A married woman – happy or not – is still a married woman. This thought was not enough to deter me from the sight I was taking in. I returned, newly dried, to the parlor to find Victoria sitting in a blanket in front of the lit fireplace. Clad in my own garments, her hair still damp, firelight playing against her skin…I wanted nothing more than to love her to the fullest extent that I could.
Before Katrina, these thoughts never existed in my mind, but now they refused to leave. The two of us had always spoke of being intimate with one another, but Katrina is the only one who had any taste of pleasure – she always changed her mind once her body found its much needed freedom. My self-control was waning.
"Ichabod?" Victoria snapped me back into reality.
"Yes?"
"Where were you just then?" Her eyes were coming back to life. My face reddened and she noticed. "The way you've been looking at me…"
"Victoria, I'm sorry. I…"
"…it intrigues me."
Needless to say, I was shocked. "What?"
"When you look at me, you appear to be feasting and starving all at once."
"It was improper of me. I apologize."
"Feast," she whispered. I feared that my ears had deceived me. "You look as though you have been starving your entire life. Have you?"
My mouth opened before my mind could reason with it. "Yes."
"My husband devours until my body goes limp. He is no more than a greedy boar."
"He hurts you then as well?"
Her eyes clouded with shame. "My pain is his pleasure. Do you wish to do the same?"
"I wish to drink from you," I confessed, not listening to rational thought. "I wish you only pleasure."
"Your desires are based solely on what you see…"
"No," I insisted. "You are beautiful, but you are far more. The intelligence that you have locked away, but I can plainly see, rivals that beauty – it makes you all the more desirable."
She smiled at me. "The same is true of you. I have read so much about you - your mind is as intriguing as…" She blushed. "…your physical self." My face grew flush as she admitted her attraction to me.
"You are married," I said, knowing it did not matter to either of us.
"And you are starving. Your needs outweigh my marital status…and shall quench a thirst we are both dying of."
At those words, I let my lips touch hers. The contact was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Katrina's kisses lacked in emotions, but Victoria's were overflowing with them. Gently, I tilted her body so her back was resting on the blanket. Despite the heat from the fire, she was still shivering.
I pressed my body against hers and let it rule over my mind. Victoria's kisses were as hungry as mine, her hands as curious. She had left the top buttons of my borrowed shirt open, allowing me to devour her slender neck. Her fingers entangled themselves in my hair, holding me closer to her. Passion and lust overrode my senses.
"Ichabod…" She moaned my name. My name. It was the very first time any woman had ever said my name in such a way. It sent powerful jolts of desire through my veins. "Let me feed you." I tore my lips from her neck and looked up at her – her face held a smile that was sinful.
Her hands began to pull my clothing from my body, at which my arousal heightened to an almost painful state…then her lips found me. Her kisses ran along my inner thighs, her tongue tracing torturous circles on my flesh. I nearly suffered one of my fainting spells when she engulfed me in the warmth of her mouth. She took note of this and released me, her hands taking the place of her mouth.
"Are you all right?" she asked, her cheeks crimson.
"I…I…It's just that I've never felt…"
Her head tilted to the side. "Ichabod, you truly have never had…any pleasure?" I could not find my voice, so I simply shook my head. Victoria crawled up my body and stared into my eyes. "Have you never had a lover?"
"I have never been wed," I said, my mind clouded.
"I did not ask if you had a wife, Ichabod, I asked if you had a lover."
Obviously fidelity was not an issue with Victoria – after all, her husband was hardly worth being faithful to – but her way of thinking seemed so…unusual. My curiosity, among other things, was piqued and I had to ask the question that was burning into my mind. "Victoria, how is it that your thinking is so, um…"
She smiled at me again. "My father has traveled extensively, Ichabod. He always brought back trinkets and books…books that were not meant for my eyes." She lowered her lips to my ear and whispered, "I read them anyway."
"Oh…" Nothing intelligent could make its way from my brain to my mouth.
"I never thought that I would be able to try anything that I read. Hector would surely punish me if he knew about the literature that I became privy to. Does it bother you?"
"N…no. You mean to tell me that you have never done…" All I could do to finish that thought was look down between my legs. She shook her head. "Well, you are quite good." She laughed heartily at my very inappropriate comment.
She kissed me, more passion flowing through her than before. She pulled back and caressed my face. "I am very fond of you, Ichabod Crane. I have not laughed in quite some time."
"Well, I suppose that I should be thankful for my nerves then – they always cause the wrong things to come out of my mouth."
Her lips found my chest. "Nothing you say can be wrong." My hands ran along her back, which was still covered with my shirt. "Do you wish to undress me?"
"I wish for nothing more, Victoria." I carefully began to unbutton the shirt she wore – knowing that it was mine made the situation all the more erotic. I felt like a child on Christmas morning, unwrapping the one gift I had wanted more than anything else in the world. She was soon naked before me, my hands touching every inch of her flesh that they could.
We kissed and caressed for what felt like an eternity – I was convinced that she was the embodiment of heaven. I am not sure how much time had passed when she made the suggestion for me to sit on the sofa, but I did as she asked, though slightly confused. She gently spread my legs and ran her tongue over my arousal once again, my hips bucked upward in response.
"Do you want to feel what it is like to truly feast, Ichabod?" she asked, her voice sultry, yet innocent all at once.
"Yes." Still unsure of what was going to happen, I watched as she rose from the floor. She straddled my lap and soon the part of her body, which my lips and fingers had already explored, was melding with the part of my body that she had brought to life. She took me into her slowly, causing my entire body to shudder in sheer pleasure. She smiled down at me, looking every bit the sinning angel she was.
"How does it feel?"
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as close to me as I could. "Perfect." She began to move her hips and a high-pitched squeak slipped from my lips.
"I'll be gentle with you," she cooed. I kissed her neck and breasts as her hips began a rhythmic pace. She began to moan and whimper as her pace quickened. She shifted her body and I felt myself slide deeper within her. She was the world – there was nothing else I could ever want for. I felt her tighten around me and my name passed her lips in a long, drawn out sigh. Soon after, the most incredible feeling imaginable passed through my body…
We found ourselves back on the blanket in front of the fire; Victoria's head was resting on my chest. Her fingers were tracing a pattern along my abdomen when she finally spoke. "Ichabod, I am sorry that your first time was not with the one you are meant to love."
I shifted my body and tilted her face to look at mine. "Victoria, it was."