Chapter 30 #2
She smiled and his throat ached. He wouldn’t always be there when she woke, and the thought was killing him.
She turned on her side and was asleep instantly. Richard curved his body around hers, more than content to hold her.
Gwen was shocked to discover the entire day had passed while she slept. Richard was still beside her, exactly as he had promised. He didn’t wake when she slipped from his arms and stole to the window.
Lights dotted the waterfront, reflecting off the river like candles beneath the surface. Gwen turned, stretching. There was a tray of food on the table, a washbasin with cool water, and a crackling fire that was only recently built up.
Gwen washed, then picked at the boiled beef and peas. There was also cheese and bread, wine, and something sweet for dessert.
Her gaze stole to Richard. She blushed when she thought of all the things he’d done to her. And he’d done it without a thought for himself. How could she have fallen asleep on him like that?
She picked up the tray and carried it to the bed. First, she would take care of his real hunger and then she would relieve his sexual appetite. A shiver of anticipation slid down her spine.
He stirred when she sat in the middle of the mattress and called softly to him.
“What is that?” he asked sleepily.
“Alys brought dinner.”
“That woman is priceless,” he said, pushing to a sitting position.
“Aye, but she has help. She and Owain conspire together.”
“How do you know this, my sweet?”
“Have you not noticed the way they moon over each other?”
Richard frowned. “Nay. Jesú, ’tis why the old devil insisted on coming to London!”
Gwen laughed then. “Mayhap they are in love.”
Richard’s expression was pained for a second. Gwen chided herself for even bringing up the subject of love. He clearly didn’t like the notion.
She offered him a piece of beef from her fingers. He took it with his lips, his eyes intense as he caught her gaze and held it. He began to feed her. They ate in silence, their only contact the whisper of fingers across the sensitive flesh of their mouths.
Gwen felt the heat flood her body as they stared at each other.
It was so erotic, touching him so briefly, wanting him more with each caress.
She remembered in heartstopping detail all the things his beautiful mouth had done to her that morning.
Her heart quickened along with her breathing.
Her fingers lingered on his lips, and he sucked one into his mouth.
Instant, blinding heat rocked through her, centering on the bud of her femininity. Gwen gasped as the tingling exploded outward.
Richard’s eyes widened. He set the tray aside and pounced on her. “It happened, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said. “I wanted you so much…”
“Jesú,” he breathed, stretching on top of her and centering his hard shaft against her cleft. He began to slide back and forth, heightening the sensations, prolonging them.
“Do not make me wait any longer, Richard,” she whispered. “I need you. Now.”
She slipped her robe open and he spread it away from her body. He continued to slide over her, hot skin against hot skin.
She wrapped her legs high around his back. He slipped downward, then pushed into her so slowly she wanted to scream. He retreated, slowly, deliberately. Gwen moaned.
Again he slid into her with excruciating patience. He repeated the rhythm half a dozen times until Gwen was nearly mindless.
She stared at his mouth. God how she wanted to taste his mouth! “Kiss me, Richard. Make love to me. I want you. I need you… I love you!”
His tongue plunged between her lips at the same time his body drove into hers. Gwen was swept up in instant rapture.
Their lovemaking was intense, explosive, cataclysmic. Gwen arched into him, opened, took him as deep as she could, then deeper still.
She wrapped her hand around the back of his head, anchored his mouth to hers. Her tongue mated with his, their mouths sliding together like hot, wet velvet.
It went on and on and on. Finally, he grasped her buttocks and lifted her, driving into her with the ferocity of his climax. She tore her mouth from his and cried her own release as the liquid tremors started deep within.
After a few moments he rolled off her and lay with an arm across his forehead, breathing heavily, his body glistening.
Gwen felt the air waft over her, cooling her hot skin. She raised herself on her elbows and gazed at her mound of curls. Even they were damp! After all this time, it was still amazing to think of being joined with a man, this man, so intimately.
His hand threaded in her hair, cupping the back of her head. He pulled her down to kiss him then pressed her onto her back, coming up on his elbow beside her.
His fingers traced her face, her neck, her breasts. “You were made for me, Gwen. I’ve never known a feeling so perfect, so right, as when I’m with you.”
Gwen smoothed a stray curl off his forehead. Her heart beat erratically. She thought she knew what he was trying to say. She dared not hope it was true, yet she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Tell me, Richard.”
“I love you.” He kissed her when her mouth dropped open.
At first, she lay limp, unbelieving. Mayhap she was still asleep and merely dreaming.
But the reality of his big, hard body, his unmistakable male scent, his beloved lips on hers, told her she wasn’t asleep.
Her arms slipped around him, stroked his hair, his neck, his back. The kiss was sweet, long, tender.
“I’ve never said that to anyone,” he whispered against her lips. “Never wanted to, until you.”
She felt tears pooling in her eyes. It was ridiculous to cry when she was so happy. “I did not think you meant it,” she said. “You were drunk and—”
“I told you last night?”
She nodded.
“Ah, Christ’s bones, you should not have had to hear it like that. ’Twas not the way I wanted to tell you.”
Gwen laughed suddenly. “I love you, Richard. As long as you love me, I care not how you told me.”
“Aye, I’ve fought it for so long, but I cannot deny it any longer. I love you.”
“Was it because of my father you denied it?”
“Nay, ’twas because of mine.” His hand trailed to her breast. She shuddered when he began to toy with her sensitive nipple. “He loved my mother so much that he was never the same after she died. I vowed to never care that much for a woman lest I be destroyed as he was.”
“What happened with the king?” she asked softly, knowing instinctively that whatever it was had caused him to admit his feelings.
“Nothing that need concern you, my love. ’Tis men’s business,” he said, dipping his head to swirl his tongue around her aroused nipple.
“You seek to distract me,” she said. His teeth closed gently over the hardened tip. “Mmm, my lord, you are insatiable.”
“Aye, I cannot get enough of you.”
“Please tell me what happened last night.”
He moved to the other breast. “’Tis unimportant, sweet. Now cease your questions before I take you over my knee.”
Gwen knew she could not sway him without the danger of rousing his temper. She decided to give in to his lovemaking instead. “Yes, Richard, please take me over your knee,” she said huskily.
“Christ but you excite me,” he swore. “I can think of something much more fun than spanking you though.”
She squeaked when he flipped her on her stomach and tore off her robe, giggling when he bit her bottom cheeks. Her giggles soon changed to moans as his mouth paid homage to the ripe curves, licking, kissing, biting.
When he finally turned her over and would have slid into her, Gwen pushed him back and straddled him. He groaned as she slid her mouth down his chest, his abdomen.
Before he could stop her, she claimed her prize. “Tell me you love me,” she commanded, then slid her tongue down his hard length.
“God yes, I love you, you brazen little temptress.”
Gwen rewarded him by taking him in her mouth. He bucked and swelled against her tongue until she knew she had to feel him inside her or die. She replaced her mouth with her feminine heat.
He cupped her breasts, then lifted until he could suckle them.
“Richard,” she gasped. “God, I love the things you do to me.”
“I’ve only just begun to do things to you, cariad. You will have to spend the entire day in bed again just to recover.”
Gwen’s laugh was husky. “As long as you stay with me, I shall not mind.”
He grasped her buttocks and turned her over without losing the intimate contact between them. Then he proceeded to show her just exactly what he intended to do all night.