Antonia's Bargain (8 page)

are already wet for me. With a little more work, I could have you begging for my cock.”

She pictured him leaning over her, his hips inching forward as his shaft

disappeared between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together and trapped his hand

as a wave of fear washed over her. Her father had always hurt her mother. Desperately

seeking common sense, she reminded herself that it was good to find out about passion

and lust before she contemplated marriage. At least now she knew which activities to

avoid. She didn’t want to marry a man and become a slave to her own desires or his.

Gideon grabbed her wrist.

“Finish tormenting me, Antonia. Let me come.”

She stared at his stiff, glistening cock. She could not allow the fear to rule her. “Is it

permissible for me to taste you?”

He chuckled. “Wherever did you get that notion?”

She leaned forward until her mouth hovered above him and blew a warm cloud of

breath over his aroused flesh. He wasn’t her father. His scent intoxicated her, made her

want to risk becoming more intimate with him. “I don’t know. It just seems the right

thing to do.”

“God help me. A natural sensualist. I can’t decide if I am delighted or horrified.

Taste away.”

She carefully licked the tip of his cock where a pearl-colored liquid emerged from

the purple slit. She licked again, tasting him slowly, enjoying the feel of him in her

mouth. His shaft pulsed against her tongue, the throb of his desire as steady and

demanding as the beat of her own. Not so threatening now when she realized that one

lick of her tongue made him shudder and arch against her. Was there power for a

woman in this? Could she master a man when she held him in her mouth or inside her

body?

“Pleasure me with more than baby licks. Take all of it into your mouth.”

52

Antonia’s Bargain

He sounded amused as if he thought her too much of a coward to dare to do it. She

opened her mouth and took the first three inches of his cock inside. Would he like it if

she sucked on him as he did on her nipples? His groan told her that he did. She carried

on sucking, taking more of him until she feared she might gag. His fingers slid into her

hair and held her close.

After a while, he pulled her away and replaced her mouth with their entwined

fingers. “Finish me like this.” Working together, they increased their speed and brought

him to a climax. Antonia watched enthralled as his come spurted out of his cock and

coated her hand.

She laid her head on his thigh as he sat back and stared at his now flaccid cock.

Antonia moved her fingers away and he offered her his monogrammed handkerchief to

wipe her hand. Would a well-brought-up young lady not be fainting in shock and

horror after seeing a man in the throes of sexual release? Her skin felt thin, as if all her

blood flowed too hard and too fast to be contained within it. Her sex throbbed as if she

had denied herself something.

Restlessly, she rubbed her breast against the smooth satin of Gideon’s breeches. He

touched her shoulder, made her look at him.

“If you permit, I will pleasure you too.”

She swallowed as his fingers shaped her small breast. “But I lost the game.”

His smile was intimate. “Then, as the winner I will be gracious and share my

victory with you.” He came down onto the floor beside her and reclaimed her mouth in

a deep possessive kiss. She moaned as he caressed her nipples into hard demanding

points and then sucked on them again. He undid her breeches and dragged them down

her legs. His hand settled over her mound against the wet curls covering her sex. She

shuddered as his middle finger pressed the swollen bud of her clitoris.

“You must have touched yourself like this before.”

She gazed into his eyes as he continued to stroke her. “I have, but…” She bit her lip.

He stopped.

53

Kate Pearce

“But?”

“Nothing happens. I sense something should but after a while the ache becomes

unbearable and I have to stop.”

“Ah, but that is just when you should continue.” He kissed her cheek. “When it

becomes unbearable you are close to climaxing. You have to learn to let go. Let me

show you.”

He pushed her down onto her back and knelt between her legs, widening her

thighs, exposing her soaking-wet pussy to his gaze. He bent his head, licked her clitoris

with the tip of his tongue. Antonia almost leapt off the floor. She grabbed his wide

shoulders to push him away.

“That is not decent.”

He raised his head to look at her. “No it’s not, it’s sex. Decency should be left

outside the bedroom door. This is just for pleasure and your satisfaction. I will not hurt

you.” He lowered his head and licked her whole sex until she forgot how to speak and

could only whimper and moan with delight.

Pressure built in her belly and she writhed against it. Gideon continued to suck and

lick her, holding her close even when she fought for release. She wanted to weep and

scream and scratch his face as he continued to torment her. She dug her nails into his

shoulders; he grunted his approval and worked her harder.

Her focus narrowed to the sensations between her legs and the man who created

them. She no longer had the power to make him stop. In truth, if he tried to walk away

from her now she would scream with rage. She couldn’t stop her hips from pushing

upward toward his mouth as she climbed higher. He placed one hand behind her

buttocks, tipping her forward and slid one long finger in past her anus.

With a groan, he sucked her clitoris into his mouth and used his teeth to hold her

there. It was enough to send her spiraling into climax. She screamed and bucked against

him as he continued to lick and suck and bite until she felt as limp and spent as a

dishcloth.

54

Antonia’s Bargain

When she opened her eyes, he was braced over her, his face wet with her cream.

“Am I still a virgin?”

He raised one eyebrow. “Of course you are. I didn’t penetrate your sheath at all.”

“But I felt you inside me…I thought.”

He smiled and reached forward. He ran his finger over her swollen sex until he

reached the tight bud of her anus. “I entered you here. Did you dislike it?”

“No, it was interesting.”

He sat up and drew her to her knees. “Perhaps we should call this card game a

draw.”

Her whole body ached as if she had caught a fever. “I have certainly learned more

than I bargained for, sir.”

He kissed her lips. He tasted of her. “My name is Gideon.”

She stared at his mouth, amazed that he had used it on her sex with such explosive

results. Unable to deny her need, she kissed him back, felt his tongue flick against hers

in a subtle, gentle caress. He tasted of brandy and of her, a mingling of scents she would

never forget.

He spread his fingers through the back of her hair, turning her face into his

shoulder. “Next week, if you are agreeable, we will venture forth into the
ton
.”

It took her a moment to realize what he meant. She felt her cheeks heat with

gratification. “Have I passed all your tests then, Gideon?”

He released her with a last soft kiss, stood and buttoned his breeches. “Let us say,

rather, that you are ready to begin the real challenge. When we are out on the strut, you

will have to prove you are capable of carrying off your disguise alone.”

She smiled brilliantly at him as he helped her to her feet and began to rearrange her

clothing. She had feared the season would be all but over before Gideon deemed her

capable of going out in her disguise. It occurred to her that despite their short

acquaintance, he already understood her better than any of her family. He was offering

55

Kate Pearce

her an opportunity she had never thought to have. A chance to investigate the men who

were beginning to circle her like vultures, and decide whether any of them would be

worth the terrible risk of marrying.

56

Antonia’s Bargain

Chapter Five

Gideon straightened his cravat as he entered the ballroom and automatically looked

for Antonia. It was becoming a habit of his to search her out so that he could avoid her.

He smiled at the ridiculous thought. Since meeting her, his life had expanded from its

dour grayness and he’d even begun to enjoy himself again. Strange that a woman had

done that to him especially after his decision to avoid them at all costs since his wife’s

death.

His smile died as his father strolled up to him, immaculate in pale blue and silver.

“Good evening, sir. I don’t often see you at these affairs.”

The viscount nodded. “I came to see if you were obeying orders.”

If Gideon had possessed hackles they would have risen. “If you mean, am I on the

prowl for a wife, then yes, I’m here, aren’t I?”

“You don’t have to like the girl. She doesn’t even need to be attractive.” His father

paused to nod at an acquaintance. “You just have to get an heir on her. Remember, all

women look the same in the dark.”

Gideon glared at his father. Was he deliberately trying to goad him into a fight in

the middle of a ballroom? “Are you suggesting I should only make myself agreeable to

the ugliest and most desperate women in the room?”

The viscount touched his shoulder and maneuvered him into a convenient corner.

“That’s not what I’m saying and you know it. Despite your dubious reputation, you are

a handsome and well-connected man.” He lowered his voice. “But I’m not blind,

Gideon, and I have traveled the world. I can appreciate that your tastes might lie in

other directions.”

Gideon stared over his father’s shoulder as Antonia came into view. She was

smiling at her cousin, her face flushed with animation. He remembered the taste of her

57

Kate Pearce

sex and the way she’d clung to him while taking her pleasure. Was his father

suggesting he knew what Gideon wanted? Since Antonia’s arrival, Gideon wasn’t sure

he knew himself anymore.

“I couldn’t do that to any woman, Father. Treat her like a broodmare. The end

result would be the same. She’d grow bored and seek her pleasures elsewhere. I refuse

to live through that nightmare again.”

The viscount slapped him on the back “Find a woman who understands you, then.

Find a woman like Gervase did who loves you for what you are, not for what you can

bring her.”

Gideon managed a smile. “Does such a paragon exist?”

“Well, Gervase obviously thinks so.” The viscount frowned. “On the other hand,

you might be surprised at what a woman is prepared to put up with to get a wedding

ring on her finger. Choose a girl who will be too grateful to be married to care where

you spend your nights.”

On that less than helpful note, the viscount bowed and retreated to the card room.

Gideon let out a breath. It was unlike his father to share a confidence with him. Their

relationship had always been combative. Was the viscount getting soft or was his

obsessive desire to have a grandson changing his staunch autocratic views?

“A penny for your thoughts, Harcourt.”

Gideon turned to find his old friend Peter Howard at his elbow. Peter was one of

the very few men he trusted with all aspects of his life. He had been the first to help

Gideon carry his wife upstairs after her very public suicide and had, to Gideon’s

knowledge, never gossiped about that night to anyone.

“My thoughts are scarcely worth a penny.” Gideon grimaced. “Family can be hell

sometimes.”

“I wouldn’t know about that. I’m an orphan.” Peter said. “The only family I claim

are the Sokorvskys.”

58

Antonia’s Bargain

Gideon studied his friend’s angelic expression. It was always difficult to know what

Peter was thinking. His past had enabled him to remove all traces of emotion from his

face. Gideon knew that as children, Peter and Valentin Sokorvsky had shared a hellish

ten years as Turkish slaves. Perhaps that experience was more than enough to teach a

man to control his every thought. Peter’s outward serenity always reminded Gideon of

a painted Renaissance saint.

Few people knew that beneath Peter’s calm exterior lay a complex and deeply loyal

man. Gideon had seen him with the Sokorvskys at Madame Desiree’s on more than one

occasion and had reason to know that Peter’s sexual appetite was as individual as his

own. Peter continued to study him, his gaze steady, no apology for whatever

conclusions he saw being drawn in Gideon’s eyes.

“Is Gervase still away?”

“He is.” Gideon half smiled. “I miss him like the devil.”

“I can understand that. The Sokorvskys are in Russia at the moment. I find myself

with nothing to do.”

They stared at each other in perfect understanding. Antonia whirled past Gideon in

the arms of her dance partner. He was so close he could have touched her. Her unique

lavender scent lingered in his nostrils, making him instantly hard. Gideon touched

Peter’s arm.

“I am bored with the
ton
. Would you like to spend the rest of the evening with me

at Madame Desiree’s?”

Two hours later, Gideon had drunk most of a bottle of brandy and lounged in front