Page 20 of Mine This Winter
“Shall we return to the house before we’re missed?” He glanced at his jutting erection. “We’re at the point of no return, love. Say now if you’ve had a change of heart.”
Despite arousal thrumming in her veins, she had not lost the use of her faculties. Five years spent nursing a broken heart helped to put things into perspective. She wanted no man but him. Even if it meant that one night of heavenly bliss had to last her a lifetime.
Gwen reached for him. “I need you. I need to know you intimately before you have to leave.”
She wished she’d not uttered the last word. His secret mission for the King would see him returning to London once the snow thawed and the lanes were passable. She didn’t know if he’d ever come back.
Simon bent his head and kissed her, so slow and deep her toes curled. She clung to him as he nudged at her entrance. Delighted in the glow of satisfaction on his face as he pushed inside her.
“Gwendolyn,” he groaned as her body stretched to accommodate him. “You were made for me, love.”
She wrapped her thighs around him as he rocked slowly in and out of her body. It wasn’t enough. She needed every inch of him, chased the desire to feel full, complete.
“Don’t wait,” she panted, urging him on.
“It might hurt a little.”
Nothing would hurt as much as the day he left her. “I don’t care. I’m confident any pain will be fleeting.”
His eyes remained locked with hers as he thrust hard. He studied her, hissing a breath while sinking deep. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She was soaring above the clouds. He was hers now. No one could steal this moment from them. Simon Garrick would always be her one and only lover.
They lay still for a few seconds. The powerful emotions rioting through her were almost too much to bear.
Tears pricked her eyes
Focus on pleasure, not love!
Gwen stroked his back and rocked her hips, a sign she was happy to continue. Carnal needs took over. The pressure inside her built again as he moved slowly in and out of her.
They found a perfect rhythm.
Their bodies moved as one.
Despite the need to temper her emotions, love filled her heart as he filled her. She clung to him, hugged every inch of his naked flesh. Remembered how every day without him had felt as cold as the dead of winter. Recalled every lonely night spent wrapped around her tear-soaked pillow, wishing it was him.
I love you, she whispered silently as their desperate pants and groans mingled in the cool air.
He came up on his muscular arms, rocked against her sex until the movement proved maddening. She came apart around him, the power of her climax ripping through her core.
It was divine.
An emotion-choked moment beyond all comprehension. One made worse when he withdrew abruptly and loneliness consumed her again.
Simon Garrick had taken her heart to France five years ago. The next time he left Whitehaven, he would take her soul, too.
CHAPTER 7
Simon gathered Gwendolyn in his arms and pulled the blanket over their naked bodies. She curled into him, her cold hand resting gently on his chest. Neither spoke. What did a man say to a woman when he’d taken her virginity out of wedlock? What words would assuage his guilt?
And yet he was not sorry.
Touching her always felt right.
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Pursuing spies was a dangerous hobby. Every dice with danger might be his last. He couldn’t promise to right past mistakes until he’d caught the villain. This wasn’t the time to chase his own happiness but a time to think about the lives of every British agent living and working in France.
