OnlyYou

by Laura Glenn

  But, at that point, he had been able to rein in his desire. Now, however, he knew the feel of her willing lips, the taste of her sweet mouth. And he desperately needed to feel and taste her again.

  He felt every bit the rogue for what he had been doing to a perfectly respectable woman. She was sweet and trusting and all too weak when it came to physical desire. How could he take advantage of that?

  Damn it. He needed to fuck her.

  “Captain O’Connor!” General Washington called out to him as he approached.

  Gabriel took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts of Kaitlyn aside. As he looked ahead at the group of men around the general, he noticed a large bundle lying at the general’s feet.

  Captain Adam St. James bent over it and lifted a corner of the coarse, woolen blanket covering it. Gabriel came to a stop next to him and knelt down, immediately realizing that the bundle was the body of a dead Colonial scout he had been acquainted with back in Pennsylvania.

  “It is Michael Fitzpatrick, is it not?” Adam quietly asked, looking at Gabriel expectantly.

  Gabriel sighed heavily and rubbed his jaw with his hand. “Yes, it is,” he answered flatly as he looked up at the general. “They are getting too close.”

  General Washington nodded. “We have sent three other scouts out. God willing, they will be back tonight and we can discuss what move to make next.”

  “Did Mr. Fitzpatrick have any family to whom the general may send his condolences?” asked the general’s secretary.

  Gabriel nodded solemnly. “A mother. And a wife. She is due to deliver their first child this summer. They reside on a farm outside Philadelphia.”

  Two other soldiers interrupted their conversation, explaining that they had come to dispose of the body. Gabriel turned his back on the men and began walking toward the farmhouse. In the distance, he could see Kaitlyn and Eileen strolling arm in arm toward the front door of the house.

  He shook his head at his licentious behavior toward Kaitlyn. At any time he could be the one lying dead at the general’s feet and then where would Kaitlyn be? Would she find herself in the same position as Michael Fitzpatrick’s wife? Pregnant and alone? And what if he did not have the chance to marry her before he died? She and his child would then carry the stigma of an illegitimate birth for the rest of their lives.

  No, he could not risk condemning her to that sort of life. Kaitlyn deserved better.

  If only she were not so damned appealing.

  He continued walking, lost in his thoughts. As he reached the house, he climbed the steps and nearly tripped over someone in his path. He looked down and saw Kaitlyn kneeling on the porch floor, gathering shirts she had obviously dropped. Instinctively, he knelt down beside her and began helping.

  Their hands brushed as they both reached for the last shirt. Kaitlyn withdrew her hand in surprise and looked up at him, flashing him one of her brilliant, shy smiles before licking her lips in obvious nervousness.

  Her tongue darting out of her mouth so innocently immediately caused his cock to spring back to life and he gritted his teeth. Taking a deep breath, he handed the shirt to her and helped her to her feet.

  “Madam,” he said as he took a stiff step back and bowed slightly before her.

  Chapter Five

  The lamplight flickered, throwing dancing light beams against the window of Kaitlyn’s bedroom. She yawned sleepily as she gazed out the window, noticing three men walk away from the house. With a long, drawn out sigh, she placed the quill back in the bottle of black ink and opened the drawer in the desk. Slipping the papers she had been writing on inside and carefully closing the drawer, she glanced over at Eileen who was sound asleep in the bed they shared.

  Her shoulders slumped. She should have taken Eileen up on her offer to unlace the stays of her bodice and corset for her before the younger woman went to bed. Kaitlyn had insisted that she would be done quickly but then her mind wandered and Eileen fell asleep. Now what was she supposed to do? Kaitlyn simply could not reach them but her tolerance of being bound in such an unnatural way was quickly wearing thin.

  Only the rustle of her skirts could be heard as she silently scooted the chair away from the desk and arose to walk across the room. Surely someone would still be up to help her, she thought.

  Kaitlyn turned the doorknob slowly and walked out into the dimly lit hallway, turning quickly to silently close the door behind her. As she spun back around, she collided with something tall, warm and hard.

  She stammered out an apology as she stepped back to find Gabriel standing before her with an amused grin playing on his lips. Her imagination replayed the icy expression spread across his face earlier that afternoon as he had quickly retreated from her. Numbness began to creep into her heart. She was not certain how much more of his ebbing and flowing interest in her that she was willing to put up with.

  “Pardon me, madam,” he said, his voice low with a hint of laughter.

  She smiled weakly, determined to keep her conversation with him brief despite the way her heart began pounding at the very sight of him. “Are any of the women still awake? Harriet perhaps?”

  He shook his head and tilted it to the side as he measured her for a moment. “All said their goodnights over an hour ago.”

  Kaitlyn’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

  “What is the matter? May I be of assistance?” he asked, his tone formal.

  Yes, take off my clothes…

  She shook her head and absentmindedly rubbed her forehead in weariness. “It’s just that Eileen is asleep and I…uh…my…uh,” she stammered, quickly forgetting the term for what it was that she needed unlaced. She turned slightly and pointed at her back and shrugged, offering him a feeble smile.

  Understanding immediately dawned on his face. “Do you need your stays unlaced?” he offered.

  She nodded, desperate to end the awkwardness stretching between them. “Yeah but that’s okay,” she replied with a wave of her hand. “I’ll just sleep in my clothes.” Quickly excusing herself, she whirled around and opened her door. Slipping inside silently, she closed the door behind her.

  Kaitlyn inhaled deeply as she walked to the middle of the room, proud that she had been able to face him and walk away with her dignity intact instead of melting at his feet in a puddle of weak desire.

  She stared at the fire burning brightly in the small fireplace across from the desk, lost in her thoughts as she listened to the crackling logs. A hand suddenly seized her waist and she gasped, her head whipping around to find Gabriel’s face a few inches from hers.

  Breathless, she turned back toward the fire, uncertain of what to say.

  He leaned his face against the side of her head, his lips brushing against her hair. “You cannot sleep in your corset. Hell, I do not know how you can even walk around in that thing,” he dryly commented, his breath hot against her ear. “Let me help you.”

  She laughed softly, her stomach fluttering nervously. “And you know how to unlace it?”

  His chuckle, deep and sensuous, tickled her ear as he backed up a step and pulled her hair away from her neck to tuck it over her left shoulder. “I am no stranger to unlacing stays.”

  Somehow, she wasn’t surprised.

  She shook her hands out nervously at her sides, determined to relax. After all, he was only helping her get out of her outer clothing. She would still be covered from head to toe by her chemise. No need to freak out about her less than flat stomach or the ten extra pounds she never seemed able to get rid of.

  She could feel his fingers quickly working against her back and she deliberately slowed her breathing as her heart began thumping wildly against her chest. Before she knew it, he was pushing the sleeves of her bodice down her tingling arms and unlacing her corset.

  His hands grazed past her waist as he lifted the corset from her abdomen and tossed it on the desk. She opened her mouth to thank him but then felt him tugging at her skirt from behind, allowing it and her petticoat to fall to the floor in a pud
dle around her feet.

  Gabriel stepped toward her, leaving the barest space between them. Kaitlyn could feel the heat from his body against her back. The crackle of the fire roared in her ears as she froze, simultaneously wishing he would leave and touch her at the same time.

  She felt his hand slide up her back and pull the right strap of her chemise down over her shoulder. She shivered as goose bumps spread over her arms. Gabriel lowered his lips to her shoulder, drawing them slowly, seductively up to her neck while he slid the backs of his fingers down her trembling arm.

  “Why can I not get you out of my mind?” he asked in a ragged whisper against her neck.

  She whimpered and her head spun as he slipped his warm hand around her waist, caressing her abdomen. He slowly planted kisses up and down her neck, effectively drugging her senses. The stiff linen of her chemise rubbed against her nipples, causing them to grow taut and achy.

  “Tell me, Katie,” he whispered as he turned her around in his arms. He kissed her jaw, her cheek and dragged his lips to hers. “Tell me how to get you out of my head.”

  He cupped her face in his hands, his mouth covering hers hungrily. His lips were hard and searching and she quivered as little jolts of electricity radiated down her legs. She sighed into his mouth and parted her lips, surrendering to his passionate onslaught.

  Gabriel growled low in his throat and forced his tongue between her parted lips. Emboldened, Kaitlyn thrust her tongue against his and then languidly pulled it back, slowly drawing it across his bottom lip. He dropped his hands from her face and quickly cupped her backside, hauling her up against his chest and pressing his stiff shaft into her abdomen.

  He moved backward toward the door but then unexpectedly ran into the chest of drawers instead. Eileen stirred in the bed a few feet away and he froze, tearing his lips from Kaitlyn’s.

  Kaitlyn turned and watched Eileen carefully, afraid to breathe. She felt herself slip down the length of Gabriel’s body and she looked back up at him in a lustful daze.

  He stared back at her and she tilted her head to the side in confusion as she watched the feral look in his dark eyes quickly become replaced by a look of horror.

  He practically dropped her on the floor as he released her from his arms and stepped back. “My apologies, madam.” He bowed his head slightly and walked out the door.

  Kaitlyn stared after him, her heart suddenly feeling frozen and her body shivering with unquenched desire. Her nipples throbbed and her pussy felt empty and unfulfilled.

  She wasn’t certain why but she needed Gabriel to fuck her. No man had ever made her feel like this before. Her desires were purely primordial and she could think of little else other than sexual fulfillment at his hands.

  She had never thought of herself as drop-dead gorgeous but she knew she wasn’t unattractive. She may not have had a ton of experience with men but she knew good and well that the male half of the species would never pass up an opportunity to have sex. She was obviously a willing woman, so why did the guy not simply throw her over his shoulder and carry her into his room? What man wouldn’t take advantage of that?

  The longer she thought about it, the angrier she became. She needed to know what it was he disliked about her so immensely that he couldn’t bring himself to follow through with his sexual advances.

  She padded across the room and quietly slipped out into the hallway. Raising her hand to pound on the door directly opposite of her room, she paused, considering how the sound might cause more than just Gabriel to enter the corridor. The last thing she needed was an eighteenth-century audience while she demanded to know why Gabriel refused to fuck her. Instead she rapped softly on the door and then placed her hands on her hips, preparing for her confrontation.

  Her stomach fluttered nervously at the unfamiliar road she now traveled. By no means a confrontational person, Kaitlyn usually just put up with peoples’ behavior rather than calling them out on it. But now a primitive female need propelled her beyond her comfort zone.

  After a few seconds, the door opened. Gabriel stared down at her, seemingly surprised to see her. His mahogany hair had been unbound and now framed his face, softening the chiseled edges of his jaw. His white shirt, now unbuttoned, hung open at his sides, providing her with her first glimpse of his impossibly wide, bare chest.

  “Why do you dislike me so much?” she demanded in a harsh whisper, afraid she would lose her nerve if she didn’t come straight to the point.

  He arched his brows in disbelief and leaned against the doorframe as his eyes lazily roamed down her figure, lingering for a brief moment on her breasts. “Do not tell me, Katie, that you have never felt just how much I like you,” he drawled as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, giving himself a devilish air.

  Her nipples strained against her chemise and she resisted the urge to cover her chest with her arms. Instead, she straightened her back, unknowingly pushing her breasts forward.

  He groaned audibly, his lips parting slightly and his eyes growing hazy once again as he stared at her. “You do not know what you do to me,” he insisted, his breathing ragged.

  Kaitlyn licked her lips instinctively, both surprised and pleased about Gabriel’s physical reaction to her. “You’re right, I don’t. I also don’t know why you kiss me and then look at me like I disgust you,” she replied, impressed by how low and sultry her voice sounded.

  “You do not disgust me.”

  She took a step forward and he dropped his arms to his sides as he straightened his back. They stared into one another’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity, though Kaitlyn was sure only a few seconds had passed.

  He tentatively reached out and caressed the side of her face with his hand. Eyeing her as though she were a silly child, he smiled gently. “On the contrary, I find you most desirable. It is my own behavior that I find appalling.”

  Encouraged by his words, she took another step forward, her erect nipples barely brushing his chest. Tilting her face up, she lightly brushed her lips against the base of his neck, deeply inhaling the masculine scent lingering on his skin. Her stomach fluttered and she exhaled, lightly stroking his neck with the tip of her nose as she flattened her palms against his rock-hard abdomen.

  Gabriel closed his eyes for a brief moment, determined to regain his composure. The woman was actually trying to seduce him and he was convinced that she had no idea what she was getting herself into. He grabbed her forearms in an attempt to draw them away from his stomach but she slid one of her hands down toward his more than eager cock. Before he knew it, she pressed her palm against the length of his rigid shaft, squeezing him gently through his breeches.

  He groaned and rubbed the side of his face against her hair as he instinctively rotated his hips against her hand. “Katie, love, why do you torture me thusly?”

  “I can’t seem to help myself around you,” she admitted, tracing his collarbone with the tip of her tongue.

  He could feel her hardened nipples pressing insistently against his chest. He moved his hands to her hips, digging his fingers into the flesh of her backside and rubbing his thumbs up and down the crease between her thighs and pubic bone.

  It would be so easy to get lost in this woman and he quickly found himself very close to teetering over the edge. His need to feel her soft thighs wrapped around his waist as he pumped into her took over his mind. He wanted to bring her to her climax, to watch her, to hear her scream his name.

  Kaitlyn inhaled sharply, feeling the moisture gathering between her thighs. Her head was swimming with the knowledge that Gabriel wanted her. She rubbed his cock, marveling at its length and thickness. She wanted it inside her, filling her pussy.

  He hastily took a step back, yanking her hands away from him. She groaned in frustration as he grabbed her forearms and took a step back from her.

  “You cannot know what it is you risk,” he whispered fiercely.

  “Then explain it to me,” she angrily insisted, twisting her arms out of his grasp.


  He rubbed his brow wearily. “I have thought of little more than getting you into my bed from the moment I saw you.”

  She took a step toward him and he stepped back.

  A muscle quivered in his jaw and his expression grew hard. “I am a soldier. My life could be taken at any time. If I took you to my bed, I could get you with child. And then what would you do if I were gone?”

  The guy certainly knew how to kill the mood.

  What on earth was wrong with her? Though she knew he would survive this war, she became appalled by her own lack of forethought. She was an intelligent woman—she knew perfectly well how pregnancy occurred. Plus, the whole idea of “safe sex” had been pounded into her head since high school. Why on earth had the lack of birth control in the eighteenth century not entered into her mind even once?

  Goose bumps covered Kaitlyn’s arms and she rubbed them briskly as the chill of the hallway began to make itself known. Gabriel reached out and caressed her shoulder lightly.

  “Go on to bed,” he gently whispered, “while I still have the strength to let you.”

  She nodded mutely and turned, pausing as she heard the click of Gabriel’s door. Sighing, she silently resigned herself to going to bed a sexually frustrated woman until a risqué thought popped into her head.

  After all, there was more than one way to achieve an orgasm.

  Her lips curved into a slow, secretive smile. Nervously biting her lower lip, she quickly ran through different approaches in her head before deciding to simply dive right in. She quietly tiptoed back to Gabriel’s door and pressed her ear against it. She thought she could detect heavy breathing but she wasn’t certain.

  Kaitlyn slowly turned the doorknob and peeked inside the dark chamber. Slipping in and closing the door, the heavy breathing became louder. She peered through the darkness and saw Gabriel lying on his back in bed, his hand firmly wrapped around his cock.