Lady Beneath the Veil(40)

'And is that not the truth of it?' He caught her fingers and held them  in a warm, sustaining clasp. 'I wanted you to myself, to make love to  you.'

'Oh, Gideon.' She tried to make out his face in the near darkness.  Whatever the outcome, she must be honest now. 'That is what I want,  too.'

With a growl he pulled her into his arms, seeking her mouth, teasing  her lips apart so that his tongue could plunder and explore. She  responded instantly, aware that this was the first time since their  wedding night, a full twelve months ago, that they had come together in  passion, rather than the restrained couplings of the marriage bed.

He tugged at the strings of her cloak until it fell away and his mouth  moved to that sensitive spot below her ear, where the touch of his lips  made her pulse leap alarmingly. He touched her jaw with light, butterfly  kisses, continued down the slender column of her neck, his tongue  flickering in the hollow at the base of her throat and making her moan  softly. She leaned into him, her breasts hot and aching as they pushed  against the restrictions of her gown. His hands smoothed over her  shoulders, pushing aside the muslin sleeves and leaving her skin free  for more kisses. Dominique reached out for him, fumbling with the  buttons of his waistcoat and shirt. She slid her hand under the fine  linen and caressed the smooth, hard frame of his chest.                       
       
           



       

The coach lurched over a particularly uneven section of the road and  they were thrown apart. Dominique fell back into the corner while Gideon  slipped to the carriage floor. She expected him to jump up, but instead  he remained on his knees, gently pushing aside the whispering skirts.  She caught her breath as his hands caressed the soft skin of her inner  thigh. Where his fingers explored his mouth followed. He slid his hands  under her bottom and pulled her towards him, holding her firm while he  kissed her even more intimately, his mouth and tongue caressing her  until she was crying out at the sheer, swooning pleasure of his touch.  Time stopped. The rocking of the carriage merely enhanced the  intolerable delight he was inflicting upon her, carrying her out of her  body into the soaring, weightless heights of ecstasy.

When at last he ceased the relentless pleasuring she reached out for  him, driving her fingers through his hair, tugging at the shoulders of  his coat and pulling him up so she could kiss him. Excitement welled  even further when she tasted herself on his lips. With a groan he held  himself away from her and slid on to the bench.

'By God I cannot hold out much longer.' He quickly unfastened his  breeches, pulling her on to his lap. 'Time for you to come to me.'

Eagerly she straddled him. He held her hips firmly and pushed himself  into her slick heat. Dominique gasped, putting her hands on his  shoulders to steady herself as he thrust again, and this time she was  prepared. She pressed down on him, matching his movements, elated by his  groans of pleasure as she rode him, exulting in the feel of his hard  length inside her. She was almost out of control with the delicious  torment, bucking and shuddering, but he held on to her, driving ever  deeper into her until the final juddering thrust. She barely heard his  shout of triumph for her own head was thrown back, her eyes closed as  she tensed and shuddered and her consciousness exploded into a million  stars.

* * *

Dominique collapsed against him and he held her close, his breathing  ragged. Her whole body was glowing, like the hot coals of a fire after  the first, hectic blaze has died down.

'Oh, heavens,' she murmured at last, her head on his chest where she  could feel the hammering of his heart against her cheek. 'Have I behaved  very wantonly? I do beg your pardon.'

His arms tightened.

'You have been quite delightful this evening, if a little surprising.'

Being in his arms was blissful, but she needed to explain so she pushed herself away into the corner.

'I w-wanted you to notice me. I have tried so hard to be a good wife to  you, but you never come to my bed any more. And I-I miss you.'

Gideon sat up and straightened his clothes.

'I have kept my distance because I do not want to harm you, Dominique,'  he said quietly. 'I cannot forget what my mother went through.'

'Your mama had too many children too quickly.' She clasped her hands  together. She had overcome her embarrassment to talk to the kindly  doctor about it, now she must talk to her husband. 'I am very healthy,  Gideon, Dr Bolton says so, and he also says we need not-need not  refrain.' She added, her voice little more than a whisper, 'Unless you  do not want me.'

With a shaky laugh he reached for her.

'After what we have just done you will know that is not the case.' He  tilted up her chin and kissed her. 'I shall share your bed tonight,  Dominique, and every night, if you will allow. And with a little care we  can avoid making you with child again too often.' The coach slowed and  turned. Gideon lifted his head. 'We are home, my dear.' He replaced her  cloak on her shoulders and as the carriage came to a halt he jumped down  on to the drive, turning back to hold out his hand to her. 'Shall we go  in?'

'I am not sure I can walk,' she confessed as he helped her out of the carriage.

'Then I shall carry you, as I should have done when you first came  here.' With that he swept her up into his arms, explaining to the  astonished Thomas that Mrs Albury was feeling a little faint.

Dominique slipped her arms about his neck and buried her face in his  shoulder as he carried her up the stairs, knowing that if the butler saw  the glow on her cheeks it would give the lie to Gideon's words. Somehow  he managed to open the door to her bedchamber and dismissed her  startled maid.                       
       
           



       

'There. That will set the household ringing with conjecture! Now, can you stand? I want to look at you.'

He set her on her feet and pushed the cloak from her shoulders before  running his hands down her arms and catching her hands. In the glow of  candlelight the ruby gown was almost as dark as her glorious hair. A few  glossy curls had escaped and now lay in wayward abandon against the  creamy skin of her breasts. They were rising and falling rapidly and the  fire in his loins began to burn again. He wanted to tell her how  beautiful she was, how much he loved her, but when he looked into her  eyes and saw the heat of desire in their emerald depths he lost the  ability to speak. Silently he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

Slowly he unlaced her bodice and with a soft sigh the ruby satin fell  in a dark pool at her feet. She stood before him in her shift, a  gossamer-thin layer that hid nothing, only enhanced the lines of her  body and the beautifully rounded breasts, their pink roseate tips  delectably visible. He reached out to take the pins from her hair, while  she began to undress him.

They did not pause until every last stitch had been shed. They were  standing before the fire and he held her away from him, drinking in the  perfection of her body, golden in the firelight. She dropped her head,  allowing the dark waterfall of her hair to shimmer over her body. Gently  he pushed the dusky locks back over her shoulders, then put his fingers  under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him.

'My wife,' he murmured and, unable to resist any longer, he swept her up and carried her to the bed.

* * *

When Dominique awoke she was alone. Sunlight filled the room and she  stretched luxuriously, feeling the cool sheets against her skin. She had  a new awareness of her body and she smiled, thinking it unsurprising,  since Gideon had kissed every last inch of it at least twice during the  night. When he had first taken her to the bed they had made love slowly  and languorously, taking time to explore each other until desire swept  them up and carried them to the final consummation. She had fallen  asleep in his arms, only to wake at some point in the darkest hours to  find they were making love again.

Dominique shivered a little at the delicious memory. She was thinking  that she should get up and find her nightgown when the door opened and  Gideon came in. He was fully dressed and, feeling suddenly shy, she  pulled the blankets up to her chin.

'Good morning, wife!' He sat on the bed, smiling as he wrested the  offending bedclothes from her hands to reveal her breasts. He lowered  his head and kissed one rosy nub and then the other, sending little  shock waves of excitement trembling through her. Reluctantly she pushed  him away.

'What is this, tired of me already?' The warm glint in his eyes robbed his words of offence and she smiled back.

'Never,' she said, shyly reaching up to touch his face. 'It is just  that your sister is coming to take me shopping this morning.'

'Ah, she will want to know what happened after we quit Grosvenor  Square.' He laughed, catching her hand and pressing a kiss into the palm  before sliding off the bed. 'Very well, I shall leave you to dress.  What time is she coming? Will you break your fast with me before you  go?'