some of it when he was working for Sean, but she was even more delighted to be able to touch, stroke, and fondle it now.
He did the same, kissing his way over her shoulder to her arm, then hesitating at the juncture of her elbow.
“Have I told you how beautiful you are?”
“I believe it’s been about five years.”
“Then I’m certainly due.”
She laughed. “I’ve been taught that it’s excessively poor manners to solicit compliments.”
“What a pity. I might have said what a beautiful smile you have.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve always loved the color of your eyes.”
“I’ve recently noticed that they’re Ellen’s color. Isn’t it odd that I never saw that before?” She pulled back. “Did you see a resemblance between us the night Harrison came home?”
“A resemblance?” He shook his head. “No.”
“Ellen thought you did.”
“I think we see what we want. I never thought you were anything but an Adaire. Speaking of which, it’s recently been brought to my attention that I’m the mirror image of the Earl of Burfield.”
“Are you?”
“Evidently, that will go far to establish my claim.”
“I wish I could remember him more. Everyone always told me what a wonderful man he was. I doubt, however, that he was half as wonderful as you.”
That required yet another kiss.
Loving Gordon was even more wondrous the second time.
Pleasure hit her like an explosion, tendrils of sensation skittering across her flesh. Deep in the core of her, where they were joined, it felt as if she were melting from the heat.
She felt limp, exhausted, and happy from her head to her toes.
Being with Gordon was the culmination of every dream, fantasy, or imagined moment.
She now knew all those secrets that had eluded her as a girl. She felt as if she’d been allowed into a privileged membership of women. She’d never realized that there was something as wondrous as this, where your soul soared and a cavern expanded in your chest, filled with lust and love, delight and desire.
Her fingertips felt every inch of his body, glided over soft hills and deep indentations, the hardness of his cock and the muscles defining his arms and chest and legs. There was a scar on his knee from where he’d fallen out of a tree when he was ten. She kissed it softly, then trailed her lips down to his ankle, smiling when he pulled his foot out of range.
“You’re afraid I’m going to tickle you,” she said, a smile in her voice.
“Right now, I’m defenseless. You could do almost anything to me and I would let you.”
She raised up and straddled him, her knees on the bed. There was no false modesty between them. They knew each other too well to hide anything, even their vulnerabilities.
“I want you to know me,” she said. “Completely. How much I like your kisses. What the touch of your fingers on my skin does to me. To do that, you’ll need to make love to me a great many times.”
His hands reached up and stroked her breasts with talented fingers. He drew out the touch, circling her hard nipples.
“I have always been partial to academic instruction,” he said. “I’d be more than happy to consent. Only as an educational experiment, you understand.”
“Perhaps we should compare notes after a thousand nights,” she said, finding it difficult to talk when he was paying such assiduous attention to her breasts.
“Only nights? You can make love during the day, you know.”
“Really? People do that?”
“Indeed they do.”
“I should very much like to do that, then. As often as possible, please.”
“I will do my best to accommodate you.”
“You’re very kind.”
He rolled her over, changing places with her until he was on top. He smiled down into her face.
“I think we’ve talked too much, don’t you?”
She only smiled in response.
Her core was hot and wet and welcoming. She guided him into her and kept him there, her hips rocking on the mattress, the pleasure so sharp that it came within a hairbreadth of pain.
Just when she thought she couldn’t feel any more, he showed her another dimension to bliss. When it was over, when she was spent, she found the strength to raise her hand and place it on his back, needing that connection.
Love for him flooded through her.
“If I’d only known, I would never have let you stay away five whole years, Gordon.”
He raised up on his forearms and kissed her lightly before dropping his head back on the pillow. A moment later, he sat up on the edge of the bed and started to