Page 25 of My Darling Rogue
Celia sighed, her fingers flexing along the hard line of his jaw. It was both a caress and a subtle restraint of his intentions. “But I know nothing about you. And you know nothing about me.”
Gabriel caught an underlying note of insecurity in her tone. Celia believed his only interest lay in matters of lust. She had no idea how well he actually did know her.
Turning his head, he scorched her palm with a kiss before capturing her hand within his loose grip.
“I know you take cream and no sugar in your morning tea.” He pressed a tender kiss to the inside of her knee. “I know your favorite color is emerald green.” Another kiss burned the opposite knee. “You love to read but rarely sit still long enough to finish a book. You will dance every dance, rushing from ball to ball, but are left restless and aching for something you’ve yet to find. And you are fiercely loyal to friends and family.”
His tongue slid along the contours of her kneecap. “I know you are frightened of all manners of insects but will save a beetle carried in with the morning’s floral arrangements.”
A whimper escaped Celia’s throat as Gabriel revealed an incident which occurred during a house party at the beginning of the season.
“You are frightened of the dark, but you do not avoid the shadows. You’ve kissed other men but not in the same manner in which you kiss me.” Releasing her wrist, Gabriel now used both hands to further spread her legs. His fingers stroked the texture of the skin he found there on her inner thighs.
Bloody hell. She’s as soft as gossamer.
“Oh, Celia. Idoknow you. Perhaps better than you know yourself.” His whisper tickled her skin, and she moaned at the sensation of his teeth nipping her with soft brutality. “But still, you have secrets I’ve yet to discover. Rest assured, I will seek them out. And Iwilluncover them all if you open to me just a tiny bit.” “
Raising his eyes, their gazes clashed over the battlefield of her stomach and a mound of satin skirts. Then he watched her as his fingers coasted higher. And higher. Until finally they rested on the thin fabric of her undergarments. His thumbs framed the small slit in the material.
The look of reluctant lust on Celia’s features was a siren’s call Gabriel could not ignore. She was afraid but also helpless in her desire for him. The combination was heady. It turned him inside out. Turned him into a beast. A lion determined to claim a mate. To protect her from all harm except what he would do to her.
“I want to see you, Celia. Spread your pretty thighs for me so I can taste you. I want your sweetness coating my tongue. Filling my mouth. Because you are the most exquisite creature I’ve ever had within my grasp, and I know with certainty you will eventually be my downfall. My utter ruin. Give me this gift, Celia, so I’m not forced to steal it from you. Let me see you and show you Heaven.”
As he spoke, Gabriel shifted off the footstool. On his knees, he moved until his shoulders filled the space between Celia’s legs. She was prevented from easing her thighs shut. It was impossible with his wide, muscular form wedged there.
Like a man coming to worship, he knelt before her.
A strangled moan leaked from Celia’s throat when his thumbs spread the undergarment fabric apart, exposing pale, pink flesh to his avid gaze. Gabriel’s jaw clenched with an aching hunger. It took everything within him not to fall upon her like a ravaging beast.
Damn, she was beautiful. All wet silk and cream and heat. Every crevice and fold begging for his mouth.
A wash of light scarlet colored her neck and cheeks. Her hands fluttered in a bird-like motion as if she considered stopping him.
Which was very foolish now that her sweet, feminine scent was in his nostrils and the flavor of her skin permeated his lips. He would not stop now. This was fate. His. Hers. Their unavoidable destiny.
“Grip the arms of the chair, Celia. Do not let go until I give you permission.”
Celia hesitated, then did as Gabriel requested. Her head fell back against the cushioned seat in surrender. She trembled, the tiny flutters tickling his fingertips as he held her open. Their eyes remained locked as he gave her a crooked grin.
“You may wish to scream, but I advise against it.”
Celia nodded, clutching the chair with such ferocity her knuckles whitened.
“If you should find it difficult remaining silent, I shall help you,” he continued. “My hand over your mouth, perhaps?”
He recognized the confusion and a glint of fear in the depths of her velvety brown eyes. She was working out such a scenario in her head and how he might accomplish such a feat.
What it would mean to be under his control and so helpless. So vulnerable. He was hard as stone imagining the depraved things he would do with her if given the opportunity.
“A single stocking would serve well as a gag.” Gabriel’s tone turned contemplative, a wicked smile tilting his lips upward. “Or maybe I should utilize something more intimate.” His fingers stroked the fabric of her underdrawers.
Celia’s eyes widened all the more. “I-I shall be quiet. I swear it.”
Gabriel hummed his approval.
His head lowered.
His mouth covered her sex.
