Page 69 of Ravished

"I know you did. One must make allowances for the uncomfortable bed we shared, I suppose. I do not imagine a rock floor is conducive to lovemaking."

"No."

"And there is the added factor of your size, my lord," Harriet continued. "You are a very large man." She cleared her throat discreetly. "All the various parts of you are in proportion to your overall configuration, my lord. Rather like one of my fossil discoveries, if you take my meaning. Did you know that from a tooth one can frequently deduce the total length and size of an animal?"

Gideon groaned. "Harriet…"

"Yes, well, it was not altogether a great surprise, of course," she assured him. "After all, I have had a great deal of experience estimating the size and shape of a creature based on a detailed study of a handful of bones and teeth embedded in rocks. You were just as one would expect. Proportionally speaking."

"I see," Gideon managed in a half-strangled voice.

"In point of fact, looking back on the incident, it is amazing that we managed the thing as well as we did that first time. I have great hopes that in future such matters will go quite smoothly."

"Enough, Harriet." Gideon put his palm gently but firmly over her mouth. "I cannot take any more of this. You are right about one thing. It will go much more smoothly in future."

Her eyes widened above his hand as he rolled her over onto her back. When he started to undo the fastenings of her pelisse, she put her arms around his neck.

Gideon groaned and removed his hand from her mouth. He kissed her deeply, aware of the longing that was surging through him. It threatened to overwhelm everything before it. Never had he needed a woman the way he needed Harriet.

But tonight, Gideon told himself, he would hold his desire in check until Harriet had learned the strength of her own passion. She had given him the gift of herself and he was determined to repay her in the only way he could.

He managed to get the pelisse and gown off of her while she lay beneath him on the bed. When she was wearing only her chemise and stockings, he tugged her gently to her feet. Then he reached out and turned down the quilt.

Thank God the sheets looked reasonably clean, Gideon thought, greatly relieved. Such was not always the case in inns. He could not endure the notion of taking his sweet Harriet on a lice-infested bed. It was bad enough that he had taken her on the stone floor of a cave the first time. Harriet deserved the best.

Not that Harriet appeared to care, he thought. She was gazing up at him with dreamy eyes, her lips slightly parted. He could just see the cute little overlapping teeth when she smiled. She did not seem to mind that her rosy nipples were visible through the fine lawn of her chemise.

Gideon realized he felt good when he was with Harriet. She had a way of making him feel heroic and noble and proud. Her faith in him was obvious. For the first time he understood that what he had found in Harriet made up for all that he had lost in the eyes of his father and of Society six long years ago.

Harriet believed in him. It was enough.

"You are so lovely," Gideon whispered. He caught her by the waist and lifted her high against his chest. He kissed her breasts, using his tongue to dampen the delicate fabric of the chemise until it was transparent.

Harriet's fingers clutched at him and her head tipped back. She moaned softly as he took one tight little nipple into his mouth and bit gently.

"Oh,Gideon."

"Do you like that, little one?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I like it very much." Her fingers splayed across his shoulders. She shivered when he took her other nipple between his teeth.

Gideon lowered her slowly down until she was standing once more in front of him, her arms circling his neck.

He grabbed two fistfuls of the chemise and pulled it off over her head. Then he knelt to untie her garters and slip off her stockings. He could feel her quivering at his intimate touch.

He rose and gazed hungrily down at her sweetly curved body. The contours of her full buttocks and graceful spine were bathed in the firelight. Carefully he speared his fingers through the triangle of dark, curling hair at the apex of her thighs. He felt the tremor that went through her.

Gideon slid his thigh between her legs, opening her. He kissed her as his fingers dipped lower, moving through the tight curls until they found the soft flower that shielded her secrets. He stroked slowly, easing apart the petals.

Harriet murmured his name in an urgent little voice and pushed aside his unfastened shirt. She kissed his chest. Her mouth felt like a butterfly against his taut skin. Her fingertips glided over his shoulders, edging his shirt out of the way so that she could drop more of the soft little kisses on his fire-warmed flesh.

She handled him as carefully as she did her rare fossils, he thought, half amused and totally enthralled by the experience. He had never had a woman who touched him as if he were a rare and fragile treasure.

"Harriet, I vow you do not know what you do to me."

"I love to touch you." Her eyes were full of wonder as she raised her head to look up at him. "You are incredible. So strong and powerful and graceful."

"Graceful?" He gave a choked laugh. "That is the first time anyone has ever called me graceful."

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