CHAPTER 16

FINALLY! HIS MOUTH on hers. Devouring her. Inflaming her. It had been so long. She could not prevent the sigh of relief from escaping her throat; a small exhalation that remained trapped between their fused lips. He settled to feast, and she surrendered under the sweet assault of his ravenous mouth. Not that she had any other choice.

He had kissed her once before. She thought she knew what to expect. She had prepared for the sensual unfurling, for the arousal he could so easily call forth in her.

But she had not prepared for this kiss. For the sheer hunger and intensity of it. He kissed like a benevolent conqueror: ruthless, uncompromising in his supremacy, demanding complete surrender, and rewarding those who submitted. And her body obeyed his commands. She had no will to resist him. If he was a conqueror, then she was a willing captive.

More! Her body demanded. Beyond reason, beyond propriety. She reclined back. He followed, hovering above her, supporting himself with his arms. His kiss gentled, became less commanding. More like a reluctant caress. Unacceptable. She wanted to feel the press of his body on top of her. Her hands slid down his back, and he groaned, his muscles flexing, coming alive under her caress.

"Hannah," he begged into her mouth. "Ask me to stop. Push me off."

"No," she whispered.

How could she push him away when she was as much a slave to this desire as he was? Perhaps even more so. She couldn't get enough of him. Of his wicked mouth. She wanted more. If his previous kiss had enticed and seduced her, this one enthralled and captivated. She was at the mercy of her needs and his.

He groaned, his weight settling half on top of her, his leg sneaking between hers, insinuating itself higher. She wanted to open to him, to grind her aching core into that hard thigh. Insanity that provoked a huff of frustration when her riding skirt would not allow it.

The iron rod of his erection pressed against her hip, driving her mad with want, with needs that could not be satisfied in this public location. Proving his attunement to her needs, he deepened the kiss, exploring the satiny interior of her mouth with his tongue, tangling with hers in a sliding caress before he sucked it in, drawing it into his mouth. She whimpered with need, her hands sliding into the silky locks of his hair, fisting on them, so that he could never leave her. Never abandon her.

Easing his onslaught, he kissed the corners of her mouth, licking a place so sensitive it sent shivers down her spine and straight to her core.

"Gabriel, I—"

A high-pitched whinny rent the air. She froze as the air seized in her lungs and her heart somersaulted. What was that? Were those their horses? Or someone else who had come along the path? Had they been discovered? But Gabriel's reaction was immediate and decisive. He rolled off her and leapt to his feet with seemingly impossible agility. Turning his head this way and that, he discovered the source of the threat and took off at a run. What was going on? She looked around; her befuddled mind was still wrestling with frustrated desire.

Another whinny, followed by a snort and several squeals. She followed the direction of the commotion and had to clamp a hand over her mouth to contain the laugh that threatened to burst forth.

Gabriel's stallion was trying to mount her mare. Her mare was protesting loudly while Gabriel pulled on his horse's reins to bring the lust-crazed animal off the mare. It was a scene from a circus. Made all the more humorous because their horses were imitating their own inappropriate behavior.

She stood on legs made unsteady by frustrated desire and walked towards the fray with the intention of leading her mare away.

"Hannah, stay out of the way!" Gabriel yelled. His muscles strained with the effort of holding the now rearing horse. "I don't know if he's going to bolt."

She hesitated for a moment, seeing the horse's frantic struggles. Apparently, the animal did not appreciate the interruption of his amorous endeavors any more than they did.

For a moment, the struggle between man and beast raged on. Gabriel spoke words she could not make out in soothing, assertive tones and the horse, recognizing he would not get his way this morning, at last subsided with several snorts of annoyance.

Her mare ambled over to her side with the most innocent expression in her wide, brown eyes. For some reason, that renewed her barely contained mirth.

"Oh, you naughty girl. What were you up to?" she asked, caressing her mare's neck.

Her mare sighed and butted her arm in response. The stallion was having a much harder time accepting the end of their affair and continued to nicker softly as Gabriel led him away.

"Follow me at a distance, Hannah," Gabriel called. "Don't get in front of me, lest we provoke this rude horse again. I don't know what got into him. He's never behaved this way."

"Maybe they got the idea from us."

Gabriel's eyes met hers, and she saw the moment his annoyance gave way to humor. His eyes danced and crinkled in the corners a moment before they both burst out laughing at the same time. When was the last time she had laughed with such gusto? She could not remember, but sharing the moment with Gabriel made it extra special.

"Bloody hell, I've been outperformed by my own horse," Gabriel said between guffaws.

The horse snorted, and they laughed even harder.

"Well, rules do not constrain them, as they do us," she pointed out reasonably.

"Not that we have allowed ourselves to be much constrained. We had not been behaving any better than the horses."

"True."

Their gazes met, and laughter turned to heat. The memory of the maelstrom of desire engulfed them. She looked away first, afraid of the strength of their connection.

"Let us go. We need to return you home before polite society is out and about."

Hannah did not have to be told twice. She sighed, accepting their morning outing was at an end. And maybe the interruption had been for the best. Imagine if someone had seen them. The scandal. Their entire plan depended on secrecy. What had she been thinking? She had not been. That was the problem.

Her face flamed with shame at the memory of her behavior. She had to do better than this. Had to keep the purpose of their coming together forefront in her mind. No matter how much his kisses inflamed her, she could not forget herself in this way. Today, they'd had a lucky escape. Next time, she would insist that there be no possibility of interruption. And they would take matters all the way to the end. Enough dithering and delaying. She was ready, and if the hunger in his kiss was any sign, so was he.

She didn't want to examine whether her determination was due to a desire for achieving her goal, or a desire for Gabriel. It didn't matter, anyway. For better or worse, they had already set on this course. Only time would tell if they had been wise or foolish, and either way, she would see it through to the end.