Sleep? But surely, that wasn’t…all?
No, at one time she might have thought so, but shedidlive in London, and she was one of Lady Clifford’s pupils. She’d seen a number of things another young woman might not have, and heard even more. Whatever few mysteries remained had been dispelled by Sophia, after her marriage to Lord Gray.
Cecilia knew very well the long, hard length Gideon was trying to keep from prodding into her hip meant he hadn’t taken his pleasure, and that he was certainly suffering now because of it. She also knew he was attempting to be decent and noble, theridiculous man.
Well, she wouldn’t have it. The bedroom was no place for decency and nobility.
Cecilia raised her head from Gideon’s chest, and before he knew what she was about she’d scrambled to her knees. Her expression must have given her away, because Gideon’s eyes widened as his gaze met hers. “Cecilia,what are you—”
“I’m not ready to sleep yet.” She braced her hands on his chest, and with one quick move settled herself on top of him, her thighs straddling his hips. Her gaze moved hungrily over his bare chest and flat stomach. “I’m not tired,” she murmured, teasing her fingers through the line of dark hair that disappeared into his breeches.
His mouth opened, but he struggled to get any words past his lips as his heated gaze moved slowly over her bare, flushed skin, lingering on the curves of her breasts. “I-I don’t think we should…”
He trailed off to watch, mesmerized, as she played with that trail of springy hair on his belly, her fingernails scraping lightly against his bare skin, until she slipped her hand under the waistband of his breeches and drew him out, hard and aching, from the crumpled folds of his falls. “Cecilia…” he swallowed, his gazemeeting hers.
“I’m awake, Gideon.” Cecilia hesitated, shyness overtaking her, but his long, hard length was throbbing against her palm, and the need in his eyes, the ragged edge to his breath decided her. “I’ve never been wider awake in my life,” she murmured, as she beganto caress him.
“Cecilia, I…ah.” Gideon broke off with a gasp as she dragged her hand up and then down again, her eyes opening in wonder at the slide of that thin, silky skin over the heated length beneath. She bit her lip as she met his gaze. “Is this right?”
Gideon stared up at her, his eyelids falling to half-mast and his lips parting as she kept stroking him. “Yes,” he choked out on a low groan. He shifted underneath her, spreading his thighs wider as if he couldn’t stop himself. “It’s so good, sweetheart.”
He didn’t need to say anything more. His body—his broken moans, his strangled breaths—told her everything she needed to know. Cecilia tightened her grip around him and watched, transfixed, as he began to meet her every stroke with a subtle thrust of his hips. Cecilia slid her thumb up to circle his tip, her tongue darting out to touch her bottom lip when his hips jerked. “I could watch you like this all—oh!”
A groan tore from his lips, and the next thing Cecilia knew she was on her back with a large, aroused marquess on top of her, nudging her legs apart with his hips. “Do you want me, Cecilia?” He slipped his hand between her thighs and parted her swollen flesh with gentle fingers to stroke her. “Do youwant me here?”
“Yes.” Cecilia sighed, twining her arms around his neck. “I want all of you.”
Gideon’s body was taut with leashed desire, but he held back, his lips in her hair and on her neck and breasts, circling and rubbing her eager nub, tearing whimpers from her throat. He waited until she was thrashing against the bed before he slipped one long finger inside her.
Cecilia’s mouth sought his as she arched into his touch. “Gideon, please.”
“Shh. I’ve got you.” He pressed a tender kiss to her lips, but still he took his time, reducing her to quivering flesh until at last…dear God,yes, at last…with a guttural groan he eased the tip of his hard length inside her. He paused when he met resistance, his every muscle tensing with the effort to remain still. “Don’t want to hurt you.”
“No, don’t stop.” Cecilia arched against him, clawing at his sweat-slick back. Gideon groaned again, then with a quick shift of his hips, thrust inside. Cecilia gasped at the sharp burst of pain, but Gideon crooned to her through his panting breaths until the pain faded, and her body eased around him.
He pulled back to gaze down into her face, his beautiful blue eyes dark with concern. He started to speak, but Cecilia touched her fingers to his lips, hushing him. “I need you, Gideon.”
His eyes slid closed for an instant, and then…then he began to move. Slow, careful nudges until his gentle thrusts weren’t enough, and Cecilia wrapped her legs around his hips to urgehim on. “More.”
A desperate groan tore from Gideon’s lips as he surged forward. Cecilia sank her fingernails into his shoulders, a needy cry on her lips. His heated length seemed to swell inside her then, pushing her closer toward that mindless pleasure with each thrust. “Oh, oh…oh, please.” She clung to him, that delicious heat pulling tighter until with a fierce thrust of Gideon’s hips, it exploded inside her.
“That’s it, Cecilia. Come for me, sweetheart—” Gideon broke off with a gasp and buried his face in her neck as the tight, hot grip of her body hurled him into his own release. He clutched her against him until their bodies stopped trembling, then he raised himself up and drew back to look into her face. “Now are you ready to go to sleep?” he asked, hislips quirked.
Cecilia’s body was flushed, languid, her limbs so heavy with satisfaction she wondered if her bones had melted, but she returned Gideon’s smile with a sleepy one of her own.“Yes, my lord.”
He chuckled, and brushed the damp hair back from her forehead. “Ah, dutiful at last.”
He took her lips in a kiss so sweet it made Cecilia’s eyes sting, then gathered her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She fell asleep to his hand drifting through her hair, and his heartbeat in her ear.
Chapter Twenty-three
Gideon didn’t sleep that night, but for the first time since Cassandra’s death, it wasn’t because worry and grief kept him awake, or tumbled him in and outof nightmares.
It was because he didn’t want to miss a moment of holding Cecilia in his arms.
He tucked her close, her head nestled against his shoulder and her dark hair spread in wild disarray across his chest. He stroked her back, his fingers learning the smooth, soft texture of her skin, the way her thick eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks as she slept.
She woke before dawn, her eyelids lifting over sleepy dark eyes.
