Page 31 of Her Baseborn Bridegroom

“But Lady Enid and I . . . ”

“She can come here if you need to meet,” he said, sounding bored of the conversation as he snuffed out the candles on the far side of the room.

“But they invited me back to their house . . . It will seem rude if I refuse their hospitality.”

“I don’t give a damn,” he said, stripping off his smalls.

She gave a slight gasp at his rudeness. Well! “Lady Enid was telling me about her late husband and how considerate he was,” she carried on recklessly. “How he always listened to her and valued her opinion.”

“Take off your shift,” said Mason as he climbed into the bed and slid right across to her side. When she didn’t move fast enough, he reached under the blankets and drew the thin garment over her head himself. “I think I’ve been pretty considerate this last month,” he said and reached out to palm one of her small breasts. Linnet gasped. “The candles by the bed,” she choked out.

“I want to see what I’m doing.”

“But last time—”

“Last time I was feeling considerate. Tonight I’m not.”

Linnet blinked at him. Was he annoyed? She could almost swear his eyes were glowing. His other hand yanked the covers down, exposing her pale naked body to his roving gaze. Linnet cringed, but when her eyes flew to his he had a strange expression on his face that she didn’t quite recognize. It wasn’t disappointment, she realized with relief. No, not disappointment. It was almost . . . proprietary? He reached behind her and piled up the pillows.

“Lean back,” he said, his voice gravelly and dark with promise.

Again, when she wasn’t quick enough to comply, he acted, shoving her back against the cushiony softness. She fell back with a gasp as he loomed over her, his hand returning to her breast again, circling it with his fingers and passing his thumb over her sensitive nipple. His eyes travelled up to her face as he slowly lowered his head to her other breast and then opened his mouth over it, drawing it into the wet heat of his mouth. Linnet gasped again, her hand flying to the back of his head where she dug her fingers into his dark hair and clung to him, as he sucked and licked her nipple and then drew her whole breast into his mouth. All the while, his other hand was gently squeezing her other breast, and then his fingers not-so-gently pinching the nipple. Linnet let out a ragged sigh as he lifted his head away, and began to lavish the same attention on her other breast. All the while, he pressed a thumb against her wet nipple, kneading it lightly and rubbing it back and forth in a way that made her want to twist and moan, and that seemed to give it a direct connection to the area between her legs which was now pulsing with new awareness.

“Hmm, such sweet, sensitive little breasts,” he said huskily. “Do you like that?”

She bit her lip and squeezed her legs together, trying to shift against the pillows. “I—I’m not really sure . . . ” she said breathlessly.

At her slight movement, his other hand glided down, down until his fingers slid right into her curls and then the core of her, making her cry out in surprise.

He gave an approving growl. “It seems like you do, Linnet.”

She tipped her head back to look at him as his finger slid up inside her. Her cheeks felt scorched. She held her breath.

“Nice and wet for me,” he said thickly. “When you’re in my bed, that’s what I expect. You, naked and wet. Not to hear you talking about other men.”

Her eyes grew wide as they stared into his. “Naked? But I—Umm!” He’d added another finger. She squeezed her eyes shut. Oh my gods!

“Look at me, Linnet,” he said in a low, insistent voice as he moved his fingers inside her, making her breath hitch and her head toss on the pillow. She gazed up at him, her chest heaving. To her embarrassment, his eyes dipped to her breasts again, though how she could be embarrassed about that, considering where his hand was, she did not know. Then, with his eyes trained on her, he tipped forward and began tonguing and sucking on her nipples again. Linnet gave a long, low moan and then his thumb brushed against something that made her almost shout out.

“Mason!” she gasped, trying to sit up, but his weight had her pinned to the pillows. “Wha—?”

He did it again and she felt herself tighten up against his fingers, squeezing him tight. Oh my gods, everything was connected to between her legs! And she could feel every stroke of his fingers, every circle of his thumb. Biting her lip so hard she thought she’d draw blood, she turned her face to the pillow and felt herself explode.

Ragged breathing was the next thing she heard, and at first she thought it was her own, until she realized Mason’s mouth was against her ear, and he was on top of her now, solid and heavy. He’d removed his fingers from her now and filled her with something much bigger. He wasn’t moving though. Just buried in her to the hilt, hard and throbbing.

“Linnet,” he rasped. “Gods, you’re so tight, sweeting.”

She felt herself glow at the endearment and braced herself for the pain of his invasion. Strangely enough, she didn’t feel any pain yet, she thought with a frown. There was no burning sting like before. Oh, she felt the unfamiliar stretch, and the strange fullness but no pain. She reached up to grasp his upper arms and tilted her hips against him to make sure.

“Linnet,” he gasped and thrust into her.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she murmured and felt his face turn into her neck.

He planted his palm at her side, lifting most of his weight off her and onto his arms.

“That’s good,” he said richly and thrust again, harder this time. “That means,” he groaned loudly. “I don’t have to hold back this time.”

Linnet’s eyes widened as he reached down with his other arm and grasped her behind the knee, lifting her leg over his hip, opening her further up to him. She held on tight as Mason ground and swore and hammered his way to release. He was a lot louder and more vigorous this time, and though it wasn’t painful it was uncomfortable and peculiar and felt strangely raw, emotionally. She felt guilty, protective, and oddly privileged when he finally dropped his brow against her chest and collapsed his full weight against her with a filthy curse. She stroked his hair gently as his chest heaved against hers and when he rolled onto his back, he took her with him so she was plastered against his front. Maybe he had felt the same when she had her release earlier, she mused. This marital relations business was a very strange thing. He sighed and lifted one arm up behind his head to fling out some of the pillows until he only had one. His other hand slid from her hip to her backside and lightly squeezed her there. He must be embarrassed she thought, after his loud exertions and foul language. Not that it was his fault. She herself had been unable to stop moaning and gasping earlier when he was using his hands and mouth. If she knew any curse words perhaps she would have been using them. She lifted her head to give him a reassuring smile and awkwardly patted his chest to show him that everything was fine.