The Earl and His Virgin Countess by Dominique Eastwick

also echoed Andrew’s words to trust him. Miranda took a deep breath and released her thighs from around his hips, not realizing she had wound them around him.
    “We need to slow down a bit. I had the whole evening planned to make this special for you.”
    She looked into his eyes. “Haven’t you figured out yet that everything with you is special? I never imagined you could be so kind and romantic. You have made up tenfold for my years of sadness with weeks of joy.”
    “With you, it’s simple. Miranda, I love you. A thousand times I’ve thought to tell you that. But this—now, seemed like the very best time. So I waited.”
    Tears blurred her vision. “You have shown me in everything you do that you care for me. It’s why I met you at the altar today. If, for one second, I’d thought my feelings for you weren’t reciprocated, I wouldn’t have come.”
    “You love me?”
    “Yes, and before you worry. I didn’t love the earl. You were right; you are two different men. I admire the earl very much, but I love you, Andrew.”
    He caught her lips with his again, but softer, less frantic. Caressing her breast with one hand, he worked her thighs open with the other then slid it under her hip to lift her. He rubbed his hard cock against her once, twice, before positioning it at her opening and slipping in. He stopped at her maidenhead. She met his eyes and breathed deeply in preparation. Fear filled her. Yet, he waited, merely holding still above her. Unable to form a word, she nodded, and murmuring words of love against her mouth. He flexed his hips and surged.
    A gasp caught in her throat. Pain filled her, tears formed, and, for a moment, she considered pushing him away.
    Cupping her cheek, he caught her tears with the pad of his thumb and held her tight. “I am sorry—breathe with me, my love.”
    As he filled his lungs, so did she, and, together, they worked through the sharp hurt. Slowly, the pain faded, not completely, but enough to allow her to experience a strange, but not unpleasant, sensation of fullness.
    “I am all right.”
    “That’s all, no more pain. I promise.” He slid out then back in.
    Fear turned to marvel as what little pain remained lessened, to be replaced by the sensations of being full and part of more than simply herself. He eased up from her, never breaking eye contact, but brought his cock to the very entrance of her womanhood.
    She squeezed, hoping to hold him in place. “Don’t leave.”
    “I don’t plan on it. Simply letting you feel your way.”
    Tentatively, she lifted her hips and, when he groaned, she did it again. She loved the feel of his muscles as they contracted with every thrust forward, only to relax again when he nearly left her.
    He maneuvered his hand between them, working her nub. Bliss rocked through her. As he sped up, so did her desire to feel that ecstasy again.
    Urging him on, she dug her heels into the bed until she screamed his name and let the tension go and waves of ecstasy passed through her. His hips pounded into her, and she held on for dear life, until he grunted and collapsed. Holding tight, she ran her fingers through his hair, and over his sweat-dampened back. Closeness like she had never imagined engulfed her, and she relished it. She imagined nothing sweeter in her life than this moment with him.
    “I’m too heavy,” he murmured.
    Not minding the weight, she went to protest, but he had already rolled off of her, pulling her into his embrace. With a painstaking pace, he worked at the ties of her stays, loosening them enough that she could pull them over her head, along with her chemise. The petticoat soon followed, leaving she and Andrew gloriously naked, with the late day sun coming through the window bathing them in its warmth.
    “Perhaps, if we should ever have a girl, we could name her Eve,” Miranda said some hours later, her head resting on his chest, as he played with her hair.
    “I think we will have to beat some other couples to