Secret Son, Convenient Wife(38)

And then he stopped.

“Gemma?”

She looked into his eyes and saw something that would have made her knees buckle, if she’d been standing. “You are not a disappointment to anyone.”

Her heart rolled over, the breath locked in her throat. For him to take this moment to say that when he was more than ready to take her…

“Thank you,” she whispered, grateful that no matter what had passed between them he had given her this. “And you’ve never been a substitute for anyone else,” she said, risking everything in the spirit of the moment, wanting him to remember how it had once been for them. It was important that he knew the truth.

His eyes flared, but she didn’t give him time to speak. She held on to his shoulders and tilted her lower body up to his. “I want you, Tate.”

He groaned. It was a sound of need, but she wasn’t sure if he would push into her or pull away. Did he need to get away from her? Or did he need her?

As if he couldn’t stop himself, the next second he thrust between her thighs. Her heart soared and she rose to meet him. He groaned again and she knew she was what he needed, at least right now. He thrust deeper and she clung to him as he took her higher.

“Only you,” she whispered, then she shattered around him, feeling him climax inside her.
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Tate kissed Gemma hard and quick, then moved away to gather her clothes and hand them to her. He began pulling on his own clothes, needing to keep himself busy and not look at her naked body lying there all delicious and warm from his touch. He could take her again right now.

Easily.

He waited until he was dressed before looking down at her again. “Are you okay?”

She had sat up to dress, and now she gave a small smile. “Sure.”

He searched her eyes, but she wasn’t giving anything away, and he wasn’t about to either. “We’ll leave for lunch in an hour,” he said, and left the room. He had to walk away before he was tempted to carry her upstairs and tumble her on his bed.

He was growing hard just thinking about it. Her sexual power over him was immense. Hell, he hadn’t even given a thought to contraception. They’d deal with that later. There were already too many complications between him and Gemma.

If he were to be truthful, their lovemaking had been about more than the sexual pull she had over him. A combination of things had been building since their marriage. First Rolly, though Tate had to admit he’d been in the wrong about the teenager. Then the pictures on the internet showing Gemma’s threadbare apartment and hinting she was a gold digger. Yesterday, the puppy and Gemma asking if they could have a dog, as if she’d accepted they were now a family.

But all that paled in comparison to her parents’ visit. And what a piece of work they were! Learning what they had done to her, seeing how they’d treated her today, had caused a primitive anger to well up inside him. He’d gone hot with rage, then ice cold. Gemma had made him proud that she’d stood up to them.

And him.

And then she’d blown him away when she’d asked him to make love to her. He’d hesitated only because she’d caught him by surprise. God help him, it hadn’t been because he hadn’t wanted her. But she’d thought he was rejecting her, like her parents had rejected her. An odd pain had ripped through him then—he’d wanted to comfort her.

You’ve never been a substitute.

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought she was telling the truth. There was no other man between them. Even now, she made him feel as if he was the only man who could do it for her, the only man to turn her on. Dammit, she’d even said so.

I want you, Tate.

Only you.

But was she just good at pretending? What was he to believe? Who was he to believe? The sexy woman who’d been in his arms back there, or the woman who knew how to wind him up like a watch? He had to find the truth, and the only way to do that was to open himself up a little and let her in. She’d either prove her worth…or reveal she was merely a fake.





Seven




When they arrived at his parents’ place, Gemma was dismayed to find Tate’s whole family there for the lunch. She’d expected his parents, perhaps his sister, but definitely not his grandmother. Helen still lived in her own home, so it made sense that Jonathan would invite his mother. Why Gemma hadn’t expected her to be there today, she didn’t know.

Of course, now she felt even more self-conscious about what had happened with Tate, as if the all-wise, elderly woman could actually see they had become lovers again. Considering they were married now, it would be a reasonable assumption to make anyway, but it made Gemma more than uncomfortable. What had happened between her and Tate was private.