Page 28 of Caroline Saves the Blacksmith
Caroline squeezed her eyes shut in regret. It had been so long since she had let her walls down to share a genuine experience with another person. There were so many excuses she could state for having done so now. It was the holidays. She was lonely. William was the first man to gaze at her with such blazing admiration.
None of it signified because she had revealed her darkest secret to a veritable stranger and now he would display his disdain and she would be alone once more.
Her throat tightened, and threatening tears burned.
Eventually, she realized she could no longer avoid his reaction and her eyes flickered open. The blacksmith was watching her, contemplating her declaration. Caroline wished she could sink into the table and disappear until, what seemed an eternity later, he finally responded, “I have done too much bad in my life to judge you.”
His reply loosened the bands of despair wrapped around her chest as she finally sucked air into her burning lungs.
* * *
William hadevery intention of wooing the incredible woman who sat by his side. After the potential future his dream had revealed, her fate was sealed. He was going to marry Caroline Brown and live in sunshine for the rest of his days.
However, he realized, she had not shared the experiences of his dream, so his decision would appear abrupt. He had yet to convince her they were fated to be together.
Sensing there was more to her declaration regarding her shame, William concluded he did not care what dark past she might be hiding. Whatever had prompted her to move to Chatternwell was irrelevant to his determination to entwine his future with hers.
William had seen into her heart, and the beauty of her spirit utterly beguiled him. She had brought him back from the dead with her talk of blessings, and the value of friends and family, and finally with her views on the future.
There was no possibility, now that the light had cast away the shadows of his past, that he would relinquish her.
All that remained was to lead her to a similar conclusion. That life would be meaningless without him at her side.
Then the vicar would read their vows, and Caroline would come to live in his home. She would change his life as she saw fit, and he would worship her from this day forward while they shared the joy of creating their own family together.
Somehow, he had to bring her to this decision with determined subtlety.
Since he had opened his eyes, he had been aware of her. Enthralled by her presence, he was compelled to draw her closer to within his reach.
Now that he knew she was not a maiden, thick desire coiled through his body and all he could think of was the need to pull her gently over to lay her soft body over him. Lush curves visible through the thin fabric of her wrap and night rail made his mouth water, and he could almost taste the sweetness of her fair skin.
William licked his dry lips and considered his next move before noting that Caroline’s gaze was fastened to his. She was flushed, and her breathing quickened. Perhaps she was as fascinated as he?
He drew a breath and took a chance, raising his hand to reach for her tentatively. Triumph swelled his lungs when Caroline came willingly into his arms. Her hazel eyes were dark with liquid desire and, when her lips parted with a sigh, it was the only invitation he needed.
William wrapped an arm around her slight waist to embrace her close before sliding his hands up to cup her chin, tilting her head back for a searing kiss, his mouth claiming hers as if he were starving. Her fingers dug into the thick muscles of his arms as she kissed him back, her lips parting as he licked at her plump lower lip. Without hesitation, he swept his tongue to devour her mouth. Their tongues danced together as Caroline returned every swipe, every caress, with a passion to match his own.
He felt her gentle fingers exploring the firm contours of his torso as she moaned, her hips jerking against his to send shooting pleasure into his loins as his craving mounted. Blood pounded in his ears with a deafening roar while her soft sighs drove him wild. Groaning loudly, he took her face between his palms to end their kiss and to stare into her lovely hazel eyes. She frowned with uncertainty until her eyes followed his fingers as they slid down to work the knot of her wrap. Wriggling, she helped him to divest her of the garment, which he pushed off her shoulders, and then they struggled together to get it off her arms, the sleeves folding back clumsily in their haste.
Her hips jerked into him as she raised her upper body to assist him, the sensation of her mound thrusting against him causing his length to harden in excitement. Eventually they had the garment off, and he tossed it to the other settee before pulling her head down with a determined hand to kiss her once more. His hands swept down her back to cup her rounded buttocks firmly, and he nudged his engorged length against the seam of her sex, quickly growing frustrated at the layers between them.
William’s hands sought the hem of her rail, pulling roughly at the edge to lift it until it got stuck, trapped between their upper thighs. Caroline moaned in frustration before pressing her hands into the settee, bracketing him as she lifted her hips. William panted, breathing in her scent of peppermint and vanilla as he swept the rail up to bunch under her arms. He had not allowed his gaze to venture down to her nakedness, instead focusing on divesting her of the garment.
Caroline’s knees came down on either side of his hips, and she rose back to fight with the rail and throw it aside. And William stopped breathing as he finally beheld her magnificent body.
She had lovely, rounded breasts with straining pink tips. His mouth watered in anticipation while he caressed over the pebbled nipples with his ardent gaze before slowly taking in the expanse of her smooth belly. Then he blinked hard, shutting his lids with sheer lust at the sight of the blonde curls that shielded the shadowed apex between her legs.
* * *
Carolinehardly comprehended how things had developed to where she was now naked and seated around, over, on the powerful physique of the blacksmith. Her thoughts were incoherent. She vaguely recollected the admiration she had seen in his eyes before they crashed together into increasingly ravenous kisses, their tongues and lips melding into one as if they could not get close enough. As if they were attempting to be one unit rather than two separate people.
She panted from the vigor of the past few minutes, attempting to collect herself, but she had never experienced such passion. The blacksmith was intoxicating in his masculinity. Intoxicating in the deep affection and regard she had seen in the depths of those dark blue eyes. It was the first time she had admitted even a small part of her secret shame, and William had heard what she had told him, considered her confession, and then acknowledged her without judgment. The sheer relief of letting her guard down only to find acceptance in response nearly burst her heart with incredible joy.
Her only experiences with passion had been furtive, guilt-stricken, and she could not pretend there had been any true connection with the man she had given up her integrity and self-worth for. Lord Saunton had been an accomplished lover, but they had shared no true sentiment, and their encounters had been hasty lest they be caught, which, eventually, they had been. The earl had changed considerably since the time they had met in the stables, but back then his charm had been fickle and his regard was only for her body.
There could be no comparing that time with the present. Or William. This was a true man, worshiping her with his avid stare as she looked deep into his heated eyes. Over the past hours, they had developed a true rapport, and under other circumstances, she would be proud to call her fellow merchant a valued friend.
Caroline suspected that at some point she would deeply regret what was unfolding, but she could not think about what would happen when she returned to the reality of her life. In the present, she felt as powerful as Aphrodite to have enraptured a man such as William Jackson. The man was infamously disinterested in the women of Chatternwell since taking over the ownership of the smithy, but here he lay between her legs, captivated by her femininity.
