Chapter Twelve #2
Following two generous glasses of whiskey, he’d made his way to the exclusive Covent Garden location in an attempt to slake is ceaseless lust for the woman he could not have.
His attempts had been half-hearted and, of course, failed.
But he did not regret it. He did not miss the novelty of new women in his bed.
He’d discovered the intimacy to be had with one person who knew him the best in the world, and there was no earthly way to top that.
No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he fought it.
He broke their kiss and gazed down at her delicate features, her cinnamon constellations of freckles, her passion-glazed emerald eyes, her kiss-plumped lips. His chest heaved with his every breath, struggling to pull in enough air when faced with her honest beauty.
“I have thought of little else…” Gideon replied, his voice rough as gravel.
“I’d once fooled myself into believing what I felt was a purely physical attraction to a beautiful woman, but the years only transformed my attraction into a desire.
You drew me like a flame, Caro, and I told myself I was content to have you in my life and remain at arm’s length, so our friendship was not affected.
But when you asked for a night in my bed…
” He groaned, his abdomen clenching at the memories that were unleashed.
“That fanned my desire rather than slaking it.” Her lips parted on a trembling sigh and he had to rip his eyes away from her mouth before he began devouring her all over again.
“It was terrifying to finally fulfill my fantasies—all the things I’d imagined doing with you…
to you—but the worst part came days later when I finally admitted to myself that I would never stop wanting more of you.
That is unnerving for a man who never learned how to open himself up to a real relationship because you and I both know I’ve only had the worst sort of example to follow. ”
“Oh, Gideon,” Caro sighed and nestled into his throat, pressing her lips to the hammering pulse she discovered there. “I’ve wanted this too…for so long.”
That was all he needed to hear. With a feral noise bursting forth from his chest, Gideon hauled Caro into his arms and dragged her onto the bed.
Enough sense remained that he did so with enough care that he did not injure the babe in her womb, but he vowed as soon as she was able, he would remind her just what he was capable of.
He’d pin her down and spread her wide until she was at his mercy.
He’d make her sob with pleasure again and again until she begged him to allow her relief.
He’d haul her astride him and let her use him for her own enjoyment, as her toy.
Each one of his imaginings was more erotic than the last; he could feel the head of his cock growing slick with beads of moisture as his body pulsated with desire.
Despite the force of his need, Gideon was determined to display the patience and restraint he should have during their first coupling.
Even in the moment, he’d regretted allowing his desire to spur him on.
Despite Caro’s enthusiastic participation, he knew it could have been better.
He could have been better for her. Now, he would be.
He took his time kissing her, tasting her.
He learned her all over again and he encouraged her to do the same.
They knelt together on the bed, hands roaming and exploring, relearning the planes and dips and hollows of one another’s bodies.
His teeth teased the sensitive lobe of her ear; his tongue sampled the hollow of her collarbone; his hands slowly, deftly untied her nightshift and began to separate the panels.
Caro’s hands were performing a survey of their own and sent chills of awareness rippling back and forth across every inch of his body. “Take off your sodding shirt,” she growled against his mouth before giving his lower lip a little nip.
Anything for you… his mind purred.
It took him less than half a second to break their kiss and rip the garment off over his head. He would have swooped back in to reclaim her mouth, but she stopped him with a gentle palm to the center of his naked chest.
“Now…the breeches.”
Gideon lifted a brow. Though her nightshift was undone, it still provided her a measure of modesty despite the filmy fabric clinging to her dark, erect nipples.
She wanted him quite literally laid bare before her, and he would gladly comply.
He would do anything she required of him.
It mattered not if the request was made out of desire or if it was to help her feel more comfortable placing her trust in him, Gideon was long past the point of denying her anything.
It wasn’t graceful—he was too aroused for that—but he shucked his breeches and resumed his kneeling position.
Caroline leaned back, her feline green eyes raking him up and down, lingering on the bulging curves of his arms honed from regular pugilism practice, the swells of his chest and carved ladder of his abdomen, the vee of his pelvis and the muscular thighs honed from years of riding hard and fast, the thick, ruddy column of his sex jutting from the nest of dark curls between his legs.
Ah, yes, that bit appeared to interest her a great deal.
“I did not have the opportunity to see all of you the last time we…”
“The last time we made love?” Color crested Caro’s cheeks as she nodded.
They’d been practically frantic with need that night, only taking the time to remove half their clothing before they collapsed into a writhing heap upon the bed.
“You may touch me anywhere that pleases you,” Gideon added hoarsely.
He prayed she would. He saw her fingers flex in indecision, and he gently took her hand in his and guided it to the center of his chest. He held her loosely enough that she could have pulled away if she’d wanted, but she did not—thank God.
He helped her trace the lines of his pectoral muscles, his breath hissing through his teeth as she grazed his hard nipple again and again.
His cock bobbed between them and begged for her attention as her nails tickled the ridges of his abdomen.
He could read in her eyes how badly she desired to hold him, but she didn’t take him in hand.
“Caro, please…” he groaned, more vulnerable than he could ever remember being in his life.
“Please, what?” she whispered with a mixture of curiosity and hope—could he be asking her what she thought he was?
“Please touch my cock if that is what you wish. I have waited for months and I can stand it no longer.” Bolstered by his plaintive tone, Caro finally wrapped her fingers around his girth. “God, yes,” he hissed and tilted his head back. “Your hand is so soft.”
Caro explored its weight and girth, testing to see whether she could wrap her fingers around it fully and coming up just shy. She gave his length a tentative stroke and Gideon saw stars. “It is so hard,” she murmured.
“For you,” he groaned. “Only for you.”
“I enjoy that—hearing you say it is only for me.”
“Because it is the truth.” The last word was said as a gasp when she brushed her thumb over the swollen head, swirling a peal of moisture from the slit around and beneath the edge of his sensitive foreskin.
“Mmm. Like that.” His head dropped back in utter abandon as each of her gentle strokes unleashed a wave of sensation to lap at him like the ceaseless tide.
It would carry him away if she continued on as she was for much longer.
But he could handle a little more.
He covered her small hand with his and encouraged her to grip him more tightly, stroke him more firmly.
He rocked into her touch, his hips rolling to meet her.
Gideon was enraptured by the sight of their hands working together to bring him pleasure, the bob and sway of her full breasts as she concentrated on her task, the flush spreading from her cheeks to her throat to the expanse of her breasts as more of them was gradually revealed by her movements.
This would send him over the edge. And he was not ready for this to be over.
He stalled her ministrations, and she looked up at him questioningly. “If you keep doing that, then this will end before it begins.” His voice was raw and rough.
Caro’s brows rose, but she released him slowly, as if she did not want to stop touching him.
“May I see all of you now?” he asked, surprised to realize that his voice was unsteady. He nearly lost all control when she bit her lip and cast down her eyes. So shy and innocent when he knew her to be a woman who could enjoy carnal pleasures as much as he.
“I would like that, but know that my body is different than the last time you saw it.”
“Different? Because of your pregnancy?” Gideon almost laughed at the absurdity of it—of course, her body would be different—but he recognized just in time that it would have been precisely the wrong thing to do.
Instead, he took her hands in his until she met his eyes.
“I must have done a piss-poor job of showing you how bloody attractive I find you if you have such concerns.”
“But my body—”
“Is stunning. Drives me mad. Makes me ache just thinking about it.” He flicked his gaze to his heavy erection as evidence.
She giggled and he watched her tension melt away. Rolling her lower lip between her teeth, she stared into his eyes, never breaking contact as she shrugged her gaping nightshift from her body.