Free The Duelist's Seduction by Lauren Smith Page B

Gareth offered another berry. She took it almost greedily, and again he laved her throat, this time nipping her below her ear. A stinging shiver shot straight down her spine like she’d been struck by lightning. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms rose, and she trembled with the force of her heightened arousal. Helen couldn’t breathe. Wetness pooled between her legs, and she started to shake. If he did that again, she’d lose her mind and her body.
    Gareth released her hand and stood up.
    “Should we retire to the drawing room?”
    Helen managed a nod and took his offered arm. There were no servants in the halls as they walked, but someone had come in and lit a fire in the fireplace. There were two chairs and a loveseat. Helen watched Gareth for a clue as to where she should sit. He sat down on the loveseat, removing his black waistcoat. His white shirt molded to his muscles as he moved. She watched, desperate to see the skin beneath the shirt and feel the muscles move beneath her palms. What would it be like to put her hands to his flesh? To touch the source of such pleasure, such erotic sin, that she could scarcely breathe or think?
    Gareth caught her staring and put his hand on the empty part of the seat next to him, patting it once. His silent command was clear. Helen knew she should have chosen the nearest chair. But damn the man, she wanted to be near him, to touch him, to let him touch her. She was quite close to begging him to make love to her. The ache was stronger every minute she spent in his presence.
    Helen sat down on the edge of the loveseat, her hands clinging to her shawl as though it would give her strength. As though sensing her use of the fabric as a shield, Gareth reached out to her shoulder, coiling his fingers into the silk shawl. He slowly pulled it away from her, and she felt every inch of the cloth as it slid over the bare skin of her upper back. He dropped the shawl to the floor, out of reach, and then slid a few inches closer, gazing deeply into her eyes.
    “Ask me…” he breathed.
    One of his hands drifted down her back while the other hand alighted upon her knee, sliding slowly up her leg. Gareth’s brown eyes were as warm as honey, yet they glinted with a dark lust that she had no power to resist.
    “Ask me, Helen…” he urged. She knew what he wanted her to say.
    “Please…” she whispered, not able to ask for more as she leaned in to kiss him. His fingers on her thigh slid higher as their lips met. His hand on her back pulled her closer, their knees touching. His lips caressed hers in the faintest echo of a kiss before he drew back.
    “Not here… Come with me.” He pulled her off the loveseat and back into the hall.
    They ascended the stairs together and Helen couldn’t help but sense the inevitability of her situation. Tonight Gareth would possess her, body and soul, and she would not resist. She had to know how deep her passion for him ran. It was a dangerous question, but one that needed an answer.
    She slowed as they passed her bedchamber, but he kept walking. At the end of the hall, he opened a door to another bedroom. It had to be his. There was an expansive four-poster bed, much bigger than the one she’d slept in. The sunlight weakened as dusk came in through the gauzy white curtains outlining the large windows. Gareth locked the door and faced her.
    As he came towards her, the trembling started somewhere in her chest and spread throughout her body. He took her hands, holding them for a few seconds and absorbing the trembling before guiding her hands to his waist. Tentatively, she helped him pull his shirt out from his pants and up over his head. The flex of muscles and the broad expanse of sun-kissed skin made her a little dizzy. She had never been this close to an unclothed man. She was in turn nervous and excited.
    She felt better, being in control of him as he undressed. He raised her hands to his lips, kissing them before he put them on his chest. For a