A woman cannot accept the hand of a suitor for she is prone to hysterics and foolish thinking. Only a man, a father, truly knows what is best for his daughter's future.
— Kikoil dea Fanior, The Pride of Tarsan
Lily woke to the comforting pressure of Kendrick's arm draped over her right shoulder and his fingers dangling against her nipples. Every time she inhaled, the hard tips of her breasts would press into his rough fingertips. Tiny motes of pleasure danced along her senses, not overpowering, but a simple pleasure of waking up next to her lover.
As she grew more aware, she ran her hands along the rasp of his scars against his back and the muscular hardness of his thigh resting between her legs and pressed up to her sore pussy.
Reflexively, she tightened her thighs to enjoy the muscular hardness that kept her pried open. She smiled and rocked her hips back, grinding her buttock against the thick warmth of his cock.
“Don't do that,” Kendrick murmured in her ear,. His voice was slow and gravelly from waking up. The heat of his breath tickled her ear and teased her hair.
“Why not?” she said with a smile.
“You have less than an hour before the carriage shows up. You can't be late presenting your dress. Nor smelling of sex.”
A ripple of tension rolled through her body. She leaned back, nestling in the curve of his arm and against his broad chest. “It is really happening? It wasn't a dream that I finished it?” Her body grew warmer as she recalled the feel of Mindil's tongue against her pussy.
“Yes,” he said in a whisper. “It looked amazing.”
She turned her head and kissed him. Her buttocks ground tighter against his crotch.
He spread his fingers and caught her breast, pinning her tight to his chest as he kissed her back. His lips tasted like fresh rain.
When they broke, Lily sighed. “I wish we could sleep in. I like this. Sleeping on a soft bed and a wonderful man next to me.”
“Almost wish you could do it every morning?”
The tone struck her first. There was meaning hidden in his words and she could feel it to the bottom of her being. It had a longing inside it, the wishful dreams that resonated with her own growing fantasies.
He wanted her. More than just two lovers, he wanted more. He wanted to marry her.
An intense wave of white-hot sensation raced along her skin, flaring along her nerves and leaving her shaking inside. She was at a cusp of something incredible, a path that would be chosen by her next work.
Sweat prickling her brow, she stared into his blue eyes. “Yes,” she whispered.
He smiled and the tension left his body. His fingertip danced along her nipples as he drew her close.
She lost herself in his shimmering eyes. Unable to look away, she kissed him. The softness of his lips was marred only by a slight scar on the corner. She thought it felt beautiful.
“Thank you,” he said when they broke apart.
“Why?”
“Because without you, I would have nothing.”
Lily wondered what would happen next. If he worked for the Martins, marriage meant that she would be forced out of High Society. Women like Mindil would continue to patron her but if Nirih's dress went poorly, then it would mean the end of her dress shop.
A tear threatened to well from her eye. She sniffed and wiped it.
Kendrick kissed her. “Your dress is perfect.”
He kissed her again. “You are perfect.”
“You are my everything,” he finished.
Lily blushed and rolled over to nestle her body against his. Her lips sought his as she lost herself in kissing, enjoying being in the arms of a man who wanted her for the rest of his life.
She reached down with her hand, running her fingertips along his scarred flanks and down to his hip. Her fingers danced lower as she searched for his cock.
“No, no, pretty flower,” Kendrick said with a smile. He pulled his half-hard cock away from her. “You have a dress to present.”
“Just five minutes?”
He gave her a hard look and then smiled. “I last a lot longer than five minutes.”
Her insides tightened with anticipation.
Kendrick leaned back to kiss her again even as he was slipping off the bed. “You have fifteen minutes to get cleaned up. I'll get you something to eat for breakfast. Min and Has are planning on having you for lunch.”
She grinned.
“… plan on bringing you lunch.”
She thought the other idea sound better.