Page 41 of A Very Roguish Boxing Day
“That’s true,” she acknowledged.
Tom waited a few beats.When she did not elaborate, he said, “Maybe I should get a room at the inn.Or do you think your brother might come here tonight?”
Honestly, Gwen thought that unlikely.Joseph was not what you would call a hardy sort.She suspected he would remain sniveling in his bed until every trace of pain had disappeared from his head.
But the truth was, this might be Gwen’s last chance to spend the night with Tom.She didn’t want to let it slip through her fingers.
And so, she fibbed, “You never know with Joseph.I would feel more comfortable if you slept here tonight.If you don’t mind,” she added hastily.
He nodded.“I don’t mind.Not at all.”He gestured to the sofa, which would be at least two feet too short for his long frame.“I can make do right over here?—”
“There’s no need,” Gwen burst out.“I have a spare bedroom.”
A pregnant silence filled the room.Whyhad she said that?It was true that she had a spare bedroom.
But she didn’t want Tom to use it.
“Ah.I see.”He shook himself.“I’ll just?—”
“Although,” Gwen forced herself to say.
He looked up sharply, eyes both bright and hesitant.“Although?”
She could feel her cheeks flaming.“Although we are quite isolated here, and I’ve given my maid, Mariah, a few days off to visit her family.No one would know if we were to, er…”
Now his eyes were gleaming.“If we were to?”
“Share a bed.”She swallowed.“It would also be very practical.”
He took a slow step toward her.“How so?”
“It would be safer, were Joseph to show up,” she improvised as he stalked closer.Her heart was now pounding in her throat.“And more cost-efficient, too.We’d only need coal to make a fire in one bedroom.Seeing as you’re so thrifty and all.”
He came to stand before her and raised one of his huge hands, gently tracing the shape of her jaw.Tipping his forehead down toward hers, he said in a husky voice, “I’m feeling especiallythriftythis evening.”
Without warning, he scooped her up high against his chest and carried her into her bedroom.He had to set her down so she could light a couple of lamps in the darkness and light the fire as well.When she turned around, she saw that Tom had already stripped to his shirtsleeves, tossing his coat over the back of her reading chair.She was struck by the feeling that, although it was novel, seeing a man in her intimate space, Tom somehow looked right standing there.
“Come here,” he growled.
Gwendolyn went.His lips claimed hers in a ferocious kiss, one she returned enthusiastically.They undressed hurriedly, clawing and yanking at one another’s garments until all of Tom’s warm skin pressed against hers.
He dropped to his knees before her, filling his hands and then his lips with her breasts.He groaned as he fondled her there.Gwen’s breath began to come in pants, and she felt the place between her thighs growing slick for him.
After a few minutes of torture, he slid one of his big hands lower until he found the place that was pulsing for him like a heartbeat.He teased her bud with his thumb and hooked a long finger into her, massaging the front wall of her passage in a way that made her gasp.
He rose to his feet.“You’re ready.”He lifted her and carried her to the bed.
That was when everything started to go wrong.
“Oof,” he said, bumping his head against the wooden headboard.He slid down.“Let me just… God damn it.”
He had banged his shin against the footboard.The bed, which held Gwen perfectly, was comedically too small for Tom’s six-and-a-half-foot frame.
He drew his legs up so he was lying on his back, knees bent at almost a right angle, and Gwen couldn’t help letting a giggle escape.
Tom grinned back, taking no offense.“Not built for the likes of me.But never mind.You can kneel on the bed, like we did last night.”
Gwen eagerly swung around, lifting her bottom in the air and assuming the pose.Tom groaned, caressing her backside with eager hands.
