Page 26 of The Mistress (Foxgloves #1)

GIDEON

G ideon was a man possessed as he kissed her. She had her arms wrapped tightly around him, her body arching into his, and she met his lips with a fervor matching his own. It was aggressive. Possessive. Demanding.

When he first arrived, he had felt such immense relief and joy as she talked through her thoughts. They were alright, he’d thought. He could still sense the sadness coating her, but he was confident he could wash it away.

And when she mentioned children with such wonder in her voice…. He couldn’t deny the thought of seeing Amelia heavy with his child, or playing with a little boy the image of her, or holding a little girl with his eyes did strange things to him. He’d never wanted children before, but when he added Amelia to the picture, he felt a new kind of desperation for them. He knew deep in his bones she would make an excellent mother. A much better mother than the one he had as a child. And he hated when she called them bastards. Hated it. But neither could he deny it.

Then, things took a turn. At first, he was sure he’d misunderstood when she said she wanted her sister to marry Thomas.

Perhaps she meant another Thomas. What other explanation could there be? She couldn’t possibly mean for her sister to marry her benefactor of the past two years. Her sister – the woman Thomas seemed determined to engage as his next mistress.

Then she lied to him. The first lie she’d ever given him. He hadn’t thought it possible between them after all their shared honesty and vulnerability. And such an obvious lie at that. Everyone knew the truth. It wasn’t exactly a secret. Of course, even so, it was…unsavory to speak of her old lover to her new one. He could understand that. But the lie still left a sour taste in his mouth as he finally discovered the line of her candor, appropriate as it may be.

Still, he tried – he really did try – to keep himself positive and settled during today’s conversation. Kicking him out, however, broke that resolve. In truth, he had not expected it. She lied to him , and she was angry at him for not buying it? She didn’t accept the monumental impossibility of her sister marrying Thomas and dared to kick him out for naming it?

It was as good a time as any to demonstrate his control. He would care for her, take responsibility for all of her, give her emotional and physical security, but he would not be tamed. He would not yield when pushed.

Now, they were wrapped up in each other, trying to devour and destroy, trying to expel each of their raging emotions.

Gideon deepened the kiss with a groan. He felt her go soft in his arms, making his already hardening length turn to steel as she let go and gave herself over to him completely. Never breaking the kiss, he turned around and walked her back until she hit the arm of the couch. Lowering his hands to the back of each thigh, he lifted her onto it and nestled between her spread legs, bringing his body flush with hers. As close as he could possibly get with the barrier of their clothes between them. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in even more, as she shoved her hands into his hair.

He kissed down her neck. Making his way to the tops of her breasts, Gideon ran his lips barely over her skin, causing goosebumps to rise in his wake. His nimble fingers pulled at the ties at the back of her dress. Then, his hands caught the layers of fabric at her shoulders and pulled down, freeing her from the confines of her clothing.

Gideon pulled back and beheld her beauty and utter perfection. Her dress undone; her exquisite breasts exposed, nipples pebbled and calling for attention; her skin flushed; and those soft brown eyes hooded and watching him. His anger and determination dissolved into a sea of tenderness and lust. He forgot everything but her. He groaned, bending back down to kiss her neck as he filled his hands with her full breasts, squeezing gently and running the pads of his thumbs over the soft pink nipples. He licked his way down to take each peak into his mouth one at a time, flicking his tongue and biting gently.

The sounds Amelia made almost undid him. She was panting and clinging to him like he was the air she breathed.

He inched back up to her ear as one hand continued to tease her breast, rolling her perked nipple between his fingers. His other hand wrapped around her back and pulled her harder against his cock straining between them. He bit down on her earlobe, and the deep moan that escaped her was thick with need.

“Listen to you,” his voice was gravelly with his own arousal, and she trembled at the sound. Goosebumps skittered along her skin where his voice tickled her. “Panting like a whore for me.”

The effect was immediate. Amelia’s body went rigid in his arms.

He hesitated.

A moment passed. Another.

“Remove yourself from me,” she said in a hard voice, still rough with desire.

Gideon pulled his head back, eyes wide in surprise. He didn’t ask questions, just pulled his hands away from her skin and extricated himself from her limbs. He took two steps back and watched her, assessing the quick turn of events. This was a new side to her, he realized, as she quickly pulled her dress back into place, covering herself, and stood.

Head high, she strode to the door, where she stopped and turned on him. He had never seen such fury in a person’s eyes, let alone his sweet, honest Amelia’s soft brown ones. Then again, fury like that was nothing if not pure and honest. He realized in that moment that even when she’d had sadness, wariness, confusion, even her earlier anger in her expression, she’d always had a core of trust there, too. That trust he had been so desperate, so frantic never to lose. He felt something like terror and panic wash through him as he registered that the trust that was so vital to every single part of him was visibly absent in her gaze.

What just happened?

“I am no man’s whore, Your Grace,” she said, her voice a fortress built between them, “and my body will know only my husband’s touch. You have used my love for you to manipulate me, and I am through permitting it. I will not be your or anyone else’s whore .”

She turned and strode from the room without a backwards glance.

Gideon stood transfixed, staring at the doorway in her wake.

It couldn’t be. He couldn’t have been so wrong. So unforgivably wrong.

She couldn’t be a virgin .