The Midwife and the Marquess

Chapter 16: Encounters and Discoveries

He was doomed.

Every spasm in the muscles around his shoulders; every groan and whimper and hitch of labored breath; every time her hips bucked and pressed into him, wanting, needing more, it was a sirens call, beckoning him closer to the jagged shores of her paradise. And like the sailor lured amidst the storm, he felt his sanity slipping away inch by exultant inch.

A low groan escaped her as she curled into herself, her sweet cunt weeping for him. He felt the sensations ripple through her into his body and he luxuriated in it, coaxing her a little further.

Suddenly she flung back, pushing his shoulder with one hand. "Stop!" she called.

He released her. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he kissed her inner thigh. He felt a confusing mixture of satisfaction and discontent. He wanted her, more than a drowning man wanted air, but he would not repeat the same mistakes.

And yet...

Her thighs slipped from his shoulders as he stood up between her legs. He saw all of her then; how her head lulled and her arms shook from exertion. Dark eyes watched him lazily under half-hooded lids. Her pretty teeth peaked through the gap of her parted, luscious lips, as she caught her breath on a heaving chest.

Rumpled and beguiling, the woman murmured his name, "Evan..."

...There were some matters he could no longer deny himself.

"Pretty Maria," he whispered as he leaned close to her, his arms to either side of her torso. "With your pretty little cunny that tastes so good. Like the honey-wine of the gods. I could feast on you till morning and still never receive my fill."

Her response came as a strong exhale so close to his ear that he shivered. "Evan..." she repeated.

"Hmm?" he answered, turning his head so that his nose brushed her cheek.

"What... are you babbling?" Her voice was breathy and humorous.

He chuckled and smiled, sliding his mouth down her jawline, over the ridge of her chin. "Shush,

I am worshiping you, o' goddess of bounty." She huffed out a laugh that hitched when he nipped her nape in chastisement.

She smelt of woman and sweat, her skin soft and taut over her angled neck. He caught her around the waist as he slowly pushed her back against the surface and bent over her. He loved the way she gave into him; loosening her resistance and allowing him to do with her as he pleased.

And please him it did.

His mouth sought lower; over the jutting bone at the collar of her chemise, until his lips grazed the puckered bud of her nipple through the worn fabric. He kissed her there, bringing his hand up to knead her other breast. She squirmed and sighed in appraisal and he fed on her gratification. One of her hands slid from his hair. He felt her fingers fumbling at the laces of her chemise and he pushed it away, pinning her arm above her head. "No," he stated, giving her a pointed look. She returned it with a haughty upturn of her chin, goading him on. "Stay put, Maria."

He wasted no time in undoing the tie and pulling her chemise over her head, letting it fall listless to the ground. He traced a finger down the valley between her breasts, splaying his hand over the supple flesh of her belly. Lines marked where her skin had stretched during her pregnancy. He kissed them, one by one.

A hand cupped his cheek, tilting his face up to look at her. There was belonging there, in those deep eyes of hers. He could see himself reflected in the dark glassy surface and knew that this is where he wanted to be, where she could see and touch and feel him.