Cora (Virtue & Vice #4)

Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CORA

C ora’s heart skipped as Gideon led her into his bedroom. He made quick work of the remaining fastenings on her dress—his dexterity rivaled her maid’s. He peeled the silk down her arms and past her waist until it puddled around her ankles.

“My god, you’re exquisite,” he breathed reverently.

No one had ever looked at her worshipfully before. Lustfully, yes. Nothing like the way Gideon shrugged out of his waistcoat and dropped to one knee before her to untie the crinoline. It fell to her knees. He rose and helped her out of the pile of discarded clothing like she was a princess stepping down from a carriage at a ball.

Cora inhaled a fortifying breath and reached for the bulge in the front of his trousers. He groaned and pressed hard against her, forcing her to back up a step as he claimed her mouth in a crushing kiss. She met his intensity and twined her arms around his neck. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed.

“Do you know how hard it has been to listen to you each night preparing for bed?” He laid her down, his hungry gaze roaming from her breasts to her waist and back up to her face. “Imagining you splayed out like this?”

His words thrilled her. Cora trailed her fingertips from the base of her throat to the tops of her breasts. “Did you think of me, Gideon?”

“Yes.”

“Did you imagine me like this?” She posed. The way he was looking at her made her bold. Slowly, she unbuttoned her corset cover and threw it to the side.

“In my imagination you were wearing fewer clothes.” His voice was thick and gravelly, scraping pleasantly in her ears.

“I can make your fantasy come true, if you would be so good as to assist me.”

She rolled onto her stomach and kicked her feet. Gideon obliged by ripping her laces loose. When she rolled back, her breasts popped out over the tops of the cups. He fell upon the front hooks and had it off her in a trice.

“You really are too good at that.”

His gaze cut to hers. “You wear too many clothes.”

“And whose fault is that?” she responded tartly, although suddenly she wasn’t wearing nearly enough of them. Her skin was heated and her breasts felt tight and heavy. The soft lawn of her chemise barely concealed her tight nipples. They tented the fabric as his gaze raked down her body.

“I have no regrets about dressing you like the highborn beauty you are, Cora. None. I have waited years to savor you like this. Willing and wanton. I won’t rush this.”

She gasped at the effect his words had upon her. The petticoat went next. Gideon took his time removing her stockings, stripping the lengths of silk down her calves with a wondering expression. His shirt gaped open enough for her to see the sprinkling of hairs between the plackets.

He didn’t rush through perfunctory foreplay in his haste to get to the main event. He hiked up her chemise and pulled her drawers down, stroking her calves.

“Your legs are works of art, darling. Look how long they are. How sleek and toned.”

“It’s the penny-farthing you hate so much.”

“I don’t mind the bicycle.” He kissed her calf. “I only hate the trousers you wear when you’re riding it. They hint at these, yet hide them away. It’s maddening.”

He hiked her chemise up around her hips and settled his weight between her hips. This was it, Cora thought. Excitement surged through her. If he touched her between her legs he would find her soaked.

But he didn’t move to touch her there. Nor did he unfasten his trousers and dive into the act itself.

Instead, he was true to his word. Gideon took his time.

“Don’t you dare look away,” he commanded, and Cora, propped on her elbows with her hair trailing over her shoulders, watched with widening eyes as he kissed his way up her inner thighs, holding her gaze the whole time.

Her flesh stung when he nipped her near the apex of her sex. A whimper she barely recognized as her own came from her lips. A drop of her own wetness gathered and rolled down the seam of her bottom. Cora had never been this desperate for a man’s touch before.

She had wasted her time with men who didn’t know how to please her. No wonder she had been left with the impression that lovemaking was not worth the bother. She’d never been torn by agony this way before, half desperate to be filled, half needing this torment to continue for as long as possible.

Then Gideon striped his tongue up her center and she fell back with a wordless sound. Her knees fell open. He draped her legs over his shoulder and pursued the tight bead at the apex of her sex with his tongue.

He really was a ruthless, relentless bastard. Especially when he worked two fingers inside her and thrust, crooking his fingers to hit a spot right that felt so good …

Cora came, tight and tense, a shallow release that had her clenching around him. The second it ebbed, she wanted more. She wanted him to ravish her.

Gideon’s eyes promised everything she’d never known to dream of as he inched up her body, kissing the soft mound of her stomach, dipping his tongue into the divot of her navel. She squirmed and sighed. Pleasure coiled within her again, promising a more powerful release.

He stopped to feast on her breasts. Cora crossed her arms and sat up enough to tug the bunched fabric over her head. Before the bundle had hit the floor he was on her, sucking one nipple deep into her mouth and teasing the other with his thumb. He pinched hard. She arched into him. His hair slipped through her fingers and she gave it a tug hard enough to make him grunt. Crisp hairs slid along her legs. She loved the way his weight pressed her into the bedclothes.

With a surge of motion, he released her breasts and covered her completely. Cora’s heart thumped wildly as she took in the expanse of skin on hers. Ran her hands up the muscular planes of his back, and, daringly, trailed her fingertips over his trousers.

“Off,” she commanded.

“As my lady wishes.” When he rolled away, Cora felt exposed. She clutched the sheet to her chest. Seeing her, Gideon glared. “Never be shy with me. I want to bask in your glory.”

He kicked his trousers away and took her hands, opening her arms wide. The sheet dropped. So did her jaw.

Oh my.

She’d felt him on previous occasions. Seeing his length and girth bobbing between his thick thighs was shocking. Neither of the men she had been with had been as well-endowed as her husband.

When she dragged her gaze upward, confidence had tucked the corner of his mouth up in a half-grin.

“Touch me,” he said, his ragged voice betraying him.

She brought one hand to his rampant erection and stroked. Thick veins ran up the underside. She traced them with her thumb. He exhaled.

“You’re…” She searched for the right word. “Very impressive.”

His low chuckle rumbled through her. She gripped him more firmly and stroked.

“You know exactly what to say to inflate a man’s self-regard.”

Gingerly, Cora licked the smooth round head. He tasted of the sea. A fascinating drop of moisture welled from the slit in the center. She licked that too, taking extra time to swirl her tongue over the sensitive spot when he groaned. His strong legs were cradled between her soft ones, bent at the knee and hanging off the bed.

Experimentally, she brought him deeper into the cavern of her mouth. He clutched her hair. His groan reverberated inside her body, sending shivery excitement racing through her.

“You feel so good, Cora. Every time I look at your lips, I have dreamed of them wrapped around my cock this way.”

Really? She couldn’t speak with him in her mouth. She pulled back a little reluctantly and said, “Is that what you’re thinking of when you stare at me?”

“Constantly,” he gritted out. He leaned forward, rolled her to her back and covered her again. She hadn’t realized how starved for physical connection she was until this moment. How had she lived without this for twenty-nine years?

He settled himself between her thighs. It felt so right. His rigid flesh was trapped between their bodies, but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move things along. He kissed her leisurely, until Cora thought she might die of longing.

“Please,” she whispered.

“Tell me what you need, songbird.”

She hesitated. Did she dare ask for what she’d seen at the House of Virtue?

But if she couldn’t ask for what she wanted between them now, when else would she?

“Gideon. I want you to blindfold me. I want you to bind my wrists. And then I want you to do anything you wish to my body.”

He went completely still, and for a terrifying moment she was afraid she’d shocked him into revulsion.

“My little songbird is daringly adventurous. I never expected that.”

He used her silk belt from her robe to secure her hands behind her waist and applied a folded handkerchief to her eyes. Her excitement grew in direct proportion to her inability to move or see. Her sense of hearing heightened. She became aware of the scent of his skin, of the lavender embedded in the sheets, even the less-arousing tinge of Titania’s ever-present scent.

Gideon became her entire world. Blindfolded, she was forced to imagine his every motion even as she felt his hands arranging her body how he wanted her, in the awkward position of being face-down, on her knees, with her hands behind her back. He spread her thighs wide and nudged his cock along her dripping slit.

He teased her slick entrance, playing with her, then withdrew. Cora whimpered in protest when he still denied her.

“Let me savor this moment.”

He licked his fingers audibly, a sound that shouldn’t be arousing, but was.

She could only nod and dig her nails into her palms as he brought his cock into contact with the aching nub at the apex of her folds. Her breath caught. Sweat dampened her temples at the intrusion. He filled her, stretching her beyond imagination, until all she could feel was their connection.

“God, Cora, you’re so tight and wet and ready for me.” Gideon’s raw moan made her feel so powerful. Adored. Desired.

And then, he began to move. Gideon pushed deeper with each intrusion. Cora found herself tilting her hips to meet him. His chest pressed hers flat. The pressure only added to her pleasure. Taking him in. The beat of regret each time he withdrew followed by the thrill of his surge forward.

“That’s my good songbird,” he growled. “Taking my cock nice and deep.”

He traced the sensitive pucker of her bottom with one wet finger. “You’d take me here, too, wouldn’t you?”

Cora could only moan and nod against the cool linens.

“Answer me, Cora.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Anything you want to do to me, Gideon. I’m your plaything.”

He made a sound of masculine satisfaction.

He pulled back. There was a scrape of wood. The sound shuddered up her skin, heightening every sensation. The faint pop of a cork sounded like a bottle of champagne popping, but quieter. Cool liquid dripped down the seam of her body.

“Are you ready for me to fuck you like this?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered, her voice trembly with excitement and nerves. He eased one finger inside her tight hole and pressed his cock into her pussy. She’d never felt this full and stretched to her limit.

“You feel incredible, Cora. I love watching you take my cock like this. So tight and greedy.” Each word made her excitement rise. “I want to feel you beneath me when I come. I want to feel your thighs tense and your back arch as I come inside you.”

“Oh, god.”

“You like it when I tell you what I want, don’t you?”

She could barely manage a nod. His words were so filthy, so daring. They liquefied her insides and sent heat pulsing through her veins, and all the while he was pistoning inside her, driving her higher and tighter until she might break.

“You’re close,” he said in a tone raw with excitement. “Come for me, songbird. Come on my cock like a good little?—”

She broke. Shattered. Her body pulsed around him. His rhythm faltered. He drove into her in a frantic rush. The silk belt binding her hands loosened but she gripped it, arching her spine and encouraging him deeper as wordless cries of pleasure tumbled from her lips.

The last one was his name.

Hot liquid flooded her. Still hard, he kept thrusting, tiny movements that drove him deeper.

Afterward, they lay together, panting. He brushed her hair away from her damp temples, kissed her softly, and said, “Cora. I have waited for you for so long.” Another kiss, followed by that rakish half-smile. “Now that I have you, I am never letting you go.”