Read Online Amanda Scott by The Bawdy Bride - Free Book Online Page A

her nightdress to her breasts, touching first one then the other, stroking her like he would have stroked a skittish colt or a kitten. His touch was sure but gentle, and the sensations he awoke within her now were such as she had never imagined. She began to relax, even to enjoy his caresses, and when his lips suddenly touched hers, coming to her unexpectedly out of the darkness, she welcomed them.
    A flash of lightning instantly followed by a crack of thunder made them both jump. Lord Michael’s kisses had been soft, exploratory, but now his lips hardened against hers, and to her astonishment, he thrust his tongue between her lips into her mouth.
    His body stirred against hers and when a second crash of thunder came, while his tongue continued to explore her mouth, he moved a hand between her legs again, caressing the insides of her thighs briefly before his fingers sought entrance at the delicate opening where her legs met. Anne stiffened again, but he murmured against her lips, “It will be easier for you if you can relax.”
    “But you are hurting me,” she protested.
    “I know I am, and I’m sorry for the pain, but it must be done, and it will only hurt the first time, I promise you.”
    “How can you be certain of that?”
    “I have been told by those who know.”
    He shifted his weight then, adjusting himself, fitting himself to her body, and despite his effort to be gentle, the pain increased from a dull ache to a much sharper one. Then he began to move, thrusting into her slowly but rhythmically, and Anne, her teeth clamped together, kept her hands at her sides, fists clenched, resisting an overwhelming urge to push him away, enduring the invasion of her body as she knew it was her duty to do.
    A third crack of thunder louder than the rest roared through the room, shaking the walls, and Michael, startled, plunged into her. Anne screamed, and in a single, sharp, slicing movement, her fists shot between them, connecting forcefully with the part of his body that invaded hers. With a cry of pain nearly equal to hers, Michael reared back, and the ache within her eased at once.
    Anne waited, breathless, feeling his body shift away from hers. When he did not speak at once, she said in a small voice, “I hope I did not injure you. The noise and the pain coming all at once like that was just—I didn’t think. I’m dreadfully sorry.”
    “I’ll live,” he said, and there was a dry note in his voice that she had not heard before. “I have been warned that the taking of virginity can be very painful, but I was naïve enough to believe it was only the female who suffered. Or perhaps it was arrogance rather than naiveté. If so, I have been well served for it.”
    He was silent, and she could think of nothing to say. A moment later, she felt his weight shift as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. She could see the shape of him by the glow of the little fire on the hearth, but not his expression.
    He said quietly, “Good night, madam. I’ll ring for your woman to attend you. Next time will be easier for both of us, I hope.”
    Lightning flashed again, and thunder shook the house as a roar of wind blasted torrents of rain against the bedchamber windows. The storm had broken at last.
    The storm had diminished by the time he was able at last to summon a maid to ease the ache in his loins. Having suffered degrees of that ache from the moment he saw that good cause existed for bringing a new female to the Priory, he knew he could not expect to alleviate it in a trice, but neither had he expected to suffer like he had tonight. From the moment he laid eyes on pretty little Anne, he had wanted her, and being in the same room with her made him long to touch her, to stroke her fine flaxen hair, to—
    The door opened to reveal a pretty, trembling maidservant.
    He murmured, “I do not think you can have made very great haste, girl. I rang nearly fifteen minutes ago.”
    Paling, she bobbed a curtsy and said