Innocence (17 page)

He kissed her again, pulling her lower lip into his mouth and sucking it gently. It felt so wonderful, she moaned, moving restlessly on the bed. Still kissing her, he rolled off her body and slid his hands up beneath her chemise, pushing it up so he could reach the ties at her waist. When he began to draw her pantaloons down over her hips, she lifted a hand in protest.

“Don’t worry.” He drew them down her legs and away from her body, and Lisa tensed. Her breasts were exposed to his view, and now so was the most private area of her body.

“
Shh
.” He tugged at the chemise that was bunched around her middle. With purposeful movements, he slid the garment off her shoulders, releasing her arms before guiding the material down her body and past her hips. “It’s better this way, believe me. The feel of our naked bodies moving together is not something I plan on denying either one of us.”

Barely able to comprehend such a possibility, Lisa stared as he drew one hand along the length of her leg.

“Shall I show you what comes next?”
 

All she could manage was a jerky nod.

“I’m going to touch you here.” His fingers tangled in the curly hair that covered her most private area.

“Why?”
she asked, his shocking actions goading a response from her befuddled mind.

Nathaniel chuckled and leaned down to nuzzle her breast.
 

“Because this is where I’ll join our bodies,” he said as he gently nudged her legs apart, his fingers continuing their intimate exploration.

Contradicting his unspoken request, she tensed her thighs together tightly.

“You’ll like it. I promise.”
 

Lisa hesitated, absorbing the feel of his finger gently caressing a part of her body she had never expected to have touched by another. Despite her embarrassment, a pleasurable sensation began to suffuse the sensitive flesh. It appeared he was speaking the truth, and she let her legs inch apart.
 

“This is where I shall enter you.” His hand moved lower, one of his long fingers sliding
inside
her body. “I’m going to make you feel things you’ve never felt before.”

Lisa didn’t doubt him. The feel of his finger moving inside her, while shocking, was undeniably pleasant. Then another of his fingers joined the first, and her body arched in response to his touch.
 

“You like that, don’t you?” He stroked inside her, each time a little deeper, stretching a little further. Then his thumb reached up through the curls and teased the little nub hidden there that had no purpose that she knew of . . . until now.

Drawing in a deep breath, Lisa tensed, the sensation too much to bear. Inside her body, her muscles clenched and squeezed his fingers tightly. With a groan, Nathaniel rocked against her, and another spasm contracted deep in her belly, like a cramp but one that caused pleasure instead of pain.

She wanted to feel it again.

“You’re so close,” he whispered. “I want to be inside you when you come.”
 

“But you’re already inside me.”

He raised his head and met her puzzled gaze. “There’s more.”
 

Lisa couldn’t imagine more, but then, she hadn’t come close to imagining the things he had done to her so far.

“What sort of
more
?”
 

Nathaniel studied her for a moment before asking, “Have you ever seen a naked man?”

Lisa shook her head and stared at the prominent bulge in his pants. She was
sure
it hadn’t been there all along and couldn’t possibly be his pistol.

“Just paintings in books.”
 

Nathaniel laughed and leaned down to kiss her lips before undoing the ties on his pants. “A man looks a little different when he’s aroused.”
 

Lisa considered his words. Aroused must be a way to describe the feelings engendered by their lovemaking, though how that could make changes in a man’s body, she did not know.

With her breath coming in short, hard pants, she stared, transfixed, while he slowly pushed his pants down over his hips. When his member
came into sight, she flinched.

He was right.
 

It didn’t look anything like the pictures she had seen. He was a
lot
bigger and looked surprisingly hard.
 

“Wh—” She swallowed hard and then managed to ask. “What are you going to do with that?”
 

On one level she already knew, but her mind refused to accept the seemingly impossible.

“I’m going to put it inside you,” he said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Lisa thought about his statement for a moment while studying the shocking part of his anatomy now on display. Then she panicked.

“It’s too big. You’ll hurt me.”

“It’s all right. It’s not too big, but I won’t deny it will hurt a little the first time.”

“The first time?” She searched his eyes for reassurance.

“You’re a virgin, Lisa. Do you know what that means?”

“Only that I was supposed to stay one until I married,” she muttered dryly despite her fear.
 

One of his hands slid over her belly, his fingers finding their way between her legs once more.

“Can you feel how tight it is with my fingers inside you?” he asked, and she nodded. “That’s because there’s a membrane that tears a little the first time a man enters a woman’s body.”

Lisa swallowed hard. “Once it tears, I won’t be a virgin anymore?”

“No, you won’t.”
 

“I won’t be married either,” she whispered.

“No.” Nathaniel smiled. “You’ll be mine.”

His fingers pressed deeper, causing her belly to clench with pleasure. Lisa moaned, and he moved to cover her body with his, the very long, very hard part of his anatomy that couldn’t possibly fit inside her despite his reassurance pressing intimately against her.

Lisa froze.

“Trust me, sweetheart. You need to relax.”

Trusting Nathaniel wasn’t the issue, but her body tensed as horrifying pictures formed in her mind. She hadn’t understood the threats and taunts she had heard since Lord Copeland’s unwelcome intrusion into her life, but now she did. This was what he had been speaking of, what the horrid man in the market had been planning on doing to her.
 

Nathaniel groaned, and wiped away the tears that spilled onto her cheeks. “Ah, sweetheart, please don’t cry. I’m sorry if I frightened you. It’s just . . . I want you so badly, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.” He released a long sigh. “But we can wait if you need more time.”
 

Lisa considered her options. While she couldn’t deny she was afraid of what Nathaniel intended to do, the thought of some other man taking her virginity—by
force—
was far,
far
worse.
 

“All right,” she whispered.

“You want to wait?”

“No, I don’t want to wait.”
 

Nathaniel’s relief was palpable, but when he tried to kiss her, she forestalled him.
 

“But there’s something I need to say first.”
 

“What is it?”
 

Lisa took a deep breath, which was difficult to do with him lying on top of her. Noticing her dilemma, he lifted his weight up onto his elbows.
 

“Thank you,” she said, bemused by the need for courtesy considering the circumstances.
 

 
Focusing on the words she was determined to share, Lisa acknowledged it had been a night for making momentous decisions, none greater than the conclusion she had reached.

“I
love
you,” she said, and Nathaniel’s eyes widened. “I love you, and I only want you touching me, kissing me,
inside
of me . . . ever.”

He stared at her for the longest moment, and Lisa feared she had offended him with her admission. But then he lowered his head and kissed her hungrily, his lips tasting hers again and again. The kiss went on for so long she was lost in the feel, the wonder, the sheer joy of it, as she found herself responding with a depth of a desire she had not known herself capable. All her fears dissolved under the onslaught of his mouth, the sweet caresses of his hands, and the rocking of his body as he urged her legs wider apart.

Then he surged forward from his hips, and Lisa cried out as he entered her. Her muscles tensed, her body preparing to fight against his penetration. When she realised the pain was little more than a sting, a slight burning sensation at most, she almost laughed with relief.
 

“Are you all right?” Nathaniel froze, his body hovering over hers.

“Yes. Don’t stop.” She smiled shyly.

A look of relief swept across his features, which was quickly overtaken by an expression of fierce, masculine determination. He moved, and her eyelids fluttered closed, a moan escaping her lips, and then another, as he slowly withdrew before gradually pushing his way back inside. It hurt, but only a little, the pleasure his movements engendered overwhelming the discomfort.

Lisa opened her eyes to find Nathaniel watching her. He pushed a little deeper, and she arched to meet his slow, sensual invasion, his chest brushing her breasts with each stroke of his body inside her. Her hips hugged his thighs, as their bodies moved together in the most extraordinary way, a way she could never have imagined. He was so close, touching her intimately, and she marvelled at the strangeness, beauty, and sweet sensations created by their joining.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered between kisses. “So lovely.”
 

She wanted to say the same of him, but the words wouldn’t come, her thoughts in a whirl as she was overwhelmed by the feelings coursing through her body.

He kissed her more deeply, and Lisa moaned around his velvet tongue. Hugging him close as he moved inside her, the muscles she had been barely aware of before this night clenched, triggering the most amazing sensation of pleasure she had ever experienced. Nathaniel moved insider her again, and another exquisite spasm tightened her lower belly.

“Yes, like that, sweetheart. You’re so close.”
 

Lisa didn’t know what he meant, just that she wanted to feel the sensation again. The pressure grew, and her muscles tensed, the breath catching in her lungs. For a long, fraught moment she teetered on a precipice . . . anticipating . . . wanting . . .
something
. Then the pressure inside her broke, and she cried out as pleasure radiated out in waves from low in her belly. It flooded through her, racing along her nerves and shimmering over her skin like ripples on a sun-drenched pond.
 

Nathaniel thrust harder . . . once . . . twice, then his muscles tensed and he collapsed on top of her, shuddering and groaning. She held him close as her body continued to tremble, a long moment passing before he lifted his head and looked down into her eyes.

“I knew you would be like this.”
 

Lisa’s brows rose, asking the question she was too stunned to form with words.

“Responsive. Sensual. But you amaze me.”
 

“Why?” she managed to whisper.

“Because
that
was incredible. Not at all what one usually expects for a first time.” He shook his head, clearly bemused.

“It was good?”
 

“Better than good. The best.”
 

His lips found hers, and he moved inside her, a ripple of sensation shimmering through her again. She gasped, clutching at his shoulders, and he smiled against her mouth.

“Lisa, my lovely girl, you are temptation incarnate.”
 

When he carefully withdrew from her body, she winced, and he paused to stroke her cheek.
 

“I’m sorry I hurt you. It wasn’t too bad, was it?”

She shook her head.
 

“Good.”
 

He bent down to kiss her forehead before rising from the bed, leaving her sprawled across the mattress. Enervated, she lay watching as he walked across the room. When he reached the dresser with the washbasin, Lisa realised his intention and averted her eyes. It was then she saw a smear of blood on her thigh. Her monthly visitor had ended a few days earlier, and she hadn’t expected it to return. Cringing, she glanced Nathaniel’s way. He had pulled on his silky black pants and came to sit beside her on the bed.

“Here.” He handed her a damp washcloth, and Lisa stammered incoherently.

“You’re apologising for being a virgin?”
 

She blinked in confusion.

“It’s normal to bleed your first time. You’ve no cause for embarrassment.”

“Oh,” she whispered, relieved not to have offended him, an incongruous reaction considering the things he had just done to her body.

Standing, he turned his back, and she took the opportunity to clean herself before stowing the cloth beneath the bed. She would deal with it in the morning. He moved to the dresser and rummaged amongst her few possessions, returning with the nightgown Mrs Donaldson had given her on her arrival.