CHAPTER SEVEN THE TERMS OF PLEASURE #4
He did not stop. The climax broke through her.
Eleanor arched from the bed as waves of pleasure pulsed through her, each one forcing another helpless sound from her throat.
Gabriel kept his mouth upon her, easing the pressure only when she began to shake too violently to endure more.
At last, he lifted his head. His lips were wet.
The sight sent a weaker aftershock through her.
Gabriel kissed the inside of her thigh. Eleanor lay breathing hard, one arm over her eyes.
“Was that a lesson?” she asked.
His quiet laugh warmed her skin.
“No.”
“Good.”
He moved beside her upon the bed. Eleanor lowered her arm and looked at him. Gabriel’s erection remained rigid, the tip dark and damp. He had given her release without taking his own. She reached for him. His hand closed around her wrist gently.
“You do not owe me anything.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I want to know you.”
The words changed his expression. Eleanor moved onto her knees and pushed him gently onto his back.
Gabriel allowed it. The surrender made desire rise again inside her.
She straddled his thighs but did not yet take him into her body.
Instead, she wrapped her hand around his erection and explored what she had seen him enjoy.
Tighter. Slower. Her thumb passing over the sensitive ridge near the top.
Gabriel’s restraint deteriorated beneath her touch.
His abdomen tightened. His hands gripped the coverlet rather than reaching for her, as though he feared control might become direction if he touched her too soon. Eleanor bent and kissed his chest.
Then lower. She followed the line of dark hair across his stomach until her mouth hovered above his erection. Gabriel lifted his head.
“Eleanor.”
“May I?”
The question nearly undid him.
“Yes.”
She touched her tongue to the tip. His entire body jolted.
The taste was faintly salty, unfamiliar and intensely private.
Eleanor licked again, then closed her lips around the head as far as she comfortably could.
Gabriel groaned. The sound gave her confidence.
She took him deeper, using her hand where her mouth could not reach.
His hips shifted beneath her, but he checked the movement before it became thrusting.
“Is this right?” she asked after lifting her mouth.
“There is no right.”
“Useful?”
“Devastating.”
She smiled and lowered her head again. Gabriel’s hand moved into her hair but did not force or guide.
His fingers rested there as she experimented, changing angle and pressure according to each response.
She enjoyed the power of it. The man who had taught her to command a room now lay beneath her struggling for breath because she chose to give him pleasure.
When his body grew too tense, Gabriel caught her shoulders.
“Stop.”
Eleanor lifted her head.
“Are you close?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to finish this way?”
He stared at her. The question placed the choice in his hands.
“No,” he said roughly. “I want to be inside you.”
Desire tightened again between her thighs. Eleanor sat upright.
“Then we should discuss precautions.”
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly. “Of course you wish to discuss precautions while sitting naked upon my legs.”
“It seems the appropriate time.”
“It is undoubtedly the appropriate time. I merely resent your continued ability to think.”
She touched his chest.
“What are the risks?”
“Pregnancy.”
“I understand the general process.”
“Disease.”
“Are you healthy?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I have been examined regularly, and I have used precautions with previous lovers.”
The reference to other women caused an unexpected ache. Eleanor ignored it.
“What precautions?”
“French letters when available. Withdrawal when not. Neither is certain.”
“And tonight?”
“I have a sheath in my coat pocket downstairs.”
“That is inconvenient.”
“Exceptionally.”
Eleanor considered.
“My courses ended four days ago.”
Gabriel’s brows rose. “You have studied fertility?”
“I have read medical texts.”
“Of course.”
“The risk is lower but not absent.”
“No.”
“If you withdraw?”
“Lower. Still not absent.”
Eleanor looked at him. Gabriel touched her cheek.
“We can stop here.”
“Do you wish to?”
“No.”
“Neither do I.”
His thumb moved across her lower lip.
“I will withdraw,” he said. “And if there are consequences, I will not leave you to bear them.”
“That sounds like a promise.”
“It is responsibility.”
Eleanor held his gaze.
“Agreed.”
She moved over him. Gabriel’s hands settled upon her hips but remained still. Eleanor looked down at his erection, then guided it toward her body. The head pressed between the wet folds, larger and firmer than his fingers had been. She paused. Gabriel watched her face.
“You control the movement.”
“I know.”
Eleanor lowered herself. The first stretch was intense. She stopped after taking only the tip. Gabriel’s fingers tightened upon her hips without urging her downward.
“Pain?”
“Pressure.”
“Wait.”
She breathed until her body softened. Then she sank lower.
The fullness increased, sharp enough to make her gasp.
Gabriel’s face tightened with effort, his body held rigid beneath hers.
Eleanor took another inch. And another. Her muscles resisted, then gradually opened around him.
When she was fully seated, neither moved.
The sensation was almost overwhelming. Gabriel filled her completely, creating pressure where his fingers had prepared her and a deeper ache she had never known.
He looked up at her with an expression stripped of charm.
“You are all right?”
“Yes.”
“Do not say yes because you think I want it.”
“I am not.”
“Good.”
Eleanor rested her hands upon his chest. She lifted herself slightly.
The movement created friction inside her.
Pleasure stirred beneath the discomfort.
She lowered again. Gabriel groaned. The sound encouraged her.
Eleanor established a slow rhythm, rising and sinking while her body adjusted.
She controlled depth, speed and the angle that made the pressure feel best. Gabriel allowed her to lead.
The surrender affected him visibly. His breathing roughened.
His hands moved from her hips to her waist, gripping only when the pleasure became too strong for stillness.
“You like this,” Eleanor whispered.
“Yes.”
“Not merely the act.”
His gaze sharpened.
“You like that I decide.”
His fingers flexed against her skin.
“Yes.”
The admission sent heat through her. Eleanor moved faster.
Her breasts swayed with each rise, and Gabriel watched before lifting one hand to cup them.
His thumb passed over her nipple in rhythm with her body.
Pleasure began building again. The initial pain faded, replaced by deep fullness and friction that made her ache for more.
She changed angle. The base of Gabriel’s body pressed against the sensitive place above her entrance. Eleanor gasped.
“There?” he asked.
“Yes.”
She repeated the movement. Gabriel lifted his hips slightly to meet her. The deeper thrust made her cry out. He stopped at once.
“Too much?”
“No. Again.”
He obeyed. Eleanor rode him while Gabriel matched each descent with a controlled upward movement.
The rhythm became faster, more urgent. Her hands moved across his chest, then into his hair when she leaned down to kiss him.
Their mouths met. The position changed, bringing her breasts against him and forcing him deeper.
Eleanor’s pleasure sharpened. She broke the kiss upon a moan.
“I need—”
“What?”
She did not know how to describe it.
“More.”
Gabriel’s control strained.
“More pressure?”
“Yes.”
“Faster?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to take over?”
The question mattered. Eleanor looked at him.
“Yes.”
Gabriel rolled them. He moved with careful strength, keeping their bodies joined as he placed Eleanor beneath him. His weight settled upon one arm while the other hand lifted her thigh around his hip.
“Tell me if anything hurts.”
“I will.”
He withdrew almost entirely. Then pressed back inside.
The thrust was deeper than anything Eleanor had managed above him.
Pleasure and fullness spread through her.
Gabriel watched her face before repeating the movement.
Each stroke became firmer. He adjusted the angle according to her responses, driving into the place that sent sensation through her whole body.
Eleanor wrapped both legs around him. The position drew him deeper still. His mouth covered hers.
He kissed her while thrusting with increasing urgency, no longer able to maintain the complete control of earlier lessons.
The evidence of his need transformed the encounter.
He was not performing expertise for her benefit.
He was losing himself with her. Eleanor’s second climax began building.
Gabriel slipped one hand between their bodies and touched her where she was swollen and sensitive.
The combination of his fingers and the deep movement inside her became unbearable. She gripped his shoulders.
“Do not stop.”
“I will not.”