Chapter 9
“Jessica was a bit put out with Whitfield teasing her today,” Gillian whispered before she moaned as Nicolas nibbled her soft throat. She was trying her best to hold on to her decorum and keep to the usual topic of discussion but Nicolas thought she’d rather him continue making love to her than stop now.
“He always teases her,” he whispered as he brushed across her nipples with the pads of his thumbs. He reveled in her excitement. Craved it more each time they came together. “What else?”
“She…ah.” Her grip on the shelves tightened as he took the lobe of her left ear between his teeth and bit lightly.
Gillian shuddered.
Nicolas released her, chuckling quietly, and drew back so she could finish her report.
Gillian turned slowly, using the shelving again to support herself. “You’re a devil,” she complained without malice.
Having heard the remark on a previous occasion, he grinned widely at hearing it again. Since Gillian’s near drowning, and fast recovery, he’d indulged in a very wicked few days of mutual pleasure, and tonight he was intent on upping the stakes yet again. “I am with you.”
With Gillian, he did things he’d only dreamed about before. He’d loved his wife but had never felt so hungry for more of a woman’s kisses as he did with Gillian.
He was quite simply besotted by what they had shared so far. This felt right. Gillian indulged all his desires in private but in public he saw no outward sign that anything had changed between them. He was both pleased with that, and occasionally annoyed. “I am desirous of your company, conversation, and your body. Can I not have all three at once?”
The day she’d fallen through the ice had altered his plans for the future. Since that terrible day, Gillian’s happiness and safety were always at the forefront of his mind. Having almost lost her so suddenly after finally finding her had brought home to him what was missing in his life.
He wanted a lover, a companion and a friend.
Gillian had become all of that for him and more.
She tossed her head from side to side. “So very hard to talk when you’re kissing me.”
He pressed his hips against hers firmly and her breath caught as she felt his erection against her sex. “That’s why I was neglecting these sweet lips of yours, so I could hear you tell me of the hours we spent apart.”
He’d long given up his self-delusion that these nightly meetings with Gillian had anything at all to do with his youngest daughter, if they ever had. If there was a problem with Jessica, he was confident Gillian would approach him at any time of the day. These nights had more to do with getting to know Gillian, and now he knew her very well indeed. He kissed her now as he’d longed to do all day when he’d been on his best behavior so as not to reveal their affair to all and sundry. The nights were theirs, just a short span of time he claimed to please them both until they were gasping and spent and had to part for propriety’s sake.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t be satisfied with their arrangement much longer. He longed to take her to his bed and spend the night worshipping her sweet body. To wake her, drowsy and warm from their lovemaking, and do it all again. And again, until dawn.
He had seen so little of her skin and was becoming desperate for a glimpse of the whole woman he bedded. But to do that required him to sneak into her bedchamber again or steal her away into his. Both situations could be disastrous for her reputation if they were caught together, and with his daughters and so many guests underfoot, it seemed impossible.
He couldn’t bear for Gillian to suffer harmful gossip, so it seemed to him that he had but one recourse left. He swept Gillian into his arms, hugged her to his chest tightly a moment, and then carried her across the room to the desk.
But his mind was already fixed on the more serious and permanent solution of how to have Gillian where and when he liked.
The idea of keeping Gillian appealed tremendously. She had already become a fixed and natural part of his life. Jessica loved her in the place of a mother, and he, now they were alone so often and intimate, was growing more and more attached to her every day. He did not want to lose her when Jessica outgrew the need for a companion.
Nicolas needed Gillian for himself and himself alone.
He eased her down onto his desk and slowly hitched her skirts to her knees, then widened her legs to stand between them. “Sweet Gillian, how you honor me again. You are so delightful.”
She lowered her eyes demurely as she reached for the buttons on his trousers.
He stilled her fingers. “Don’t be shy. Look at me.”
Her eyes flashed open and lust swum in their depths. “I’m no longer shy around you. I can barely control my hands in my eagerness to touch.”
He grinned, having had the same problem many times during the interminably long daylight hours. “I’m going to need many more sweet kisses and wicked touches tonight if I’m to survive another tomorrow.”
“I see.” She brushed her knuckles across his hard cock still confined in his trousers and grinned. “Like that?”
“I want everything and anything you grant me.” He touched her face, noting it was as hot as her blush suggested. She had been a wife once, but had she even lusted after her husband like this? He’d been afraid to ask before tonight. Worried how he might fare in any comparison. Nicolas was certain he’d never experienced desire like this himself. He knew what that meant. He couldn’t part with Gillian.
He would offer for her.