CHAPTER 26
NOT AN INCH LEFT UNCLAIMED . The phrase echoed through her brain as Gabriel proceeded to make good on his word.
His hands moved efficiently, but without haste over her clothes. Unhooking fastenings, untying laces, loosening, peeling. She did not want to think about how he had gained such a level of expertise and ease with women's clothing. But she couldn't complain as she was the recipient of such attention.
True to his word, he touched and caressed every inch of skin uncovered. He nibbled on her shoulders as he lowered the sleeves of her gown. Massaged her scalp with exquisite skill when he undid her hair, extracting a purr of unadulterated bliss from her throat. He rained kisses down her back as far down as he could go. She was squirming with arousal again in no time, and he had not even touched the most intimate areas.
He lifted her now to stand beside the bed. As she stood, a stream of his seed slid down the inside of her thigh, and she reflexively clenched her muscles, striving to keep it inside. He noticed her flinch.
"What is it?"
Warmth flooded her cheeks. "Nothing."
He studied her for a couple of heartbeats, and his smile turned wolfish. "I know. You are leaking my seed, aren't you?"
If her cheeks got any hotter, her skin would blister. She could not articulate words, so she just nodded, looking away.
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "The thought of you filled with my seed makes me so hard I could burst. Don't worry. I have more for you." Taking her hand, he put it over his erect member, enveloping her fist in his, tightening her hold on him. "See how ready I am for you?"
The man was shameless. And she reveled in it, even as his indecent words had her turning an unflattering shade of puce.
"But first, let's finish removing all these garments, shall we?"
Grabbing her loosened gown, he lifted it over her head and tossed the expensive silk aside as if it were no more than a rag. She wanted to care about the fact that the fabric would wrinkle, but she couldn't. Not when his attention was all on her body, his deft fingers unbuttoning her corset cover.
He peeled that away and revealed the tops of her breasts, round and plumped by her corset. He nuzzled her cleavage, taking a deep inhale of her perfume, before turning his head and bestowing an open-mouthed kiss on the top of one breast. She whimpered. So he did it again on the other.
"So beautiful. Such smooth flesh. I want to lap it up like the finest cream." His eyes narrowed as he thought. "In fact, that's a splendid idea. Next time, I will slather sweet cream all over your breasts and lick it off you."
The strangled sound she made was part shock and part unadulterated anticipation. He flashed her a wide, wicked grin. The rogue.
Her crinoline and petticoats all fell to the floor in a heavy whoosh as she was still trying to control the blushes his words were causing. She had not even been aware that he had been loosening the ties while he distracted her with his scandalous suggestions.
And then she was clad in nothing but her chemise, corset, drawers, and stockings. His focused gaze caressed all the way down her body, making goosebumps sprout all over her skin.
Without a word, he grabbed hold of the front of her corset and, with a few forceful tugs, unhooked the fastenings. The garment gaped down the front, like a piece of armor damaged in battle. Except they were not making war, but love. A moment later, he allowed it to fall to the floor, and his hands were there, massaging her breasts through the thin, translucent material of her chemise. He could see the outline of her nipples through the fabric.
His warm hands cupped her breasts, and he inhaled an unsteady breath. "Your breasts are even more delicious than I had imagined. And I thought about them a lot. Look at them. They fit perfectly in my palms, as if they were designed with just the right shape and size for me to hold."
His thumbs flicked over her pebbled nipples, and she whimpered.
"You like that, don't you?" he asked with a smile. She nodded. "Tell me."
"I-I like how you touch my breasts," she whispered.
"You'll like it even more when I lick and suck your nipples. I wonder if I could make you come just by stimulating your breasts?" he mused. "An interesting experiment for another time. Now, where were we?"
His hands slid down her body, molding her torso with proprietary authority. His eyes followed their path. She felt as if he was claiming her, mapping his domain. It should have alarmed her. Instead, she was about to melt under his touch like a puddle of hot wax.
A strong tug brought her attention back to what he was doing. He had seized hold of the laces of her drawers and had undone them. She held on to his upper arms as she sought to steady herself. She felt the corded strength of muscles as they rolled and rippled under her palms with his every movement. It emboldened her. Her hands slid up the slope of his shoulders, caressing, claiming as well.
He rolled his shoulders, reveling in her caress. "Yes, touch me. Your hands on me feel divine."
She moaned. This slow seduction was all new to her. She had not known that sexual congress could be so languorous and intense. His hands conquered territory under the loosened waistband of her drawers, dislodging the garment and making it fall to the floor, as his hands continued on their quest towards her backside, where they seized the mounds of her buttocks in a fierce grasp.
He growled as he laid claim to the orbs, squeezing and kneading them as he pulled her flush against him to grind against his naked body. With only the thin fabric of her chemise between them, his rod imprinted its heat against her belly.
"What a perfect little arse," he growled, making her blush with the coarse words. "Round and pert. From all that riding, I suppose. It's a crime to hide such perfection under a mountain of clothing." His lips traveled the length of her neck to whisper in her ear. "One day soon, I'm going to take you from behind. Would you like that, Duchess?"
Would she? An image she had seen in the naughty book flashed through her mind, conjured by Gabriel's words. The woman was on all fours, while the man knelt behind her, his rod penetrating her from behind. She inserted Gabriel and herself into that image, and warmth suffused her face.
"I believe I would," she answered in a breathless voice, and Gabriel smiled against her cheek.
"My naughty duchess."
His hands trailed up her body, molding, inflaming. Dragging her chemise up and off, until she was standing in front of him in nothing but her stockings. No other man had ever seen her naked. With Harold, it had always been under the covers, in the dark... She scrunched her eyes, dislodging the intrusive thought. It never occurred to her to feel embarrassment as Gabriel's focused gaze roamed her body, leaving no room for anything other than a sense of power in her femininity.
"You are lovely. Perfect. Lie on the bed," he ordered.
She obeyed. When she was reclining on the soft sheets, a wicked impulse had her stretching sinuously, lifting her arms over her head and bending a knee. Observing him through heavy-lidded eyes, she found immense satisfaction in the way Gabriel's nostrils flared, his eyes widened, and every muscle in his body seemed to tense.
Moving as if underwater, his hand reached out and grabbed hold of her bent leg. Without taking his eyes off her, he removed her shoe and made her toes curl with pleasure when he massaged the arch of her feet. He then undid her garters and ever so slowly rolled her stocking down, soothing the indentation left by the garter on her thigh with his mouth and tongue. After giving the same treatment to the other foot, he held onto her legs. Keeping them spread. His gaze focused with single-minded intensity in the center of her.
A curl of desire mingled with the first frisson of embarrassment. He was so intent, and she was so vulnerable. She lowered her hands to cover herself, but he saw the movement and instructed.
"Touch yourself."