Chapter 21

21

Calliope’s breathcaught as a hungry growl escaped his mouth, and something delicious clenched within her.

He came back to her mouth as though he could barely tear himself away. His kiss became so deep, every lash of his tongue reverberated inside her, where she’d wanted him so much.

She was shaking, so hot and needy, her sex aching and swollen. He was a wonderful, heavy, masculine presence, and what he had said about William… She wondered how she could have ever doubted he’d accept her, that, rather than mocking her, he’d be furious with the man who’d hurt her.

Telling him that, all that, was like cracking herself open and releasing the secret she’d held for so long like a foreign presence in her body. Spencer had known about William’s words, of course, but it wasn’t like she could tell her brother what she’d felt. What she’d read. Or that the whole incident was actually her fault, because good girls didn’t read erotic stories or like them so much that they had to touch themselves to find out if all those things were true.

But Nathaniel understood.

And she felt safe. Accepted. She felt like herself. She felt like, perhaps, those things she had thought before William’s cruel words and actions could be true.

That her body was good as it allowed her to feel all those beautiful things.

Perhaps…

Nathaniel’s kisses made her forget.

She trusted him.

He left her mouth and planted gentle kisses down her chin and her neck. She froze when he approached the spot where William had pinched her. He stilled, too, meeting her gaze with eyes as dark as the night above her.

There couldn’t be a person more beautiful than he, all sweeping golden angles, his lips slightly swollen.

“May I kiss you there?”

She felt her whole body harden and tense at that. The thought of anyone or anything touching her in that spot brought a familiar wave of fear and revulsion.

And yet, it was Nathaniel. He wouldn’t pinch her. Wouldn’t humiliate her.

He would kiss her.

And then she knew…his lips on her body wouldn’t be hurting or humiliating.

But healing.

“Yes,” she whispered, not even believing her own lips. “Yes.”

Their gazes still melded, inch by inch, he lowered himself to that spot. She closed her eyes, knowing he wouldn’t harm her but unable to relax.

The pain never came.

It was gentle, a sweet touch, then after a few moments, another one. And another.

So soft. Feather-like. Like petals falling on her.

A silky lick of his tongue followed, and she felt herself melt.

“Are you all right, love?” he asked, continuing with those butterfly kisses.

With every loving caress of his lips and tongue against her skin, the shadow receded. “Chase him away, Nathaniel,” she whispered as her hands brushed down his hard, broad back.

He moved down then, down her chest just like he had last night, and then to her breasts, kissing the flesh that crested her bodice.

“Good,” he murmured and licked at the crease between her breasts with his tongue. “He had no place being part of your life in the first place. You’re mine, love. Mine. There will never ever be anything you cannot do or say to me.” His arms reached around her and began untying her laces as he looked up at her, leaning over her breasts. “I want all of you. Every thought. Every feeling. Every touch. I want you to know that nothing you desire is wrong or bad.”

Every word he said was like a lick of pleasure against her senses, opening her up like a flower towards the first sunlight of spring.

He released the ties at the back of her dress and pulled her sleeves and the bodice down. The air was still warm after a hot summer day, and it was strange but wonderful to feel a slight wind on the bare skin of her shoulders and chest for the first time. He pulled her gown over her hips and off, and she remained in nothing but her petticoats and her chemise and her corset.

He rolled her over onto her side, the quilt soft against her skin.

He undid her corset, tugging at the lacing. Then he planted gentle kisses on her back as he pulled the sides apart.

Pulling it over her head, he tossed it aside, and then off went the chemise. She shivered, feeling his lips on her skin where no one had ever touched her before. When she lay with her chest bare, his gaze went over her, lingering on her breasts. He let out a long breath, his gaze growing heated.

Calliope’s throat contracted. She felt exposed, and vulnerable, and yet…so good. Seeing Nathaniel so affected made her breath hitch and her insides melt.

“Do you like what you see?” she asked carefully.

His eyes darted to meet hers. “Like? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful in my life, darling. Let me see you whole.”

His gaze dropped to the petticoats that were still around her waist. She undid the hooks and pulled them down, her hands shaking.

This must be the most exhilarating experience of her whole life, being naked in front of this magnificent man who could have been a piece of art that came to life. He was enormous, blotting out almost a third of the starry sky above him.

He let out a shaky breath when his gaze slowly traveled over her waist and her hips and stopped at the apex of her thighs.

“Heavens, Calliope,” he murmured, swallowing hard. “You are perfect.”

And he was so much more. She shook, from the feel of air brushing over her heated skin, from his gaze full of liquid desire, from the stunning beauty around them.

“Let me see you, too,” she murmured. “Let me see how perfect you are.”

He gave a slow chuckle and started to undo the hooks of his coat, then undid his cravat and removed his waistcoat. Off went the white shirt over his head, and while he was busy removing his trousers, Calliope moistened her lips as she looked over his gorgeous chest. The muscles there were large and broad like waves, leading down into a beautifully sculpted stomach with ripples like hills and valleys. The biceps of his strong arms rolled as he moved, his shoulders massive and broad. Soft-looking blond hair speckled his chest, and there was a thin trail leading from his belly button farther down…

The thought of this large body covering her sent a thrill of excitement through Calliope.

And then he pushed down his trousers and a large and hard member sprang from within them. She caught her breath. It was long and pink and straight and thick and looked very, very hard, almost pulsating with veins going along it. She knew where it would go—she’d read it in Villains and Velvet—but how would it ever fit inside her? Would it not tear her apart?

As he freed himself from his trousers and stretched himself along her, he kissed her gently. “Do you like what you see, darling?” he asked, echoing her question from before.

Like? She loved what she saw. But she couldn’t say that out loud. “I…I’m lost for words.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” he said and brought her to him. His body felt hard and hot against her, his chest hair scratching slightly against her oversensitive nipples. He kissed her again, with so much need and hunger, she lost her breath. The kiss was messy and hard and fast, and yet, she was burning hotter and hotter for him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her body closer to his, the feel of his muscular thighs, and the soft hair of his stomach, and the feel of his silky, thick erection against the crease between her thigh and her stomach.

He pulled her leg up and over his hip, and she could feel his erection nudging against her sex, spreading her outer lips. He cupped her breast with one hand, circling her nipple with his thumb, and her nipple hardened and tensed. She moaned and arched her back in a futile attempt to press herself even closer.

The feel of his warm skin against her was like delicious fire setting her blood burning.

He resumed kissing down her neck and gave a special, delicate kiss to that spot above her collarbone that was no longer the source of pain but of pleasure.

And then his mouth was on her breasts. He sucked in one nipple, and an intense pleasure spilled through her, taking her over. She gasped out loud, unable to stop herself, and wrapped her arms around his head, freeing his long silky hair from its tail and digging her fingers through it. His hair fell and tickled her skin. As he sucked her nipple and played with it, rolling it with his tongue, nibbling on it gently with his lips and teeth, his wicked hand made his way down her stomach, leaving a burning trail. His fingers reached the triangle of her hair, and she shivered from need, from aching awareness as her insides tensed and swelled in anticipation. When he parted her folds and his finger dipped between them, a jolt of pleasure made her jerk.

He circled with his finger and explored her, just like she had done herself all those years ago, only it was so wonderfully different to have him do it. She didn’t know where his finger would go, how much he would press, and that drove her mad. He played with his touches, as light as a feather, then tapped against her gently, and then he pinched that special spot in those folds in such a way that made her shiver all over and cry out.

“That’s right, love,” he whispered. “You’re so soft and beautiful, and I’m going to lose my mind for you…”

She could feel his cock pressing against her hip, making slight movements back and forth.

And then his mouth left her breast and made a trail down her rib cage, down her stomach, and finally landed on her sex. She gasped. She remembered in one of the stories one of the villains kissing a lady there…

“Oh Lord, Nathaniel, are you going to… I thought it was nothing but an author’s imagination.”

“I am, love,” he murmured, his voice so deep, it reverberated in her chest. “And trust me, it’s not just an author’s imagination.”

He parted her thighs and dropped to the ground in front of her. And then he parted her folds with his fingers and his mouth was on her…right there. The feel was so decadent, so forbidden, and yet, so right and so exquisite, she burned all over.

She gasped and moaned, unable to contain the hot pleasure pulsating through her. His tongue, his wonderful, wicked tongue played, licking her up and down and circling around that glorious place that made her mindless with bliss.

Whatever he was doing, she didn’t ever want him to stop.

Something beautiful was building within her, and when he gently pressed his finger a little ways inside her, she wanted him to be deeper, to fill her completely, to claim her. She knew it would satisfy that need, that deep ache within her.

“Heavens, Calliope, you’re so tight, love,” he murmured against her sex. “But so sleek and wet and so ready for me.”

With a last kiss against her sex, he withdrew and positioned himself between her legs. “I’m sorry, love, but this might feel uncomfortable…but only for the first time, I promise. After that, every time is going to be so good for you. So, so good.”

She nodded. She didn’t know about the first time, but the ladies in the book always enjoyed it.

He slowly started to push himself against her entrance while his finger was still on that place that felt so incredible, and she relaxed as he withdrew a little.

He pushed again, a little harder, but she didn’t mind at all even though there was a little pressure. This was nothing compared to that hard pinch above her collarbone. This was pleasure and pressure, nothing more. She moaned as his finger rubbed against her.

He gleamed in the starlight like an otherworldly creature, a god who had come down from the night sky just for her, just to make her a woman and show her what her body could do.

He pulled back and pushed forward again, harder, while something within her built, and she arched her back, her breasts pressing against him.

He started making small, persistent movements with his cock, slowly burrowing within her. The pressure kept intensifying, but she was so mindless with pleasure now that she wanted him deeper and deeper. She moved her pelvis forward to meet his thrusts. There was a tiny feel of something popping, and a small pinch of pain, which was swallowed by that satisfaction of finally having him deep inside her.

He groaned as though from pain and froze. “Are you all right, love?” he asked. She felt him shaking.

“Very much so,” she whispered.

He kissed her and began moving inside her, thrusting his cock in and out. She arched and moved her pelvis against his, matching his movements. There was a little pain but more pleasure. He retrieved his fingers from between their bodies, and angled his pelvis somehow so that she still felt all the sweet pleasure. Now he was hitting something inside her that brought ecstasy, and she wrapped her legs around his pelvis.

He began moving faster, thrusting harder and harder, and she wanted more of that.

And then finally something was building within her, some pressure, some tension that was like honey and wine, and there was just one name her blood sang.

Nathaniel.

And then, under the stars and the moon, she fell apart in the arms of the man she knew she was falling in love with. She exploded like a starburst, falling down like rain, and he groaned, bucking against her, and she knew he found his own release. She became those stars, and he became them, too. And together they were one. Among the irises and the stars.

She didn’t know how long it lasted, but he collapsed on top of her, and then wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest. She felt a slight wind caressing her heated, wet skin, felt the delicious throbbing of her sex, and heard the violent thumping of his heart.

As she listened to it, she realized they had established a small peace between them, a little isle of heaven. She could see how happy they could be together.

He had confided his darkest memory, and she now understood why he was so overprotective of his sisters and her. Because he couldn’t save his mother. That was an incredible burden for anyone to carry, and she wanted to make it easier for him.

Only, she still knew she would never comply with his rule and be locked down in a house. Especially not while her brother was missing and needed her.

Perhaps she was a very bad match for Nathaniel. Did he need someone compliant, someone who would sit at home and be safe, away from all danger? She would never be that woman.

He also didn’t know about her plan to open her own sleuth agency.

And once he found out, would this happiness and this peace be over?