The Lady and the Commander - Chapter Six
"Historical" A/U
Not my characters/not making money
Some smut in this chapter (blame the hormones and chocolate)
The Lady and the Commander stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an age. Their rapid heavy breathing was the only sound in the room.
Laura broke their eye contact first, only lowering her line of sight to admire his muscular biceps. Then, she heard herself humming with reaction when she felt a finger skim over her cheek, down her neck, and swirl across her décolletage.
Next, he rose from his chair, seized her under the arms and used his strength to lift her up until their faces were so close she could distinguish every line on his face.
"Are you completely chaste?" he asked as his lips lightly fluttered across hers.
"No," she said honestly, hoping this acknowledgement would not alter his affection. "Does this make you believe me to be a depraved harlot?"
She whimpered as he once again teased her mouth with the softest of touches from his lips.
"No," he replied. "I only enquired as you are unwed and I do not wish our coupling to cause you pain."
She looked up at him incredulously. She thought of her previous lovers. Not one of them had given any regard to this notion or given any heed to her welfare in such matters. She was touched and astonished to find such tender consideration in an outwardly crotchety sailor.
"I am compelled to admit, though, the thought of you laying with another does fill me with a want to incapacitate the man in question. I do not normally let such madness overcome me," he said with a grimace. "I seem to be in little control of my faculties where you are concerned, madam. I am struggling, for example, to acknowledge that we only met for the first time here in these quarters last night."
"I too have doubts akin to yours regarding the length of our acquaintance. I confess I am finding it difficult to comprehend that I am contemplating bedding a man I have known for such a brief period," she admitted.
He chuckled and she declared to herself that the sound was extremely agreeable. "Only contemplating?" he asked, his eyes shining with merriment.
She smiled, relieved to break their sombre mood with shared joy. She was tired of the continual unhappiness in her life. "Maybe you should attempt to influence me to the pronouncement that sharing your bed would be an inspired notion and to our mutual benefit," she saucily challenged him.
He arched an eyebrow in her direction before lowering his mouth towards her neck with maddening slowness. She felt herself sway in his direction but his hands on her shoulders anchored her to the one position whilst his thumbs traced circles on the skin there.
Eventually she felt the moist heat of his mouth as it trailed a line from under her ear down to her breast bone. His movements were unhurried and almost lethargic causing prickles of sensation to break out across her body. His mouth travelled up the other side of her neck to arrive at the base of her opposite ear after his mouth's reverse exploratory track of her skin. Her own hands found their way to his shoulders as he bit gently on her lobe before swirling his tongue suggestively into the cavity of her hearing organ.
"How am I faring in persuading you, my lady?" he whispered into the area his tongue had just visited.
"Mmm,"she murmured. "I think you need to plead your case further," she almost begged.
"I will make a concerted effort," he teased.
His hands descended lower to her breasts where he proceeded to make similar circles with his thumbs as he had previously on her shoulder blades. She felt her nipples enthusiastically flourish under his sure touch as his lips teased the corner of her mouth. She twisted her head in an attempt to swallow his mouth and tongue into hers but he laughingly refused to submit to her invite. Instead he manipulated her dress until he exposed one hardened nipple and bent down to suckle it.
She felt as if her mind was floating out and away from her body. She found it difficult to think as she was lost in the sensations of feeling.
After an agonisingly wonderful period, he lifted his mouth from her breast, careful not to leave her sensitised nipple bereft by continually rubbing it with his palm. "Have you come to your conclusion yet, madam?" he asked in low gravelly voice which alone made her heart jolt.
She hummed and gripped his shoulders tighter.
She felt the urge to touch him and indulged herself by sweeping his coat of his uniform off his shoulders and unbuttoning his shirt. She pushed apart the lapels and ran her hands across his chest, taking delight in the different contours and textures. His skin was dark against her pale hands. She dreamily admired the hardness of his muscles that, combined with the occasional softness caused by his age, fascinated her.
"You feel and look so different from the others," she told him.
He stiffened. "Others. Plural?" he asked.
She took her hands off his chest and pulled her bodice back up to cover her exposed breast in jerking irritated movements. When she had secured her dignity she placed her hands on her hips and flared her eyes up to his face. "It is tolerable to you that I am tainted once, but multiple times is unacceptable?"
Silent, he frowned at her.
She tilted her head and peered into the blueness of his eyes watching the emotions dance amongst them. She briefly saw pity, then understanding, until finally passion flared in his blue orbs so clearly that she shuddered in reaction.
"You are not tainted or sullied or any other archaic term that males deem it necessary to label a woman in your situation," he finally said. "You are beautiful, desirable. I find it difficult to fathom how any man could resist you at all. A woman of your years yielding to her own needs and deigning to present a small piece of paradise to more than one is neither sinful nor wicked. I believe your personality is such that if you have remained unwed, it was by your own choosing. I was insulting for one reason only," he admitted.
She gave her head a slight shake. "What motivation would this be?"
"Envy. I covet what those other men have taken. Believe me when I avow that I do not usually succumb to such feelings but at the moment you said 'others', the madness of jealousy coursed through me once again. These feelings are so new and foreign to me I am having hardship controlling them." He reached up and stroked her cheek with infinite gentleness. "Will you forgive me my repugnant thoughts and allegations if I make an oath to never again injure you with these bitter tendencies?"
His expression was so earnest in its anguish of injuring her feelings it nearly broke her heart. She smiled at him once more. "It cannot be true that I was only introduced to you yesterday," she again affirmed. "Your ability to incite my anger is only equalled by your capacity to bring a smile to my features."
"The smile you so readily bestow is lovely," he murmured, stroking her face again.
"I want you to make me forget," she pleaded.
He frowned again. "Forget what?" he asked.
"Everything," she said. Her fervent hope was that this man could expunge all the many events in her life that she longed to forget.
"Everything," she repeated as she pressed her lips against his, putting every effort into the kiss. They opened to each other, their tongues meeting and lacing together in a partnership of sensual fervour.
He reached down and guided her hands back to their previous position on his chest. His hands, meanwhile, swept down to lift the skirt layers of her dress. He explored her legs, rubbing up and down her thighs with an assured but moderate touch. One of his hands cupped her right buttock cheek, squeezing it enticingly as their kisses continued fervently.
She felt moisture gather in her undergarments as their mouths continued their luxurious onslaught. One of her hands moved to weave through the locks of his hair. She felt as if she had swallowed a flock of birds and their wings were fluttering and hammering against her insides. There was a loud ringing in her ears.
He abruptly pushed her away from him causing her to moan with frustration.
"Commander?" she said in a foggy uncomprehending voice.
"The bells," he said as he quickly fumbled to button and tuck his shirt in.
"Bells?" she asked in the same strange inane tone. She became consciously aware that the ringing was not confined to her brain and she could hear shouting in addition.
"It is a forewarning. Come. We must make haste and ascertain the problem," he ordered as they opened the door and plunged them into the obvious confusion that lay outside his cabin.
Chapter 7