Page 72 of Baron in Check
Each kiss was a wordless vow, a pledge of his admiration and desire. Hermy’s sharp intake of breath was the only encouragement he needed to continue, to worship her with his mouth, to communicate with actions what words could never fully express.
With the stays and slippers discarded, Greg guided Hermy to the bed, laying her down with a tenderness that contrasted with the fervor that pulsed through his veins. He eased her onto her back. Hermy’s kiss was sweeter than honey and sugar combined as she sucked his mouth as if she never wanted to let him go. That only spurred him on, their tongues in the familiar dance of their past, but their bodies ablaze with the passion of the moment. This was his Hermy, his fiancée, his queen.
His lips left hers, kissed a trail of kisses along her neck, her collarbone, and then everywhere else, mapping the landscape of her body with a devotion that left no inch of her skin unkissed. As he moved lower, Hermy grabbed his collar and tugged at it.
“Greg!” Her voice a beg.
He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to control the rock-hard erection, stretching his breeches in an uncomfortable harness for his desire. But he wasn’t the boy in heat anymore. He wanted to be her suitor, a worthy fiancé, and an honorable groom. Although he couldn’t take back his past transgressions, he could do the right thing now, and at least not … oh, hecouldn’t think it without wanting to tear his clothes off and plunge into her.
“I promised not to … not until we’re married.” His voice cracked, and he was the sixteen-year-old boy hiding in her room again after all this time. It may be a different bed and the same house, but the forbidden fruit called to him just as it did then—all those times when he gave in without considering the big picture—and without strategizing. No, this time, he’d keep at least his clothes on.
But there’d been that one time when … Greg broke his kisses and searched for Hermy’s eyes. She lifted her head and looked at him, sucking her lower lip in.
“Do you remember?—”
But she didn’t need to continue for he ducked down and she fell flat on the mattress. He spread her legs, and she drove her hands through his hair, breathing sharply when he parted her folds.
At first, he gave her a tender kiss, not aiming at anything in particular. Her flat stomach fell into a hollow groove. Then, just as she drew the next breath and her breasts soared from Greg’s vantage point, he covered her with his hand. She pressed his hand tightly with hers and guided his head down with the other.
No further instruction was needed because he did remember. How could he ever forget the unforgettable, beautiful, gorgeous, and sweet Hermy? The one woman who overshadowed all others, who shone brighter in his heart than even the morning sun when he’d crossed the Atlantic Ocean. And his heart was flooded with all the love he’d said for his bride.
With the tip of his tongue, he licked her up and then down and swirled her pearl, but she was already so wet that his finger slid in easily and deeply.
Greg’s heart thrummed, his cock twitched, and every muscle in his body pulsed with desire. But he’d promised her notto. After everything he’d done, he was going to respect their wedding night.
Except that he wasn’t going to wait that long at the expense of her pleasure.
Perhaps it was a tiny bit selfish, but that didn’t matter very much once his second finger slipped in and she arched her hips, pressed into his touch, and let go of his head to search for… what was she searching for?
Her hands went behind her head, patting the covers for something. “Pillow!” She cried out. “Pillow!”
Greg left his hand where it was but shifted his weight over her, grabbed the pillow that was out of her reach and she took it, pressed it over her mouth and screamed.
For a moment, Greg froze.
It was a shrill, loud sound, muffled by the pillow. Then she threw the pillow behind her and shook the cry off.
Eyes wide, he forgot to move.
“There! It’s all out.” A wild gleam flared in her eyes as a brilliant smile brightened her mouth.
She reached for his hand and pressed him on, inviting him to apply more pressure.
Then she wrapped her other arm around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. She was glorious, wild, and oh so hot. If he didn’t know any better, he’d burn his tongue or his fingers, but it was worth it. With her, Greg didn’t need armor, the knight was always trumped by the queen.
“I’m mad for you,” she said into his open mouth, licking his front teeth.
“So I see.” Greg teased her with a third finger.
That earned him a little bite. And everything was easy. It had always been easy with Hermy, not because they were young and reckless, but because they belonged together.
And because he knew what she wanted.
In that room, with the world held at bay, Greg poured every ounce of his longing, his reverence for Hermy, into each kiss, each caress. He worshipped her as though she were the very air he breathed, essential and life-giving. And in those moments, as he laid bare his heart without uttering a single word, Greg knew there was no turning back. He had crossed a threshold within himself, driven by an irresistible force that Hermy embodied. In her, he found not just desire, but a connection that transcended the physical, a bond that promised more than fleeting pleasure—a whisper of forever in the touch of her skin.
EPILOGUE
“You are an Earl now,” Fave said with a bright toothy smile that matched Arnold’s as they stood next to Greg, both in their finery with carnations in their chest pockets.
