his neck, and he sighed. He didn’t speak again until finally she began to calm. When he realized she was no longer gasping for breath, he shifted slightly so that he could look down into her face. She looked so pitiful, so sorrowful and so very, very sad.
“Oh, kitten,” he murmured, his lips brushing against her forehead. “I promise I have loved you from the moment I saw you, and I promise I will love you for the rest of my life. Why would you think I couldn’t or wouldn’t love you?”
She shook her head again but Lucas patiently waited for her to gather her thoughts. After a few moments, she began to speak. “I was naughty from the moment I saw you today,” she said. “I-I didn't want to wear that dress. I wondered if you… if you would… if I could—” she hesitated, and he quickly stepped into the gap.
“Sweetheart, we have already discussed this. Yes, you were naughty, and yes, I had to give you a paddling. But, kitten, I told you that you have been forgiven. Tell me, when Edward had to punish you, did you think he no longer loved you?”
She blushed but shook her head slowly. “No. I know he loves me,” she admitted though he could barely hear her words.
He smiled and again kissed her forehead. “Kitten, I promise I love you even more than your guardian does. Just because you give me cause to punish you, you will never have cause to doubt my love for you,” he said. She dropped her gaze but not before he saw the confusion in her eyes, as well as the flush that colored her cheeks.
He used a finger to lift her chin though she initially resisted the move. Once her eyes again found his, he continued. “Why do you doubt my words, Lucy?” he asked quietly. She had her lower lip between her teeth, a sign that he knew meant she was both confused and worried. He brushed his finger against her lip until she released it. “Tell me, kitten.”
Lucy’s glance away, her deepening blush, and the squirming she made told him that she truly didn’t want to answer. Perhaps it was a testament to her ability to learn his rules quickly though he’d rather it was due to the fact that she trusted him when she sighed and settled, her palm moving to splay across his shirt above his heart.
“You haven't taken me as yours,” she whispered. “I-I know you have to be disappointed to discover you’ve wed a nau-naughty girl who only causes you to punish her. How can you want me as a man wants a wife when all I’ve done is act like a child?”
Lucas was grateful that he was able to stifle the chuckle he felt. He pulled her closer. “Oh, kitten,” he said. “I swear to you that I have wanted nothing more than to take you to my bed and make you completely mine.” He heard her gasp and then felt her slender body shudder. Lifting her chin once again, he forced her to look at him. “Lucille, I have wanted you every moment since I met you. I have nearly burst with the need to bed you. Don’t you know how much you make me desire you?”
She shook her head in confusion. “How could I know?” she asked, her face again scarlet. “It’s not something that-that is spoken of is it?”
Her question reminded Lucas that she was a true innocent. He took a deep breath and sighed. Lucy pulled away slightly, but he wasn’t about to let her think his sigh had anything to do with being disappointed in her. Pulling her closer again with one arm, he reached down and carefully unfastened one of the pins holding her nappy closed. Sliding his hand into the loosened swaddling, he cupped her sex. Her mewl and wiggle as well as the flame of crimson that burned across her cheeks spoke as loudly of her embarrassment as if she’d spoken. They all served as part of the lesson he was about to impart as he felt moisture pool against his palm.
“Lucy, the reason your cunny grows wet when I touch you is because your body is readying itself to be taken.” She stopped breathing at his words as he dropped his hand lower until he could slide a finger between her swollen lips. He stroked her several times until she exhaled her pent-up breath, panting as her hands clutched