And yet, she loved him too much to accept any half measures. She had to know the truth, to be certain of it and him as well. She had to believe his love was true and strong, and that he would not seek to banish it in a moment of fear.
“My parents were in love once, and their marriage toppled like a poorly stacked wall of bricks without mortar. I was raised in the shadow of that failed union, and my grandfather taught me to believe that love was the reason for its demise.” Gabe paused, seeming to collect his thoughts. “I have spent so long believing that what I needed was a loveless union based upon mutual respect, a bloodless society marriage such as my grandparents enjoyed. So long believing love was the reason for all my parents’ woes and for all the devastation that came after.”
His admission was raw, and her heart ached for him anew. “What changed for you?”
If anything?
But she kept the last question to herself, too terrified to ask it.
“You changed,” he said, taking her by surprise. “You changed me, Helena. I have been in love with you for years, and for years, I have been fighting the feelings, tamping them down, dismissing them. But I realized that I am fighting a losing battle, a battle I no longer want to win. I surrender, hellion. To you. To love. To us.”
Us, he had said.
Yes, oh yes. She liked the sound of that very much. Her husband was exceeding her every hope and it was too good to be true. Had he just officially surrendered?
To her?
She grinned at him. “I was not aware this was a war between us.”
“Mayhap a war of my own making.” He grimaced. “A war of the past and the present, of old ghosts and new.”
Helena shook her head. “I do not want to go to battle with you, Gabe. I just want to love you. I have always wanted to love you, from the first I saw you.”
“God, woman.” He pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. “You undo me. You complete me.”
This was what she wanted to hear. What she had spent years dreaming she would hear. From these lips. Helena could not wait a moment more. She lowered her head and captured his mouth with hers.
Helena’s lips were on his, moving in a sweetly possessive kiss. He tugged her head lower, deepening the pressure, devouring her as best as he could. She was intoxicating. Delicious. Everything he had always wanted and everything he had been warned against.
And yet, she was his wife.
She had done all she could today to protect him. For him, she would have placed herself in a position of potentially great danger. Just the thought of Lord Algernon Forsyte ever so much as laying a finger upon her was enough to make Gabe haul her closer, crushing her against him. He kissed her as if he could forever claim her with his lips.
Because he intended to. There was no more fighting the way he felt for her. What was the sense in pretending he was not hopelessly, helplessly in his wife’s thrall? He was. He had been at her mercy for longer than he had even realized.
He loved her.
That was the strange sensation he had not been able to shake, ever since the day their paths had first crossed, on that long-ago country house weekend when he had accompanied his old school chum on the hunt. He had found a spirited young lady with golden hair, emerald eyes, and a flashing, quick wit.
She had been what he had wanted, all this time. And for so long, he had resisted.
As he slid his tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss, he mourned all the time he had wasted. What he had once been convinced was the correct path for him to trod had been proven, beyond a doubt, to be a farce today. The woman Grandfather had deemed to be a perfect countess—the same woman who had encouraged Gabe to take a mistress rather than bed her—had conspired against Helena. He could not bear to think of what she could have endured as a result.
It was too much.
He needed his wife. He needed Helena, of the white-blonde hair and the enchanting freckles on her dainty nose and the tiniest gap between her front teeth and the lips that knew just how to kiss his, the body that was meant for his, the heart that beat to the same rhythm.
The woman who loved him.
He had held the knowledge of Helena’s feelings deep within himself for so long, terrified of what it meant. Afraid to embrace it as he longed to do. But here and now, in this moment, with the woman he loved in his lap and her mouth on his, he could celebrate both her love and his.
They would not be bound by the constraints of the past. He knew that now. Rather, they would be shaped by the hopes of the future. Their future.
Together.
A rapping on the carriage alerted him, belatedly, to the fact that they had rolled to a stop. Reluctantly, Gabe tore his mouth from Helena’s. A glance out the window confirmed they had reached Wickley House. But what was happening between them was far from over. Rather, they had just begun.
He kissed the corners of her lips and then the tip of her nose for good measure. “We have arrived at home. Shall we continue this conversation in privacy?”
“If by privacy, you are suggesting we go inside and head straight to one of our chambers, I wholeheartedly approve,” she said.
He kissed her again. “My God, what did I ever do to be so fortunate as to have you as my wife?”
“You attended a country house party when I was sixteen and made me fall in love with you,” she said breathlessly, and then sealed their lips in another kiss.
When it ended, he allowed his head to drop back against the squabs, studying her, this wild, wonderful woman he had wed. “You remember?”
Her smile was secrets and seduction and Helena. He felt it in his cock.
“I remember everything,” she told him. “From the moment I first saw you. You were wearing tweed. You had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I thought them more glorious than the sky and the ocean combined. I still do.”
Her revelation stole his breath. Made him feel like a green lad. He wanted inside her. Immediately.
Gabe clenched his jaw against a swift tide of desire. Now was neither the time nor the place. He would not fuck his wife in a carriage parked just outside their home as their staff listened on, suspecting every act in which they were engaged. No, indeed. He was going to do this the proper way. He was aiming to make up for everything he had missed, all this time.
Dozens of pretty phrases and flowery words swirled in his mind, clamoring for his tongue. In the end, he was lost to anything but Helena herself. His wife, his countess, his love. He had fought her for so long. But he intended to heal them both.
“Into the house,” he told her, kissing her again swiftly. “Now.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” she told him, kissing him once more before sliding from his lap.
For what was perhaps the first time in her life, his hellion had obeyed without a hint of protest. Nary a stubborn tip of her chin nor a cutting remark. It would seem he knew the way to tame her.
They disembarked, and Gabe cast propriety to the devil and took her up in his arms. Ignoring the astonished stares of the servants who quickly averted their gazes, he proceeded to carry his countess down the front walk, through the entry hall, and up two sets of stairs. She giggled and buried her face in his neck as they went.
By the time they reached his chamber, they were both breathless and grinning at each other like a pair of lovesick fools. He settled her on her feet and elbowed the door closed at his back.
“What do you suppose the servants will think of us?” she asked, grinning as if she did not give a damn.
Likely, she did not, and that was one of the qualities he loved about her best. It was also one of the qualities which had terrified him. She was unpredictable and wild, his Helena. But she was also sweet and good and kind. She loved him without reason. Had loved him all this time.
As he stood here with her, he knew, unequivocally, that love was not the path to ruin and disaster. Rather, it was the road to the future. His future. Their future. To happiness.
/> “I suppose they will think I have gone mad over my wonderful, beautiful, perfect wife,” he told her, shrugging out of his coat.
Her full, pink lips parted. “I am far from perfect, and hardly wonderful or beautiful.”
Gabe pulled at his necktie next. “You are the perfect wife for me, and you are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. As for the question of whether or not you are wonderful, the word hardly does you justice, but it will have to suit for now. My mind is having a difficult time managing fluent speech when all my body wants is you beneath me.”
Charming color tinged her cheekbones. “Oh.”
Her fingers went to the accommodating line of buttons bisecting the front of her bodice. One by one, she plucked them from their moorings as he tossed his waistcoat to the floor. His shirt was next, and then he toed off his shoes and strode for Helena, unable to last another second without his hands upon her.
“Yes, oh.” His lips settled over hers.
Together, they shucked her bodice, and then he found the tapes on her skirts, undoing them and the hidden button as he slid his tongue inside her mouth. Her petticoats and bustle went next, followed by her corset and drawers. Helena’s knowing fingers brushed over the fall of his trousers, unerringly finding his cockstand and palming him through the fabric.
Need surged, drawing his ballocks tight. He growled into the kiss, deepening it, wanting her so badly he ached. It was not enough. He wanted no barriers between them. He wanted skin on skin.
The next few moments were a blur of kissing, touching, and disrobing. They made their way to the bed together. Helena lay on her back, Gabe between her thighs. He took a moment to bask in the glory of her beneath him, all soft, smooth curves and delicious womanly flesh, her legs parted to reveal the pink folds of her sex.
“I love you, Helena.” He could not keep the words to himself as he began raining kisses all over her body, worshiping her as she deserved. “I love you so bloody much.” He kissed her knee, her thigh, all the way to her hip bone. He kissed the velvety curve of her belly. She shifted beneath him, arching, seeking.
He knew what she wanted. The air was perfumed with the decadent scent of her desire, musky and floral. His cock twitched and his mouth watered. He had to have her on his tongue. Caressing her hips, he pressed another kiss on the swell of her mound, just above the tempting bud of her clitoris.
“Gabe.” She writhed beneath him with her protest.
She was getting desperate for him.
Good. He wanted her out of her mind with desire.
“Go on.” He kissed her again, then grinned up at her. “Tell me what you want, darling.”
“You know what I want.” She was breathless, her verdant eyes glazed with desire.
“Mmm.” He ran his lips over the skin of her inner right thigh, gently nibbling there. “I am afraid I don’t unless you tell me, hellion.”
“Wicked man,” she said without heat. “I want your tongue on me.”
He kissed her left inner thigh, then glanced his tongue over her flesh. “Like this?”
“No.” She lifted her hips impatiently. “You know where.”
He did know where, but he enjoyed watching her frustration. It was so erotic, the sight of her overwhelmed with desire, spread before him, all his. His cock was harder than marble. At last, he decided he could not prolong the torture for either of them any longer.
He dipped his head and ran his tongue along her pearl.
Her low moan was all the reward he needed. The taste of her was sweeter than sugar-laced tea. And he wanted more. He flicked over her in rapid strokes that had her bucking against him. Then he sucked hard, worrying the sensitive bundle of flesh with his teeth as he sank a finger inside her dripping channel.
She gripped him tightly. Silken, wet heat bathed his finger. He added another, stretching her, working her into a frenzy as he continued suckling her clitoris. She clutched his hair, grinding her cunny into his face, and he knew she was close. He fucked her with his fingers, in and out, faster, harder, deeper, flicking his tongue over her nub.
Helena came, clenching on him as she shuddered and thrust beneath him. Another surge of wetness coated him, and he withdrew from her as the last of her spasms rippled through her, replacing his fingers with his tongue. He lapped up her spend, thrusting his tongue into her, claiming her in every way he could. He had never been so overwhelmed with the urge to possess her as he was now.
Love did not make them weaker. Love made them stronger.
Gabe kissed his way back up her body then. How glorious she looked, sated and flushed, golden tendrils of her hair coming undone from her careful coiffure. He could spend all day drinking in the sight of her, except for the uncomfortably rigid state of his cock. But now that he had the taste of her on his tongue and had experienced the sensual bliss of her coming on his fingers, he was not going to last much longer.
When he reached her breasts, he sucked first one hard nipple, then the other. Her hands flitted over his shoulders. The quiet hum of her satisfaction was not lost on him. He bit her nipple lightly and reached between them to part her slick folds and toy with her clitoris once more.
“Gabe,” she moaned.
Damnation, but he loved the sound of his name in her husky contralto as he was pleasuring her. He licked a circle around her nipple. “Yes, love?”
“I need you inside me.”
If he did not take care, he would spend into the bed linens like a callow youth.
He suckled her other nipple, coating his thumb and forefinger in her dew before gliding it through her folds and then slicking it over his ready cock. The urge to claim her could not be denied. He kissed his way to her collarbone, then found her cheek. Her ear.
“I love you, hellion,” he whispered.
He dragged his cockhead through her folds, finding her pearl.
“I love you, my beautiful man.” Her nails raked down his back all the way to his arse. “Now make love to me.”
“With pleasure.” He kissed down her jaw, all the way to her lips, as he aligned himself to her entrance.
One thrust and he was seated deep inside her. Her cunny was hot and tight, and somehow, and though they had made love many times before, there was something different about this time. Something wilder, fiercer, stronger. The intensity built at the base of his spine and radiated outward, almost overwhelming him.
She felt so good wrapped around him, her dripping cunny clamped on his cock, her soft, feminine body beneath his. The scent of her desire swirled through the air, mingling with the perfume of bergamot and citrus. His every sense was more heightened than it had ever been. He kissed her hard, his tongue gliding into her mouth, and he had no doubt she could taste herself on his lips.
Her arms locked around his neck, and she made an erotic little mewl of pleasure as he began a steady rhythm. Although Gabe had intended to be gentle, to make love to her sweetly, slowly, the moment he started thrusting, he could not stop. He drove himself into her again and again while he teased her pearl with his thumb. Her cunny tightened on a sudden series of spasms.
He was going to lose control and spend.
But curse it, this was too quick. He wanted to make it last.
Gabe withdrew, his heart pounding, his prick throbbing. Helena made a sound of protest, but he drowned it out with another kiss as he rolled to his back, bringing her with him so that she was astride him. He wanted her to take her pleasure. To control the pace. He wanted her to ride him until she came all over his cock and then he wanted to fill her with his seed.
Her palms flattened on his chest. More of her hair had slipped free of the pins, sending curls cascading down her shoulders, a few errant strands over the full swells of her breasts.
“I saw this in one of the naughty books,” she said approvingly.
The minx.
God, he loved this woman.
“It is called riding St. George,” she added for good measure.
His cock throbbed. To the de
vil with the past. He had everything he needed right here. Why had he ever imagined, even for a moment, that he could settle for a frigid, proper bride? How wrong he had been.
How right for him Helena was.
“Yes,” he managed, taking her hand in his and wrapping it around his cock. “Put me inside you and take your pleasure as you like, darling. This way, you are in control.”
She stroked him, then rubbed her thumb over the tip of him where a pearly drop of his mettle was already leaking from the slit. “Oh, I like the notion of being the one in control. Very much so.”
He had known she would.
Helena punctuated her pronouncement by sinking down on his cock, taking his full length. Pure bliss. She was still soaked, her grip on him tighter than ever. He anchored her with a hand on her waist and used the other to toy with her nipples as she moved, riding him. She made a throaty sound of satisfaction.
With great effort, he restrained himself, allowing her to maintain power. He tweaked her nipple and she tightened on him. Emboldened, he lifted his head and caught a nipple in his mouth, dragging on it while she rode him. For good measure, he reached to the place where their bodies joined and found her clitoris. He rubbed his thumb over her in firm circles as he licked and sucked her breasts.
It did not take long for the stimulations to have their intended effect upon her. She sank down on him hard and came with a cry, her cunny tightening on his cock with almost painful pleasure. And then, he was coming too, his hips thrusting toward hers as he emptied himself inside her. The bliss was so intense that little black stars peppered his vision as he spent.
They rolled as one, landing on their sides, their bodies still joined, arms and limbs entwined, hearts beating furiously. He studied her for a long moment, taking in her lovely face, from the bewitching trail of freckles on her nose to her kiss-swollen mouth. A fresh rush of love washed over him as he gazed at her.
Lady Reckless (Notorious Ladies of London Book 3) Page 27
