Page 67 of A Contracted Spouse for the Prizefighter

She looped her arms about his neck. “You won’t hurt me,” she said with such confidence it made his chest throb.

“Not intentionally,” he said. “But this is your first time and I hear it’s not so good for women. I don’t have any experience with virgins, so …”

She bent her knees and gripped his waist with her legs. “I don’t think I could be more ready at this point,” she said with her customary frankness.

Clem swallowed and reached down to align their parts. “Wrap those long legs around my back, Dora,” he instructed, lowering his mouth to her ear. “That’s where I imagined them, the first time I saw you.” He brushed a kiss against the shell of her ear as she absorbed this with a small gasp.

“How outrageous of you,” she replied, the smile obvious in her voice, and he had to take her mouth again as he felt her heels dig into his back.

“This is what I wanted to do on our wedding night,” he admitted, tearing his lips from hers as he began to surge into her. “Before you fell asleep on me.”

Dora’s eyes widened but she did not reply, and he was forced to make do with listening to her breathing as he slowly sank into her blissfully tight depths. He paused a couple of times feeling her fingernails bite into his shoulders.

“Tell me if you need me to go slower,” he urged, but she only shook her head.

“Dora …”

“All is well Clem,” she burst out. “You do not need to hold back.”

He drew his head back to meet her gaze. Was she in earnest? “I need your hand at my neck,” he confessed in a low voice that shook. When he had her hand there, he would know.

Instead of questioning this strange request, she shifted one hand across his shoulder, gripping him firmly about the back of his neck. Clem almost groaned aloud. Fuck, why did he like it so much? “Slacken your grip on me if it hurts.” She nodded.

He started to make tortuous progress again, but Dora’s hand only clenched harder. “Stop teasing me, Clem,” she said huskily. “Don’t make me wait.”

Fuck. His self-control snapped and he thrust right into the heart of her, once, twice, and on the third he was all in. Dora gave a lusty moan and arched her back. Holy fuck. Clem felt himself start to tremble violently. No, no, no!

He gritted his teeth but could not prevent the overwhelming bliss of release. “Dora!” he groaned, crowding in on her. Instead of the embarrassment he should feel at such a performance, he felt only shock, satiation, and an overwhelming sense of rightness as he spilled into her. “Dora!”

To his unspeakable relief, he felt an answering thrill run through her body and then they were both coming apart in each other’s arms. Clem had never felt anything like it. He dropped his head to her shoulder and groaned aloud through his release. He was vaguely aware he was a lot louder than Dora whose gasps and whimpers he completely drowned out.

The first thing he became aware of in the aftermath was her hand falling away from his neck. He could not help a disapproving rumble at this, but Dora ignored him, pushing at his shoulder. “Clem,” she murmured. “You’re crushing me.”

He had to actively fight his own disinclination to move; instead, he rolled them so Dora was now atop of him. It was only at this point that he consciously acknowledged they were still intimately joined.

“Fuck,” he swore. “I didn’t pull out.”

Dora blinked down at him. “I have the device in though. It says it acts as a veil against your—um—she searched her vocabulary.

“I know,” he said hastily. “But even so …”

“We had better separate?” she enquired.

Clem could barely meet her eyes. Jesus, she was so … He clasped her hips and started to lift her off him even though it was the last thing he felt like doing. Dora, catching on fast, swung her leg over his belly and started inching across the mattress. “Where are you going?”

“To remove the device,” she explained, picking up the candle from her bedside table.

“Get behind the screen. I’ll go and fetch warm water and a washcloth,” he said climbing from the bed. He should have thought of that before. Once his feet hit the floor, he realized his legs felt surprisingly unsteady.

“You don’t have to,” Dora called out as she disappeared behind the screen, but he ignored her, pulling on his long underwear. His body was still buzzing and relaxed. It was strangely hard to coordinate himself.

Walking through the cold house was a shock and he wondered if he should buy a damn dressing gown, something he’d previously never considered. Making his way down to the scullery, he mercifully found plenty of warm water in the copper. Soon he was back in their room, handing her the bowl and staying respectfully on the other side of the screen. “The cloth’s in there,” he muttered. “Let me know if you want more water.”

“This will suffice,” she said cheerfully. “Get back into bed. I’ll join you shortly.” Clem hesitated. “I’m perfectly fine Clem,” she insisted. “There’s no blood or anything, I checked.”

“What about the device?” he asked, taking a steadying breath. “Did … did you get it out alright?”

“Of course! It really is quite an ingenious invention.”