The atmosphere in the bedchamber thickened, taut and warm like a held breath.Gabriel watched Lucy closely for her reaction—if she’d looked nervous or upset in any way, he would have pulled a dressing gown from his armoire and covered himself.
But Lucy didn’t look upset.In fact, from what he could see of her face through the darkness, she appeared to be giving him a leisurely perusal that started at his feet and traveled slowly up the length of his body.
The way she looked at him made Gabriel aware of his body’s unfamiliar scars and heavy, hardened musculature.His conscious memories of women were hazy and sparse, the casual tumbles and eager fumbling of youth.
His body, however, seemed to remember more.
With a casual ease he didn’t entirely feel, Gabriel leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb and drawled, “I hope you’ll excuse my…informality.I wasn’t expecting a visitor.”
Lucy cleared her throat.“No need to stand on ceremony with me.After all, we are engaged.”
And just as casually, she reached past him to ease the door to his rooms shut.The sound of the latch clicking, closing them in together, made blood pool hotly in Gabriel’s groin.
Ignoring it for the moment, enjoying this little game they were playing, he said, “Still, I wouldn’t want to shock you.After all, you are a lady.”
He loved the flash of her white teeth, her wicked smile.
“Not that much of a lady,” she assured him.“You can’t shock me.I’ve seen it all before.”
His heart beat hard at the reminder.“You have me at a disadvantage there.”
He had to give her credit; she didn’t hesitate for more than a breath before shrugging out of her wrapper and casting it aside.
“Never let it be said that Lady Lucy Lively doesn’t play fair,” she replied, her long fingers going to the top of the line of tiny buttons that held her demure lawn nightgown closed, and starting to undo them, one by one.
Gabriel went still as a hunting dog scenting prey, transfixed by the sight of each incremental inch of smooth, pale skin she bared.The hollow of her throat, the wings of her collarbones, the satiny expanse of her bosom.
Just before she reached the final set of buttons that would part the night rail over the shadowy dip between her breasts, she paused.Gabriel wanted to howl.
“I didn’t come here for this, you know,” she said conversationally.Only the slight huskiness of her steady voice gave away how affected she was.“I only meant to sit with you while you slept, so I could wake you if a nightmare came.”
The sweetness of it caught him unawares, a sneak attack that stole his wits for a moment.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” he said stupidly, his eyes fixed on her hands as they began to slowly undo the last few buttons.“Doing whatever I could to keep myself from it, in fact.So please don’t feel you are intruding.If you hadn’t turned up, I would’ve probably resorted to putting my clothes back on and going for a midnight ramble.”
Her fingers paused.“Anything to keep from falling asleep,” she murmured, then seemed to shake herself.
The final buttons were dispatched briskly, a sudden rush of beauty Gabriel could barely process before Lucy stood before him with her night rail unbuttoned to the waist.
“I can help keep you awake,” she said.“If that’s what you need.”
“All I need is you,” he rasped.
Her gaze dropped to his cock, thickening against his thigh, pulsing with every pounding beat of his heart.With swift, economical movements, she went to the nightstand on the near side of his bed and lit the candle waiting there.The small flame illuminated her lovely face and cast a warm glow that just barely reached Gabriel at his position by the door.
“Show me,” she whispered, and Gabriel’s erection swelled instantly to full, aching hardness, as though she’d commanded it.
Wondering how far she wanted to take this and more than willing to follow her lead, Gabriel kept his gaze on her face as he took his prick in hand.She bit her bottom lip in that way that drove him mad, and he fisted the base of his cock harder than he meant to.
One stroke, he told himself, gritting his teeth.To take the edge off.
But the way her chest heaved when he pumped his prick made her cotton lawn nightgown slip open farther, and Gabriel had to have more.
Turning his back fully to the door, he set his shoulders against the wood and arched his spine, legs spread to make room for the delicious, agonizing pleasure of touching himself for her to watch.
And watch, she did.Lucy stood several feet away, far enough to get a good view.The candle illuminated her every reaction, from the flush that extended down her chest to the tight little peaks of her nipples poking at the fabric of her gaping nightgown.
She worried that poor bottom lip, her eyes dark and hungry on him, and Gabriel instinctively slowed the working of his fist to make it more of a show.The clasp of his own fingers felt good, familiar, all tight friction and just the right amount of pressure at that sensitive spot under the head.
