Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

T he gentle click of glasses was the only sound in the room. But Victoria's ears were full of the heavy beating of her heart. Robert drank his wine, then set the glass on the table. His gaze went to the base of her throat where her quickening pulse was on display.

He took the glass from her hands and moved both it and his own out of the way. She watched his eyes as his focus remained on the table. A wicked glint appeared in them, and she recalled the last time she'd been in this kitchen. What they had done; what she had let him do to her.

A strong hand settled on her back, and he drew her to him. "We could go upstairs, but this is the warmest room in the house." He lowered his gaze momentarily, then looked up again. "I have a confession to make."

Victoria swallowed deep. "Yes?"

"I have always wanted to make love to my wife on this table. Would you be willing to grant me this boon? I know I don't deserve it."

He took a step forward, and as she took one backward, her lower back bumped against the edge of the table. Victoria's brows furrowed. Her mind was working hard trying to figure out how this was actually going to work. She had an idea about it being in a bed, man on top, but if this was what he wanted.

Her fingers came to rest on the surface of the table. "You. You want to do it here and now?" she stammered.

Robert prowled closer. There was nothing but their clothes between them now. A hard something pressed against her stomach, and Victoria's gaze dropped. He was aroused. Yes, that was the word her mother had used when she described what happened to the male body when a husband wanted marital relations.

Warm lips settled on her cheek, then slowly kiss by kiss made their way across to her ear. He nibbled on her earlobe, sending a shiver down her spine. Her knees went weak as he murmured, "I can't stop thinking of the night you climaxed in my arms. Of your sighs. And when you cried out my name, I almost reached my own crisis."

She hadn't been able to stop thinking of that night either, of how he had touched her. But she knew enough stories of how a man's desires might cool once he was married. Of wives promised much before the wedding but left unfulfilled from their wedding night onward.

"Robert."

Words utterly failed her. She wanted to ask for everything but didn't know what she wanted. The only thing she did understand was that she needed his touch.

"Look at me," he whispered. Her gaze met his, her heart catching as she beheld the warmth and tenderness in his eyes. "Every time you and I are together as man and wife, I want to make it wonderful for you. Getting used to being married is going to take us both some time, but this—this thing between you and me, it's the perfect place for us to create that connection."

Victoria swallowed. He'd caught her off guard with this sudden request—her thoughts had been on the toast and the wine. "What do you want me to do?"

"Let me strip you bare," he growled. "Taking you naked on this table would be the greatest wedding gift you could give me."

She had bought him a lovely and rather expensive whisky flask for his wedding present, with the intention of gifting it to him in the morning, but at hearing Robert's need for her to submit to his desires, Victoria sensed this would mean a good deal more to him.

A nod was her answer.

Buttons, laces, and gown, he slowly stripped her clothes from her body. As the cool night air kissed her naked skin, Victoria shivered. "Now I understand why you wanted us to be together in the warmth of this room."

"I have blankets in the scullery for after we are done. We can wrap ourselves up in them while we feast on wine and bread. But first, this…"

His lips settled over her breast, and he took her peaked nipple into his mouth, drawing back hard. It sent a bolt of lightning racing down her spine. Her core clenched. Who would have thought that a man touching her this way could make her entire body come to life?

But it did.

In Robert's embrace, she was liquid fire. He lifted her onto the table and settled her near to the edge. His hands went to the falls of his trousers, and he freed his erection. She watched with wonder as his firm cock brushed against her knee, asking in a small but determined voice, "May I touch you?"

"I would like nothing better than your hands on me," he growled.

When she touched the end of him with her fingertips, he shuddered. "Maybe with a little more force, and the rest of your hand."

She caught the begging in his words, and bit down on her lip. Wrapping her fingers around his shaft, she gave it a gentle squeeze. This was definitely a tip she had picked up from the ladies rooms at a ball. Something about men liking it when a woman stroked them.

"Just tell me if I am hurting you," she said, moving her hand back and forth.

He pushed her knees open further then parted the folds of her sex with his thumb. His strokes were deep and magnificent. The room was filled with soft sighs, and heated groans as they worked one another to a higher plane of pleasure. As her own desires rose, Victoria struggled to keep a hold of his erection—all she wanted was to collapse against her husband and let Robert bring her to a shattering climax.

He must have sensed her state and withdrew his hand from her body. Victoria let out a small mewl of disappointment, which Robert captured in a deep kiss. His tongue speared into her mouth, and she found herself rising to the occasion, meeting him thrust for thrust in a heady tangle of lips and tongue.

"I'm going to make you mine now," he said, breaking the kiss. "Hook your heels behind my knees." She did as he asked, quickly understanding how this opened her fully to him. "Now take my cock in your hand and guide it to the entrance of your sex."

Victoria stilled. All the stories she'd heard about this moment crashed into her mind. Tales of searing pain. Of fear. "I, ah. You might need to help me."

He brushed his lips over hers. "We will make this as good as we can for your first time. There might be a slight pinch of pain, but after that, only pleasure."

They worked together and to her surprise, she felt no discomfort as he slid himself inside her body, sensing only the fullness of him. "Was that it?" she whispered. There had been no sting, no tearing of her world.

Robert nodded. "You are so slick and hot, so ready for me." His words were strained. She sensed that while he was holding everything back, he was also desperate to let go of his tightly held leash.

Victoria kissed him, then breathed into his mouth. "Take me. Show me the pleasure you did that night when you held me as your prisoner."

His hips moved and he withdrew, then he flexed them again and pushed back in. With every stroke, he brushed his cock over her sensitive bud. It was heavenly. Victoria became his captive once more, willingly held in his arms. He gripped her hips and thrust deep, seating himself fully. "Oh god," they both moaned.

"Is that good?"

"Yes, but I want it harder. Faster. Please Robert."

He took her at her word. His strokes became rapid, deep thrusts. Victoria clung to him, whimpering when Robert shifted his stance, and the new position had him grinding against her pleasure bud at the most heavenly angle. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take; her whole body was screaming with the need for release.

When it came, she crashed through her climax, her world becoming a blaze of exploding stars. She slumped boneless against Robert, as he continued to pound into her sex. The gruff anger of lust in his every groan was music to her ears. When he finally thrust one last time, then stilled, she heard him whisper, "Thank god, I didn't turn you over to the authorities that night. Marrying you was the smartest thing I've ever done."

Victoria lifted her gaze. They were still joined, and she liked that he was in no particular hurry to release her from his embrace.

She nodded slowly. "I think you might be right."