Free Antonia's Bargain by Kate Pearce Page A

“It’s not just Caroline. Most women simply don’t arouse me.
    It’s not their fault, it’s just that I dislike the idea of being smothered in petticoats and
    perfume and womanly sulks. I dislike being held hostage to their moods and their
    mamas and their childish innocence.”
    “It’s hardly their fault, Gideon. Women are not encouraged to use their brains, are
    they? They are told men prefer them to be mawkishly pretty and completely innocent.”
    “And that’s exactly what most men seem to want.”
    “Not all men. Valentin encourages his wife to pursue both her musical career and
    her mathematical studies.”
    “Valentin is an exception and you know it.” Gideon sighed as Peter smoothed his
    hand over his thigh. “I know I am being unfair. Most women are as chained to their
    destiny as I am.” He bent his knee, allowed Peter to move his fingers farther inward.
    “The interesting thing is, I think I have found what I want.”
    Peter cupped Gideon’s balls. “A man or a woman?”
    Gideon reached across to slide his fingers beneath the open neck of Peter’s shirt. He
    tugged gently on his nipple ring. “A woman who only chooses to acknowledge me
    when she is dressed as a man. Take off your shirt.”
    “I can’t say I’m surprised. A woman masquerading as a man would suit you
    perfectly.”
    Gideon raised an eyebrow as Peter continued. “I know you’ve chosen to bed mostly
    men in the last few years, but I’ve never believed your heart was in it.”
    “You haven’t?”
    “Just because you’ve tried to convince yourself that you prefer men, doesn’t mean
    that it is the truth.”
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    “And how would you know this?”
    Peter locked gazes with him as he removed his shirt to display his lean muscular
    chest and scarred skin. “Because I spent ten years of my life in a Turkish brothel and
    I’ve been in every sexual situation imaginable. You use men because you believe they
    can’t hurt you like Caroline did. If you truly preferred men, you’d let them fuck you as
    well and you don’t.”
    “Perhaps I’m one of those men who believe that if they don’t allow themselves to be
    fucked, it means they aren’t a sodomite.”
    “You’re not like that.”
    Gideon let out his breath. How was it that Peter thought he could see things so
    much more clearly than he could? “Does that offend you?”
    “Me?” Peter grinned. “No, because I have no preference either way. I’m happy to
    fuck or be fucked by either sex.”
    Peter was tanned darker than Gideon, a legacy of his years in captivity. He knelt
    between Gideon’s outstretched legs, the crown of his long cock already showing
    through his unfastened breeches. He tugged at the fastenings of Gideon’s breeches.
    Gideon stayed his hand.
    “Wait. Why are you so certain that you are right?”
    “Why are you even asking me that? It’s very simple. Despite all your lovers, how
    many men have you fallen in love with?”
    Gideon stared at him, his thoughts in turmoil. “None.”
    “How many women?”
    He shrugged. “Only my wife and look what came of that.”
    “And now you are obsessed by another woman. I rest my case.”
    Peter removed his hand from Gideon’s breeches and knelt up. “Are you worried
    that this woman truly prefers to be a man?”
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    “In the sense that she prefers her own sex? No. I think this is more of a way for her
    to explore her own sexuality and avoid the things that frighten her.” Gideon frowned. If
    Peter was right, she sounded just like him. “But that is certainly something I should
    investigate.”
    Peter groaned as Gideon leaned forward, sucked hard on his nipple and slid one
    hand down the back of his breeches. “God, I’ve missed being touched.” He shuddered
    as Gideon gently squeezed his balls. “If she trusts you, surely you can persuade her to
    want you as a woman wants a man?”
    Gideon’s cock swelled at Peter’s obvious pleasure. “She wants me, but I