CHAPTER 17
J ust as soon as they reached their chamber, Gabe placed Sophie’s valise on a table by the window and then turned on his heel to gaze at his bride. It had been such a long road to get here. He had wanted her so desperately all those years ago, and back then he could have never imagined that it was possible to want her even more than that. But he did. He wanted her even more now.
Standing there in a borrowed homespun gown, her golden locks less than properly coiffed, and her pretty blue eyes beckoning him closer to her. It was a power he couldn’t resist and wouldn’t want to even if he could.
Gabe crossed the floor, closing the distance between them. He brushed his fingers across the apple of her cheek, relishing in the softness of her skin. “You are the most lovely girl in the world. You always have been.”
Her lips turned up to a radiant smile. “I hardly think that’s true.”
“You’ll have to take my word for it,” he replied, and then dipped his head down to brush his lips across her smile.
Sophie melted against him and Gabe wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her steady as he deepened their kiss, tangling his tongue with hers as heat rushed through his veins and his cock stiffened even more than it had been along their journey to Scotland.
Gabe unbuttoned the back of her dress, and as it slipped from her shoulders, he kissed his way down her neck. When he cupped her breasts, she sucked in a breath and Gabe smiled against her skin.
“G-Gabe,” she breathed out and clutched the edge of his jacket as he kneaded her breasts with his hands. “Oh, Gabe.”
“Dear God, Sophie,” he said as the rest of her dress slipped down her body, leaving her completely bare in his arms. After all, they’d only managed to find a dress for her that first day, no stays, no chemise, nothing to separate them at all...except for his damned clothes.
Gabe squeezed her hip and kissed her quickly once more before turning his fevered attention to his own damned buttons. Standing there, looking at her, he’d never seen anything more beautiful. And he’d been right all those years ago, her breasts were the most lovely things in all the world. And now they were his most favorite things to touch.
As though she knew what sort of affect she had on him, Sophie’s smile lit up the chamber. Then she placed her hand over his on his buttons and said, “I can do it.”
Gabe swallowed. He let his hands fall from his jacket, and Sophie’s quick fingers slid each of his golden buttons through their holes. When she was done, she opened his jacket wide before running her fingers over his shirt-covered chest, making his muscles ripple beneath her touch and making him groan from need of her in the process.
Then she reached her hand up and touched a bit of exposed skin at his neck and she grinned like the most wanton of vixens. “I was quite mesmerized by this little bit of skin last night.”
“I’ve been mesmerized by you since the first moment we met.” Gabe lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm.
She laughed, deeper than her usual laugh, throatier; and the sound was enough to make Gabe rip his shirt over his head and then scoop her up into his arms.
Sophie gasped, but then she rested her head against his bare chest and ran her fingers over the dusting of hair she found there as he carried her to their bed. Her gentle touch was enough to drive him wild. Dear God he loved her, he always had. But he could die from want of her, he had no doubt.
Gabe laid her on top of the counterpane and quickly went to work on the fastenings of his trousers, though he did slow a bit when he realized Sophie was admiring the muscles of his chest. He was happy to let her admire his form. She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth as he finally freed himself of his trousers and his cock sprang free.
“Oh, my,” she whispered.
“Oh, my, indeed,” Gabe agreed, as he stood over her at the edge of the bed. Then he knelt before her and hooked one of her legs over his shoulder. Damn it all, she had the prettiest pink lips right before him.
She gasped in a surprised breath when Gabe licked across her opening, and the sound urged him to lick her again. She was wet and slightly salty against his tongue as she whimpered on the bed above him. Heaven. She tasted like heaven. Gabe grasped her waist with one hand while the other plucked ever so lightly against her glistening pink nub.
He thrust his tongue inside her, over and over again until she let out a cry as a wave of her passion burst from her. Good God, he needed to be inside her.
Gabe wiped his hand across his mouth and then pushed back to his feet. He stroked himself, his eyes trained on hers, which were wide with surprise. “Slide to the middle of the bed, Soph.” His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears, but he couldn’t help that, he couldn’t help anything. He had to be inside her, he needed to fill her, he needed her.
Obediently, Sophie moved away from the edge and into the middle of the mattress, and then Gabe followed her onto the bed. He spread her legs apart and filled that space, letting the tip of his cock kiss her slickened opening. “It might hurt,” he told her, hating to do anything that would cause her pain. “But just this once, and—”
“Please, Gabe,” she begged, rubbing herself against his erection.
Oh, for God’s sake. No man could withstand that. He grasped her hips in his hands, urged her arse upward and then he buried himself inside her in one thrust.
Sophie grasped the counterpane in her fists and her channel tightened around his cock. Gabe stilled inside her.
“Are you—”
She nodded. “I’m-I’m fine.” And then her blue eyes met his and she seemed so certain, so sure.
Damn it all, she was so tight, so wet and warm, Gabe thought he might cry. He breathed out a breath as he pulled back slightly from her, and then he filled her with his cock again. Dear God, nothing in the world felt like Sophia Hamp…Prideaux. Sophie Prideaux. His wife. His lover. His heart and soul. Oh, God, the thought urged him on.
He lowered himself over her and relished the feel of her nipples pressed against his chest, her legs around his waist and her hands upon his shoulders.
“Gabe,” a staggered breath escaped her.
“Oh, Sophie,” he agreed before capturing her lips as he slowed his pace and took his time making love to her.
G oodness. The way he said her name like it was a prayer or the sweetest benediction. The way she felt so complete with him filling her, like they were one with the way they moved together. The way he held her gaze as each of his strokes brought her closer and closer to that same precipice she’d fallen over when his tongue had been inside her.
Oh! Sophie clutched Gabe to her and she cried out his name when she fell back over that very same precipice. Every nerve in her body tingled with awareness, but Gabe didn’t stop, he increased his pace, pushing himself faster and deeper inside her until he shuddered above her and the warmest sensation filled her core.
Gabe collapsed beside her and drew her into the cocoon of his arms. His pulse beat in his veins and Sophie was certain hers beat to the same rhythm. She lifted her fingers up to trace his whiskered jaw and she sighed. “I love you,” she whispered against his chest.
Gabe tightened his hold for just a moment. “I’ve always loved you.”
She kissed his chest, the place right above his heart. He was hers and she was his, and nothing would ever be the same again.