Free Crimson by Shirley Conran Page A

though Billy was moving slowly, it all seemed to be happening so fast.
    Carefully, cares singly Billy unbuttoned her blouse, then unbuckled the belt from her narrow waist and removed her skirt. He pulled the string of her underskirt and lifted off her chemise. When, finally, she was completely undressed, Billy paused to touch her breasts and lightly pinch her nipples, just enough to excite her.
    Still Elinor kept her eyes shut. Had they been open, she would have seen Billy undress like an eight-armed Indian god, hurling his clothes to the floor.
    Billy was fascinated by the whiteness of Elinor’s skin as she lay naked in the soft, golden candlelight. He was enchanted by her heavy, beige-tipped breasts and the slender waist below it, which then swelled again to a rounded belly, above pale thighs.
    In the quiet candlelit room, there was no sound, not even of breathing. Elinor was so tense she could not draw a breath.
    Billy laughed and whispered, “You are a beautiful and voluptuous woman. I’m going to make you realize that and enjoy it before the night is over.”
    Again he began to caress her slowly, his eyes open to watch her reactions: the soft, fleshy mysteries of a woman’s sensuality were no secret to Billy.
     
    Elinor shrank from her bridegroom, squirming slightly beneath his touch. Her head tried to pretend that it didn’t know what was happening to her body.
    He tickled her stomach with his moustache and slipped his tongue into her navel and then licked upward until she f8t his breath scented by her own body against her lips; to her, it tasted scandalous.
    Gently he breathed into her ears and her mouth. His lips sucked at her eyelids, her cheeks, her chin, and her lips; his tongue tickled her white throat. Softly he bit at her breasts, then her buttocks. Inch by inch, his hands and his mouth discovered her body, leaving no secret place unfound. Subordinating his pleasure to hers, Billy slowly led her into a new and thrilling but frightening world.
    She felt his fingers travelling delicately over all of her body … touching, probing, sliding into every shadowed crevice, until his hand finally moved towards the division of her thighs. At the bottom of her triangle of blonde hair, his index finger located the little bump no bigger than a pea and he started, gently and rhythmically, to rub it.
    Slowly Elinor relaxed. Her body surrendered to the pleasure of Billy’s touch; it seemed to melt, no longer controlled by her’ and then it lifted, taut as a bow beneath his fingers, and her spirit soared.
    Panting, bewildered, she opened her eyes. Above her, in the candlelight, she saw Billy’s smiling, triumphant face.
    “That’s only the begirming,” he promised.
    “Now let’s have a look at you.” He bent his head towards her belly, and his fingers slipped between her legs.
    “Open your legs,” he whispered.
    Elinor stiffened at this command, so totally contrary to her strict upbringing.
    “Please,” Billy insisted.
    His strength demanded her submission. She must surrender this, and with it her moral responsibility. Had she not just promised to love, honour, and obey him? 6o Quivering as she moved her legs slightly apart, Elinor felt timid and guilty; her heart pounded with anxiety. She felt unbearably vulnerable.
    Slowly she parted her legs. Billy’s interest seemed curiously objective, and his eyes narrowed at the corners, as if he were a connoisseur examining a hothouse orchid, an exotic flower surrounded by pale pink, fleshy leaves and nestled in a soft blonde bird’s nest.
    Carefully he pushed her lips apart and continued his clinical exploration. He lowered his head and licked her, until once again Elinor’s body ignored her mind and ecstasy triumphed over shame.
    Billy raised his head and looked up at her.
    “Now admit that it isn’t so bad,” he muttered as he slipped his hand, between her thighs.
    By the time his hand reached its goal, Elinor was once more quivering with fear. Billy’s