Chapter 27
CHAPTER27
“It’s just a sprain, Your Grace,” Doctor Rainer said as he stepped back from the bed.
Emily circled the bottom of the bed, looping one of her arms around Jacob’s bedpost and looking toward him.
It hadn’t been easy to get him back from the estate that afternoon. She’d had to help him into the saddle of her horse before they rode back. One of the groomsmen was sent out to recover the missing stallion as Doctor Rainer had been called for.
Now freshly bathed, Jacob sat up in his bed in loose trousers and a nightshirt, with his bandaged ankle raised on a cushion at the bottom of the bed. He looked very comfortable, with his head propped back on the pillows and an easy smile on his face. That smile seemed to appear each time he looked at Emily.
How much has happened?
In the forest, Emily wasn’t sure what emotion had grown in her more. Was it the frustration that Jacob had pulled back from her in the first place out of fearing his own death? Or the relief that he loved her too? Now, at least, back in his house, she knew what to feel. It was pure happiness.
He offered his hand to her, and she released the bedpost, coming to sit beside him on the edge of the bed to take his hand.
“Is my mother well?” Jacob asked, a rather nervous look in his eyes as he addressed Doctor Rainer.
“I encouraged Harlow not to tell your mother the full extent of how close you came to that cliff drop,” the doctor said with a small smile. “She thinks you fell from your horse and sprained your ankle, so she is perfectly fine.”
“Good.” Jacob nodded and rested his head back on the pillows once more.
Emily stared at him, realizing something more about Jacob’s character that she had not understood when they had first met. He was a man constantly trying to protect those around him, whether that was her or his mother. It may have manifested itself in strange ways at times, and had been very perplexing to make sense of, but at least now, she understood him better.
“Good evening, Doctor,” Jacob said in parting.
“Good evening.” Doctor Rainer bowed to the two of them and left, closing the door behind him.
Emily hurried up from her seat and moved to the door, locking it quickly behind the doctor before rushing back to the bed. Jacob laughed and opened his arms to her, welcoming her onto the bed.
At once, she kissed him, molding her lips to his. He returned her kisses with equal fervency and lifted himself off the pillows, nibbling at her lip in such a way that she opened herself to him, giving him access to her. When his body moved against hers and his ankle left the pillow, she made a sound and pulled back from the kiss.
“Ah, don’t pull back now,” he begged in a small voice, moving his kisses to her neck and kissing down her throat to her collarbone.
“I believe the doctor prescribed rest for you. I do not remember him advising anything more.”
“He also said on his last visit that I needed to sleep more,” he whispered, raising his head and meeting her gaze once more.
“Then how can I help with that?” she said in a mischievous tone.
“I can think of something.” He winked and moved his lips to hers once more.
This time, Emily didn’t hold back in the kiss. She pressed herself toward Jacob, deepening it further and taking control. He fell back onto the pillows, pulling at her waist and urging her to clamber over him.
Her knees fell on either side of his hips as she nestled herself in his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she tightened her hold, bringing her body flush against his own. So near to him now, when her hips moved against him, she felt his length. It was already hardened, so strongly that she made a sound as she kissed him.
That noise must have done something to him, as his hands moved from her back to her hips and he gripped hard, urging her to rock her body against him. The friction increased, tempting her, making a pool of wetness develop between her legs.
“We never did have that wedding night, did we?” he whispered as he pulled back from their kiss and moved his lips down her neck. He hovered around the open neckline of her gown, nipping at the crests of her breasts.
“Whose fault was that?” she reminded him in a husky tone. He chuckled against her breasts, the sound vibrating through her core.
“Completely my own. Allow me to rectify the matter, wife?”
“Happily.” She sat back, indulging in the feeling of him calling her wife.
He reached around her gown for the ties and hurried to undo them. She hastened to assist him, tossing the gown to the side so that it dropped off his bed. It was quickly followed by her corset and then her chemise, so that soon, she was completely bare in front of Jacob, straddling him.
Her breathing grew fast, and her hands quivered as she clung to him. A soft ache developed between her legs, one that spoke of what she longed for.
Jacob grasped at her waist and turned the two of them over swiftly so that she was on her back, and he was above her.
“What about your ankle?” she whispered.
“I will be careful.” He hitched one of her legs higher, then bent down, so swiftly that she barely had time to think of his answer.
When his lips found her core and he kissed her there, Emily’s hands fell back against the covers of the bed. Marveling at the sensation of the pleasure he started within her, Emily’s head turned from side to side, just wanting more of this feeling.
He had given her the taste of pleasure once before, but now, she wished to know the full experience.
As his fingers delved into her and his lips strayed just outside, giving her a dual feeling of pleasure, her legs quivered above his shoulders.
“Jacob… please,” she begged of him.
He chuckled into her core, that sound reaching deep inside of her and making her arch off the bed.
Kneeling up before her, he reached for his shirt, pulling it over his head. Sitting up, she went to help him and explored him with her fingers. She marveled at the contours of his body, the firmness of his muscles, and in particular the strong biceps that she gripped a little too hard, watching as he moaned a little at her touch.
She reached for his trousers, and he bent to help her, pulling open the flap to push them down his hips. Slowly, as his length was revealed to her, Emily grew distracted, staring at him. It was larger than she had expected, and her breathing grew faster until he kissed her. That distracted her completely, so she thought only of that kiss and nothing else.
Somehow, the trousers were tossed away, and she heard the cloth falling to the floor beside the bed, then he moved his body over hers, pressing the two of them together on the covers. Her breasts pressed against his chest as he moved their hips together. Her core was ready, that ache still there, but now nudged by him in such a way that had her legs quivering all the more.
Jacob pulled back from the kiss and moved his lips to her temple, giving her a soft kiss, more of a doting touch.
“You said once that you didn’t trust me,” he whispered, moving down to face her again. “I want you to trust me, Emily. Can you do that?”
She nodded hurriedly, so caught up in the moment that she didn’t trust her voice to stay level as she gripped onto him.
“It will only hurt the first time; I promise you that.” He pressed his lips to hers again, kissing her so deeply that she was marveling at that sensation when he entered her.
It was sudden, and so deep that she felt the pain he had spoken of. One hand gripped his bicep as the other wound itself around his back, holding onto his shoulder blades.
Then he moved. Each movement was slow and languid at first, surprising her, for the pain dissipated pretty much as soon as it began.
He lifted himself off her a little, with his hands planted on the bed on either side of her, allowing the two of them to look down at what their bodies were doing together. Such pleasure ran through her that Emily could not stay quiet. Repeating gasping moans fell from her lips as he drove their bodies together.
When he moved faster, he settled his body over hers again, kissing her so deeply that she trailed her hands in his hair, holding onto him, playfully tugging at him. He seemed to be driven on by such actions, his movements more vigorous as he drove the two of them together.
Her body grew clammy, tight, and in her core, she felt that tightening sensation she’d had once before, yet it was much more intense this time. Her hands flung back on the bed as Jacob raised himself up high, hitching one of her legs around his hip as he drove into her faster and harder.
Her body was catapulted to the edge of pleasure as she gazed up at Jacob, seeing his cheeks blushing red with sweat beading down the center of his chest as he made love to her. She reached her climax abruptly, the tingles spreading throughout her body as she closed her eyes and, in that darkness, she could have sworn she saw stars.
“Jacob,” she moaned his name as he rode out her wave of pleasure. Her body tightening around him seemed to have an effect, for he gripped harder to the bed beneath her and bent over her again, burying his face in her neck as he too reached his end.
It was sudden, his hips thrusting against hers as she felt a warmth spreading through their connection. He moaned into her neck, that sound reverberating through the both of them.
As they stilled, Emily trailed her fingers across Jacob’s back, feeling closer to him both emotionally and physically than she had ever done before.
“Heaven,” Emily whispered as Jacob lifted himself up a little. He gazed down at her, with a smile on his face that she had never seen before. Lifting a hand between them, she trailed it down his chest, still admiring his physique.
“Yes indeed,” he murmured softly. “Ah, Emily. I’m beginning to wonder why we haven’t done that before.”
“Now you say that!” She moved her hand to swipe him across the chest. “It was your decision.”
“Well, you can call me an idiot for the remaining part of our married lives together. I definitely deserve it.” He sank down over her, kissing her swiftly. She briefly indulged in that kiss, then pushed him up just an inch, so she could look him in the eye.
“I love you, you idiot.”
“I love you too,” he said and chuckled, before going back to kissing her.
Emily was not sure how long they stayed there together, their bodies entangled as they kissed, but she had no wish to pull back from him. It was everything she had ever wanted from Jacob, and beyond.