She shook her head, her breath leaving her body in mere seconds.
“Does this?” His hand closed over her breast.
She moaned incoherently.
“Does it?”
“No,” she managed to get out.
“How does it feel?”
“Good.”
“Is that all?”
“Wonderful.”
“And?”
Miranda took a ragged breath, trying not to concentrate on his forefinger, which was tracing lazy circles through the thin silk covering her puckered nipple. And she said the only word that seemed to describe it. “Sparkling.”
He smiled with surprise. “Sparkling?”
It was all she could do just to nod. The heat of him touched her everywhere, and he was so solid and heavy and male. Miranda felt as if she were slipping over the edge of a precipice. She was falling, falling, but she didn’t want to be saved. She just wanted to take him along with her.
He was nibbling on her ear, and then his mouth was at the hollow of her shoulder, his teeth tugging at the thin strap of her chemise. “How do you feel?” he asked huskily.
“Hot.” The one word seemed to describe every inch of her body.
“Mmm, good. I like you that way.” His hand stole under the silken fabric and cupped her bare breast.
“Oh, dear God! Oh, Turner!” She arched her back beneath him, inadvertently giving him a bigger handful.
“God or me?” he said teasingly.
Miranda’s breath was coming in short gasps. “I…don’t…know.”
Turner slid his other hand under the hem of her chemise and pushed it up until he felt her softly curved hip. “Under the circumstances,” he murmured into her neck, “I think it’s me.”
She smiled weakly. “Please, no religion.” She did not need to be reminded that her actions went against every tenet she’d been taught in church, school, home, and everywhere else.
“On one condition.”
She opened her eyes wide in question.
“You must take off this blasted thing.”
“I can’t.” She choked on the words.
“It’s lovely and soft, and I’ll buy you a hundred of them, but if you don’t get rid of it now, it’ll be shreds.” As if to demonstrate his urgency, he ground his hips closer to her, reminding her of the intensity of his arousal.
“I just can’t. I don’t know why.” She gulped. “But you can.”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a knowing grin. “Not an answer I was expecting, but certainly one I endorse.” He knelt above her and pushed the chemise higher and higher until it passed her breasts and slid over her head.
Miranda felt the chill air blow over her bare skin, but strangely, she no longer felt any need to cover herself. It seemed perfectly natural that this man should be able to see and touch every last inch of her. His eyes raked possessively over her glowing skin, and she thrilled at the fierceness of his expression. She wanted to belong to him in every way a woman could belong to a man. She wanted to lose herself in his heat and strength.
And she wanted him to surrender to her with equal totality.
She reached up and laid her hand against his chest, allowing her fingertips to brush over his flat brown nipple. He flinched in reaction.
“Did I hurt you?” she whispered anxiously.
He shook his head. “Again,” he rasped.
Imitating his earlier caresses, she caught the very tip of his nipple between her thumb and forefinger. It hardened under her touch, causing her to smile with delight. Like a child discovering a new toy, she reached out to play with the other. Turner, realizing that he was rapidly losing control under her curious fingers, clapped his hand over hers, holding it immobile. He stared down at her for a full minute, his blue eyes fierce. His gaze was so intense that Miranda had to fight the urge to look away. But she forced herself to keep her eyes level with his. She wanted him to know that she wasn’t afraid, that she wasn’t ashamed, and most importantly, that she’d meant it when she said she loved him.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
But he seemed frozen in place, his hand still holding hers to his chest. He looked odd, torn, almost…afraid.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he rasped.
And she wasn’t sure how she had come to reassure him, but she murmured, “You won’t.”
“I—”
“Please,” she begged. She needed him. She needed himnow .
Her impassioned plea broke through his reserve, and with a groan he pulled her up against him for a hard kiss before lowering her back to the bed. This time he came along with her, the hard length of his body pressing her breasts flat. His hands were everywhere, and he was moaning her name, and each touch, each sound seemed to stoke the flame within her.
She needed to feel him. Every inch.
She yanked at his makeshift kilt, wanting to get rid of the last barrier between them. She felt the friction of it sliding away, and then there was nothing there…except Turner.
She gasped at his arousal. “Oh, my God.”
And that made him chuckle. “No, just me.” He buried his face in the hollow of her neck. “Told you that already.”
“But you’re so…”
“Big?” He smiled against her. “That’s your fault, sweetling.”
“Oh, no.” She squirmed beneath him. “I couldn’t have done that.”
He pressed himself more firmly against her. “Shhh.”
“But I want to…”
“You will.” He silenced her with a hot kiss, not even sure what he’d just promised her. Once he had her moaning again, he dragged his mouth away from hers, forging a searing path down to her navel. His tongue traced a circle around it and then dipped scandalously inside. His hands were at her thighs, easing them open, spreading her for his invasion.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to devour her, but he did not think she was ready for such an intimacy, so instead, he pushed one of his hands up…
And slipped one finger inside.
“Turner!” she cried, and he could not help but smile with satisfaction. He flicked his thumb over the soft, pink folds, reveling in the way she was writhing beneath him. He had to hold her hips firmly down with his free hand just to keep her from rolling off the bed.
“Open for me,” he groaned, dragging his mouth back up to hers.
He heard her let out a little cry of pleasure, and her legs seemed almost to melt, sliding farther apart until the tip of his arousal was pressing against her, probing her softness. Turner moved his lips to her ear and whispered, “I’m going to make love to you now.”
Breathless, she nodded.
“I’m going to make you mine.”
“Oh, yes,please .”
He moved slowly forward, patient against her tight innocence. It was killing him, but he was going to restrain himself. He wanted more than anything to plunge into her with hard, furious strokes, but that would have to wait for another time. Not her first.
“Turner?” she whispered, and he realized he’d held still for several seconds. Gritting his teeth, he slowly withdrew until only the very tip of him remained inside her.
Miranda clutched at his shoulders. “Oh, no, Turner. Don’t go!”
“Shhh. Don’t worry. I’m still here.” He moved back in.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered.
“I won’t.” He reached her maidenhead and groaned at its resistance. “This is going to hurt, Miranda.”
“I don’t care.” Her fingers bit into his skin.
“You may later.” He pressed a little farther, trying to go as gently as possible.
She arched beneath him, moaning his name. Her arms were wrapped around him, and her fingers pressed spasmodically into his back. “Please, Turner,” she begged. “Oh, please. Please, please.”
Unable to control himself any longer, Turner plunged forward to the hilt, shuddering at the exquisite feeling of her squeezing around him. But Miranda sti
ffened beneath him, and he heard her wince.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, trying to keep still and ignore the painful demands of his body. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Does it hurt?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
He kissed away the tiny tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Don’t lie.”
“Just a little,” she admitted in a whisper. “It was more surprise than anything else.”
“I’ll make it better,” he said fervently. “I promise I will.” Propping himself up on this forearms to keep her free of his weight, he began again to move—slow, sure strokes, each bringing a jolt of pure desire with its sweet friction.
And all the while, his jaw was clenched in concentration, every muscle in his body tight and coiled with the strain of keeping himself in check.In and out ,in and out , he chanted to himself. If he moved off rhythm for even just a second, he’d lose control completely. He had to keep this good for her. He wasn’t worried for himself—he knew he would reach heaven before the night was through.
But for Miranda…All he knew was that he felt an intense responsibility to make sure that she found bliss as well. He’d never been with a virgin before, so he wasn’t certain how likely this would be, but by God, he was going to try. He was afraid that even speaking would set him off, but he managed to say, “How do you feel?”
Miranda opened her eyes and blinked. “Good.” She sounded surprised. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“At all?”
She shook her head. “I feel splendid. And…hungry.” She ran her fingers hesitantly along the length of his back.
Turner shuddered at her feather-light touch and felt his control slipping.
“How doyou feel?” she whispered. “Are you hungry, too?”
He grunted something she couldn’t understand and began to move faster. Miranda felt a quickening in her abdomen, then an unbearable tightness. Her fingers and toes began to tingle, and then just when she was certain that her body would shatter into a thousand tiny pieces, something inside her snapped, and her hips jerked up off the mattress with such force that she actually lifted him.
“Oh, Turner!” she yelled. “Help me!”
He pumped forward relentlessly. “I will,” he groaned. “I swear it.” And then he cried out, and his face looked almost pained, and then finally, he breathed, and he sank against her.
They lay entwined for several minutes, damp with exertion. Miranda loved his weight on top of her, loved this feeling of languid contentment. She idly stroked his hair with her hand, wishing the world around them would just go away. How long could they stay here, cocooned in the small hunting lodge, before they would be missed?
“How do you feel?” she asked softly.
His lips curled into a boyish smile. “How do you think I feel?”
“Good, I hope.”
He rolled off her, propped himself up on one elbow, and caught her under her chin with two fingers. “Good, Iknow ,” he said, deliberately emphasizing the final word.
Miranda smiled. One couldn’t hope for better than that.
“How do you feel?” he said quietly, concern marking his brow. “Are you sore?”
“I don’t think so.” She shifted her weight as if to test her body. “I might be later.”
“You will.”
Miranda frowned. Had he so much experience deflowering virgins, then? He’d said Leticia had already been with child when they’d married. And then she pushed the thought from her mind. She did not want to be thinking of Leticia. Not now. Turner’s dead wife had no place in bed with them.
And she found herself dreaming of babies. Little blond ones, with bright blue eyes, smiling up at her with delight. A miniature Turner, that’s what she wanted. She supposed a babe might take after her and be saddled with her less remarkable coloring, but in her mind, it was all Turner, right down to the dimples.
When she finally opened her eyes, she saw him gazing down at her, and he touched her mouth, right where the corner had been curling up. “What has you in such a reverie?” he murmured, his voice thick with satisfaction.
Miranda avoided his gaze, embarrassed by the direction of her thoughts. “Nothing important,” she murmured. “Is it still raining?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, and he rose to peek out the window.
Miranda pulled the sheets over her nude body, wishing that she hadn’t inquired about the weather. If the rain had let up, they would have to return to the main house. They had surely been missed by now. They could claim that they had sought shelter in the rain, but that excuse would ring hollow if they did not return just as soon as the weather cleared.
He pushed the curtains back into place and turned to face her, and Miranda caught her breath at the sheer male beauty of him. She had seen drawings of statues in her father’s many books, and he even possessed a miniature of the David statue in Florence. But nothing compared to the living, breathing man standing before her, and she dropped her gaze to the floor, fearing that the mere sight of him would seduce her anew.
“It’s still raining,” he said evenly. “But it’s getting lighter. We should clean up our, er, mess, so that we’ll be ready to go just as soon as it clears.”
Miranda nodded. “Could you hand me my clothing?”
He raised a brow. “Modest now?”
She nodded. Perhaps it was silly, after her wanton behavior, but she was not so sophisticated that she could rise from a bed nude with someone else in the room. She jerked her head toward her skirt, which was still lying on the floor in a heap. “Could you please?”
He picked it up and handed it to her. It was still wet in places since she hadn’t bothered to lay it out flat, but as it had been rather close to the fire, it wasn’t too dreadful. She quickly dressed and put the bed aright, pulling the sheets neat and tight, the way she saw the maids doing it at home. It was harder work than she’d expected, what with the bed pushed up against the wall.
By the time they and the lodge were presentable, the rain had thinned down to a vague drizzle. “I don’t suppose our clothing will get much wetter than it already is,” Miranda said as she poked her hand out the window to test the rain.
He nodded, and they made their way back to the main house. He did not speak, and Miranda couldn’t bring herself to break the silence, either. What happened now? Did he have to marry her? Heshould , of course, and if he was the gentleman she’d always thought him to be, he would, but no one knew that she had been compromised. And he knew her too well to worry that she would tell someone in order to trap him into marriage.
Fifteen minutes later, they stood just before the steps leading up to the front door of Chester House. Turner paused and looked at Miranda, his eyes serious and intent. “Will you be all right?” he asked gently.
She blinked several times. Why was he asking her this now?
“We won’t be able to speak once we go inside,” he explained.
She nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her belly. Something was not quite right.
He cleared his throat and stretched his neck as if his cravat were too tight. He cleared his throat again, and then for a third time. “You will notify me if a situation should arise for which we must act quickly.”
Miranda nodded again, trying to discern whether that had been a statement or a question. A little of both, she decided. And she wasn’t sure why it mattered.
Turner took a deep breath. “I will need a bit of time to think.”
“About what?” she asked, before she had the chance to think the better of it. Shouldn’t it all be simple now? What was there left to debate?
“Myself, mostly,” he said, his voice a little hoarse, and maybe a little detached. “But I will see you shortly, and I will make everything right. You do not need to worry.”
And then, because she was sick of waiting, and she was sick of being so bloodyconvenient , she blurted out, “Are you going to marry me?”
Because by God,
it was as if the man were speaking through fog.
He looked taken aback by her shrill query, but nonetheless, he said brusquely, “Of course.”
And while Miranda waited for the jubilation she knew she ought to feel, he added, “But I see no reason to rush unless we are presented with a compelling reason.”
She nodded and swallowed. A baby. He wanted to marry her only if there was a baby. He would still do it regardless, but he’d take his sweet time.