“These should come off,” Ellen whispered.
Mark agreed. He reluctantly let her go to strip off his trousers while she used the freedom of movement to finish removing the combination. When they returned to each other, they were bare—body and soul.
Her bloodshot eyes looked everywhere but at him, and her hands twitched, likely to cover herself from his gaze.
Tenderness blooming in his chest, Mark touched her chin gently. “I can’t imagine anything more perfect,” he whispered. He ran the hand down her throat, between her breasts, over the gentle slope of her belly, and let it stop just at the curls of her mound. “Open up, my love. Let me see you.”
Ellen flushed, but scooted close and loosely straddled him, one calf on either side of his waist, leaving several inches between his sex and hers. “I should thank the Navy,” she murmured, her hands feeling every square inch of his belly and hips. She tickled the hair that led to the carpet above his sex, and he flinched at the invasion. Ellen quirked a smile at his response, despite her puffy and red-rimmed eyes. “Still ticklish, I see.”
“Not at all,” he lied. “You misremember.”
Something devious sparked in Ellen’s eyes, and he realized he’d made a grave error.
Ellen gently trailed her fingernails across one inner thigh, and he fought to keep still. His leg twitched, and he gritted his teeth to keep a grimace off his face as he met her gaze steadily.You have no effect on me,his eyes lied.
She shot him a disappointed look. Just when he thought he’d escaped, she darted her fingernails upward, across his abdomen.
Mark jackknifed, nearly hitting her head with his as he gasped and convulsed, a smile escaping. “Ellen! Oh God, stop it, don’t touch me! You know I cannot bear tickling.”
Ellen laughed, a clear, sweet sound that broke the tension building in the room and swept away the last of Mark’s reservations about being intimate with her while she was so upset.
A grin tugging at one corner of his mouth, Mark got a hold of himself and forced his body to relax, to rest half-reclined against her pillows and propped on his elbows, leaving himself wide open to her ministrations. He gave her a mock withering look. “Naughty girl.” But he knew he was lost, he’d gladly let her tickle him to her heart’s content if it made her smile. His cock, harder than ever, rested against his abdomen.
“I’m sorry,” Ellen said contritely, bracing herself on his upper thighs.
Mark scoffed. “You are not.”
She gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look he didn’t believe for a second. “How was I supposed to know you’re still ticklish? Perhaps the Navy had beat it out of you.” One hand crept up his thigh, resting for half a moment in the crease between his thigh and stomach, then drifted higher.
He tensed but did not try to protect himself from her, unsure whether to watch her eyes or her hand. “Ellen,” he warned, still grinning like a callow lad. “If you attempt to torture me there shall be consequences.”
She arched an eyebrow as her nails somehow grew sharper, trying to hide the smile slipping free. “What type of consequences?”
His heart sang at the sight of that smile, and he silently sighed in relief that this was good, this was true. “Tickle me again and find out,” he growled, delighted to give her a few moments free from sadness.
She took it for the invitation it was and tried to go at his ribs. But he was faster. He grabbed her sides and tickled gently, running his blunted fingers along her ribs and under her arm.
Ellen squealed and writhed in his arms, nearly slamming her knee in his bollocks accidentally, and he chuckled at the glorioussight of her hair flying and her laughter spilling out of her open mouth. “No!” she shrieked, extending her talons to rake down his chest.
“Suffer the consequences of your actions,” he mock-growled in her ear, getting up and tackling her against the counterpane. “Where are your feet, woman?” he demanded, reaching downward. “Where are your feet?”
She squealed again and kicked, futile in her attempts to avoid his questing fingers. Ellen burrowed under him and gave up her half-hearted attempts to fight him off, instead clasping her arms around his neck and hugging him close.
Mark gentled, his tickles turning to strokes and his nipping teeth to sweet kisses. He drank her in, wrapping his arms around her and rolling them over so she lay atop him. “I give up,” he teased. “Your prisoner’s revolt is over. I’m at your mercy once again.”
Ellen smiled softly, her hands reaching down between them to stroke him. When her thumb passed over the head of his cock, it slid across the bead of wetness that had blossomed there. She rubbed the wetness around, causing his erection to grow stiffer still. They kissed again, and eventually she raised on her knees and positioned herself over him.
“You’re ready?” He bit her neck.
She rolled her head back, sighing in ecstasy, and the sound made electricity spark throughout his body. He slid a hand between her legs and across her nether lips. The slick feeling made him shudder.
“You’re ready. You’re beyond ready.”
“I am,” she whimpered. “Mark, love me, please.”
Unable to wait, Mark slid two fingers inside her. Her heat made his own arousal soar until his cock was so hard it hurt. He removed his fingers and licked them. “You taste like ambrosia.” Mark set his hands on her hips and guided her down. She sat slowly, easing his cock into her tight passage as he groaned intorment and joy. Finally, when she had him fully inside her, she opened her eyes and looked at him. The hazy lust and eager intimacy in her gaze floored him. He thought he might spend right there before a single thrust.
“Hello,” she whispered with a coy smile. She ground her hips in a circle, causing him to gasp. “I missed you.”