Page 70 of Sleepless in Saunton
One of his arms came down around her waist, pulling her tightly against his body. Her lids flew open when she felt his hard length pressed against her mound and lower belly. “Oh,” she breathed.
Barclay smiled as he tugged her night rail aside to reveal a shoulder and then lowered his head to nip and lick at her clavicle. “You taste like strawberries again.”
She giggled. “I am sleeping enough to be making my strawberry water again.”
“Then you should always sleep enough,” he growled in response as he closed his mouth over her skin once more. Jane was hit with a wave of hot sensation—who knew that a shoulder held such potential? And then thought was impossible when all she could think of was the throbbing desire coursing to pool between her legs.
Jane found the hem of his shirt, sliding her hands beneath to caress his flat abdomen with her fingertips and setting Barclay to shiver and groan as her fingers worked up to explore the shape of his taut chest. “I want to see you,” she whispered as his hands traveled down to cup her buttocks.
He inhaled deeply before raising his head to look down at her with hooded eyes. “Go ahead.”
Raising his arms up for her, Jane grabbed the edge of the shirt to lift it up. She struggled slightly when she had lifted it up to his forearms, which he lowered so she could tug the garment off the rest of the way. Then she took a half step back to inspect him, hissing in amazement at his strong, lean form. She lifted a hand to trace the corded muscle of his forearm, grazed a hand over his hard chest which was a work of art worthy of a grand master, combed her fingers through the tight, curling hair before tracing down to where the pelt arrowed down, down, down toward the waist of his breeches. Barclay’s large hand came up and caught hers when she reached his mid-belly.
“Too soon,” was the only explanation he offered before he dropped her hand and lifted her over his shoulder, to her dismay. Crossing the room to her bed, while the side of her buttocks rested against his cheek ignominiously, he carefully laid her out on the sheet. Rising up, he gazed down at her with raw desire, devouring her shape which was covered only by a thin night rail she had sewn from a fashion plate. His gaze riveted to her breasts, and she looked down to find what had him so fascinated.
Her nipples had puckered into tight buds, jutting against the cotton, and she could make out the color of her areolas through the thin fabric. Barclay bit his lip, and Jane appreciated the power she had as a woman to entice the man she loved to new heights of gratifying lust. He was such a composed individual, a gentleman through and through, so to see him so enthralled by her body was the epitome of validation.
She reached for him with a trembling hand, which Barclay raised to his lips to press a soft kiss to her knuckles, his beard scraping her skin. Lowering her hand, he dropped to his knees beside the bed. From his new vantage point, he ran his long, blunt fingers from her toes ever so slowly up to her ankle, where he took hold of the edge of her rail to gradually raise it. His fingertips continued to trail up the side of her leg, the night rail trapped by his index finger to slide up with his hand until he reached her knee, where he stopped to explore its contours. When his fingertips reached the hitherto unknown sensitive region at the back, she hissed, undulating restlessly on the bed as her center throbbed with longing.
Jane felt the folds of her sex swell, growing slick with her desire, and she moaned with restless energy as Barclay lowered his mouth to graze his teeth against her thigh. His fingertips brushed back up, taking hold of the night rail to continue his path up her leg once more, inch by inch. She was hot and very bothered when he traced over her upper thigh, pausing close to the crease between her thigh and … the … hot … melting … slit between her legs.
Her eyes flew open as he swept a thumb over her cleft, causing her to buck in thrilled surprise and her legs to quiver in enraptured tension. But Barclay’s warm hand had already retreated to stroke up and down her inner thigh to tease her body to a melting point. In the light of the oil lamp, Jane’s bosom heaved with her mounting passion, drawing Barclay’s hooded gaze.
“I wish to see you … all of you,” he rasped in a low voice, which sent shivers down her spine. Jane scrambled to her knees, facing him, her night rail bunched at her thighs, which he took as the invitation it was. His large hands took hold of the hem and lifted, and lifted and lifted until suddenly the last of the garment whipped from her arms and she was before him without a stitch of clothing to veil her from his regard.
Barclay’s breathing frayed with the strength of his lust while he drank her in from knee to breast, him on his knees on the floor in a pose of worship. He reached out a calloused hand to cup one of her rounded breasts, growling as he gently caressed the orb, which looked like ivory in contrast to his deeply tanned skin. Jane delighted in the feel of his roughness against her softness, mewling below her breath as he brought up a second hand to cup and lift the other breast. His mouth came down to cover her nipple in a wet, hot velvet lick. “Strawberries,” he groaned.
Jane giggled. She knew of his fondness and had daubed it everywhere she could think of when she had freshened up for dinner earlier. He lifted his head in query before his lips curled in response. “You did it on purpose?”
She screwed her face and grinned.
“Everywhere?”
Jane blushed before nodding. “Everywhere.”
He shut his lids as if to pray, then lowered his mouth once more to swirl her tight bud. Jane moaned, her head dropping back as he caressed and licked both breasts. Barclay lowered her back on the bed and continued to press kisses, moving down to her belly to make her core ache for him. His hand glided down until he cupped her mons. Her hips bucked in reaction to his touch, while his mouth came up to cover hers in a deep kiss.
Slowly, he parted her folds with a blunt fingertip to explore, and Jane was overtaken, her intimate muscles clenching with yearning as he brushed over the sensitive nub at the apex. All the while, Barclay kissed her, muffling her moans as sensation rocked through her. Rising, rising, rising until she keened at the fiery climactic event, hot sensation washing over her in waves.
Barclay lifted his head from the deep, drugging kiss. Rising to his feet, his hands went to the buttons of his falls. Jane watched in fascination, his body bronzed by the low light, as he slowly revealed the hard length he had pressed against her earlier.
A frisson of anxiety coiled in her belly when she saw the size of the appendage. She knew what to expect. Her mother had discussed it with her at Rose Ash the night before. Jane had not quite understood the physics of it then, and Barclay’s proud shaft looked a little large to …
He returned to the bed, gently lowering his body over hers, nudging her legs apart with a knee and holding himself up with his forearms to peer down at her hungrily. Leaning down, he once more took her mouth in a kiss, while slowly brushing his length over her slick center. To her surprise, her desire mounted once more and her hips rolled up in invitation.
“I will be gentle, but this first time—”
“I know. Mama warned me.”
Barclay groaned. “I do not wish to think of your parents at this moment, so I will pretend I did not hear that.”
Jane chuckled before lifting her head to kiss him once more. With that, Barclay accepted her kiss, nudging his length against her slick opening. When he slid inside her, Jane felt a sharp pain. Hearing her gasp, he stilled, waiting patiently. Slowly, she grew accustomed to his thickness, until carefully raising her hips to encourage him.
Barclay slid forward inch by inch until he was sheathed, his head thrust back in his effort to restrain his passion while he panted his lust. Jane rolled her hips once more, and Barclay understood her silent request. He gently withdrew to thrust back inside of her, and Jane grew ensnared by the glorious pulsating motion, losing all thought as she focused on feeling. Feeling him, feeling the heat of his body, the strength of his muscled limbs, the roughness of his legs, covered in short, coarse hairs, scraping against hers.
Then he reached between them to tease her nub once more, and light exploded in every direction as she was overtaken once more. Barclay followed her to the peak, groaning aloud as he thrummed, his warmth spreading inside her.
He collapsed onto his forearms, holding himself up but spent. After a few moments, he opened his blazing eyes to kiss her gently on the lips. “I … love you, Jane.”
