“Gwen? If you have changed your mind—”
“Oh no! Not at all,” she said. “I want to. I just…” She flushed, words failing her.
“It’s new.”
“That never bothers me,” she said as she tugged awkwardly at the ties of her stays.
“It’s intimate.”
She looked up at him. “Yes.” But she was being silly. They had already kissed and touched one another. She had asked him to make love to her. That required a certain level of nudity. And she very much wanted to experience this.
“Let me help you,” he offered as he reached toward the now tangled ties of her stays.
“Thank you.”
His touch was gentle, but even the most casual brush of his fingers set her skin on fire. And he was touching her a great deal. He could have pulled off the stays within a moment, but he caressed her through her shift as he unknotted the ribbons. And once it was pulled away, he tugged at the shift.
“Shall we take this off as well?”
She nodded, her throat too tight for her to speak. The way he looked at her made her heart beat fast. The way he touched her made her skin tingle. And he so clearly was enjoying himself that she didn’t think to question their actions. Especially since she had never felt like this before.
She was bare before now except for her stockings and shoes. “Shall I take them off?” she asked. It felt silly standing there in just those.
He nodded, his gaze hot as he watched her. She bent over and he exhaled in a long breath as she removed both shoes and stockings.
“I want to touch you,” he rasped as she was still bent over.
“Yes,” she responded. It was the only word she could manage. Then she felt his large hand, rough from callouses, as he pressed his palm to her lower back. Then he slid it down over her buttocks, and she felt her belly ripple in reaction.
“I have always preferred face to face,” he murmured as he touched her. “But you are beautiful this way, too.” Then he paused, his hand poised on the lowest curve of her bottom. “Do you understand what I mean?”
“Not entirely.”
“Would you like me to explain?”
“Always.”
So he did. He moved his hand lower until he slipped between her thighs. He went slowly and she straightened in reaction, but not all the way.
“Do you feel how wet you are? How ready for me?” he asked.
His fingers gently pressed between her legs and he moved them back and forth such that she felt the moisture there. She felt him press her intimately and her legs trembled from the sensation.
“Imagine my organ here,” he said.
Then she didn’t have to imagine because he stepped behind her and pressed it between her cheeks. He didn’t invade. He simply pressed and she arched in reaction. She could feel him right there. She could imagine him penetrating her.
His hands coiled about her hips, steadying her. “From this angle, I can kiss your back.” He pressed his mouth to her shoulder blades and lathed across her spine. “I can hold your breasts.” He fitted word to action, and she gasped as he pinched her nipples. Her legs trembled and she thought she might fall, but his right hand flattened across her belly, pressing her backward into him.
“Lean back against me,” he murmured.
She did. She felt his chest against her back, his heat against her body, and his breath next to her ear.
“Do you know what a quickening is?”
“Not exactly. I’ve read about it.”
“Never experienced?”