she ever thought possible, driving himself the full long length of his
throbbing manhood.

Arissa
gasped loudly with surprise at the savage action, a sharp sting of pain
rippling throughout her loins. He was seated to the hilt in less than a second
and she felt all of the fullness and maleness of him that she could have ever
hoped for. The pain, coupled with his closeness, brought tears to her eyes as
she clutched his shoulders with white-knuckle intensity. In spite of her vow of
bravery, his swift movement had startled her and she couldn't help the soft
sobs that escaped her lips.

Fully
sheathed within her delicious tightness, Richmond struggled to remain still as
Arissa writhed and panted beneath him. When he heard the faint sobs of fear and
pain, however, he raised his head from her swollen nipple in a brief return of
control and reality.

"I
am so sorry, kitten," he whispered huskily. "I would not have hurt
you had there been another way."

She
wiped at her eyes daintily. "It's not.... I mean, ‘tis not the pain, but...
but the closeness. I never knew it could be like this."

She
trailed off, attempting to regain control of her sobs. Folding his arms about
her slight body, he began to move gently within her. Slowly at first, relishing
the feel of his erection embedded within her unbelievably slick folds. She
clutched him tightly, wrapping her legs about his hips and clinging to him with
an instinctive need. 

Richmond's
pace increased, quickening his thrusts as he was blinded to all else but the
feel of her flesh encompassing his maleness. It was the most satisfying and
amazing thing he had ever experienced. Against him, Arissa's resumed pants of passion
told him that she was beginning to experience the same pleasure that had so
easily engulfed his senses. Now, they were experiencing it together as it was
always meant to be.

But
it was a pleasure that was building to a scalding peak faster than he ever
thought possible; in fact, nothing on earth could have prepared Richmond for his
lightning-quick climax. With a roar, he spilled deep into her womb, feeling
every last spasm of his spent desire with the greatest of pleasure. But even as
the evidence of his passion erupted, he continued to move within her, wanting
her to experience the same searing joy that would erase the sting of her
innocent pain.

He
shifted his weight, gazing down at her flushed face as he continued to thrust.
Her eyes were closed, her head thrown back, and he found his gaze drawn to her
magnificent breasts as they bounced against every thrust he delivered. One hand
trailed down her neck, encircling a breast tenderly before moving toward the
junction where their bodies were joined in passion. Where the magic of her
pleasure pulsed and throbbed, begging for release.