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She unzipped his coat and slid her arms around his waist inside the coat. “Thank you for thinking of that.”
Gavin returned her embrace, the sense of relief at being back in her arms profound. He was further relieved that whatever seemed to be bothering her earlier had apparently passed. “No problem.”
“Will you take me for a ride on the bike sometime?”
“Any time you want. It looks nice in here.”
“I was afraid it was too much. I blew out all the candles, and then I relit them. I was about to blow them out again when I heard you coming up the stairs.”
Unable to resist for another minute, he leaned in to kiss her. “It’s not too much. It’s just right.”
Ella tugged on his jacket. “Take this off. Come get comfortable.”
Gavin did as directed and then followed her to the sofa. “You build a good fire.”
“We were trained at an early age.”
“That was one of the first things we learned how to do when we moved here.”
“You want a beer or some of your ice cream or anything?”
He shook his head. “There is one thing I want . . .”
“What’s that?” Her cheeks were flushed with color, her lips parted and her eyes bright with happiness. At least he hoped it was that. He wanted to make her happy.
Leaning in again, he kissed her. “More of this.”
Her arms came around him, drawing him closer to her.
Gavin went willingly, feeling like a starving man who’d finally found sustenance after a long, difficult journey. She was so soft and fragrant and responsive. He’d noticed that the first time he kissed her—the way she’d leaned into him, participating fully like now when her tongue rubbed up against his.
He flattened his hand over her belly and then tugged playfully on the tie to her robe. “What’s under here?”
Breathless from the kiss, Ella said, “Why don’t you untie it and find out?”
He glanced at her, seeming to gauge whether she was serious.
She was serious. Dead serious.
Gavin tugged at the silk tie, which gave easily. The robe fell open to reveal the matching silk nightgown she wore underneath. “Wow.”
CHAPTER 8
Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
—Samuel Smiles
Ella was on fire for Gavin. She’d never felt anything remotely like what she did when he was holding her and touching her this way. This, right here, was why no other man had done it for her. It was why she’d waited for him. Mustering her courage, she placed her hand on top of his and guided it up to cup her breast.
She wanted to whimper from the sweet pleasure that coursed through her, and then he caught her nipple between his thumb and index finger, making her gasp. “Gavin . . .”
“What, honey? Talk to me. Tell me what you want.”
Wrapping her hand around his nape, she guided his mouth to her breast. He took the hint, suckling her nipple through the silk of her gown until it was hard and tight.
Fisting his hair, she held him in place, hoping he would never stop. She squirmed under him, trying to get closer, and felt his erection press against her leg. Ella wanted to touch him there. She wanted to touch him everywhere.
Then he was sliding the strap of her gown down her arm to bare her breast to his lips and tongue. God, she’d never felt anything better than the rasp of his whiskers against her sensitive skin. The tug of his lips on her nipple made her want to forget all about propriety and taking it slow and guarding her heart. She was prepared, right in that moment, to give him everything.
Her breasts were on the smaller side, but incredibly sensitive, never more so than right now.
He shifted so he hovered above her, freeing her other breast from her gown and giving it the same attention.
She loved the sight of him bent over her, worshiping her, his soft dark hair and work-roughened hands touching her fevered skin as he licked and sucked and tugged on her nipples. The weight of his body kept her pi
“So beautiful,” he whispered. “I’ve always thought so.”
Hearing that, her overly involved heart soared with hope. “I’ve always thought you were, too. I wish you knew how often I’ve had to remind myself not to stare when you’re around.”
He looked up at her for a brief second before he kissed her.
As he kissed her, she began to unbutton his shirt, desperate for the feel of his skin against hers. When the last button sprang free, she pushed the shirt aside and pulled him down on top of her.
The contact of his chest hair against her breasts once again left them both stu
“God, that feels good,” he whispered gruffly.
“So good.”
“Ella . . . I’m trying to go slow and not pounce on you the first second I’m allowed to, but I . . . I really want to.”
“I do, too. I want what you want.”
“Are you sure?”
She couldn’t help but laugh at that question and the earnest way in which he asked it. “Yes, Gavin, I’m sure. I’ve been sure forever, or so it seems. I don’t remember not being sure where you’re concerned.” It was a ridiculously vulnerable statement, but she didn’t regret speaking the truth. He was her truth.
“I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”
“Are you going to make it worth the wait?”
“I really hope so.” He pushed himself up and off her and then extended a hand.
Ella tugged her gown back up over her breasts and took the hand he offered.
“Which way to your room?”
She pointed.
“We’re going to need some of these candles, I think.”
Ella picked up two of the candles she’d lit earlier. Her heart beat so hard and so fast that she worried she might pass out or hyperventilate or do some other embarrassing thing like swoon. She was taking Gavin Guthrie to bed with her, and this time she knew exactly what would happen. But surely this couldn’t really be happening. It had to be a figment of her overactive imagination.
But then his hands were on her hips and his lips on her neck as he followed her into the bedroom.
This was really happening. It was too soon, and yet nowhere near soon enough at the same time. How could it be too soon to do something she’d wanted forever? The official relationship was new. The attraction, the friendship, the spark, the love . . . None of that was new.
In fact, they’d been building to this inevitable moment since they’d kissed on the beach last summer and in every encounter since then, even if most of them hadn’t ended the way she’d wanted them to. He was it for her. She’d had no doubt about that for a long, lonely time.
No way in hell would she do anything other than exactly what she’d wanted to for ages now.
She placed the candles on the bedside table and turned to him, her breath catching in her throat at how sexy he looked with his shirt unbuttoned and hanging open, his jaw covered in the stubble she loved so much, his lips swollen from their kisses and his hair mussed from her hands.
If a more perfectly beautiful man ever existed, Ella had never met him. She took a step closer to him, laying her hands on his chest inside the shirt and feeling his heart beat every bit as rapidly as hers.
His hands framed her face, and he looked at her. “I don’t deserve you, Ella.”
“Don’t say that. You deserve to be happy.”