Lori Brighton - [The Seduction 02] (20 page)

“Look at me.” His velvet voice brushed over her like a caress.

She tilted her head back and met his gaze. For the longest time she’d felt so utterly alone. Yes, she had friends, but no one who truly understood her. But here, now, she felt at peace with Gideon, as if he knew the real her. Slowly, he reached up to the neckline of her gown. With deft fingers, he managed to undo the buttons
that trailed between her breasts, his knuckles brushing against the sides of the sensitive mounds. Time stood still. Her heart pounded so harshly, she was surprised he hadn’t noticed.

He shoved the bodice from her shoulders. The material fell to the ground with a swoosh. Still she didn’t look away. There was something in his eyes that held her enthralled. Something different…something new and warm. The real Gideon. She waited with breathless anticipation for his next movement. His hands settled on her hips, and slowly he turned her. She felt as if she floated in a dream, a wonderfully erotic dream.

With his breath warm on the back of her neck, his fingers found the buttons on her skirt. The clothing fell to her feet, pooling in a cloud of material. She stood in only her shift and corset. She should have felt embarrassed, at the least ashamed. The only emotion coursing through her body was the desperate need to be touched. Kissed. Taken.

Why wasn’t he touching her? Why wasn’t he kissing her? Bemused, she started to step out of the pool of material, but Gideon scooped her up and settled in the leather chair behind him before she had time. Suddenly situated upon his lap, she felt the proof of his desire pressing to her bottom. A shiver of pleasure whispered down her spine as she sank into his hard body.

All unease fled, replaced with pure desire. She trailed her fingers down the side of his face, over the rough scruff that darkened his jaw. How she wished she could truly trust him. How she wished she knew what he wanted from her. But at the moment, it didn’t matter because at the moment they both wanted the same thing. “Gideon?”

He cupped the back of her head and drew her to him. Their lips met, molded together in a soft and gentle kiss. He did not offer her flowers or poetry, but he offered her a sweetness she’d never expected from him.

Elizabeth pressed her hands to his hard chest as his mouth moved over her slowly, deliberately. He was like a drug she couldn’t
quite get enough of. So many emotions swirled within that she wasn’t sure which to grasp onto. His fingers flexed, sliding down her back and cupping her bottom. With a growl low in his throat, he pulled her up his lap, over that hard erection. Her shift and corset provided little protection from his heat. She might as well have been naked. She
wished
they were naked.

Her heart thumped in her ears. The entire world faded away. The taste of his mouth was purely intoxicating. To hell with wine, she could easily become drunk on Gideon. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slid her fingers into his silky hair.

This was the Gideon she had prayed could exist. As his velvety tongue slid across her lower lip, blood rushed through her veins. She opened her mouth on a groan and kissed him back with all the passion that boiled within. She craved everything about him…the mint taste of his mouth, the hardness of his body, the male, musky scent of his skin.

Their tongues met, the kiss deepening until her heart threatened to burst from her chest. Frantic for more, her fingers tightened around the silky strands of his hair. The lack of air, the heat from the fireplace at her back, the touch of his hands…Elizabeth felt almost faint. She tore her mouth away, only to rest the side of her face against the scruff on his cheek. An erotic touch.

His own harsh breath rang in her ears, stirring the loose locks at her temple. She could feel the tenseness of his body and knew he held back. But she wanted more, she wanted all. She shifted, rubbing her bottom against his erection, attempting to ease the ache between her legs and urging him to continue.

Take me,
she wanted to tell him. She only wanted to forget for a moment her responsibilities, to forget life and death. To know only pure bliss.
Make me forget, make me sing.

When he continued to merely sit there, his large hands moving slowly up and down her spine, she decided to take charge. “Kiss me,” she finally whispered.

He groaned as she tilted her head and pressed her lips to his neck. The man actually groaned as if he needed her as badly as she did him. A shiver of power rushed through her body. All this time he’d demanded to be in control, but she knew better now. Her hands found the buttons on his shirt and with fumbling fingers, she had his chest bared within moments. Unable to help herself, she ran her hands down the hard muscles of his chest.

“You will give yourself completely to me?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Yes.” She could practically feel the tension thrumming through him. He held back, but he wanted her with a desperation that shone in his eyes. Her fingers trailed down to his waistband. Gideon sucked in a sharp breath, an erotic sound that stirred her longing and made the pulse between her legs throb.

She started to lower her mouth to his collarbone when she noticed the bruising along his ribs. Startled, she drew back. “You’re hurt!”

“I’m fine.”

But he obviously wasn’t fine. She shoved the shirt from his shoulders and leaned back, letting the firelight play across is muscled chest. A large bruise covered his ribs on the right side, a terrible smirch of purple and brown. “When you jumped from the horse to protect me?”

He didn’t respond, merely moved his hands down her corset, releasing the bindings. The fact that he’d injured himself saving her warmed her in a way she’d never experienced before. He was doing his utmost to ignore the soft look she knew was spreading across her face. He didn’t want her kind words or generous emotions. No, he’d been alone so very long, and like a wild animal trapped, he wasn’t sure where to turn, what to do. She’d have to step carefully with him.

“You saved me…again.”

She used the excuse of his injuries to touch him, running her fingers down his chest, over those muscles and ribs. He sucked
in a sharp breath, although she had a feeling it wasn’t because of pain but because of her touch. She shifted, settling her knees on either side of his muscled thighs. She didn’t want him because she needed him. She didn’t want him because he was bloody attractive. She didn’t want him because he had saved her. She wanted him because she saw the true man deep within. Boldly, she reached down, curving her fingers over the hard mound pressing to his trousers.

“Dear God,” he muttered, lowering those thick lashes to his upper cheeks.

The look upon his face emboldened her. He liked her touch, he liked her. His hands cupped her bottom once more, pulling her closer. She found the button on his trousers and with an eagerness she couldn’t hide, managed to free his cock. Lord, she wanted him.

“I know you’re in charge,” she said, wrapping her finger around his velvety rod. He was incredibly beautiful, everywhere. And the look of pure pleasure that crossed his handsome face as she moved her fingers up and down his cock nearly took her breath away. There was no time for shyness. “But I want you, Gideon.”

He growled low in his throat and shoved aside her hands. “Then you shall have me.”

He stood, lifting her with ease and cradling her against his chest. In three steps he was at the bed. He settled her on the soft sheets and then tore the clothes from his body so that he stood deliciously naked in front of her. How she wished she could study him for hours. How she wished she had the talent of an artist so she might sculpt his perfect body. But in the back of her mind was the taunting worry that this could all end at any moment. She reached out, eager to have him near. The weight of his body was like heaven. Did he have any idea how he drove her mad?

“Do you know how beautiful you are?” she whispered, drawing her fingers down the side of his face, over the rough scruff along his jaw.

He looked flustered, uncertain, disarmed. “I don’t believe anyone has ever called me that.”

She realized with sad resignation that he’d had few compliments. “Well, you are. A work of art.” Women did not compliment him, they used him. And hadn’t she brought him here to use him as well? She pushed the guilt-ridden thought aside. “You should be in a museum.”

“Shhh.” He pressed his mouth to hers while his hands traveled up her thighs, sliding the soft material of her shift to her waist.

She understood, he didn’t want to talk, he only wanted to feel. While his tongue delved between her lips, he gripped her undergarments and jerked them down her legs. He shifted, resting his knee between her thighs. It was different this time, his movements slower…softer as his large hands merely skimmed her body. She never would have guessed that he could be so gentle.

She arched her feet against his bulge of his calf muscles, the crisp hair on his legs tickling her toes. He kissed her gently, as if they had all the time in the world while his fingers, yes, his fingers, slid up the inside of her thigh, leaving behind a trail of heat. She could kiss him forever. Touch him until eternity.

When his finger found her damp folds and slipped into her tight sheath, Elizabeth groaned against his mouth. The man was pure and utter magic. She lifted her hips to take him farther, deeper. Never in her life had she felt more alive than she did at that moment.

“God, I want you,” he whispered, his breath warm across her lips.

“Take me,” she begged, her fingers biting into his shoulders.

That aching pressure was building between her legs. He shifted, his knee spreading her thighs apart. That velvety cock rubbed against her damp folds, tempting and torturing. Elizabeth bit back her cry, her fingernails piercing his skin. Damn him, why wouldn’t he come inside her and end the torment? She was no longer some whimpering virgin; there was no need to go slow.

Was he torturing her on purpose? She met his hooded gaze but found no amusement in his eyes. Only desperation, need, desire shone within those silver depths. Elizabeth ran her hands down his broad back, over his tight arse, needing to touch every inch of the man. She was amazed by the fluidity of his body, the way his muscles rolled underneath his skin. She wanted him with a desperation she didn’t understand, a need that frightened her.

He tore his mouth from hers and pressed his lips to the valley between her breasts. “You smell so damn good.” With a jerk of his hands, her shift was over her head and she was utterly naked.

He cupped her heavy breasts. The mounds grew heavy, her hardened nipples so very sensitive against his palms. She needed more, so much more. When his mouth settled over a tight nipple, she cried out, lifting her hips. Excruciating pleasure shot down her body, pooling between her legs. It was too much, too damn much. Elizabeth slid her fingers into his silky hair, tugging hard against the locks.

“Please, dear God,” she cried out, unsure what she asked for.

He lifted his head, their gazes clashing. “How I want you.”

There was a heated look to his eyes, as if he was half-foxed with desire. Oh, he could have her. Anytime, anywhere. But he wasn’t done torturing her. He lowered his head and kissed a trail down her stomach. So very sinful! Her muscles tightened, quivering. Anticipation tasted sweet. He was gentle, actually caring, but there was no mistake…contract or not, he controlled her. How silly to think she could rule this man.

He paused, his breath warm against her thighs. “I need to taste you.”

Elizabeth stiffened, confused. “Gideon?”

Before she could protest, or even understand, he lowered his head and slipped his tongue between the folds hiding her femininity. Elizabeth cried out, arching her back. She hadn’t known, never could she have known, it would be like this. The torment
was unbearable, and the way he made her feel terrified her. She knew without a doubt she would beg if need be.

The aching pleasure blinded her to everything but his touch. It was a dreamworld of sensual delight that he had created. A world where no one existed but them, a world that made no bloody sense, but she couldn’t seem to care. Yes, she’d reside in Gideon’s dreamworld for as long as he wished. When her body tightened and she was close, so bloody close to that heavenly pleasure, he pulled away. Her groan came out as a strangled plea. He was most definitely torturing her.

“Please,” she murmured weakly, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck to draw him close. But she didn’t just want his body. No, she wanted
him.
She wanted this caring man, she wanted the lord who had taken charge in the field. The knight in shining armor who had saved her life.

Gideon rested atop her, his weight delicious and comforting. Those eyes, those stormy eyes burned into her. In that moment, for a brief flash, she thought she might have seen his soul. She felt his cock pulse hard and hot and heavy between her thighs, and her thoughts fluttered away like butterflies on a breeze. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. His movements were not practiced and rehearsed as they had been their first night at the inn. Nor was he touching her to prove a point, as he had in the woods. She shifted, parting her legs farther, attempting to bring him close. He was merely a man who needed a woman. Needed her.

“Tell me you want me,” he demanded, his gaze hard, uncompromising.

“I do,” she whispered the truth, in no mood to play the shy maiden. That ship had sailed the moment he’d stepped into her carriage at Lady Lavender’s.

Her ready response seemed to appease him. Clenching his jaw, he shoved his knee between her thighs and shifted so the tip of his arousal taunted her folds. Without pause, the gentleness all but forgotten, he surged into her fully. Elizabeth gasped, arching her
back as his thick, velvety cock sank deep into her body. This time there was no pain, only the need for more, the desire to reach that heavenly fulfillment. Elizabeth wiggled beneath him, desperate.

“God, you’re tight.” He lifted his hips, pulling out just enough to surge into her once more. “And you’re mine.”

“Yes.” Desperate, she wrapped her legs around his thighs, holding him close. She would have agreed to anything at the moment, as long as he didn’t cease his delightful torture. How was it that he knew exactly where to touch her? How to move? What to say?