Viscount of Vanity, Tammy Andresen [top reads txt] 📗

the confines of the bed, Austin was in naught but his breeches and boots and Gabriella her chemise and corset.

This time, his hands explored every inch of her body from her breasts that filled his hands, to her narrow waist, and over the swell of her hips.

His cock was straining at his breeches, even as he unlaced her corset and pulled the garment off.

Tracing her hip again, he slid his hand down her leg and then, finding the hem of her chemise, brushed the fabric aside to explore up her thigh. He wanted to pleasure her before he’d entered her. Mostly because it would make the act easier on her, but also because it had been so long, he was a bit…anxious about his own performance.

Would he end prematurely? Suffer an attack?

He winced and pulled back a bit, but her hands lifted, looping about his neck. “Thank you, Austin,” she whispered.

“Thank you for what?” he asked, forgetting all about his worries.

“For marrying me.” She slid her hands down the bare skin of his back.

He touched his forehead to hers even as his hand brushed her curls. “Thank you for marrying me.” Despite being a viscount, he knew he would have struggled with intimacy no matter whom he wed. But something about Gabriella was stripping away his guards, tearing down his defenses.

He hoped that was a good change. Prayed it was the right choice. In this moment, it certainly felt that way.

But as his fingers sank deeper into her soft, silky flesh, he forgot everything but the hitch in her breath and the thrust of her hips.

* * *

Gabriella was falling again. Not literally, of course. In actuality, her back was firmly planted on the mattress.

But whenever Austin began touching her, she felt as though she was weightless, pleasure rippling through her body.

He trailed kisses down her front, stopping at her chest. He drew one of her nipples into his mouth, the cloth of her chemise still between them, not that it mattered. Her back arched off the bed as she cried out in pleasure.

He pulled away and she protested, reaching her arms up to him, but he only smiled as he pulled her chemise over her head. “I want to see all of you.”

She moaned as she wiggled out of the fabric and then he came back on top of her. The feel of his skin against hers made her shiver in anticipation. She raked her hands up his back even as his mouth came down on her nipple again.

When his hand brushed her curls again, she cried out, her body spasming even from the light touch.

He let out another growl and then sank his finger inside her. Her body tightened about him, her hands gripping his shoulders tight.

And then his hand disappeared again as he rose, fumbling with the stays of his trousers. He thrust the fabric down, the garment only making it as far as his knees.

And then he was on top of her again, his staff pressing against her opening.

This was the moment.

She’d become his wife in actuality, and perhaps then she could feel more secure in their relationship.

He pressed against her flesh, sinking into her as tingling pleasure radiated out from they joined.

Austin pushed further inside her channel and the pleasure diminished as a burning, stretching sensation replaced it.

She stiffened but didn’t move as he continued to sink into her.

Then the pain amplified. It seemed as though something inside her ripped and she whimpered.

He stilled. “Did it hurt, love?”

“A little.” She nodded, gripping his shoulders. “It’s all right.”

But he leaned down and kissed her too. “We’ll go slow. For both our sakes.”

She returned his kiss, relaxing into his large frame. “Are you nervous?”

He was fully seated in her now, but he lifted his head to nod. “The last time I did this, was intimate, I had an attack and I…” His face spasmed and suddenly Gabriella fully understood.

He was afraid that the act would bring on an attack. She hugged him tighter. “Isn’t there a way we could do this that wouldn’t be so taxing on your lungs?”

He gave her the gentlest kiss on her lips, moving in her. “You are marvelous, do you know that?”

She smiled against his lips, the sensation of him inside her no longer painful, but bringing pleasure. “Thank you.”

“Truly, the doctors say I won’t have them anymore, but I survived them by being strong, by being disciplined, and by—”

“Denying yourself.” It all made sense.

He slowly moved out of her and then very gently pushed back in again, and she took him all the way, loving the way he felt inside her. The pain had receded as she focused on his words. His voice. “Yes. By denying myself. But I need to have an heir in order to continue my line and…” He stroked her cheeks. “And I can’t deny myself the pleasure of touching you.”

Gabriella loved everything about being with him…the feel of him over her, the feeling of floating with him, his strength. But what if he were the one lying on the mattress?

Locking her legs about his waist, she pushed him to the side. She wasn’t even certain it would work but he rolled and she with him until he was on his back and she was above him, all the while he was still seated inside her.

She moved as he had, pulling him out of her body and then sliding back down his staff, surprised by just how good the movement felt.

His eyes widened as he grasped her hips. “I didn’t even think—”

But she kissed his words away. They could discuss it later. Right now, she wanted to bring him pleasure. He’d given her so much already.

She repeated the movement and soon they were moving in a rhythm, pleasure spiraling through her.

His hands still rested on her hips, guiding her movements and she only broke their kiss long enough to ask, “Are you all right?”

“I’m wonderful,” he answered, pressing their pelvises together as his eyes squeezed