Free Love Lessons at Midnight by Shirl Henke Page B

not? He kissed her deeply and sank farther into the drowning well of bliss.
    When her nails dug into his shoulders, he stopped. “Am I going too fast?”
    Gabrielle shook her head, murmuring, “No, no…I feel like Cook’s Christmas goose being stuffed. He has a very large hand, our cook. And you have a very large…” A small breathy laugh surprised her. She had not intended to say that!
    “Flattery, Gaby?” he managed to ask. Rather than unmanning him, her disingenuous humor only increased his ardor. “Perhaps it is not that I am so large as that you are so small,” he said hoarsely.
    Without speaking she had to use her body to communicate so that he would understand what his bride wanted, even if the lady was too shy or inhibited to speak. One gentle undulation of her hips seemed so natural that she felt certain any woman at this point would react the same way. It produced the desired result.
    Rob buried himself completely in her, then held still, letting the blissful feeling wash over him, struggling to control his passion. Your pleasure will be greater if you prolong the culmination. She was indeed the perfect teacher for him. After a moment, she gave another gentle lift of her hips. He raised himself and stroked very slowly downward. His reward was a soft sigh.
    That was encouragement enough for him to begin slowly thrusting, feeling her reactions, alert for any indication that he was causing her discomfort. Quite the opposite, she clamped her thighs tightly around his hips and kissed him hungrily, urging him on with breathless little moans. Herhands splayed across his back, her fingers kneading his flexing muscles.
    Deep inside her, Gabrielle felt that delicious scalding urge start to build again. But she knew she could not ask him to wait for her. Sweat slicked his powerful body, yet he moved slowly, carefully, savoring the pleasure he was giving as well as receiving. For now, the fulfillment of their joining would be enough for her. After all his patience and the gift he had already given her, she must reciprocate.
    There would be time enough for them to climb the heights together another night. She arched, digging her nails into his back as she returned his kisses fiercely. He thrust faster, harder, almost bringing her along with him, when she felt him shudder and his staff swell deeply inside her, then pulse its life into her body.
    Rob had never before experienced such ecstasy. All past encounters paled to insignificance, utterly forgotten as the intense release washed over him like a great tidal wave. One slim woman possessed the power to bring him to such heights. As his heartbeat thundered, he collapsed, rolling to his side so as not to allow his weight to crush Gaby. When she continued to cling to him, it felt natural to hold her in his arms, stroking her hair, raining soft kisses across her face.
    “I was too rough…at the last…”
    “No, darling major, you were not too rough,” she said softly, placing her palm against his chest, feeling a small thrill as his heart hammered beneath the hard wall of muscle.
    She no longer felt afraid of performing this act with him. That gave her a sense of tender power. But thanks to Grace’s instruction, it would give her nothing else. In time would she come to regret taking measures to prevent conception? Do not think of that. Think only of the time you have with him now… His soft murmur carried her away from the bittersweet melancholy.
    “You were right…about going slowly. But I could not bring you with me this way, and I want to do that…if I can.”
    Gabrielle smiled in the dark. If only he knew how close he had come. “I am quite positive that you will. That is why we have many more lessons, yes?”
    “Oh, certainly yes,” he murmured fervently, nuzzling his face in her perfumed hair. “Can you…that is, would you stay with me for a while, Gaby?”
    Dare she? He felt replete and wanted to hold her. She wanted to hold him. But he is not yours.