Page 55 of The Lyon Returns
“Are you toying with me, Gwen?”
She shook her head.
“That’s grand,” he growled. “Because, I assure you, I am suffering the same affliction.”
“You are?” A little thrill coursed through her at his admission.
“I’m going to kiss you again, Gwen.”
She could manage no more than a hushed, “Now?”
“Unless you have an objection.”
Oh, yes, she wanted him to kiss her. A tremulous smile curved her lips. “None whatsoever.”
He shook his head, and eyed the ceiling, even as he dragged his palms, pleasantly calloused and somewhat damp, to cup her nape. “You’re driving me mad, Gwen. You know that, don’t you?”
She sent him a half-hearted, apologetic smile.
He returned her smile, briefly, then lowered his head, slowly, so slowly his hot breath tickled the tiny hairs on her cheek. Anticipation, the likes of which she had never known bubbled up inside her.
His mouth slanted over hers, softly, as if testing, tasting, sipping, and her blood turned to liquid fire. She fisted her hands in his waistcoat,holding on for dear life.
His tongue nudged her lips apart, easing into her mouth to feather over hers.
Dear Heaven. A tremor vibrated through her as dizzying pleasure threatened to swallow her whole.
One of his large hands moved over her back, drawing her body into his. She melted into him, marveling over the feel of his unyielding hardness. Every part of him was like forged steel and she could not get close enough. Her arms twined up and around his neck locking her against him.
She’d had no notion kissing could inspire this all-consuming hunger.
Gideon took his mouth from hers to brush kisses over her cheek, her jaw. When he brought his lips to her ear, and his breath curled into her, a shiver of yearning tore through her.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “What is this? I feel so strange, Gideon.”
“I’ll show you exactly what this is, sweetheart.”
He scooped her off her feet, and in two long strides, carried her to the massive bed she had once claimed as hers. With one swipe, he jerked the bed covers back, then lowered her to the cool, silken sheets about which she had raved.
Bed sheets? Her eyes snapped open. She had not even realized she’d closed them.
Gideon stared down at her, hunger blazing in his brilliant eyes. His fingers worked at the buttons of his waistcoat, nimble and efficient. He peeled out of it, letting it fall.
She sat up, alarm spiking through her. “What are you doing?”
Tugging his shirttails from his breeches, he froze. A dawning look of wariness came over him. “Undressing.”
She blinked rapidly and squirmed her way off the bed. “Why?”
He cursed under his breath. “Because I thought we were going tomake love,wife.”
She could overlook the blatant sarcasm. However, allowing him to make love to her, that most uncomfortable of wifely duties she’d endured enough times to know for certain, was something else entirely. “B-but you only asked about kissing.”
He eyed her, clearly bemused. “And did you enjoy my kiss?”
“Yes,” she admitted. Even just the thought of it made her heart pound and her stomach tickle with butterflies. “Very much.”
He tucked his shirt back in, studying her, she decided, like one might consider complicated math. Finally, he moved in very close to her and flattened one large palm against her belly, over her skirts. “Do you feel hot, here, Gwen?” he asked, his voice a low purr.
