He adjusts me until I’m wedged sideways across his body and my legs are wide enough to slip his hand between. My pulse throbs in my throat as he slides his fingers upward but jerks them back down before reaching the area between my legs.
“What are you doing?”
“Observing,” he says, his tone even deeper than before.
My skin warms as he allows his gaze to rove over my body. “What are you observing?”
“You.”
“Oh.” I play with the ribbon binding my bodice and keep my attention caught on his handsome face.
“You promised to touch yourself next to me.”
“B-but I…” I inwardly groan at the stammering.
“Show me how you pleasure yourself.”
“Gabriel…”
“Show me.” Boldly, he cups my breast through the fabric of my surcoat. “Do you touch yourself here?”
“Sometimes,” I admit.
“And here?” He slides his free hands along my stomach and to the juncture between my legs.
“Yes,” I say shyly.
He brushes his knuckles over my thighs. “Will you show me?”
“Yes, but I have a stipulation.” As I speak, I widen my thighs and slip my hand between my legs. “You must touch me too.”
Heat smolders behind his eyes as he watches me. “Where?”
“My breasts.” I skim over my burning flesh. “Will you?”
“Here?” He flicks his thumb across my nipple through the surcoat. The material brushes against my skin, rousing more throbbing in my core.
“Yes,” I say in a breathless whisper.
He does it again as I trail over the area that always draws more want. It doesn’t take much to start the crawl to my summit. I slow my movements, knowing I want this moment to last.
With a quick jerk, he yanks at the ribbons binding my bodice until it loosens enough to dip the material lower and free my breasts. Desire surges through my veins as he lowers his mouth and flicks his tongue across my nipple. I arch my back, bringing myself closer to him. To that want, to that need.
The sky above. I need so much more than this. I need him to consummate our marriage. I need to feel his skin beneath my fingers.
I could ask, but I don’t want him to stop. I don’t want any of this to stop.
I quicken my circles, rubbing that throbbing, that ache. Moans escape me as I climb even higher. He uses his thumb on my right breast and takes the other fully in his mouth. Tingles devour every inch of my body. It drives me straight toward the summit, where I dive willingly over the edge.
When my breathing evens and the moment eases, Gabriel stiffens and pulls my bodice up. I stir enough to feel his hardness beneath me. He groans and grips my hips, holding me against him.
“Gabriel,” I say, my voice low, desperate.
“Don’t move,” he breathes.
Everything in me wants to wiggle, to feel him beneath me, to get him to cave. I cannot after everything he gave me. He didn’t have to bring me to his lap and encourage any of this. Moving would be unnaturally cruel.
“I could touch you,” I say, my words merely an invitation. Not a lure to get him to bend to my will. Just an offering to give back what he has given to me.
