Page 27

He nodded sharply. “Yes, and if you don’t you should walk out of this room now.”

Her right hand still clutched at his shirt, and she stared at the way the firelight sent shadows dancing across her fingers. Light and dark. Always changing.

“After the church steps . . . I want this. I want to know,” she said, her voice steady. The nerves in her body hummed like violin strings that had been plucked, and she didn’t know how she’d ever feel the same. It was overwhelming and yet exactly what she needed.

He let out a long, steady breath as though steeling himself for what he was about to say. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive,” she said, holding her chin a little higher.

His hand slid down her silk-clad arm, wrapping loosely around her wrist. “Come.”

He led her toward the bed and positioned her so that the backs of her thighs brushed against the high mattress. She thought he might say something to prepare her for what was next, but instead he raised his thumb to the fleshy part of her lower lip and drew the pad of his finger down her lip to her chin. When he reached her neck, his fingers splayed out, applying a gentle pressure that made her heightened senses sing.

Her eyes fluttered closed when he brushed the neckline of her dressing gown. The garment gaped open, and she could feel him run his fingers over the fine top edge of her night rail. Her nipples peaked and her breasts ached for him to cup them even as he traced the inside slope of them. This wasn’t pleasure, this was torture. He was intent on tormenting her until she was shaking, unable to form words except to beg him for more.

She bit her lip and struggled to stay still when his hands went to her shoulders and pushed the still-tied dressing gown down but left her night rail in place. The sleeves pooled at her elbows, and she was about to shrug out of them when his mouth dropped to her right breast and sucked.

Ina saw stars. Giant bursts of brilliant color as her head fell back and her body pressed up into Gavin’s mouth. The damp fabric roughed against her nipple, sending her soaring while his fingers molded the shape of her curves to fit his hands.

She whimpered when he let her nipple slide from his mouth until his lips moved a few inches to the left and he ministered to her other breast.

This was a mistake—not losing herself to Gavin, but rather the idea that she could experience this sort of pleasure just once. It would have been better not knowing. Then at least she would’ve been able to live under the same roof as him without thinking every moment about how good this felt.

When he moved to the belt at her waist, she almost ripped it open for him. Instead, she braced her hands against his shoulders and tried not to sink to her knees when he framed the spread of her waist with his hands and then reached around to cup her backside.

She was already pressed against the bed, so it took next to nothing to push her down on top of it. His hands skimmed down her hips and over her legs. His mouth kissed a trail over her stomach while his fingers circled her ankles and skimmed up over calves, knees, thighs. Her hips arched, begging him to inch higher. Higher.

Then he lifted her night rail to her waist.

“God, Ina.” The words sounded as though they’d been squeezed from him like water wrung from a cloth.

She pitched up on her elbows and caught him with eyes fixed on the V between her legs. His hunger was unmistakable. He wanted her, not because she was his best friend but because she was a woman. The power of that realization surged up in her until he pressed his thumb to the bead of nerves between her legs, and her whole world fell away. This. This was the only thing that mattered.

He rolled his thumb, and desire bolted straight through her. She cried out and her hips canted up. Gavin slowly began to massage her, catching a rhythm when her muscles clenched under his hands. His other hand circled her lips, spreading the warm wetness from her slit along her sensitive folds. When his finger dipped in, she cried out a half plea.

She ached, wanted, needed him.

She began to protest when his hands fell away until she saw he was tearing at his shirt and undoing the placket of his trousers. Garments hit the floor with impressive speed, and at once he was naked before her. The fire lit him from behind, making his hair glow, halo-like, while his face remained in shadow. She could hardly make out the line of his mouth or read his expression. That nearly gave her pause, but then she remembered that this was Gavin, whom she trusted more than any other man in this world.

“Move down the bed,” he said, his voice rough.

She scrambled up so that her legs were fully stretched on the mattress, and he climbed up after her.

“Take this off,” he said, plucking at the fabric that stood as the only barrier between them.

She shimmied the cotton garment up over her head and tossed it over the side of the bed. His eyes drank her in from the top of her head to the very tips of her toes, his hand skimming over her body as he went. She bit her lip, determined not to show any fear at being naked before a man for the first time in her life.

“Open your legs for me,” he growled.

Her knees fell to either side, giving him more than enough room to settle between them. His erection pressed hard against her stomach as he moved over her.

He kissed her again as she felt his cock bump against her slit. She squirmed a little under him, but the encouragement did nothing to make him move faster. He was deliberate and slow, drawing this out. She knew she should want that too—this evening being their one exception—but her whole body screamed for more.

Gavin deepened their kiss, his hands tangling in her hair once again, and pressed into her. His cock slid in slick against her wetness, stretching her. She bucked against the shock of the sensation she’d never experienced before.

He pushed up on his hands. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she gasped out, struggling with the words to explain what it was she was feeling. Pushed. Whole. Complete. None of them was quite right.