Chapter 26

Five hours later, Jasper was pacing his sitting room, barefoot and wearing nothing more than a shirt gaping open at the neck and a pair of loose trousers, waiting for Eleanor to arrive.

He was so anxious you would have thought he was a lovesick fifteen-year-old about to lose his own virginity. His fingers itched to pour himself a brandy, except he’d had two brandies after dinner, and he didn’t want his head to be fuzzy.

He caught Beatrice staring at him as he passed the mastiffs’ corduroy pads. It was probably Jasper’s imagination, but he would’ve sworn her dark eyes were reproachful.

“Don’t look at me like that, old girl.”

She lay her big black head down on her folded paws but didn’t divert her gaze.

Jasper was biting back the impulse to argue with his dog when three taps sounded at the door.

He was across the room in an instant. He grabbed Eleanor’s arm, pulling her inside his rooms and locking the door behind her.

He turned to face her in the candlelight. She wore her plain grey wool cloak over… whatever she had chosen to don for their assignation. Her eyes were bright, and she looked flustered, but mostly excited.

“Good evening,” she said, her voice breathless.

“Good evening,” he returned, his own voice pitched deep.

They stood in awkward silence for a beat before Eleanor grabbed his wrist and towed him toward the connecting door that led to his bedchamber.

Jasper had prepared the room, which was awash in candlelight. He wanted to be able to see Eleanor, to remember this, the first time he made love to the woman he was all but certain would be his wife.

Eleanor untied her cloak and tossed it over a chair. She had on a night rail of plain cream flannel, long-sleeved and without a scrap of ribbon to adorn it. But God help him, Jasper thought she looked a thousand times more appealing in fresh flannel with her hair in a plait, smelling of clean white soap, than the most sophisticated courtesan dripping in silk, lace, and perfume.

Eleanor Weatherby did not need frills and ornaments to render her desirable; she was desirable in and of herself.

She climbed up so she was kneeling on the bed. His bed. Jasper staggered to a halt, momentarily stunned by the sight.

“Well?” She held out a hand. “Aren’t you coming?”

He hastened to the bed, scooping her up and settling her in his lap. In this position, her head was only an inch lower than his, and the full swell of her bottom had his cock stiffening. She felt perfect in his arms, exactly what he wanted.

While he was busy musing how wonderful it felt to have a lapful of Eleanor, she threaded her fingers into his hair and brought her lips to his. As her nails scraped across his scalp, Jasper felt a surge of arousal straight to his groin.

Last night at the folly, Eleanor had been reticent, which was unsurprising, as yesterday had been her first experience with lovemaking. She had no such qualms tonight. Eager sounds emerged from her lips as she traced the outline of his arms through the thin linen of his shirt. Admiration was plain on her face as she stroked his shoulders, then forged a path down his chest and across his stomach, which had gone as hard as an anvil.

God, she would be the death of him.

He returned the favor, palming her full breasts through the soft flannel of her nightgown. Eleanor responded by hiking her skirts up enough so she could swing a leg over and straddle him. That was his Eleanor, who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to seize it with both hands. And even better, that the thing she wanted was him. God, he loved this woman.

Wait. Jasper paused in the act of reaching for the tie at the neck of her night rail. He loved her? Was that right? It certainly felt right, but he was a careful man. Careful and cautious, the sort who thought these things through, and—

Eleanor chose that moment to grab the hem of his shirt and pull it up over his head, and any hope of coherent thought flew straight out the window.

Now, Jasper knew his burly, hairy chest was not what you would call elegant. But someone seemed to have forgotten to inform Eleanor Weatherby that his tailor despaired of him, because she was making delighted little noises as she explored every inch of his brawny frame with curious fingers. When she swirled her thumbs around his nipples, Jasper’s control snapped. Seizing the hem of her night rail, he yanked the bloody garment up over her head, leaving her naked. He groaned. Her figure was even better than what he’d glimpsed in the faint light of the folly, curvy and full in all the right places.

Eleanor glanced up at him, startled…

… for all of two seconds, before she melted into his chest, gasping his name with a voice filled with wonder. He wrapped his arms around her, and she actually cried out in pleasure. He swallowed her cries in a kiss. She was touching him absolutely everywhere, and he was doing the same to her, and Jasper couldn’t think of anything that could possibly feel so good.

Well. Perhaps one thing.

His body jerked as he felt her fingers fumbling at the buttons of his falls. He broke off the kiss with a gasping breath. “There’s no need to rush.”

“Please, Jasper. I need to feel you.”

Jasper wasn’t about to say no to that, so he peeled off his trousers and crawled over her, carefully aligning the underside of his swollen cock with the cradle of her thighs.

“Yes,” Eleanor gasped, pulling him close. “I’ve been dreaming of this ever since last night.”

The corner of Jasper’s mouth twitched. “You’ve dreamed of me crushing you?”

“Yes.”

The amazing thing was, he could tell that she meant it. The expression on her face was one of perfect contentment. Her fingers traced over his back reverently, as if he were a priceless Greek sculpture.

Jasper felt something cracking in the general vicinity of his heart. He was accustomed to being desired for his title and his fortune.

But, unless he was very much mistaken, which he almost never was, Eleanor had no expectations that she would benefit from his title and fortune. She was naked in his bed tonight because she desired Jasper the man, not Norwood the duke.

A fine distinction, but a devastating one. He felt strangely vulnerable, as if emotions he was always careful to smother were bubbling to the surface.

This woman could break him, he realized with a start.

And yet… she wouldn’t. He knew with absolute certainty that she wouldn’t.

He could trust Eleanor Weatherby with his heart, an organ many would doubt he possessed.

“Jasper. Jaaas-per.” Gentle fingers caressed the side of his head. He blinked out of his stupor to see Eleanor smiling up at him. “What can be going on inside that head of yours?”

I love you. The words popped into his mind without the slightest hesitation. I want you beside me. Always.

But he bit them back, because he was trying to follow his own advice and not rush in. “Sorry,” he muttered before taking her mouth in a passionate kiss.

Eleanor didn’t seem to have any complaints. She kissed him back with joyful enthusiasm, pressing her naked body eagerly against his.

In spite of his lapsed attention, it seemed that her arousal was building nicely. He definitely detected squirming in the general vicinity of her hips.

Jasper rocked against her experimentally. Eleanor rewarded him with a moan.

“You like that, do you?” he asked, giving her a few teasing strokes with the underside of his cock.

“So much,” she said, letting her head loll to the side.

Far be it for him not to give Eleanor what she wanted. And so, he rode her. He rode her while she dug her nails into his shoulders, and he rode her while she wrapped her legs around his hips. He rode her when she tossed her head against the pillow, and he rode her when she stammered that it felt “s-so g-g-good.”

Finally, he pushed himself up on one arm and started to work his way down her body. She tried to pull him back down, but he swatted her hands away, and her efforts grew halfhearted as she realized his intentions.

He paused on his way down to flick his tongue over each of her nipples, enjoying the way this made her squirm upon the counterpane. But she was already far gone, so he hastened to the spot where she needed him the most.

It didn’t take long. He was still swirling his tongue around her center in teasing strokes when she gasped his name and dug her nails into his scalp. Realizing she was close, he began flicking his tongue rhythmically over her pearl.

The results were instantaneous. He felt her thighs go tense around his shoulders, then suddenly, she came apart, legs quaking and breath coming in gasps. “Jasper! Oh, Jasper, that’s so good! So very good!”

He kept stroking her, drawing out the last waves of her pleasure, until he felt her stiffen. He then rolled off her, pulling her close with her head on his shoulder.

Eleanor purred as she curled into Jasper’s side. As eager as he was to make love with her, it also felt good to have her lying in his arms, and he tried to focus on that, rather than be impatient for his own release.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a moment.

He glanced down at her. Her eyes were closed, a drowsy contentment on her face. “Why are you sorry?”

“I know I need to do something for you, too.”

He snorted. “Believe me, if we do what we have planned, I will be perfectly happy.” He propped his head up on an elbow, studying her. “That is, if you still want to go through with it.”

When she opened her eyes, they were bright with excitement. “I do. I want to know what it’s like. This will probably be my only chance to find out, after all.”

It took a great amount of discipline not to laugh aloud at such a ridiculous statement. But that would necessitate an explanation, lest she think he was laughing at her.

“Very well, then,” he said with as much solemnity as he could manage.

He kissed her then, gently, slowly starting to build her back up. He allowed his hands to wander across her chest, keeping his touch light and playful while trying to ignore his cock, which was throbbing painfully.

After a few minutes, his thumb brushed over her nipple, and he felt Eleanor shudder. Thank God. He didn’t want to rush her, but if he didn’t get inside her soon, he was in danger of spilling on the sheets.

It only took him a few minutes to get her squirming on the bed again. He let his hand drift across her stomach. She spread for him at once, and he felt his heart squeeze. How wonderful it would be, to be married to this woman who was as eager for him as he was for her.

He found her wet, which wasn’t entirely surprising, as he’d already brought her to climax once. But she was impressively slick, which boded well for their first time. After taking a moment to tease her folds, he slowly slid a finger inside of her.

It went in easily, but of course, his cock was significantly thicker than his finger. Eleanor broke off their kiss with a gasp. “Jasper!”

“How does that feel?” he asked, stroking gently in and out.

She frowned as if in deep concentration. “It… it doesn’t feel bad.”

He bit back the impulse to grin. “How about this?” he asked, bringing his thumb to the little bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs and starting to swirl.

She collapsed back on the pillow. “That feels wonderful!”

“Good.” He continued working her with his hand, in the places both inside and outside her body. She tolerated his finger stretching her but relished his thumb teasing her bud.

When he added a second finger, she stiffened, but only for a moment, as her body stretched to accommodate him.

When she was easily taking both fingers, Jasper withdrew. “It’s time.”

He reached over to his side table, where he had a sheath ready and waiting in a glass of water. He slipped it on and tied the ribbon while Eleanor watched in open fascination.

Positioning himself between her legs, he took her in his arms as he began to press slowly forward. Jasper felt a vein throb in his temple as he forced himself to take his time. “Is that all right?” he managed to choke out.

Eleanor bit her lip in concentration. “It is. It only hurts a little.”

He grimaced. He only had the tip in, and his cock was as heavily made as the rest of him. Threading his arm between their bodies, he gave her a tight smile. “Let’s see if this helps.”

His fingers found her little nub, and he gently began to stroke. He saw the pleasure come into Eleanor’s eyes, giving her something to focus on other than the pain. Flexing his hips, he was able to slide in another inch.

He continued fondling her as if he hadn’t a care in the world, in spite of the fact that he was so desperate to thrust into her he could have died of wanting it. Through some miracle, after a few minutes, he found himself fully seated.

“How is it?” he asked.

“It’s all right.” Eleanor wiggled her hips experimentally. Her hazel eyes were guileless as they found his. “Is that it, then?”

He couldn’t help it; he smiled. “No, my darling Eleanor, that is not it.”

Still caressing her bud, he slowly withdrew, then slid forward again. Her mouth fell open into the shape of an O. Jasper might not have been a wide-eyed innocent, but he was in much the same state. She felt divine even through the sheath, wet and tight and deliciously slick.

“Is this all right?” he asked, pulling out and thrusting forward again.

“It is. It doesn’t feel the same as when you touch… that other spot. But I like it. I think?” She bit her lip in concentration. “The fullness feels good.”

“Can I go a little faster?” he asked, voice tight.

“Yes, Jasper.” Her fingers caressed his bare back. “Go ahead.”

Thank fuck were the words that shot through his brain. He began thrusting in and out, and damn if it didn’t feel better than anything he’d ever experienced before. It wasn’t just the pleasure of her passage perfectly caressing his cock with each stroke. It was also the strange tenderness she had stirred up in him. Because this was Eleanor, his Eleanor, the woman who was giving herself to him tonight with no expectations of riches, or of a duchess’s coronet, but simply because she desired him every bit as much as he desired her.

Being with her like this, seeing her smile up at him as he took her innocence rather destroyed him, truth be told. He had wanted to hold off, to delay his own pleasure until she peaked again. But she felt so perfect in his arms that he felt his climax rushing up to overwhelm him.

“Eleanor!” he gasped, thrusting faster as every muscle in his body went rigid. “God, Eleanor, that’s so good! I… I’m going to… Oh, my God!”

His big body shook as he came, each pulse of his orgasm so pleasurable he knew nothing else.

Sometime later, he realized he had collapsed upon her. He could feel her fingers, tracing delicate patterns across his back. He cringed, feeling embarrassed to have spent himself in three minutes like a boy.

But when he lifted his head, Eleanor was smiling at him. “Was it good?”

Was it good? Of all the absurd questions. “It was incredible,” he answered honestly. “Thank you. There was only one problem.”

Her delighted expression melted away. “What was that?”

He was already withdrawing, sliding down the length of her body and pressing her thighs open. “I wanted to make you come again. Let’s see if I can remedy that.”

He brought his tongue to her nubbin. She was already exquisitely aroused from his previous ministrations and immediately curled her fingers into his hair as she cooed encouragement. He started off with teasing flicks, but she was far enough along that soon he was laving her with the flat of his tongue.

“Jasper!” she gasped. “Oh, Jasper, that’s so good! I’m going to… I’m… Jasper!”

He felt her throb against his tongue. He kept stroking her as she babbled her pleasure, thighs trembling around his head, and only stopped when she stiffened beneath him.

Smiling, he crawled up the bed and took her in his arms. “There. That’s much better.”

“I’m certainly not going to argue with that,” she muttered, smiling as she snuggled against his chest.

Jasper grinned, too. Now this was perfect contentment. He couldn’t recall feeling this happy since…

… possibly ever.

A niggling sensation penetrated his fog of perfect happiness. He had the strange feeling that a serpent was hiding somewhere in his garden of paradise.

That was when he noticed it—something wet, dripping down his thigh.

He glanced down and muttered a curse.

Beside him, Eleanor stiffened. “Is anything the matter?”

Jasper swallowed, his eyes wary as they found her. “It’s the sheath. It tore.”