Chapter 37

"Y-yes," she managed, gasping as his thumbs rasped her distended nipples. She'd never realized those rosy bits of flesh could be so sensitive. Her eyes squeezed closed as streaks of sensation shot from there to her womb. Then he pinched one taut bud lightly and her knees buckled entirely.
"You are so beautifully responsive," he said as he caught her up in his arms and carried her to the bed.
She laid her cheek against his chest, where it rasped against the fine wool of his coat. "You still have all your clothes on."
"Shall I rectify that?" After setting her down on the sheets, he stepped back from the bed and Augusta leaned up on her elbows to watch while he shrugged out of his navy blue coat and untied his snowy white neckcloth, setting both aside on a chair. He'd left his boots in the kitchen - or somewhere, she noticed. His feet were covered only by stockings he peeled off and tossed to the chair as well. She continued to watch as his gold embroidered waistcoat followed and finally his snowy linen shirt, leaving him clad in only a pair of buff woolen trousers. He paused with his hands on the buttons at his waist and she took a moment to study his chest. Broad and muscular, it was covered with a light dusting of golden hair, mostly concentrated around his flat brown nipples. The vee of hair narrowed into a thin line that continued beneath the buff-colored wool. Her eyes remained fixed on his hands as one by one he undid the buttons on the fall of his trousers, untied the string of his smallclothes, then slowly lowered both to the floor.
Oh my! Augusta gasped in a breath as she took in the view of Colin, entirely naked and unmistakably aroused. His member jutted proudly from a nest of dark golden curls. It was longer than she'd expected and thicker as well, with ropy veins running the length of it and a plum-shaped and plum-colored crest. A tiny droplet of pearly liquid beaded at the slit in the tip and she licked her lips, wondering for a fleeting moment what it tasted like.
"And now you're the one with too many clothes." He stepped back to the bed and when she knelt, he pulled her shift up over her head.
Instinctively, she started to cross her arms over her breasts, then stopped. Wetting her lips again, she gazed up at Colin, who was smiling intently at her, his eyes hooded. His voice rasped as he asked, "Do you want me to put out the lights?"
"Not unless you think we should." How was she supposed to know what the rules were about such things? She'd never been married and it wasn't like she'd had time for a long heart-to-heart with Margaret.
"There's no such thing as should in the bedchamber, dearest. Not as long as both of us are content." He sat down on the bed beside her. "I'd like to leave the lights burning, if that's all right with you."
She thought for a moment then nodded. She'd rather see what they were doing than fumble about in the dark and Colin was certainly no hardship to look at. "All right."
Then he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her and Augusta forgot how to think. All she could do was feel. She laid her hands on his shoulders just to hold on, but found she loved the texture of his warm skin over such solid muscle. The soft pressure of his lips, then the heat of his tongue when he swept it inside her mouth. He tasted of cinnamon, from the cake they'd had with supper and a little bit of the whisky he'd shared with the other men for a toast. He smelled of sandalwood and of warm, male flesh. That fragrance, combined with the heat beneath her hands, sent her senses reeling. She returned his kiss, slowly stroking her tongue along his, then following it back into his mouth, tracing the ridges and hollows as he had done to her.
She was too caught up to notice exactly when his hands left her face and began to travel over her shoulders then down her back. He pulled her body up against his, pressing her aching breasts into the hardness of his chest. His erection burned like a brand against her stomach. When she was forced to pull back from the kiss in order to drag in a ragged breath, he tangled one hand in her hair, tipped her head back and trailed his mouth down her throat.
"So lovely," he murmured as he laid her back on the bed, leaning over her to continue his explorations. He feathered kisses across her collarbones, then down to the valley between her breasts.
Augusta's legs twitched restlessly and Colin shifted, laying one of his corded thighs across hers, holding her in place. Meanwhile, his mouth moved ever closer to her nipple, finally taking the aching peak into his mouth and suckling gently.
"Colin!" She cried out his name as she gave herself over to the feelings he evoked. She didn't have names for the sensations, but her body knew what to do. When one of his hands slid down past her stomach, she instinctively opened her legs and arched up into his touch.
He switched his mouth to her other breast as his fingers began to caress and probe her damp folds. When he found the hard little nub hidden there and rubbed it gently, she cried out again, though it wasn't a word this time - she couldn't have managed that. All she could do was clutch his back with one hand and hold his head to her breast with the other while tension coiled tightly in her belly. Her heart raced, her breathing grew frantic and her skin felt taut, as if she were about to burst. Then, inexplicably, she did.
Light and colors flashed behind her closed eyelids as pleasure streaked through her body from her core to her fingers and toes. Colin continued his ministrations until her trembling slowed, then he moved back up her body with his thighs wedged between her own. The tiny, bristly hairs on his legs rasped slightly against the delicate skin of her inner thighs, but she didn't care. He kissed her fiercely, hungrily and she twined her fingers through his hair, responding in kind.
The thick tip of him nudged at her entrance, as he used one hand to rub his cock in her moisture, wetting the plump head. He positioned himself carefully before pushing gently but firmly forward, but still she cried out at the sharp pang that accompanied his first thrust. He withdrew a little, then pushed further inside, stretching her tender flesh to the point of pain. Once he was seated, he stilled, kissing her deeply again until she forgot about the discomfort.
After a few moments, she realized it didn't hurt anymore and she was starting to want again, much like she had moments earlier. Only now she wanted more than his fingers and lips. She wanted Colin. All of him.
As if he were reading her mind, Colin began to move. Slowly at first, then with increasing ardor. Augusta matched his enthusiasm joyfully. Soon she was lifting her hips to meet his and wrapping her ankles around the backs of his powerful thighs. Every stroke of his thick cock against her inner walls made her gasp with pleasure, every touch of his hand on her breast, kneading and pinching her nipple urged her higher and higher.
She didn't quite reach the pinnacle she had before, but there was another small crest. She let out a cry, her inner muscles contracting and pulsing, just as Colin stiffened above her and she felt the hot wash of his seed flooding her core.
When the streams of hot fluid stopped pulsing inside her, he held himself over her, kissing her softly for long moments. Then with exquisite care, he pulled away and stood. Dampening a cloth from the pitcher of water left on the washstand he returned to the bed and gently cleaned her inner thighs and her mound, even dipping the cloth just between her outer lips, removing her blood and his seed.
"Does it hurt very badly?" He leaned down to kiss the skin of her belly, right above her nest of curls.
Augusta shook her head. Then she scooted to the side to make room for him on the pillows beside her while he stepped back to the basin.
"Some couples prefer to sleep in separate beds," he said after washing himself and coming back to stand beside the bed. He lifted one strand of her hair and rubbed it between his fingers. His handsome face was set and serious, though is skin was still flushed with exertion.
"Really? My father and stepmother never did." Was he trying to back away now? Did he not want to sleep beside her? Augusta bit her lip to quell the surge of disappointment.
"I'd prefer to stay, though, if you don't mind." He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "We may have started this marriage out of necessity, but it is a real marriage and hopefully the only one either of us will ever have. I'd like us to begin our lives together by sharing a bed."
"I agree. If nothing else, it will give us a chance to speak without children or servants listening over our shoulders," Augusta said, relieved in some way she couldn't identify. As soon as he'd put out the lamps, she gazed at him in the soft glow of the fire and patted the bed beside her. "Come to bed, husband."