Page 15 of Ravishing Among the Roses
Edmund swallowed, his throat moving beside Gabby’s finger. “You do?”
“Definitely.”
“I think I’d like that.”
Gabby kissed his lips gently. “Let me take care of you.” He began undo Edmund’s cravat, slowly dragging his fingers over the skin on his neck. Edmund shivered.
Chapter 10
Edmund couldn’t believe he was so lucky. Gabriel truly was an angel, one that said he wanted him. It was so rare for Edmund to be wanted by someone. His father had been like that, paying attention to him when he rambled on and on about roses, and giving him what he needed to grow them. He’d understood because he’d been the same with his boxing champions. But since he’d died, Edmund had been relegated to the spare, necessary to have around until his brother’s wife produced George, and then shoved even further down the importance list until he was mostly left alone.
Gabriel’s touch made him feel like he mattered again. He let the gentle waves of pleasure flow over his body. Gabriel’s reassurance that he wanted to be here was reinforced by his actions.
“Can I kiss you?”
“Yes.”
Edmund gathered Gabriel in his arms and kissed him, pouring all the thoughts and wants into the kiss. It was slightly sloppy and too eager, but he wasn’t practiced at it, and he found that he didn’t care about Gabriel’s past. Nothing mattered except the two of them in this moment. He pushed his hands—too big—through Gabriel’s hair, and Gabriel groaned against his lips.
“Do you like that?”
“Being man-handled by someone rugged and strong? Yes.” Gabriel’s voice crackled, and his breath came quickly against Edmund’s face. Suddenly he knew what he wanted, and so he pushed Gabriel onto his back and knelt over his thighs, using the sudden rush of confidence coursing in his veins to show Gabriel how beautiful he was. He stroked his hands down over the dress,undoing the buttons down the front until he exposed Gabriel’s chest, scattered with not much hair.
“Please take off your shirt.” Gabriel’s dark eyes widened and his face was flushed, as Edmund reached for his shirt, untucked it and pulled it over his head. He barely had time to drop the shirt beside him when Gabriel reached for him.
“You are so fucking gorgeous.”
“Me?” He was fit and strong from working in his garden, but he’d never thought of his body as anything more than useful. Gabriel sat up, fabric rippling all around him—and Edmund shook his head at the notion of beauty—because it was Gabriel who was beautiful here. Slender dark-haired Gabriel with his smooth skin and the confidence to wear the unexpected.
Gabriel spread his hands over Edmund’s chest, digging his fingers softly into the muscles. “Yes. By God, these muscles. You are like a Greek sculpture come to life.” And then Gabriel’s hands were everywhere, exploring his body, as if mesmerised by him. Suddenly Edmund understood what Gabriel meant when he’d said it was a treat for him. He believed him, with a roar that formed in his balls and traversed up his spine until it emerged from his mouth as a loud needy moan.
“And by God, your thighs.” Gabriel’s hand’s slid over them, drawing Edmund’s gaze to the way his legs bracketed Gabriel’s. “How did I get so lucky?”
Edmund nearly choked on a laugh. He was the lucky one, not Gabriel. Instinct made him move, he hugged Gabriel closer and rolled them both so he was the one sprawled on his back, and Gabriel lay on his chest with the sensual combination of his soft skin and the smooth fabric of the dress sending shivers through him. Gabriel grabbed his face and kissed him and everything made sense. Edmund kissed Gabriel, hard, frantically, and Gabriel writhed and wriggled in his arms as he shed the dress, and focused on Edmund’s trousers. It was a little awkwardwhich felt so incredibly right, and then Gabriel pressed his cock against Edmund’s hard stand. Heat bloomed, like the opening of a rose spreading her petals towards the sun’s rays.
“Give me your hand.” Gabriel traced his fingers all the way up Edmund’s torso, across his shoulder, squeezing the muscles on his arm, and then down across the sensitive skin inside his elbow to his wrist. Gabriel took his hand, and tugged him slightly until they both lay on their sides. “Hold us.”
Edmund understood, wrapping his hand around both their cocks, and for once in his life he was thankful for his body being too big. He’d been built for this moment, when the steel of Gabriel’s cock fit perfectly in his palm and his fingers reached around them both, holding them together tight. The friction and heat was overwhelming and if it wasn’t for Gabriel’s other hand anchored against his skull and the bed holding his weight, he might swoon. As it was his eyes threatened to roll back in his head and his hand quickly became slick with his own leaking cock.
“Yes. Like that.” Gabriel’s breathy encouragement thrilled him, and he moved his hand faster, all the while kissing Gabriel as hard as he could. Their tongues tangled and then Gabriel shouted into his mouth, coming into Edmund’s hand and Edmund quickly followed. Gabriel hooked one leg over Edmund’s body, using it to pull them closer together and he slid his mouth down Edmund’s neck, burying it in his crook of his shoulder with a big sigh.
They lay like that for a long time, Edmund’s eyes slowly closing as satiation sunk in, and then Gabriel moved away, leaving him cold.
“I should clean us up.”
“Please let me.” They sat up together, but it was Gabriel who stood first, quickly grabbing a cloth from the sideboard in the room. He washed Edmund with a sensuality that almost had hiscock leaping back to thickness, but he was tired from the day, suddenly overwhelmed by the release from the stresses of the evening, and he lay back on the covers, letting Gabriel care for him. He’d return the favour next time. Edmund drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.
It was hard to tell the time when he woke, the room was dark, in the middle of the building with no natural light, and Gabby was snuggled up against him. He should probably leave but he didn’t want to.
“Why are you awake?” Gabby mumbled against his shoulder.
“What time is it?”
“Do you have somewhere to be?”
It was all too many questions for such a cosy situation, and Edmund didn’t want to answer any of them. “This is where I want to be.”
Gabby made a sound like a satisfied purr and Edmund wished he could relax and enjoy it but he knew that these snatched precious moments would be all he’d ever get. To protect his roses, he’d end up doing his brother’s bidding and he’d make some poor woman miserable; or at least he’d do his best to protect her from his brother. She’d never know romance.
