Her skin heated when he touched her, his fingertips stroking over her arms, legs, torso as if it was vitally necessary for him to learn everything about her.
She felt the same, exploring the whole of his magnificent body from his shoulders to his muscled legs. A moment later, she straddled him, bending down to kiss his chest.
“I saw you once, washing yourself at the river. I think it was the first time I realized how beautiful you were and how much I wanted you.”
“Men aren’t beautiful.”
“You are.”
“How old were you?”
How foolish of him to expect her to be able to speak, especially when his fingers were exploring her. He’d never touched her there before, but it was wondrous.
A moment later, she finally managed to say the words. “I think I was thirteen.”
“Very precocious, then.”
“Do you think so?”
“I do.”
He bent his legs, then pushed her gently back onto his thighs. Now she was even more at the mercy of his fingers.
“Gordon.”
“Am I hurting you?”
“No.”
“I’m glad. It doesn’t feel like I’m hurting you. You seem to like it.”
She could only nod.
He was driving her mad, especially when he pulled her forward so that he could suck on her nipples.
A few moments later, he rolled to the side, placing her on her back. When he rose over her, she looked up at him, adrift in need.
“Gordon. My love.”
Every single one of his dreams was coming true. Just holding Jennifer had been something forbidden to him for the past several weeks. Now it was as if Fate, Providence, or even God was smiling down on them.
She epitomized everything he wanted: love, family, belonging, all those things that had been taken from him by an act of greed.
His fingers skimmed over her skin reverently. He wanted to know her everywhere, all those places that had been hidden from him. Those spots that he had dreamed about as a boy and fantasized over as a man. He placed his palm flat on her stomach, splaying his fingers.
He wanted everyone to know, just from looking in her eyes, that they belonged together. He wanted the world to understand that he was not complete without Jennifer, and that she felt the same about him.
He kissed the tip of her nose, smiling as he did so. He had flicked his finger at her nose once, and she had responded by balling up her fist and striking him on the chin.
They’d stared at each other in surprise, then began to laugh.
Now her lips curved in a smile as she looked up at him, then linked her fingers together behind his neck.
“This is what we should have done all those years ago.”
“Then I really would have been drummed out of Adaire Hall. Your reputation would have been shredded.”
“It would have been worth it, Gordon.”
He heard the solemnity in her voice and knew that she would have been willing to give herself to him, regardless of what might have happened. Yet he wouldn’t have done that to her.
He bent his head and kissed her, need thrumming through him.
She was his. No one else would ever be able to separate them. They would always be together.
Her mouth opened below his, her soft moan encouraging him to deepen the kiss. His hands speared through her hair, dislodging pins and tossing them to the floor.
He had never felt as he did right now, invincible, ready to face the world to protect her. He would do everything in his power to shield her from hurt or disappointment and create a perfect world for her.
He entered her slowly, giving her time to get used to him. Her quick intake of breath alerted him. He would have retreated had her hands not gripped his hips.
“No,” she said. “Don’t leave me. It doesn’t hurt.”
He stayed where he was for a moment, balanced on his forearms.
Her hands trailed up and down his sides, and then his back, as if she were trying to memorize him.
She didn’t speak, but the upward thrust of her hips was encouragement for him to move. He slowly withdrew, then entered her again. She sighed her approval.
“Jennifer.” Her name was an aphrodisiac. The soft stroke of her fingers where they joined pushed him even closer to completion.
He bent and kissed her again, lost in the maelstrom of sensation. Her breasts were so soft and round, tempting to kiss. He tongued one nipple, then another, doing it again when she loudly sighed.