The Governess Club: Sara (20 page)

Nathan pulled his fingers out, his mouth still working in gentle strokes, soothing the pleasured flesh. Easing back, he kissed either side of her inner thighs and worked his way up until he captured her mouth, taking it in a long, slow kiss. He held his body above her, careful to keep them from meeting and testing his resolve even more. Her hands came up to caress his face as they kissed.

Sara pulled away, smiling up at him. “You can lie down on me again,” she offered.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea at the moment,” he replied. His hard on was still raging too strongly to be trusted against her pelvis.

“I don’t mind. I enjoyed it last time.” She pulled on his shoulders, encouraging him to do as she bid.

Unable to resist any longer, Nathan settled against her, pressing his forehead into her neck. She accommodated his hips between her thighs, bending her knees to welcome him better and her fingers played with the fabric of his robe.

His erection throbbed and jerked, being so close to its desire. Nathan felt her body stiffen slightly. He pulled away from her neck and saw the question in her eyes.

“I want you, Sara Collins,” he said, blunt in his honesty. He saw no reason to dither over wording. “I want you in the most primitive way a man can want a woman. I want to fill your body with my cock and feel your hot flesh surround me. The sight of you, your scent, the very thought of you, arouses me and I want to claim you as my own. I am not ashamed of that.”

The question in her eyes eased, replaced by a glow that he did not recognize. A smile tugged at her lips and she nodded.

He furrowed his brow. “What? What is the nod for?”

She lifted her head and kissed him, her hands running over his shoulders. “It means that your attentions are not unwanted.”

His eyebrows lifted. He wasn’t sure he understood her clearly. “I beg your pardon?”

Sara looked him direct in the eye, the glow still present, but the seriousness unmistakable. “It means that I want this, Nathan. I want you and I want more than what you just gave me. I want it all. I am not ashamed of it either.”

Nathan quickly shucked his robe and smalls, moving to help her remove her shift before she changed her mind. It was the first time he had seen her utterly naked and in the morning light, she was a sight to behold. Her pale skin and soft curves beckoned to him, begging to be caressed and his palms itched to do just that. Her mound at which he had just became intimately acquainted with glistened with her arousal. He licked his lips, her taste still lingering.

His eyes flickered up to her face and saw her regarding him in the same manner. Hesitation reflected in her face as she became aware of just how much he desired her and Nathan felt a spark of panic that she was going to change her mind. He leaned back over her, pressing her back down against the mattress and cupping her face. “No, shh, it’s fine.”

“Nathan,” she said.

“Shh,” he soothed and kissed her. “You are so beautiful. That is all it means. It is a compliment to your beauty. I desire you so much I ache with it.”

The look on his face was so sincere that Sara had to forcibly remind herself of one of her mother’s lessons: men said things they do not mean in order to get a lady to acquiesce to their sexual demands. No matter how much she wanted to believe he was sincere, she had best to keep a level head about it.

Even if such declarations were not part of their arrangement.

Nathan leaned down and kissed her again, taking her mouth with deliberate gentleness. Sara responded, opening her mouth at the first touch of his tongue, welcoming him in. The kiss deepened and she lifted her hands to cup his face again, enjoying the scrape of stubble against her palms. His tongue delved into her mouth, exploring and playing. She felt her anxiety melt away.

Nathan lowered his body against hers, the first feeling of entire skin against skin making his head spin. He left her mouth and moved down her neck, pausing to pay attention to her rapid pulse. His hand slid down her side, slipping underneath her body to caress and fondle her bottom. Such a soft, round bottom, filling his hand to overflowing. Leaving her neck, he pressed his face in between her breasts, feeling her round globes against his cheeks. Turning his head, he kissed his way to her nipple and took it in his mouth.

She moaned, her hands coming up to his shoulders, holding him to her. As he used his lips and tongue to tease her nipple into a tight bud, her fingers ran over his back, her fingernails scraping against his skin.

His hand moved from her bottom to cup her mound, the wet heat coating his fingers and making his cock throb. Nathan pushed two fingers inside of her, preparing her for his penetration. Sara arched her back against his hand, her fingers digging into his skin, her body building toward release once more.

He settled between her thighs. Moving up to capture her mouth again, he murmured, “Sara, tell me to stop. If you want me to, I will.”

She shook her head. “No, don’t stop.”

Nathan kissed her again, distracting her from the head of his cock nudging at her entrance. With a quick thrust, he entered her, breaking through her hymen in one swift movement. She tensed around him and he held himself still, allowing her to get used to him. Her heat was scalding around him, making Primordial Nathan howl with delight.

Pulling back from the kiss, he saw the grimace on her face. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

She grimaced again. “Strange. Full. It hurts, but I am fine.”

Relief slid down his spine. Taking her mouth, he moved his hips, pulling out slightly and pushing back in. He felt her grimace and stilled for another moment. When he felt her relax, he repeated the motion, timing his thrusts with his kiss, always cognizant of her reaction and allowing her flesh to ease around him.

Her breath began to come more quickly against his cheeks. Pulling away, he watched her face as she discovered what sex was all about. Her mouth bobbed open with her panting breath and her eyes became more and more glazed the longer he thrust into her. Beads of sweat glistened over her body, mixing with his and she wrapped herself around him, arms and legs, pulling him down on top of her.

Her breasts pressed against his chest, the nipples tightening again from the friction of his rough hair. Sara pressed her open mouth into his shoulder and let out a small mewl just as he felt her squeeze her inner muscles and then pulsed around him, signaling her release.

Nathan increased his tempo, urging himself closer to climax. He tried to keep himself from pushing too hard against her; surely her body was already sore enough from losing her maidenhead.

“Nymph.” His voice was a guttural groan and he held her close as his seed rushed into her body. Pleasure bubbled up under his skin and escaped through his pores, coating his body with his climax. Slowing his thrusts until he was no longer moving, he pressed his forehead against her shoulder. Just as before, her body encompassed his and she trailed her fingers down his spine in a slow caress. Lethargic satisfaction seeped into his bones, bringing him a sort of contentment he had not known existed.

They lay there for several moments. Without moving or opening his eyes, Nathan asked, “You are well?” He felt her nod in response and she sighed the kind of sigh that a well-pleasured woman makes. An arrogant grin threatened to break out on his face.

It had only been her first time and she sighed like that. Nathan was by no means inexperienced, but even he had not felt such a deep-seated pleasure such as what was cloaking him right now. No wonder she was sighing like that and he was the one to make her do so.

He felt her body shake underneath him. He pressed small kisses along her shoulder by way of silent apology for crushing her for so long. The shaking increased and he raised his head to see what the matter was, pushing himself up off of her.

Sara had her eyes closed and her lips were trembling. Was she about to cry? But she had said she was fine. Had he mistaken her answer?

“Sara?” he questioned her. He kissed her forehead, which only increased her shaking. A hand came up to cover her mouth. “Nymph? What is wrong? Have I hurt you?”

She shook her head and opened her eyes, laughter bubbling out of her mouth. “Oh, I am sorry,” she said around her giggles. “Truly, I do not mean to be laughing.”

Nathan stared at her. He had never reduced a woman to laughter in bed before; it was quite lowering, really. To think she was laughing at him while he was marveling at the rarity of the experience they just shared.

“You enjoy kissing,” she continued, her gray eyes sparkling.

“I don’t see how that is a laughing matter,” he replied stiffly and moved off her completely.

“Oh no, it’s not,” she protested, following him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “I was just wondering who the first person who thought it would be a good idea.”

“I don’t follow.” His voice was still stiff and distant.

She giggled again. “I mean, consider all the things our mouths are used for, all the things we put into it. We eat, laugh, hiccup, men burp and spit, we all are sick through our mouths; it is a fairly disgusting orifice, if you think on it. Who was the first person to decide that it would be a good idea to press his mouth to a woman’s?”

Nathan stared at her, watching the laughter continue to light up her eyes. This is what she was thinking of moments after he took her virginity? Who invented kissing?

This was not what he expected from the meek, demure Sara Collins. Silence, the necessary cuddle and likely the question of his being pleased—those were things more in line with her character. Not this radiant Nymph with a mischievous grin on her face and entertaining laughter escaping from her.

The Sara Collins he knew was desirable; this Sara Collins was downright dangerous, alluring with a seduction that threatened his heart.

As he stared, her laughter died and the light in her eyes faded. He could see the transformation take place. Uncertainty covered her face before she masked it with a serene acceptance mixed with slight trepidation; if he didn’t know better, he would have said she visibly shrunk before his eyes. Moving away from him, she rose from the bed and quickly donned her shift and robe, lashing the latter up tightly so she was covered from neck to toe.

“Forgive me,” she said, her gaze on the floor, her voice once again soft. “I did not mean to offend you.”

Stunned by what he had just witnessed, Nathan could not speak.

“Thank you for the adventure of breakfast in bed,” Sara continued. “I shall tidy up once I have gotten myself dressed.” Before he could recover and speak, she had disappeared into her dressing room.

Damnation
.

S
ara woke up that night, moonlight peering in through the bed curtains. She sat up quickly, the ants in her throat. Beside her, Nathan continued to sleep on his back, snoring softly. His arm was stretched out, acting with his shoulder to provide her a pillow.

Careful not to disturb him, she shifted off the bed and wrapped her robe around her. He had divested her of her shift even before they had climbed into bed and did not give her an opportunity to regain it after thoroughly pleasuring her, in compliance with the list. Having covered her nakedness, she escaped through her dressing room and into the bathing chamber.

The tiles reflected in the candle light, once her trembling hands had lit the small candelabra. The ants increased their presence, blocking her throat and compressing her chest. Two whole glorious days had passed without an incident but now the noose was back with cruel enthusiasm.

She despised it, gasping for breath and trying to count in her head.

Flashes of her dream resonated in her head. Her mother, screaming flaming vitriol at her, condemning her as a harlot, consigning her to hell. Her face mottled with rage, she refused to accept Sara’s apologies or explanations, denied any amount of forgiveness or understanding.
Filth! Whore! Devil’s harlot!
Each insult lashed against her back. Her father turned away, unable to help her.

“No,” Sara croaked. The lack of air was making her light headed and dizzy.
In two three four, out two three four.
Her legs shaking, she sank to the floor and knelt on the cold tile. “I’m not like that.”

Her body bent over, her hands bracing her on the floor as she struggled to breathe. She refused to feel shame for having such a wonderful time at Cloverfields. Never had she felt like this; Nathan was not ridiculing her life but rather encouraging her to explore it. Even though she had clung to Ares—a misleading name for such a patient horse—and would not spur him into even a slow walk, Nathan had just stood beside her and soothed her. Liam was just as patient, holding the horse’s halter as she panicked.

Later, as they stargazed by lying on a blanket in a field, Nathan wove story after story of all the constellations, giving her a glimpse of the eloquence that must have served him well on the floor of Parliament.

What was sinful about these things? Knowing how to ride a horse was practical. And the stories of the constellations? Sara had no difficulty understanding that they were myths the ancients used in their limited understanding to explain the stars.

How dare you contradict your mother!

In two three four, out two three four.
The noose wasn’t going away.

And it never will if you continue to insist on behaving like such a demon spawn.

No that was not true. It would go away. It always went away.

Not this time, girl. It will do its work and you will burn for eternity. Don’t cry to me for help; you brought this upon yourself.

Oh dear heavens. Was this true? Did she deserve the noose?
In two three four, out two three four.

Was her behavior truly the source of her misery? She debated calling out for Nathan for help, but decided against it.

She did not want him to see her like this. Not again.

Struggling, Sara pushed herself up into the proper kneeling position.
In two three four, out two three four
. Pressing her hands together and bowing her head, she began to quietly recite the Psalms in between her attempts at breathing.