Strictly Forbidden Page 17

  “Well, but I must tell you that—”

  “Shh.” He placed a finger directly over her mouth.

  At his touch, she swallowed. Her gaze darted to his, eyes wide, uncertain. He watched her pupils dilate ever so slightly. Good signs, all. She really knew how to entice a man with expressions of exotic innocence. Apparently, she’d had practice.

  “Later,” he whispered.

  Gavin purposely fixed his stare upon her mouth and felt his temperature rise. He’d waited an eternity it seemed, to taste Kira’s soft red lips. Her unique spice wafted around him. A few moments in her presence and he grew hard, as usual. The anticipation of touching her clawed at him savagely.

  He exhaled raggedly, dragged his gaze from her lips, and glanced at his watch again. Twenty-one minutes. If he kissed Kira now, he’d have twenty-one minutes to taste her, touch her, absorb her essence—and hopefully work this odd fixation for her out of his system.

  “But Gavin, James—”

  “I don’t want to talk about James now,” he said in answer to her protest. “Not when I’m alone with you.”

  Kira gave a faint gasp, her unblinking gaze fastened on him.

  “Not when I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured. His voice dropped another octave. “Have you missed me at all?”

  He infused the question with longing. He hadn’t thought he could be so mawkishly convincing with such ease.

  “Yes.” She stared at him, then her gaze fell to his mouth.

  A potent surge of anticipation slammed him. Had she considered how explosive sex between them would be? The possibility burned him.

  “Did you think of me at all?”

  His voice had suddenly become uneven and raspy. But Kira’s intent stare told him that she didn’t mind. He leaned closer, so close he could hear her ragged exhalations. She bit her lip, then released it. An explosion of red colored her mouth. Gavin burned to taste her. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking away.

  “Yes.”

  Her admission was a rushed, husky syllable, seemingly ripped from her insides.

  “A great deal, in fact,” she added.

  She all but admitted that she wanted him! But his triumph was tarnished. Some foolish part of him wanted her to be innocent, had hoped she would prove chaste. He’d feared all along that she possessed lascivious tendencies, but somewhere, had come to hope for better.

  Yet rising above it all was the knowledge that he would finally, finally get to touch her.

  Gavin edged closer until a mere six inches separated them. Her pupils dilated further.

  “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered.

  He leaned forward again. Kira did not back away, but stared, transfixed. Slowly, so slowly, he layered his mouth over hers, intending a soft brush of lips to give her plenty of time to object if she was so inclined.

  But as soon as Gavin touched Kira, the feel of her pounded through him. Something deep inside him roused to life, pulsed in his veins, demanded more. In answer, he cupped his hand behind her neck and anchored her under him. Then he took complete possession of her mouth, dazzled by the softness of her lips, the warmth of her body, her spicy scent. Kira was intoxicating. She felt like the most sublime insanity, and he didn’t want to release her.

  The silk of her hair tangled about his fingers, and he nudged her lips apart. She capitulated with ease. A little moan slipped from her throat. Greedily, he gobbled it up and sank fully into the heaven of her mouth.

  It was even better than he’d imagined, rich, warm, welcoming. Hell, she was paradise. He drank, took, gave, reveled in her melting, in the way she met his tongue.

  In the next instant, Kira threw her arms around him and pressed her body to his. Gavin felt lost, sinking, falling into pure sensation so blinding and white hot he couldn’t think. He’d never felt like this, ever. The instinct she’d awakened in him earlier now roared with demand: claim her, touch her, take her. Gavin didn’t even try to fight the feeling.

  The back of the sofa still stood between them, and he wanted it gone—sooner than now. His lips never leaving Kira’s, Gavin edged off the sofa. She leaned with him, into the kiss, until he stood by her side. Finally he was against her, pressing the aching length of his shaft to her belly.

  She gasped into his mouth, and he tasted her excitement, her acceptance, as she filtered her fingers through the too-long hair at his nape.

  Gavin lifted his head long enough to take in the swollen width of her red, red lips and the dazed expression in her eyes. She was so damned beautiful, so incredible to taste…

  “I want you,” he confessed, his voice little more than a tortured whisper. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath, stop his racing heart. But none of that mattered more than his towering need to touch her. “So much.”

  A soft spot at her neck claimed his attention. He laid his mouth there against her velvet skin. She shivered against him, her breathing rapid and shallow as she eased her head back to allow him more access. He resisted the urge to devour her.

  “You’re certain?” she managed to say.

  How could she ask? She, no doubt, felt every inch of his stiff length against her. She had to know she drove men utterly out of their minds.

  “I’ve never been more certain in my life.”

  Their eyes met. The glow in her deep blue eyes told him she felt the same.

  God, this razor-sharp want was like nothing he’d ever known. It was madness, but inescapable. He’d done nothing more than kiss her, yet he was drowning in primal hunger for Kira.

  “And you?” He gripped her arms, willing her to accept him, blood roaring in his veins.

  “Yes,” she whispered, low and breathlessly.

  Elation surged in him, along with another fierce rush of hunger. With greedy hands, he pushed aside her wrapper and dragged it down her arms. Kira helped him along, shrugging out of the garment, seeking his mouth with her own. He needed no more invitation.

  Gavin did his best to take her all in at once, fusing his mouth to hers in a melding kiss that drove him senseless, flexing his hips against hers in supplication, covering her breasts with urgent palms.

  Everything about her provoked him. Her exotic face, her compassion, her keen mind—the breasts that perfectly filled his hands.

  He dragged the pads of his thumb across one turgid tip. Kira cried out, knees buckling beneath her. Gavin followed her down, kneeling on the floor before her.

  Kira kissed him again, her hands fisting in the back of his shirt, pulling the garment from his trousers. With a snarl, he pulled away and yanked the crisp shirt over his head, tossing it in a heap. He never took his eyes from her.

  Bare from the waist up, Gavin waited impatiently as Kira looked her fill. Tremulously, she lifted her hands to his chest. The fire inside him became an inferno as she caressed her way across his skin, exploring in a slow, thorough journey that made him completely mindless. Her nails scored the flat of his nipples. Pleasure assailed him. He hissed out a mouthful of air, struggled to find his next breath. Kira merely watched him with her erotic almond-shaped eyes. Gavin swore in that moment she was a tempting witch who knew all his darkest desires. Everything he’d ever wanted—ever repressed—screamed for freedom tonight. For once, he wasn’t resisting.

  He shoved aside the ruffle at the front of her nightrail and fumbled with the buttons, but the tiny things eluded him. He swore savagely and reached for them again. Kira’s hands were already there, slowly unfastening each of the little pearl beads. She watched him, a small smile curving her mouth, as if she delighted in making him wait. The anticipation grew, soaring beyond endurance.

  As the last button came undone, he reached for the hem of her nightdress and pulled it over Kira’s head.

  She made a sound, whether one of protest or appreciation, Gavin did not know. At the moment, he wasn’t sure he cared. The nightrail was gone.

  Kira was completely bare.

  Gavin bent, took one of her coral-tipped breasts in his mouth, and suck
ed hard. Exquisite didn’t begin to describe her flavor, the sensation of touching her in this way. He groaned and lifted his hand to the other breast, giving it similar attention.

  “Gavin,” she cried out. A moan followed. That along with her flushed skin and engorged breasts told him as thoroughly as words that she, too, was aroused.

  He slid the flat of his tongue across the very tip of her nipple. She gasped, her hands grabbing at his shoulders. He did it again and again, until she writhed and moaned his name.

  Without hesitation, he lowered her to the floor at the edge of his aunt’s prized Aubusson carpet. Unable to resist, he plundered her sweet mouth again and began exploring all the other treasures Kira had to offer.

  The soft plane of her belly, the round perfection of her hip with its little red mark, the lean length of her thighs, he delved every smooth olive-toned inch of her. He liked her skin, gleaming with faint golden color by candlelight. No splotches or veins or scars marked her, which frequently afflicted her paler counterparts. She epitomized wonderful, just as she was.

  Kira arched into his touch, her soft, wanton mewls encouraging him, even beseeching for more. And he gave, sliding his fingers into her slick femininity, shielded by silky dark curls.

  Kira gasped and parted her thighs to accommodate him. Her soft folds were swollen, and Gavin wanted her around him so badly, he trembled with a reckless need to be inside her.

  But more, he wanted to see her come apart for him.

  Breathing labored, he thrust a pair of fingers inside her snug channel and began to rub his thumb across the nub above.

  Her damp heat accepted him even as she bucked up against his hand with a long, low moan.

  “I want you to enjoy this.”

  Her body tensed, and her hips arched. Kira opened her eyes and fixed him with a dazed, yearning stare. “I do.”

  “Then show me.”

  A moment of protest flitted across her face, but he stroked it away with his fingers. Around him, she swelled more. She began to pant. Gavin felt the power of her arousal, her building surrender, and his ability to incite both.

  “Gavin?” she cried, voice high and excited.

  “Let go, Kira.”

  She heaved in another breath as color splashed across her cheeks. The hard pebbles of her nipples beckoned him.

  “But—”

  Gavin took one of the succulent beads in his mouth, sucking, laving. She ceased speaking.

  Her body tensed further until her legs trembled, her belly quivered. A fine sheen of perspiration glistened on her chest. She shut her eyes tight.

  “Let go,” he demanded.

  And with a long, ardent cry, she did. Gavin felt the spasms shatter her, witnessed the utter pleasure transform her features. He’d never felt more powerful, a moment so perfect.

  But his need to be closer to her, to touch her every way possible, was greater than his need to linger and revel in his triumph.

  Kira lay sated and provocatively splayed as Gavin struggled with his trousers. They proved elusive for frustrating moments. Then finally he was free, pushing the garment and his short drawers down his hips and into a puddle near his feet.

  Gavin slid his body atop Kira’s and clasped her thighs with insistent hands, bringing them about his hips. He felt her heated center beneath him, beckoning. Now! Everything inside him screamed. He heeded the ravenous demand, surging inside her in one driving thrust.

  He quickly made an astonishing discovery: Kira was a virgin.

  Or at least she had been.

  Beneath him, she cried out in pain and stiffened against his invasion. Buried hilt deep, he paused, his mind racing. A virgin? Unimaginable! But Gavin could not discount the unmistakable evidence of her innocence.

  Bloody hell!

  Worse, her slick flesh closed around him in a pleasurable grip so intense, he was blinded. His instinct to push inside her again and again and again crushed his better sense.

  “Gavin?” Her voice revealed pain and fear.

  He couldn’t let her go. He would wither and die if he couldn’t keep her here, couldn’t relish their joining. Summoning patience he was surprised he could find, Gavin captured her mouth and slowly loved it.

  By degrees, Kira melted. Her arms ceased pushing at his chest. Her legs relaxed to allow him access to her very core. Ah, then she kissed him in return, and he felt his blood boiling all over again. The press of her engorged breasts burned into his chest, driving him on.

  “It won’t hurt anymore,” he managed to whisper.

  With that simple assurance, she wound her arms about him and held him tight, telling him without words that she trusted him with her body. He refused to disappoint her or her trust.

  Forcing himself to move slowly, Gavin slipped out of Kira’s divine heat, then eased back inside. Pleasure barraged him, hammering at him in a way he’d never experienced. He plunged into her again.

  The world became a haze of sensation and need. Urgency claimed him and would not let go.

  But Kira was unmoving, and he paused to place his hands beneath her hips and guide her to rock with him. To his relief, she was a quick study, soon moving beneath him until they were undulating in a sensual rhythm.

  He wrapped the tangled mass of her silken black hair about his hand and took her mouth, even as he kept possession of her body. And still it wasn’t enough. Somehow, he had to have more. He had to feel Kira climax around him.

  Gavin set about coaxing her pleasure by winding a hand between them and finding the nub he had recently toyed with. Soon, she responded by arching into his driving thrusts. Bloody amazing, the manner in which her tight sheath gripped him. Kira cried out, perspiration now damp on her upper lip, between their bodies as they shared breath after breath. Her body began to quiver again, even as her breathing grew labored. He knew her peak was near.

  Damnation, his was too, but he remained on the brink, gritting his teeth to stave off the urge to explode.

  “That’s it,” he whispered in her ear, surging inside her again. “That’s perfect.”

  This time she did not protest. Instead, she merely came apart in his arms with a sob.

  And Gavin felt her, pulsing around him, pulling on his shaft as if demanding he give all. Pleasure spiraled, growing, growing, until it burst. He cried out, emptying himself inside her in a blinding, perfect moment.

  Gavin lay for a timeless minute, trying to catch his breath. He couldn’t move, so he left his face buried in the vanilla-scented skin of her neck.

  Had he ever felt more satisfied than he did right now? Ever experienced a climax so strong and perfect? No and no. Yet hadn’t he known from the first moment he set eyes on Kira that something about her was different?

  Perhaps the fact she’d been a bloody virgin. Or that she was still engaged to his cousin? Reality rushed in, chilling away the languid pleasure that had been winding through his body.

  What the hell had he done?

  Gavin winced against the harsh question.

  Despite that, he wanted to stay inside her, surrounded by her warmth and the stunning memories of their coupling, and ponder the answer. Gavin yearned to do just that…until he heard the click of booted heels in the hall outside the library door.

  Chapter Eleven

  The shuffle drawing near made Gavin tense. Kira heard the noise as well, for they both jumped up. He was still fumbling with the buttons of his breeches when he looked up at Kira to find her fully dressed again and twisting her hair into a haphazard braid. An odd disappointment shot through him. Though physically sated for the moment, he somehow felt hungry still.

  And sick with the realization that he had erred in a terrible, terrible way.

  Bloody hell, he had no idea what to do. Kira’s virginity could not be repaired. And James… Gavin’s reason for being here tonight rushed back to him. James! He glanced back at Kira, still looking slightly disheveled. James’s fiancée—previously virginal.

  Dear God, what had he done?

 
; He glanced at his pocket watch. Only three minutes late. Thank God James hadn’t arrived on time. His cousin, whom he loved like a brother, would never have spoken to him again. Hell, he still might not if he guessed what had just transpired.

  Gavin cringed when he considered how much James would be hurt by his act. How had he let this happen? Why hadn’t he stopped after a kiss or two, as planned?

  Somehow, that had not been possible.

  Had the infamous Daggett blood reared its head? It bloody seemed so. And if the way he’d felt with Kira was any indication of its strength, no wonder his father had been such a shocking reprobate.

  The footsteps stopped before the door, and Gavin rushed into his shirt, ruthlessly shoving the tails into his trousers as a knock sounded.

  Beside him, Kira gasped. He turned to assure her that no one would know, but the swollen quality of her mouth quieted him. The burn of his whiskers along the sensitive skin of her neck looked rather guilty as well. He gestured her to a chair in the corner of the room, hunched in the shadows. With poor lighting, she could pass muster. He hoped.

  “Come in,” he said finally.

  The door opened, and his valet stepped inside. If Hanson noticed anything untoward, his expression gave away nothing.

  “Your grace, Mr. Howland is not at home.”

  Gavin expelled a shaky breath. “Not here? Where—”

  “That is what I’ve been trying to tell you,” said Kira from across the room.

  He whipped his gaze in her direction to find her sitting quietly in her chair, looking rumpled and alluring as sin. No, he couldn’t think of that now. Better to focus on the fact James had not been here during this seduction. Or perhaps he should consider that Kira had been trying to tell him something before he had ploughed into her like a steam train.

  Gavin frowned and absently dismissed his valet. Hanson, ever the soul of propriety, left the door open after his exit.

  It was a heavy realization for Gavin to know he’d concocted this plot tonight for nothing…well, except for the sharp, amazing pleasure Kira had wrought in him. Damnation, he should have been thinking with his head, not his—