Page 24 of From London, With Love
“Stop!” she cried.
The word echoed through the room as Gideon froze, lifting his mouth from her flesh. “Alexa?”
She tugged her corset back up, slipping her sleeve onto her shoulder again as she panted. What a mess she’d made of herself. Her skirts were all awry. She was still astride him, and the ache between her legs left her fidgety and frustrated with herself.
“Are you all right?” He reached for her hips, and she sent him a restraining look.
Gideon froze.
Alexandra pressed her face into her hands. Why could this not be easy? She’d been enjoying herself immensely. It had been perfect. So perfect. And then she’d ruined it the second his teeth grazed her nipple.
“I’m sorry.”
She wanted to scream in frustration.
Soft fingers stroked her hair. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Alexa. I was the one who lost control. I should never have pushed you so far.” His thumbs caressed her cheeks, and he slowly lowered her hands from her face. “You undo me in ways I am ashamed to admit.”
Alexandra bit her lower lip. “We tried.”
Gideon shook his head. “We’re not done yet, my love. This was never going to be easy.”
“But—”
“Here,” he said, sliding his hand up her spine, and opening himself up to her. “Let me hold you. Listen to my heartbeat. It’s still racing, and it’s all for you.”
Alexandra wilted over him, resting her cheek on his shoulder. His hand splayed up her spine, drifting in a soft, soothing motion. Up and down. Up and down. Inch by inch she relaxed.
Minutes dragged by. She lost track of time as she closed her eyes and threw herself into the pulsing rhythm of his heartbeat.
This was what she wanted. To be held, more than anything.
And until this moment she had not realized it.
“Don’t let me go,” she whispered.
“Never,” he whispered back.
* * *
That night Alexandralay alone in her bed, listening to the embers crack in the fireplace.
And she couldn’t forget the warmth of his body and the firm press of his erection.
It was only in her imagination that she could be free, and she let her thoughts roam to areas she’d never dared consider before.
“What would you have me do?” whispered Gideon, and in her imaginings, he was on his knees before her.
“Strip,” she replied.
Giving her an insolent look, he slipped his coat from his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Never looking away from her hot-eyed gaze, he slowly began to work on his waistcoat and shirt, until he tugged the hem of the white linen from his trousers and revealed the heavy slab of his abdomen and chest.
A sprinkling of dark hair smattered his pectorals, but he wasn’t finished. Sliding a hand down the trail of dark hair that dipped into his trousers, he popped several buttons and then paused.
Alexandra swallowed. “All of it.”
His boots went flying. And then his trousers.
Finally he stood nude before her, every firm inch of him gleaming beneath the candlelight. He crossed to the bed toward her, his buttocks and his powerful thighs flexing.
