by Candace Camp
"I want you now," he said thickly. "And always."
He bent his head to brush his mouth across hers lightly, returning again and then a third time, tracing the seam of her lips with his tongue. Irene drew in a little breath of surprise at the intimate touch, and she felt him smile against her lips as his mouth settled onto hers.
He kissed her for a long, leisurely time, exploring and teasing sensation after sensation from her. She felt as if all her muscles and bones were melting, and she leaned into him, her hands going up to his chest to support her.
Gideon spanned her waist with his hands, holding her upright as his mouth continued to plunder hers. When at last he raised his head, she sagged weakly against him, her cheek upon his chest. He bent and kissed the top of her head, murmuring her name.
"You are so beautiful," he told her. "You looked like a goddess tonight. Rich and golden. All I could think about was putting my hands on you."
He matched his actions to his words, sliding one hand down her back and lingering over her hips. With the same slow care that his lips had used on hers, he caressed her. moving his hands slowly, intimately, over her. He turned her so that she leaned back against him, and she went easily, willingly, luxuriating in his touch. Looping one arm around her waist, he held her against him, while his other hand smoothed over her breasts and down onto her stomach.
Gently he aroused her through the material of her clothes, his fingertips teasing over the sensitive tips of her breasts and curving beneath them to cup their weight, then sliding down over the flat plane of her stomach and abdomen to delve into the notch between her legs.
Irene let out a startled noise then, stiffening a little at the unexpected touch, but his fingers moved slowly, gently, igniting the myriad of sensitive nerves that gathered there, and before long it was a soft moan of pleasure that escaped her lips. Moisture flooded between her legs, and she was aware of a deeper, hungrier yearning.
She moved against him, rubbing herself against his body behind her, and she was pleased to hear his low groan. The sound of his desire further stirred her, and she realized that she wanted very much to arouse him as he had aroused her.
Irene turned into him, setting her hands to roam across his body. "Show me how to please you. Let me give you pleasure."
"Everything you do gives me pleasure," he assured her, stiffening and suppressing another groan as her fingertips slid across the front of his breeches.
"I like it when you do this," she said, running her hands around behind him and gliding over his buttocks. "Do you like it?" she asked, sinking her fingertips into his flesh.
His response was a choked noise and the sudden jerk of his body against hers, and it was answer enough for her. She smiled, caressing him again. Then she took a step back and reached up to pull the pins from her hair.
"You told me once that you wanted to see my hair come down," she said softly.
His eyes glittered in response. "I do."
He watched her, his chest rising and falling rapidly as her fingers worked through her hair, loosening curl after curl. The long tresses tumbled down over her hands and arms, caressing her skin. He watched her until at last he could stand still no longer, and then he reached out, sinking his hands into her springing curls.
He kissed her again, but with increasing urgency now, as if he could not get enough of the taste of her mouth. He pulled away at last to unfasten her gown with hands that trembled. With equally clumsy fingers, she worked at his buttons until she opened his shirt wide enough that she could slide her hands beneath it. Slowly she roamed the bare ridges and curves of his chest.
Gideon went still, his hands going to her shoulders to steady himself as she caressed his bare skin. His teeth sank into his lower lip, holding back the moans that threatened to break from him as her inexperienced fingers aroused him almost past bearing. She explored his ribs and chest, fingers curling around his flat masculine nipples and gliding downward over the softer flesh of his stomach until she came up against the barrier of his waistband.
"Sweet Lord, you are killing me," he murmured.
Irene raised her head, concerned. "Should I stop? Did I hurt you?"
He shook his head, seizing her hand and bringing it up to his lips. "Only a pleasure so sweet 'tis near pain." He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it aside. "But let me please you now."
Gideon hooked his hands into the shoulders of her gown, now unfastened to below her waist, and peeled it down, revealing her soft white curves encased in only a chemise and petticoats. After untying the strings of the petticoats, he let them fall in a puddle at her feet. Watching her, watching his hands on her, he undid the ribbons of her chemise and opened it, freeing her breasts from all constraint. He slid the cloth off her shoulders, his eyes intent on the soft cotton as it dragged over her rosy, peaked nipples.
Irene's breath hitched. She had never dreamed that it would stir her so to have Gideon's eyes on her naked body, to see the desire that darkened his gaze and softened his mouth.
He reached out and slowly, delicately drew his fingertips over her breasts, circling the centers, which hardened even more at his touch. She trembled, unprepared for the intense pleasure that speared down through her, spreading in a hot pool deep in her loins. She had never known, never guessed, at a man's touch could make her feel this way—so unsettled, so eager, so tingling with pleasure.
Gideon cupped her breasts in his hands, his thumbs circling around her nipples. Then he bent his head and drew one nipple into his mouth, stroking it with his tongue as his thumbs had done a moment before. Irene's knees buckled at the new sensation, and she was grateful for the strong arm he looped around her waist, holding her up. His mouth tugged at her breast, hot and wet, while his tongue teased the tight bud. It seemed to Irene that some invisible cord of pleasure ran straight down through her, connecting her tender nipple to the core of her being, and with every pull of his mouth, every caress of his tongue, the cord pulsed, flooding her loins with heat and need.
She dug her fingers into his thick hair, holding on as the sensations swirled and built within her. Even the feel of his hair between her fingers excited her, she realized. She could not hold back a moan as his mouth left her nipple. She waited, panting a little, as his mouth trailed across her breasts. She felt supremely alive and sensitive to every slight sensation; even the touch of the evening air upon her dampened nipple made the hunger in her swell. And then his mouth fastened on her other breast, slowly, leisurely, bringing it to life.
Irene choked back a little sobbing breath, and her hands slid down the firm column of Gideon's neck to his shoulders. She stroked the bony ridge of his collarbone and curved her palms over his shoulders, then let them drift down over the smooth skin of his arms, underlaid with muscle, and found herself fascinated and aroused by the combination of textures.
He lifted her, carrying her over to the pillows that lay tumbled across the floor near the wall. After setting her down, he went to the last garment that covered her, untying the ribbons at the waist of her pantaloons. The waistband sagged, and he slipped his hands beneath it, slowly shoving the material down as his hands slid down over the sides of her hips. The undergarment fell to her feet, leaving her naked to his gaze except for the thin stockings on her legs, more provocative than concealing, and her flimsy dancing slippers.
He looked at her, his eyes heavy-lidded with desire, his face flushed. A lady, she supposed, should have been repulsed by the lust stamped upon his features, but she found that the way he looked at her only made her want him more.
Gideon curved his hands over her backside, then around, and after going down on one knee, he rolled her stockings down, one by one, taking the garters with them, then lifted each foot and took off her dancing slipper and pulled the stocking free. She reached a hand to his shoulder for balance. His flesh was searing.
He pressed a soft kiss against the inside of her thigh just above her knee, and repeated the action with the other leg. Then he reached up and
pulled her down onto the pillows beside him. Irene lay back, watching Gideon as he stood and divested himself of the rest of his garments, carelessly kicking off the formal shoes, and peeling down the breeches and stockings.
He looked, she thought, magnificent naked—powerful and muscled—and even though it was a little frightening to see for the first time the hard evidence of his desire, it was also compelling. She could not imagine taking him into her, and yet at the same time heat expanded between her legs, making her want to open to him.
He lay down beside her, propped up on one elbow. He looked down at her, slowly moving his hand over her body, caressing and teasing, arousing ever more delightful sensations in her. Irene's skin felt deliciously alive, sensitive to the slightest touch, and she was aware of a very wanton desire to spread her legs for him, a desire she suppressed until he slid his hand down the center of her body, over her stomach and between her thighs.
She drew a shaky breath and closed her eyes, feeling sure that this should be embarrassing, not wonderful, but unable to feel anything but eager pleasure. Delicately, his fingers explored this innermost secret part of her, separating and stroking the tender folds, slick with moisture. Irene could not hold back a moan, and she arched up against his questing fingers, seeking release.
"Gideon ..." His name was a shaky whisper.
He bent and brushed his lips over her mouth, murmuring, "Not just yet. Let me make it easier for you."
"I want you," she said more clearly, opening her eyes and gazing up into his.
He tightened as if she had touched him and drew a slow breath. "I know. I know. And you have no idea what that does to me." He nuzzled against her neck, his breath sending shivers through her. "But first ... this will help."
He kissed her breasts, playing with her nipples with his tongue and lips, fanning the flames of her desire. And as he did so, he slipped a finger inside her, stroking her, and then another, stretching and filling her, opening her.
Irene moved her legs restlessly, digging her heels into the pillows beneath her and moving against his hand. He let out a little laughing groan, and then, at last, he moved between her legs. His hands beneath her hips, he lifted her and slowly, carefully, sank into her.
Irene gasped, pain flashing through her briefly and she tightened. Gideon paused, waiting, and gradually she relaxed. Gently, inexorably, he slid into her, filling her. Irene wrapped her legs around him, moving a little to take him in more fully. He began to move within her, slowly pulling back and thrusting in, and with each movement something tightened within her, coiling harder and tighter.
She sobbed, moving with him, yearning for something that she could not even name. And then she felt it explode within her, a pleasure so deep and intense that she was rocked by it. She shuddered, clinging to him, as Gideon thrust hard and deep inside her, crying out as his own release took him. Waves of pleasure washed through her, rippling outward to every part of her body. He collapsed against her, and Irene wrapped her arms around him, stunned by what she had felt.
Whatever happened, she thought hazily, whether Gideon ever came to love her or not, she knew that she had found her home.
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning, when Irene went downstairs to breakfast, she wondered a little nervously how she would act when she saw Gideon.
The night before, after their lovemaking, he had walked with her back to the house, his arm around her. They had said little, peaceful and content in the moment, stopping now and then to kiss or just to stand with their arms around each other. They had waited until after everyone else had gone to bed to return, and she had slipped in the back door and crept up to her room, while he had waited for several minutes before he came in more boldly. Tired and happy, she had gone immediately to bed and, hugging her happy knowledge to herself, had drifted off to sleep.
This morning, however, she could see all the problems that might present themselves. For one thing, it seemed likely that someone—or more than a few someones—would have noticed that both she and Gideon had been absent for the last part of the evening. What if someone mentioned it? What would she say? She could not allow herself to blush and stammer, for then it would be immediately apparent that she was guilty of some indiscretion.
But more than that, she feared that when she first looked at him, it would be clear to everyone what she felt for him ...
what they had done. And deep down somewhere there lay a little niggling fear that when he saw her, he would regret everything, that in the time since she had last seen him, he would have come to wonder why he had ever thought he wanted to marry her.
But when she walked into the dining room and saw him sitting at the table, all her doubts and worries disappeared instantly. He glanced up from his plate, and though he did not smile, there was a swift, intense look in his eyes that welcomed her more than any words could have.
"Lady Irene," he said, rising and stepping over to pull out her chair. "I trust you slept well last night, after all the exertion ... of the dance."
He looked down into her eyes, his own vivid green eyes brimming with intimate laughter.
"Thank you, Lord Radbourne. I spent a very pleasant night," she replied, casting back her own flirtatious glance as she took her seat. "It must be the air here."
"I always find country air most salubrious," Lady Salisbridge offered. "Though my two girls," she added with an indulgent smile, "are rather slugabeds this morning, I am afraid. But then, they do so love to dance."
"It was a wonderful ball," Mrs. Surton said. "Such talented musicians, such lovely flowers. I must applaud your talents, Lady Radbourne, to offer so excellent an entertainment in the country."
Everyone else joined in to compliment both the countesses, who received the praise with gracious smiles. Irene cast an amused glance up the table at Francesca, who gave her a slow wink in return.
Irene's gaze went next to Lady Odelia, who gave her such a regal nod and smile that Irene suspected Gideon had already told his great-aunt about their plans to marry. The thought of their marriage made Irene feel giddy all over again, and she turned her gaze back down to her plate to hide her smile.
When all the praise and rehashing of the dance the evening before died down, Francesca said lightly, "Now all that is left is to decide what we shall do today."
"Oh, yes," Miss Surton agreed with a giggle. "What shall we do? Lawn tennis was terribly amusing, was it not?"
"Particularly your serve, Ro," her brother Percy replied.
"Oh, you!" She made a pouting face at him. "You, I am sure, will want to go riding again."
"That sounds splendid," Miss Hurley was quick to agree.
"Where would we go?" asked Callie. "We have been all around the estate, have we not?"
Both the Hurleys and Mr. Surton looked rather bemused by the suggestion that any enticement other than being on a horse was needed.
"There are caves not far from here, near the river," Gideon offered. "I have not seen them, but I have been told they are quite interesting."
"The caves!" Lady Teresa gasped. "Oh, no, we cannot go there. They are too dangerous."
"What nonsense." Lady Odelia snorted. "I have been there several times. When we were younger, of course, eh. Pansy? There is nothing dangerous about them, providing one doesn't go wandering off and get lost, that is."
"Lord Cecil never allowed anyone to go there," Lady Teresa responded primly.
"No doubt he didn't want everyone poking about in them," Lady Odelia remarked. "One wouldn't. But I never heard of there being anything wrong with them, have you, Pansy?"
"No, dear," her sister responded, adding kindly to Teresa, "I imagine dear Cecil was just being very careful of you and Timmy. And he did want to protect them from strangers, you know. Said people were apt to damage the formations. But the caves are quite worth seeing. Unusual."
"That sounds like just the thing," Piers said, and all the younger members of the party were quick to agree.
"I am sure that
Cook will be able to fill up some picnic baskets for us," Francesca added, with a significant glance at Irene.
Irene knew that look meant that she should arrange for the food baskets with the housekeeper and cook, as she had been the one in charge of dealing with the kitchen and household matters for the week of the party. So as soon as breakfast was over, she made her way to the kitchen to broach the matter.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, seemed to have taken a strong liking to Irene, who was not sure about the reason for the woman's attitude, though she suspected it lay in the inadequacies of Lady Teresa and Lady Pansy as mistresses of the house. The housekeeper had turned to Irene with increasing frequency in recent days, and even the formidable Horroughs had consulted with her on the rare occasions when he had been uncertain about an issue concerning the guests.
However, it appeared to Irene that today the smile with which Mrs. Jeffries greeted her was especially bright, and that there was an extra touch of deference in the housekeeper's assurances that she would have the baskets made up and brought down to the caves for the group's luncheon by one o'clock. Irene also noticed several surreptitious glances in her direction from the servants, as well as a good bit of whispering and smiling.
Could it be that the servants already knew about her engagement to Gideon? It seemed impossible, as it had happened only the night before. Of course, the servants always knew everything first. No doubt if Gideon had told his grandmother or great-aunt about it, there had been a maid nearby who had overheard the news.
Irene pretended not to notice their behavior, and as soon as her business with the housekeeper was done, she left the kitchen and returned to her room to change.
Glancing at herself in the mirror as she pulled off her morning dress, it occurred to her that perhaps the servants—and even Lady Odelia—had guessed that something was up simply by looking at her. She had not realized it when she went down to breakfast that morning, but there was a glow of happiness on her features that nothing could conceal. Her cheeks were warm with color, her eyes shone, and her mouth was turned up as if she was just about to break out in a smile.
