Page 88 of Winterset

Her own hunger was like a ravening beast inside her, clawing to be free of the restraints she had put on it for so long. She wrapped her arms around Reed’s neck, clinging to him as her lips gave back to him, kiss for kiss.

Lost in a haze of desire, they made their way toward the bed, turning, sliding backward, never pulling apart long enough to walk the few feet. He fumbled at her buttons, and she slid her hands beneath his shirt, roaming with pleasure across his bare skin. The feel of his flesh beneath her fingers, the smoothness of skin and the faint roughness of hair, stoked the flames of her passion still higher.

Anna felt as if she could scarcely breathe, could not last another moment without touching him, kissing him, all over. She wanted him with a kind of desperation she had never experienced, a hunger that would not be denied. She wanted to know him, to have him inside her, to belong to him in the most elemental way.

“Love me,” she murmured, lightly dragging her nails down his bare back beneath his shirt.

Reed jerked at her touch and let out a groan. “I do, I do.” He kissed her deeply and whispered, “I will.”

He jerked at the last few buttons, popping off two of them, and shoved her dress down off her arms. In her haste, Anna had donned none of her petticoats, only her chemise and pantalets. Reed stopped, gazing down at her lithe body, clad only in these two simple cotton garments. Her breasts swelled above the top of her chemise, pale and round and succulent. A strand of her hair fell in front of her shoulders, curling and tangling down over her breast, and the sight of it sent hunger crashing through him.

Reed ached to take her immediately, to consume her all at once, and at the same time he wanted to take his time, to taste each and every delight of her flesh. He wanted to smother her with long, leisurely kisses, to roam over every inch of her smooth skin, to caress and arouse her to a quivering, begging hunger. And he wanted, too, to sink deep within her right now, to drive to his exploding satisfaction.

He reached down and took the strand of hair between his fingers, sliding down it, his knuckles brushing over the silken skin of her breast, and his skin trembled at the touch. He laid the tress back over her shoulder and bent to press his lips upon the soft, yielding top of her breast. He smelled the scent of her skin, the faint trace of perfume. His lips made their way across the tops of her breasts, kissing and teasing, his tongue circling designs over the quivering flesh.

Untying the bow between her breasts, he slipped loose the ribbon that laced up the chemise, and it sagged apart. He slipped his hands between the two sides and pushed back the fabric, exposing the full white orbs. Reed cupped her breasts, delighting in the contrast of her pearly skin with his tanned hands.

Her nipples tightened boldly under his gaze, and he grazed his thumbs across them, sending shivers through Anna and hardening the buds even more.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, and bent to kiss her breasts again.

He wrapped his arms under her hips, lifting her up so that he could feast more freely upon her breasts. His tongue traced around a nipple, teasing it into an even tauter state, lashing and circling and finally pulling the hard button of flesh into his mouth, suckling it.

Anna trembled beneath his ministrations, sparks of sensation shooting through her with every tug of his mouth. Her abdomen blossomed with heat, desire pooling between her legs. She groaned, her hands roaming restlessly over his shoulders and neck, and tangling in his hair.

She had never known anything like the feelings that flooded her now. An insistent ache grew between her legs, yearning for a completion that only Reed could give her. He had lifted her off her feet, and now she wrapped her legs around him, pressing herself wantonly against him.

A half groan, half laugh escaped Reed, and he murmured shakily, “You will unman me.”

He eased her feet back onto the floor and threw off the scrap of her chemise, still clinging to her arms, then unfastened the bow of her pantalets and ran his hands beneath them, pushing them over the curve of her buttocks and down her legs, until they fell in a pool at her feet.

Anna tugged at his shirt, pushing it back and off his shoulders. Then her hands went to his trousers, inexpertly seeking the buttons that fastened them.

“You should do this,” she said shakily. “I am all thumbs.”

“I enjoy more the way you do it,” he told her, smiling.

In response, she tossed him a saucy grin and slid her hand boldly into his trousers, and he groaned, biting back an oath. She started to withdraw, but he clamped his hand over hers.

“No, stay.”

Surprised at her own audacity, Anna did as he said, her hand searching out the hard male length of his desire and curling around him. Her other hand slid beneath the waistband of his trousers, and she pushed them down, gliding over his buttocks as his hand had moved on hers. He sucked in his breath, and the sound aroused her. She could feel the quiver of his flesh beneath her hands, and that aroused her even more.

Reed grasped her shoulders and kissed her, his mouth claiming hers, as she continued to caress him. His lips ground into hers, his tongue probing. He wrapped his arms around her, his skin searing hers, and they tumbled back onto the bed.

He kissed her again and again as his hand went between her legs, finding the tender flesh there, slick with the moisture of her desire. He caressed her, his fingers moving delicately, expertly, exploring and exciting her. Anna dug her fingertips into the soft flesh of his buttocks as the passion built in her to almost unbearable heights. She moaned his name, lost in her hunger, aching for him.

He parted her legs and slid between them, sinking into her slowly, gently opening her and filling her. Anna gasped, but it was wonder, not fear, that spread through her as he eased into her, and despite the brief, sharp slice of pain, her desire only increased, swelling and growing in her with each slow thrust.

Reed moved within her, and Anna wrapped her arms and legs around him, trembling with urgency. Something was building in her, strange and sweet and at the same time almost unbearable in its intensity. She clutched at his back, almost sobbing in her need for release. And now he was moving more quickly, thrusting into her hard and fast, and she was rushing, rushing….

Then the pleasure broke within her, startling her and flooding her with the most intense sensation she had ever known, sweeter and brighter and more explosive than anything she could have imagined. He cried out, jerking as his own shattering release reached him, and he collapsed against her.

They lay there for a long moment, spent and replete. He rolled from on top of her, wrapping his arms around her and taking her with him, so that she lay across his chest.

Dazed, Anna lay limply, listening to the hard, trip-hammer beat of his heart as it gradually slowed. She could not speak, could not even really think, only lie basking in the pleasure that permeated her body.

Then, much to her surprise, his hand began to move over her again, smoothing down her back and hips and thighs, stroking and caressing her, his fingertips lightly teasing over her skin. Amazed, she felt his maleness move against her.