Page 21 of Cinderella's One-Night Baby

They were in the Monte Cleure palace garden. Anyone could see them. He needed to get control of himself.

Another lungful of air and he let himself look at Gabrielle.

The expression on her dazed face perfectly matched the torture he was experiencing.

He’d never known lust could grip so swiftly. So completely.

With another groan, he closed the gap he’d only just created and hooked an arm around her waist.

‘You never answered my question,’ he said, his words harsher than he’d intended. The depth of the attraction between them was a life-force of its own but he would not take advantage of her if any trace of the doubts and fears that had seen her run from the ball room still existed.

Her gaze locked onto his. A hand flew to his chest. Fingers pinched at the silk of his shirt. Her breasts were rising and falling in rapid motion.

He found himself holding his breath as he waited for her to respond.

The pillowy lips parted. ‘I don’t want to leave without you.’

Still gazing into her desire-filled dark brown depths, he breathed in deeply, his relief at her softly delivered words close to overwhelming.

What magic ran in Gabrielle’s veins? he wondered. Her beauty grew every time he looked at her but the world was overrun with beautiful women. If he was being dispassionate, he would say there was nothing special about her. No goodly reason on earth that one kiss with her, one simple connection of their mouths, the aperitif of courtship, should blow his mind so badly.

No goodly reason that he felt he would combust if he didn’t get one more taste of that potent magic.

But then her pillowy lips parted again and closed in on his, and he realised dispassion had already gone to hell when it came to this woman.

Their lips melded together for one long, lingering kiss that roused his senses completely.

Breaking the kiss, he gripped the hand still locked against his chest and rubbed his nose into her soft cheek. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Detouring only to collect Gabrielle’s bag and Andrés’s dinner jacket and bowtie, they slipped out of the palace, hands clasped together, without saying goodbye to anyone. It was a rudeness that wouldn’t go unnoticed but Andrés didn’t care. Let them say what they wanted. They could add it to the rudeness he’d displayed when he’d given his entire attention to Gabrielle during the banquet.

He took a deep breath. It had been many years since his guts had been filled with such nerves and excitement.

His driver crunched his car over the palace courtyard. By unspoken agreement, they were going to Andrés’s apartment.

In the back of the car, he took a moment to breathe before looking again at Gabrielle.

Her wide-eyed stare was already fixed on him, her body twisted to face him. The silence was so total he could hear the shallowness of her breaths.

Dios, he’d never known his heart could beat so hard.

Without speaking, he pressed the button that darkened the dividing glass, giving them complete privacy. Only dim lights illuminated them.

He leaned closer to her and put a hand on her thigh. She visibly trembled.

Eyes locked on hers, he slowly, slowly gathered the velvet of her dress up to her trembling knee.

‘It has been a long time since you were with a man?’ he guessed quietly, splaying his hand over the soft skin of her naked thigh. It took all his control not to grip it tightly.

Something he couldn’t read flickered in her eyes before she nodded.

He brought his face closer to hers. He had to swallow the moisture that had filled his mouth to speak again. ‘We don’t have to do anything you don’t want. We don’t have to do anything at all.’ Although if he never got another taste of those beautiful pillowy lips he had a feeling a part of him might just well die...

Instead of saying anything, she palmed his jaw. The pads of her fingers dug into his cheek as she brought her mouth to his for a featherlight caress.

She pulled away to look into his eyes again before bringing her lips back to his for a harder, more substantial kiss and then, with the softest moan, her lips parted, her tongue danced into his mouth and the spark caught.

Mouths locked, they devoured each other. Every sweep of Gabrielle’s tongue against his sent fire to his loins and fed the hunger...fed it but left him ravenous.

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