Proposing Christmas

Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

T his had seemed like such a good idea in the hallway.

But now that they were alone in her bedroom, light streaming in the window allowing no shadow of doubt nor darkness to hide, Noelle began to question herself.

As confident as she usually was, she lost some of it as she wondered exactly what she was supposed to do now.

Fortunately, Cooper didn’t seem to have any problem taking over.

He took her mouth rougher than he had before, as though his desire had overcome his usual gentleness. His lips moved over hers, his tongue plundering, as he reached around her and began to undo all of the work her maid had finished just minutes earlier, slipping each button through its hole.

Noelle took that as a sign to undress him in turn, and they fumbled and fought clasps and buttons until Cooper finally took a step back.

“Enough of this,” he commanded. “Clothing off.”

He helped her undo her remaining buttons and untie her corset. She breathed a sigh of relief as it slipped off again, her gown and all of her garments pooling in a puddle around her feet while he made quick work of his jacket, shirt, and trousers.

She left on her chemise, for there was something she wanted to do – and she would feel just a little less vulnerable if she wasn’t completely bare before him.

She knelt in front of his very naked lower half, his cock allowing no room for her to be concerned about just how much he wanted her in turn.

He breathed in deeply, his eyes wide as he stared at her. She met his gaze, silently asking him if this was all right.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said gruffly, even as his face and body told her that he very much wanted her to.

“I would like to,” she said, and he nodded, confusing her when he took her hands in his, lifting her to her feet.

“What’s wrong?”

He said nothing as he gathered a blanket from the bed and placed it on the floor beneath her.

“Now you can kneel.”

She had to blink away the tears at the care he showed her, even through his haze of desire, as his voice was rough and commanding in that manner he only showed her when they were together in this way. Only when they were alone did he drop the facade, the fabricated accent, and become his true self.

She loved that she had this side of him, a side that no one else ever got to see.

Noelle dropped to her knees on top of the blanket, placing her hands on the front of his thighs as she swallowed hard, hoping that he couldn’t see the nerves that suddenly took over her.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, running his thumb over her lips, which she parted for him. “So fucking beautiful.”

Her eyes widened, as she had never heard such language used in her presence before, but she loved that he wasn’t like all of the other men she knew, men who would have treated her like a wife while they saved their raw selves for their mistresses.

She would be both to him.

And now, she needed to know just how to make him happy.

“Can you tell me what to do… please?” she asked, looking up at him with supplication, hoping he would understand what it meant for her to ask this of him.

His jaw ticked, although his expression revealed nothing.

“You have never done this before?”

“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “That kiss with Lord Northbridge was about the extent of my experience.”

“No more talk of him – or any other man,” he growled. “This is between you and me now – and only you and me.”

Noelle could only nod, overcome by the possession in his gaze.

“I can’t see how you can do any wrong,” he said. “As long as you are touching me.”

She nodded as she came face-to-face with his cock, unable to look away. Wetness leaked out of the tip, and she tentatively leaned forward and licked it away.

“Fuuuck,” he groaned as he ran his hand over her hair, further undoing her maid’s work from that morning. He cupped a palm around her head, holding her in position.

“That’s it. Use your mouth. How ever you want. How ever feels right.”

At first, it felt foreign, uncertain as she licked the side of his manhood, but when his eyes rolled back in his head, she figured she must be doing something right.

“That’s it,” he encouraged her, his eyes closing. “Like that.”

Her confidence grew with his words as she gripped him with one of her hands, using the other on his leg to hold herself up. She licked him from one end do the other as she watched him from beneath her lashes.

Finally, she took him in her mouth completely, sucking him as far as she could.

“Fuck me,” he said, and she had never heard so many swears in her entire life, but she considered that meant that she was doing her job well. “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

Since he already knew the answer, she decided not to give him another.

She used her hand to create friction as she sucked him back and forth. He moved with her, and she used her tongue to stroke him inside her mouth further, just as they did when they were kissing.

“I’m going to come, Noelle,” he said, pulling out of her mouth and backing away.

She nodded.

“Can I come in your mouth?”

She nodded again, both worried about and anticipating what was happening.

He leaned over, licking his lips before kissing her quickly, then standing and allowing her to take him in her mouth again. Her lips were tight around him as he moved back and forth, holding her head as he set the pace, his need evident by the expression he wore.

“You all right?”

She loved that she could cause such vulnerability within him, making him unravel like this before her, even as he was still concerned for her and ensuring she was doing fine.

“Touch yourself,” he commanded, and it took her a minute to realize exactly what he was saying. She reached below her chemise, tentatively touching where she ached for him. She dug her fingers into his legs as he pushed all the way forward, letting out a roar that she was sure could be heard throughout the entire manor as he came into her mouth, and she closed her eyes, revelling that she was the one to do this to him.

She wasn’t entirely sure what to do now, but he was there, providing her with linen, cleaning her up as he brought her body flush against his and held her tight against him.

“That was unbelievable,” he said roughly into her ear. “Thank you.”

“I wanted to make you happy,” she said.

“You make me happy just by being with me,” he declared. “It’s hard to imagine that I ever had a life without you.”

He lifted her and placed her on the bed, lifting her chemise as he didn’t waste any time in bringing his mouth to her, licking a line down her center where his fingers had been before, causing her hips to lift into the air, searching for harder friction.

Realizing what she needed, he sank his fingers into her, curling them to reach a place that she hadn’t known existed as his tongue swirled over a bud of sensitive nerves that had her on edge, riding some precipice that she finally understood was more than worth falling over.

She twirled his fingers into his silky strands of hair as he hummed against her, causing vibrations that had her entire body squirming for more.

“I want this to be good for you,” he said as he placed a soft kiss against her, showing her that this was so much more than desire on his part. “Where do you like to be touched?”

“I… I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip.

“You never touch yourself?”

“No, not really.”

“Well, then, I suppose I shall be the one to discover just what works.”

He sounded so pleased with himself when he said it that she had to chuckle.

“Do you like circles?” he said, when he moved both his tongue and his fingers over her.

“Yes,” she hissed.

“How about back and forth?”

He moved up and down in quick motions.

“Even better,” she said as he used his tongue, licking her with pressure.

He moaned himself, and she nearly choked at the thought that he was finding pleasure by giving it to her.

He was urgent yet took his time. Hard yet soft. Relaxed yet persuasive.

He was so handsome that he took her breath away, her body nearly coming off the bed as the vibrations almost overtook her. His mouth never left as he continued, their bodies starting to rock together.

She held onto his hair with one hand, the blankets beneath her with the other.

“Cooper!” she yelled out as the sensations began to rip through her, wave after wave, her eyes meeting his until she had to close them with the force of what was happening to her.

When she finally came down, they lay there together, both panting and completely spent. Cooper curled his fingers around hers, turning on his side to stare into her eyes. She could lose herself in the stormy depths of his, though she figured that someone would come looking for them after a time.

“I could spend all day with you in here,” he said, echoing her thoughts.

“I suppose soon we can,” she said, her lips curling into a smile, although they stopped when his brow furrowed.

“Yes and no,” he said. “A man like me doesn’t have all day to lie around and idle the day by. I have to work hard to provide for us.”

“I know,” she said, hating that even though he said it gently, it almost chastised her for believing otherwise. “I just meant… that it will be nice when we could do so with the luxury of no one questioning if we should be together all day.”

He reached out, running his finger along her cheek in that way he did, almost as though she was a work of art that he was reviewing.

“I just want you to know what you are getting yourself into,” he said. “I don’t have the same life you are used to, and I do not want you to have any regrets.”

“No regrets,” she said firmly. “Not now, and not in the days to come.”

She meant it. No one else had ever made her feel this way – cherished yet strong, not treated like she was the most fragile ornament on the tree.

Other women might not understand it, but then, they were not the ones who were going to marry Cooper Hartwell, now were they?

“Speaking of regrets,” she said slowly, “does it bother you that we are marrying without your brother or any of your friends present?”

He was silent for a moment. “I am not sure that any of my friends are actually true friends,” he said. “More acquaintances, as I haven’t spent the time to get to know them. I’m also not even sure my brother would remember to attend the wedding. So, no, I am not concerned. All I care about is marrying you as soon as possible.”

“Just tell me if that changes,” she said. “Promise?”

“Of course,” he replied. “But no regrets.”

He leaned in, sealing his words with a kiss as he stared at her.

“Speaking of work, I have mine cut out for me,” he said with a grin. “I’ve done many jobs before, but never the work of a lady’s maid. How do you think I’ll do?”

“That depends,” she said, trying not to smile back. “How much experience have you had in dressing women?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Likely not nearly as much as you would guess. Come here, and I will show you what I can do.”

She took his hand and allowed him to lift her. He cleaned her, dressed her, and while he certainly wasn’t as fast nor as efficient as her lady’s maid, he did everything reverently and with a great deal of care. When Noelle looked into the mirror, she was pleasantly surprised by how she looked – even if her hair was not quite as tightly pinned as it had been.

She was sure her maid would guess what had happened when she took the pins out later this evening, but so be it.

Noelle would soon be a wife, so she supposed this would soon be nothing out of the ordinary.