Who Loves Them? (Who--? Series) (13 page)

He looked down at
Christina snuggled up to his side and realized he wanted her again. 
What is wrong with me?  I’m acting like a teenager who just discovered sex.  Maybe I like the sex and it will be nice to have great sex even after we’re married.  I guess it will be nice to be in love with the person you marry.  Whoa, wait a minute.  What the hell?  I cannot be in love with her.  I don’t even know her.  Besides I don’t believe in love.

While all of this was going through his mind, Gordon had been unconsciously rubbing
Christina’s side and bringing her even closer to him.  She wiggled a little, settled her head on his chest, and began stroking his chest.

Finally, her nerves got the best of her, and with
out looking up at him, she said: “I’m sorry if I was not very good, but I haven’t ever done that before.” She waited, desperate for his response.  She reached back to the sofa and pulled the afghan off of it to cover herself.  She was not really cold, but she felt vulnerable and exposed.

“Well, like I said, I’ve never been with a virgin before, but I really like the idea that I’m the only man you’ve ever been with.”
In fact, he felt like he had been given a very special gift, but he thought he might sound ridiculous if he said it.  He sat up and Christina sat up too, but she looked down, and pulled the afghan to her chin.  She was very afraid he would get up now, leave, and go back to being aloof and rude.

“Will you look at me
Christina?  Are you sorry we did this?” He sounded so unsure, Christina looked up at him.  He was looking at her with concern as if it really mattered to him that she was alright with it.  She smiled at him a little, and shook her head.

“No, I’m not sorry at all
.  Are you?” He smiled back and bent forward to kiss her gently, and then with more force.  Before she knew it, he had grabbed her hair and tilted her head so he could thoroughly explore her mouth.  She moaned a little into his mouth, which elicited a groan from him.  Suddenly, he stopped kissing her and rested his forehead against hers.  She was confused.  Why had he stopped?

He was breathing hard, and she could see from through the
thin cover that he was hard again.  “Christina, I know we just did it for the first time, but I want you again.  Right now.  I cannot seem to help myself, but I know you might be sore.  I don’t want to push you too fast.”

She took stock of her body and realized she was a little sore, but more than that, she realized she was ready to try it a second time
.  She felt fantastic and a little wanton for having had sex for the first time in the middle of the library floor where anyone could have walked in on them.

She reached up to kiss him, and wound her fingers through his thick, dark hair
.  Suddenly, Gordon broke the kiss.  He groaned. “You have to stop that.  You’re killing me.  I want you so bad, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You
will not hurt me, and I want you too.  If you tell me what you like, I will try it.  I cannot promise I will get it right the first time, but I will keep trying.” She smiled a flirtatious little smile.  He realized that he was really looking forward to her trying many, many times. 

This time, he settled himself between her legs, and began to kiss her
.  He kissed her lips and her neck.  He thoroughly explored each of her breasts.  He would kneed one while he sucked gently on the other.  Chris moaned and thrashed, and the erotic little noises, just about drove him wild.  He reached over to his pants and pulled out a condom.  He had it on in seconds.  He positioned himself at her entrance and began to make short thrusts.

“Are y
ou alright?” he asked her as he continued to press in.  In response, she moaned loudly, and spread her legs further apart so that he could have a better angle.

“I’m a little sore, but that feels amazing.”
Christina said.  Then, she did what came naturally, and tilted her pelvis up, and began thrusting back.  Gordon moaned, and began to thrust harder and harder.  “Damn, I’m so close,” he moaned in her ear.  She had felt the pleasure building up inside her every time he thrust harder.  Suddenly, she moaned, and raked her fingernails down his back.  He couldn’t hold back any longer.

They lay there afterward, each caught up in individual thoughts
.

Christina
wondered if it could really be true that he, Gordon, wanted her. 
Sure, for a couple of rolls in the hay, but what about afterward?  Would he realize that he wanted someone with more experience?  Would he really prefer someone like Mindy?  Damn, I wished I hadn’t thought about her. 
Well, Mindy was not here, and she was.  She would give this a shot, after all, what real choice did she have anyway?

Somehow they made it to their rooms without anyone seeing or hearing them
.  Although how, Christina didn’t know.  Gordon kept trying to stop and kiss her, and run his hands up her shirt.  They were laughing and moaning like lunatics.  He stood at her door and smiled.  “Guess what?”

Chris smiled
.  “What?”

“Checkmate.”

Once Christina was finally alone in her room, she undressed slowly and put on the lacy gown her mother insisted she bring with her.  As she lay in her bed, unable to sleep, she could only imagine what her mother would say at the way she had acted tonight.  Suddenly, she decided she didn’t care what her mother thought about it.  Her mother was not likely to know, and even if she did, they were the ones forcing her to marry Gordon in the first place.

Oh, that reminded her of what had happened tonight
.  It was crazy that she missed him, even though she had only been in her room for twenty minutes.  She had never felt like this about any of the other boys she had kissed.  It was nice, but nothing special.  She wondered if maybe she was falling in love with Gordon.  Well, how would she know anyway?  She didn’t have anything to compare it to.  Oh God, what if she fell in love with him, but he didn’t love her back?  What if he was just using her to have sex?  She frowned.  Of course, he was.  He wouldn’t just be nice to her for no other reason.  She shook her head.  No, he wouldn’t do that.  He seemed to genuinely want to sleep with her.  Realizing that she would never sleep if she didn’t quit thinking like that, she turned her thoughts to the future, and the eventual wedding.

As
Christina fell asleep, she wondered what Gordon was thinking about right then.

****

Shit!  How did this happen?
He was not concerned about his family knowing they slept together.  But, he had gone into this week with a plan.  First, he was going to try to get out of the marriage.  If that didn’t work, then he would marry Chris, get her pregnant, have a boy, and then ignore her for more interesting women.  It wouldn’t matter because she’d have plenty of family and friends around her.  She wouldn’t ever be alone.  She would spend her time with upper-class ladies.  His family’s fortune would be safe, and he really didn’t have to deal with a family if he didn’t want to.  It was a really good plan.  Then he met Chris, and everything went to hell.  She was beautiful in an understated and classy way.  Exactly the opposite of Mindy.  Chris was smart and caring, and hadn’t been rude to him no matter how rudely he had treated her. 
What am I going to do if I fall in love with her
was his last thought before falling asleep.

****

They had decided it would be best to keep their new relationship under wraps for the time being.  Neither one of them wanted to deal with their families if they knew they had consummated the marriage before the wedding.  It was ridiculous, really.  Gordon had obviously had sex before he was married, and they were going to be married whether they slept together before or not.  Christina sighed.  It would matter though.  Her mother would have a fit and lecture her endlessly about what a lady does and does not do.  She could imagine the reproach in her father’s eyes.  Christina didn’t know why Gordon agreed to keep their relationship quiet, but he seemed just as anxious as she was.

Christina opened her eyes to the sound of her phone buzzing on the bedside table.  She checked her clock and realized it was an hour before her alarm was due to ring.  So what was the noise?  It was her phone.  She grabbed it hastily and flipped it open.  “Hello?”

“
Chris!” It was Lilly.  “Did you get my letter?  They know!  Angelique’s father is furious!  Why will you not come home?”

Chris
rubbed her tired eyes.  “Wait…slow down, I’m only just waking up.  Start from the beginning.  I got your letter.”

Lilly breathed anxiously
.  “Well?  Why haven’t you left yet?  You need to come home.  I don’t know what to do.  My father is going to marry me off to some Baron--I don’t know his name.  Von Willem something….” she trailed off, and Christina could hear the urgency in her friend’s voice.

“You know…it might not be so bad, Lilly
.  I’m getting along with Gordon now.  He and I made love!”

Lilly gasped
.  “Are you…are you serious?  Wow…I thought you were going to try and get out of the situation.  You don’t even like him.”

Chris
bit her bottom lip anxiously.  “Well, I’m getting to know him better now, and I don’t think he’s all that bad.  I actually really like him.”

 
“What?”
Lilly sounded like Christina had announced she was pregnant.  “But…this is all happening so fast, Christina.  I feel so alone.  I haven’t seen you in such a long time.  Mother is making me go to all these stupid luncheons…I just want to get away.  Ginger doesn’t want anything to do with me now that I’m sworn to another.  I feel so terrible about the whole situation.  Oh, why do I attract such beautiful women?”

Chris
felt helpless, but laughed nonetheless.  “Why don’t you come here?  I mean, I’m at the cabin, away from everything.  And it’s really not that bad.  Once you get used to everyone, I mean.”

She could hear Lilly hesitate, and she groaned
.  “Come on!  You can tell me all about your Baron.”

“Ok
.  I’ll come.  But only if you promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“That you get me out of this bloody marriage!”

Chris sighed
.  “I’m not sure if I can do that, since I can’t get out of mine, but I will try.”

****

After the phone call, she thought about going back to sleep.  She could forgo her run just this once.  She was worried.  She didn’t know how to broach the subject of having invited Lily to the cabin.  Knowing she would feel better after her run, she got up, brushed her teeth, pulled on a white, long-sleeved t-shirt and black yoga pants.  She tied her hair in a ponytail as she was walking through the lodge.  She stepped out the back door and did a few stretches to limber up.  She smiled slightly when she felt the new soreness, remembering what had happened to make her sore.

As she began at a slow jog, she really
was not paying much attention to her surroundings, which was unusual.  She loved the outdoors, and enjoyed seeing and hearing the sounds of the woods here.  As she neared the lake, she looked, hoping to catch a glimpse of Gordon skinny dipping again, but there was nothing.  She sighed a little in disappointment and wondered how they would act around one another today.

She ran past the stables and said hello to the horses
.  She would probably take one out for a ride later on in the afternoon if she had time, she thought.  She was sure Gordon would accompany her.

At one point
, the path ran very close to the lake, and as she slowed down to navigate the muddy spots, she was grabbed from behind and dragged toward the lake.  She kicked and struggled and tried to scream, but her assailant had a hand over her mouth.  She did the only thing she could think of, so she bit down, hard on the hand.  He quickly let go of her mouth and started cussing.  Even though she was terrified, the sound of the voice registered with her.  It was Gordon!

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing, trying to scare me to death?”
  She turned on him when his grip loosened.  She was really angry that he had scared her so badly.  He looked at her and smiled, which made her angrier.  She shoved him as hard as she could and he tripped and landed in the lake.  As he was tumbling backward, he grabbed her hand, and she landed on top of him in water up to her waist.

“I’m so sorry, are you hurt?” she
asked, quickly trying to see if he was bleeding anywhere.

“I’m fine, I’m fine” he said, laughing
.  “Are you OK?     I didn’t mean to scare you.  I couldn’t get your attention, and I wanted to see you alone without all of the pressure at the lodge.”

“Get me alone to do what
?  Get rid of me in the bushes?”

Gordon rolled his eyes
.  “Trust me, if I wanted to do that I would have done it already.”

Slightly mollified,
Christina responded, “Well, you did just about scare me to death, but I guess I can forgive you.” Actually, since he was wearing a tight black t-shirt that was now wet and clinging to every muscle in his chest and forearms, she was pretty sure she would have forgiven him anything.

Suddenly, she realized she was practically straddling him, and was embarrassed
.  She jumped up and stepped up onto the bank of the lake.  As Gordon got out of the lake, she realized that all of his clothes clung to him, and he seemed very happy to see her.

When
Christina got up, Gordon noticed how the yoga pants clung to her from behind and he longed to pull them off of her slowly, but she seemed shyer today than she had been last night.  When she turned around, he swallowed hard as he noticed that he could see her nipples through her wet shirt.

“So, why did you want to see me alone?”
Christina asked.  “I mean, we are supposed to be getting married, so what difference does it make?” She really wanted to see him alone too, but she wanted to hear how he would respond to those questions.

“I wanted to see if you had any regrets this morning
.  After all, it isn’t every day that a woman gives up her virginity to her future husband.” Gordon went on.  “And, I missed you last night after you went to your room.  I feel like an idiot saying it, but I wanted to go to your room with you.”

“Do you really mean that
?”

Gordon nodded
.

Christina
smiled.  “I don’t have any regrets this morning.” Christina decided to be honest with him, “I’m glad it happened.  Quite frankly, I missed you too.  I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I feel much better about the whole situation after last night.”

While she was talking, Gordon had been moving closer and closer to her
.  When she stopped talking, she realized he was right in front of her.  He bent down to kiss her.  She met him halfway.  As the kiss got more heated, Gordon backed her against a tree and began to pull up her shirt.

“What do you think you’re doing?”
Christina demanded as she pushed Gordon away.  “We are in the middle of the woods, and anybody could walk by.  I am not doing this here.” Christina began to straighten her shirt, looking indignant.  “Anyway, I have some more important matters to discuss with you.”

“So, you aren’t interested in finding out what it’s like to make love outdoors, huh?” Gordon asked softly as he began to move closer
.  “Doesn’t it excite you just a little to think you might get caught?” Gordon was right behind her now, whispering in her ear.

“No,
it certainly does not excite me,” Christina responded, even while her breathing was speeding up.

“Doesn’t it excite you to think that others wouldn’t approve of you doing it?”
  He continued to whisper in her ear.  He began kissing her neck and he slowly reached around and cupped her breasts through her shirt.  She moaned as she felt him rub his erection against her ass.

He quickly turned her around and began kissing her again
.  Before she knew it, they were both naked from the waist down, and Gordon had picked her up.

“Wrap your legs around my back” he said urgently
.  When she did, she realized he already had a condom on.  When he had put it on, she had no idea.  He slowly began to push into her as he leaned her against the tree.

“Oh my God, I
cannot believe I am doing this out here,” Christina said.  She forgot all about Lilly, and her annoyed feelings about Gordon, and was lost in the moment.  That was the last coherent thing she said for quite some time.

After they had finished,
Christina pulled away and brushed out her hair with her hands.

“OK, I’m going to jog back to the lodge and try to get to my room to change before I see your aunt
.  My clothes should be dry by then anyway.  You give me ten minutes, and then you go back.” Christina said when they had located their clothes and gotten dressed.

“Alright
.  I’ll give you ten minutes if you promise to sneak into my room tonight,” Gordon countered.

Christina
smiled, and looked shyly at him.  “I would have thought you would have had enough of me at this point,” she said.  She blushed a little when she said it.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Gordon answered
.  “I guess I have to tell you about my plan to kill you off.”

Christina
frowned.  “This isn’t a reality television show.  And besides, I wouldn’t go down that easily.

“I’m starting to see that now.”

Christina straightened up her shirt.  “Anyway, I thought you despised me.”

“
Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.  But I do think you’re sexy,” Gordon replied.  He found her blush adorable.  “Besides, I have a proposition I want to talk to you about tonight, and we cannot talk about it if Aunt Jackie is around.”

“What is it?”
Christina asked.  “We’re alone now, why not talk about it now?” Waiting to see what he would have to say was going to drive her crazy.

“No, we don’t have time now
.  As it is, Aunt Jackie is going to send out a search party, if we don’t show up soon.  Go on now.  I will talk to you about it tonight.”

“I have something
to tell you, too,” Chris said.

“Tonight!"

Gordon watched as Chris jogged away.  He smiled when he saw the smudges the bark had made on the back of her t-shirt.

****

“Well, well, good morning!” Christina jumped as Jacqueline spoke from behind her.  “You’re running a little late this morning, aren’t you?”

“Yes, well, I overslept a little, and stopped to enjoy the scenery on my jog
.  I guess it has made me a little later than normal.” Suddenly concerned, Christina turned to face Jacqueline, “Did we have plans that I’ve forgotten?”

“No, no, not at all
.  We have no firm plans.  I just wanted to run something by you and Gordon at breakfast,” Jacqueline said.

“Oh, okay
, give me just a few minutes, and I will be right down,” Christina turned to her bedroom.  She was showered and dressed in twenty minutes.  Today she decided to dress down and wear something her mother would never approve of, especially if she was going out in public.  But, Christina thought, I’m twenty-one, I should be able to wear what I want.  She put on a pair of low-cut jeans that snugged her hips and a fitted silk t-shirt in deep green.  She tied up her hair in a flirtatious pony tail and put on some pale rose lipstick.  Her one concession was to wear a pair of low-heeled, comfortable sandals.

When she walked into the kitchen, Gordon was sitting at the table pretending to read the newspaper and eat the eggs and bacon
Jacqueline had made.  He was really waiting for Chris.  When she walked in wearing those jeans and that snug shirt, he choked on his coffee.

She looked fantastic
.  Gordon glanced at Jackie who was busy at the stove.

“Have a seat and I will get your breakfast.” Jackie told
Christina without turning around.

When he caught
Christina’s eye, he gave a slow secretive, seductive smile.  Christina smiled a little, blushed and ducked her head.  “Good morning Chris, I trust you slept well?” Gordon asked in a neutral tone while still giving her that smile.  “You didn’t have horrible dreams, did you?”

“Um,
no.  I slept well.  Did you?” She was still blushing and not looking him in the eye.

Gordon raised his eyebrows
.  “You were talking in your sleep, did you know?  I think you were having a dream about me.”

Christina
’s heart dropped. “What dream?”

“I walked past your room and noticed you thrashing around in your sleep
.  You mentioned something about us doing something preposterous together.”

Christina
dry-swallowed.  “In my dream?”

Gordon nodded
.  “Yes, in fact you must have dreamed something pretty erotic.  Of course, that’s the only time something erotic would happen between us.  In your dreams.”