Page 71 of My Darling Rogue
Celia arched her back even more. A whimper escaped from her mouth, although she frantically bit her lower lip to keep it contained.
Gabriel’s chuckle was dark with appreciation. “That’s it. You learn quickly, don’t you?”
He surged inside her then, all the way to the hilt, and nearly wept with the flood of sensations. Keeping their gazes locked, he began moving in and out of her body, dragging his cock almost to the point of exit before gliding back in. Reaching forward, his fingers pinched the hardened bud of one of her breasts until she began squirming against him in a rocking motion.
Gabriel ground his teeth together from the sheer pleasure. Celia was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. His addiction, hisobsessionfor her expanded until it reached every corner of his soul. Coursing through his veins until there was no choice but to accept she was part of him now.
“Just like that,ma chère femme. Yes. Keep moving just like that. You feel so good wrapped around me. So goddamn good that I find myself losing control, and I’m trying so hard not to hurt you.”
Celia hissed in a combination of pain and desire as he pinched the tips of her breasts just a little harder, and in the next instant, the same hand administering that almost cruel caress, curved around her throat. He held her like that, tugging her hair with one hand, controlling her while squeezing her with his other hand until she cried out from another sudden climax, her body releasing every band of tension and accepting him in the most primal way.
It was too much, that surrender of her body and the softening of her flesh. The way her sweetness invaded the darkness of his soul and illuminated him from the inside out. Before Gabriel could stop it, his climax barreled through him. It felt like a thousand volcanos erupting at once, drowning him in fiery lava. With a helpless groan, he thrust harder into her silken depths as though the violence of his possession could erase both of their pasts and all of his pain.
“Mine.” The word came out in a guttural grunt as he released his hold of her throat so she could fully catch her breath. “Mine.Do you understand, pet? And as surely as you are mine, I am now yours. Always.”
She gulped in huge breaths of air, letting out a moan-laced sob of surrender as she collapsed forward onto the table, her body trembling with the force of their combined orgasm.
Gabriel bent over her, brushing the thick mass of her hair to the side so he could press a soft kiss upon the nape of her neck. He kissed her over and over, languid, warm kisses where the salty-sweet flavor of her skin permeated his mouth.
Regardless of his future as a reluctant marquess, this woman would face it beside him. Gabriel’s heart soared with relief all while aching with uncertainty. He’d never had anyone he could call his own until this moment. And although he was a man most unworthy, Celia was his now. He would never let her go.
* * *
Gabriel draggedhis trousers back into place. He’d not had the patience to remove neither them nor his boots earlier. Which meant he’d taken his new wife like a whore in a back alley.
Grimacing with regret for his callous treatment, he scooped Celia up and carried her to the bed. Laying her down on the sheets, he pulled the coverlet around her and then set about ensuring her care.
After wetting a bit of cloth with water from the pitcher and basin, he returned to the bed. She let out a drowsy moan of protest when he urged her onto her back. The coverlet was flicked back so her body was again exposed and he could tend her properly.
“What are you doing?” she asked with dark eyes half-lidded. Reaching up, she traced the scar slicing across his eyebrow.
Because he had not yet dimmed the lamps, Gabriel could see the confused glint in the chocolate-hued depths of her gaze. As if dazed, she belatedly realized she was bare. Her hands slowly came up in an effort to conceal her breasts.
With a softtskof disapproval, Gabriel trapped her hands in one of his own and stretched them above her head.
Her eyes widened.
“Be still, Celia, so I can take care of you.”
“You don’t have to. Please.” She struggled in what could only be considered a flash of panic. “Wait.”
Gabriel frowned, his grip tightening just enough that she stopped writhing and stared up at him. “Iwantto, Celia. And I will. Has no man done this for you in the past?” The very question set his teeth on edge with jealousy, but it affected Celia much differently.
She froze in place, her eyes as wild as a trapped animal. Indeed, it seemed she barely breathed as Gabriel passed the cloth between her legs in a softly, soothing motion.
It came away tinged with splotches of red mingled with his own seed.
Gabriel did not move. He stared at the obvious signs of blood as though they could not possibly be real. Then his gaze lifted to Celia’s.
“You were a virgin.” The statement came out in a growl. “Youliedto me?”
Celia’s face darkened with confusion. “I did not lie.”
Gabriel moved the cloth back between her legs, eliciting a soft cry from Celia. “Explain this to me then, wife?” He folded the cloth carefully so that a clean side was presented, but inside he shook with dread. Seven hells. Hadheinjured her himself? Had he been that goddamn rough with his surprisingly delicate little bride?
“I cannot as I don’t understand.” Embarrassment sent a shocking wave of pink to infuse her skin. She was so damned lovely spread out like this, but Gabriel ignored the temptation. He moved the cloth between her legs once more, taking note when she winced and gentling his actions.
“It’s very simple, my lady. Either you’ve slept with others in the past or you have not.” Gabriel’s tone became coolly impersonal. He effortlessly slipped into a role he knew quite well. That as an interrogator. Someone who knew ways of enticing even the most seasoned and hardened of criminals to spill all their secrets.
