Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

“ L eave us.”

Heart thumping hard in her chest, Esyllt approached the chair Connor was tied to. His eyes were flashing in the candlelight, clear and pale as jade. Her core tightened at the sight. How could any man be so handsome—and hers?

Here they were, back in her bedchamber in Castell Esgyrn, with him tied to a chair, just the way they had been in February when she had ordered him to be brought up to her. So much had happened since then… and the best was yet to come. In less than three months, they would meet their first child.

She couldn’t wait.

“What is the meaning of this, my lady?” Connor asked in a low voice.

“When they are with child, women often get cravings, you know,” she answered, walking up toward him as slowly as she could. The urge to nestle against him was hard to resist. “So far I hadn’t experienced any but...”

“Oh? And what have you found out? A sudden longing for figs steeped in wine? The need to eat peppercorns a handful at a time?”

“No, nothing like that. Fortunately, my cravings can be satisfied more easily, as you’re about to see.”

She smiled. Connor groaned when she approached and started to undo the ties of his undershirt. She was only wearing a thin shift that hid nothing of her new voluptuous shape. Being with child had made her body bloom, a fact that delighted her husband. He’d whispered in her ear many a time that she had never looked more glorious. And she certainly felt it.

“It seems that you are entirely at my mercy,” she said, straightening back up.

“Which is exactly where I want to be.”

The perfect answer. Esyllt melted. Her husband had a way with words, especially in bed, where he indulged his penchant for crude talk. It had not taken her long to try and follow his lead, going as far as discovering she had a talent for it.

She shuffled closer to him. At first, she had been unsure whether she could pull this off but now she cared not. Her body was on fire and, one way or another, she would make this work. In any case, she doubted there was a wrong way to do what she wanted to do. With her hair tumbled over her shoulders, her rounded stomach, her nipples peeking from under the shift, her lips parted in longing, she hoped she presented a picture of such decadence that her husband would not be able to resist her seduction.

If the bulge at the front of his hose was any indication, it was working.

“Shall I free you?” she asked, running her hands over his bound arms. “Are you in pain, my lord?”

“No. And don’t you dare stop what you’re doing,” he answered in a growl. “I’ll be just fine.”

“I’m going to do what I’ve wanted to do for months, ever since before our wedding.”

“Are you? And what is that?” His voice had acquired a distinctive ragged edge, one that frayed her nerve endings.

“I’m going to take my pleasure with you, and ignore your protests, if protests there are. I’m going to show you how much I want you.”

“Dear God. What have I done to deserve such a fate?”

Esyllt tilted her head in mock consideration. “Looking sinfully handsome for one. Sending me mad with longing for another. Giving me another child to love. The list is endless.”

“Wait. Before you do this, please, remove your shift. I need to see you. It will make whatever you have in store for me even more unbearable.”

Unbearable. She almost laughed out loud at his choice of word.

Pushing aside a vestige of modesty she had never been able to rid herself of, Esyllt lifted the sheer garment over her head. The look in Connor’s eyes was ample reward for her efforts. They looked positively ablaze with desire.

Slowly, she came to kneel in front of him and reached for his braies. He sucked in a breath when she freed him and licked her lips suggestively, her intent clear. Never once in all their nights together had she dared do such a thing. Every time she thought she might build up the courage to finally do it, Connor distracted her with his own daring caresses and by the time he was finished with her, she was too spent to lift even a finger.

Tonight she would indulge herself—and him, with any luck. She had not forgotten his claim that men liked their lover to take them into their mouths and she now had a better idea of what he meant by that. The only thing left to do was see if she could manage it. As much as she wanted to please him, she was not certain she would.

Well, there was only one way of knowing, and practice did make one perfect.

“Don’t do this, Esyllt,” he growled. It wasn’t hard to guess he would find it excruciatingly hard to remain in control. He already sounded about to burst.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t think I will be able to stand it.”

She stilled her hands and made a grimace of mock dismay. “Oh, dear, am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”

“No. And forget what I said. Please don’t stop.”

She could not repress a smile. He really was losing his mind. And he had alluded to the act often enough while making love to her that she knew he wanted it, even if he had not yet dared to ask for it.

“Very well, Lord Sheridan. If I remember correctly, the first time you bedded me you sent me to the edge of madness and then refused to allow me the release I needed. It is time I paid you back for this cruelty. Let us see how you handle frustration.”

Connor groaned. “Esyllt, please.”

“No, there will be no quarter.” She opened the laces to free his straining manhood. It was as hard as she had ever seen it, which was saying something, because true to his word, he had made sure she got used to seeing him naked in various state of arousal. “Well. Someone is ready for his punishment, whatever you say.”

Connor let out a curse when she wrapped her lips against the tip of his shaft. Again and again she teased him, first with licks and then by welcoming him into her mouth, tentatively at first, then as deep as she could manage. Before long she’d brought him near to climax. She could hear and feel it against her tongue. His breathing was coming out in ragged breaths, his moans were getting louder and his thighs had gone almost as hard as his shaft. He was about to erupt. It was time to put an end to the torture they were both feeling. Because pleasuring him in that manner had brought her to the brink as well, and now she needed him inside her, deep inside, where he could spill.

With one last moan, she released him.

“Shall I walk away now?” she asked, straightening back up. Where was she finding the strength to goad him, she wondered? She could not have walked away now if her life depended on it.

“You wouldn’t dare!” he rasped.

With a smile she hoped looked seductive, she came to straddle him. “I would dare, but it would not be in my best interest right now. I’m desperate for you.”

“Good. Take me. Dear God, now, Esyllt, take me now, before I expire.”

She wanted to be gentle, she wanted to torture him, she wanted to lower herself onto him one inch at a time and make him beg for more, just like he had done for her that first night, but she lacked his strength or his iron control to do it.

In one bold move, she buried his hardness into her heat. They groaned at the same time at the relief of it.

It was bliss.

“Yes. Just like that. Ride me, my love, give me what I deserve.”

She did, riding him with a fierceness verging on desperation. He was so hard, she was so wet, he felt so good and she felt so tight, they were so perfect together that she wished this moment could last forever. And yet at the same time she wished she could explode now. It was an impossible situation.

Delicious.

“Kiss me.”

She wasn’t sure whether she or he had spoken but she complied all the same. The kiss, sensual and passionate, pushed her over the edge.

When she cried out her release into his mouth, Esyllt thought she was going to collapse. Two arms closed around her waist when she finally sagged, holding her in place with her face in the crook of Connor’s neck. He pumped into her more forcefully a few more times then stilled, panting hard while his seed shot deep inside, warming her to her core.

She remained there a long while, dazed, enjoying his rhythmic caresses on her back—then bolted upright when she realized what had just happened.

“You wretched thing!” she cried out, lifting his hands from her to illustrate her point. “You were free all along and you never said!”

He gave a low rumble of a laugh. “I don’t think your men put their hearts into it. They did a much better job of tying me up last time, when I was a despised enemy instead of their lord and master and your husband. It was easy to free myself.”

“And I thought I had you at my mercy.” She pouted in disappointment. That had been the whole point. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What sort of a fool do you take me for?” he growled. “Why on earth would I have wanted to put an end to what you were doing to me?”

She rubbed her cheek against his chest, soothed by the words. Her husband loved and desired her. Her heart was full, her life perfect. “You didn’t let me fall and injure myself though.”

His hands tightened around her. “Never. I will always be there to catch you.”

They stayed locked together for a long time. Then Connor stood up and brought her to the bed. While she watched, he discarded the few clothes he was still wearing. Oh, yes, she was more than used to the sight of naked men now, she was craving it. Well, craving the sight of a naked Connor at least. No one else held any interest for her.

After he’d lain her next to him, he stayed a long moment by her side, looking at her exposed body.

“What are you doing?” The intense scrutiny was starting to make her uncomfortable.

“Watching you like you once watched me during the night while I slept. Do you remember?” Of course she did. It had been the first time she had thought they might have a chance at a real marriage. And how right she’d been. “You are so beautiful, my love. I will never get my fill of you.”

He traced a finger along her collarbone then came to tease her pointy nipple. Esyllt moaned. There was nowhere she’d rather be than naked in bed next to her equally naked husband.

“I watched you in candlelight, but it is broad daylight. I think I would prefer it if you indulged in your cravings for the sight of me at night.” Next to his perfect form, she felt at a disadvantage.

“Not a chance.” He placed a kiss just above the swell of her breast. “I’m not risking dropping hot fat on your delicious skin and marking it.”

She winced. “I’m sorry about that. I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know. You told me enough times.” Connor smiled. “But I’m not sorry. Every time you think about that day you kiss the scar on my pectoral and inevitably, things get out of control. I rather like that, if you must know.”

Oh. If that was the case, then perhaps she could make her peace with what had happened. She smiled and stretched, feeling more beautiful than she had ever felt with their child blooming inside her. Perhaps she did not feel at such a disadvantage after all.

“Watch me then, husband. And then it will be my turn.”