Ascension (25 page)

She bowed her head so that he could see the intricately carved combs. Gabriel’s curiosity piqued. He touched hair adornments and tugged very gently revealing a small knife. Before he created a spectacle at their wedding breakfast, he returned it to its place.

“You amaze me.”

“I hope you will be saying the same thing in a few hours, Gabriel.” Remarkably, Belinda blushed.

Gabriel couldn’t help his mind from wandering away from the breakfast to what his wife might have planned for their wedding night. His imagination ran wild and in every scenario Belinda’s glorious body topped the vision.

He didn’t have to wait very long before she leaned over. “Follow me, my lord.”

If the people at the table noticed that the guests of honor walked out, they didn’t say anything.

Gabriel kept his eyes forward. The last thing he wanted was to examine his father-in-law’s expression as he was leaving to “deflower” his daughter.

He let Belinda precede him. When he was certain he would not look too eager, he followed. He started up the grand staircase, but Belinda’s footman, stopped him. “My lord, the countess has gone out the side door to the gardens.”

He stepped back down. “Thank you, Tubbs.”

The gardens would be better described as a wilderness with a roughly-cut path winding through it. It was very Scottish in Gabriel’s estimation. An English garden was generally manicured to perfection. This land grew wild with a minimum of attention.

Catching a glimpse of light blue lace, he rushed forward and caught up to his wayward bride. Her color was high and she smiled back at him clasping his hand in hers.

“Where are we going, Bella?”

“It is a surprise, my lord.”

He stopped and pulled her hard against his chest. “Why have you stopped calling me Gabriel?”

Her lips parted and she pressed a kiss to his chin. “Because you are my lord now. My very own earl.”

He took her lips more violently than he’d intended, but her words filled him with overwhelming joy and passion, which needed an outlet. He devoured her mouth and she opened for him enthusiastically. It was potent to contain something as wild as Belinda and to know that she was his.

She broke the kiss and her smile lit her entire face. She scanned the area. “Not here. Come with me.”

Once again, she took his hand and guided him through the elaborately wild maze. “Shall I never have control again, Bella?”

She stopped so abruptly that he stumbled to keep from crashing into her. “You shall always have equal control or control half the time. But tonight you will have to trust me.”

“I do, Bella.” It was true. All the time he had spent in prison and the deceit he had endured during that time had soured him on trusting anyone. When he’d come home and found his beloved so altered, he had jumped to conclusions born of mistrust. In the past days, fighting and making love with Belinda, he had grown to trust her not only with his life but with his heart.

She beamed up at him and continued to pull him along behind her. They left the garden and passed through a gate in the wall where they entered a patch of rustic, wooded terrain.

The tinkle of moving water caught his attention and after another hundred feet, the wood cleared and they were walking along the grass toward a small stream. She crossed on a rickety wooden bridge and turned into another patch of thick woods.

Then he saw it.

An exquisite cottage tucked within the forest, faced them. Stone walls, small windows and smoke puffing out of the chimney. It was a kind of simple paradise. “What is this place?”

A stone path twisted from the edge of the woods to the front door. She skipped up the path, still gripping his hand. “It is an old cottage that belongs to the castle. No one lives here now. I had the staff clean it for us.”

“How did you know about it?”

She turned back to him and blushed. “I asked Claire to find out if there was a place where we could spend the night outside of the castle. Perhaps it is silly, but I did not want our first night as husband and wife to be under my father’s roof. Do you mind?”

He grabbed her, lifted her off her feet and swirled her around. “Mind? This is the most wonderful wedding gift. I love it and you.” He kissed her nose.

“Shall we go in?”

“Lead on, wife.”

The inside was just as quaint. To the right a parlor and to the left a dining room laid out with cold meats, cheeses and fruit. He assumed the provisions were for later since they had just finished breakfast.

“The staff must have worked tirelessly to clean and prepare all of this.”

“I came early this morning and it was quite dusty and the furniture all covered. I believe it took some work to get it ready for us. I only had them do these two rooms and the bed-chamber.” Her cheeks flushed yet again.

He tugged her toward the steps. “This is more than we need. They have done an excellent job.”

The sun still shone through the windows, but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t wait any longer to have his wife. Tradition might dictate that he delay until dark, but there was nothing traditional about his bride or his marriage.

The chamber was not as big as the one he had in his London townhouse. Nor was it as big as Belinda’s rooms at her parent’s home. It was in proportion with the size of the cottage. The bed too was smaller and had no drapery.

Belinda leaped onto the center of the mattress and bounced several times on her knees. “Will you help me out of my dress, Gabriel?”

His cock immediately responded to the idea of seeing her naked, but a bottle of wine placed on the table in the corner caught his eye. “Perhaps we should have a taste of wine first. After all, someone went to the trouble of placing it here for us.”

She stood up on the mattress and stared down at him with her fists on her hips. “You want to drink some wine. Now?”

He laughed and admired the round underside of her breasts from the new angle. “Where are the weapons hidden in here?”

She jumped down from the bed and pulled a long sword out from under it. Then crossed swiftly to the curtains where she pulled a dirk from a hidden place behind. She stood in an
en garde
position and smiled wickedly.

“Do you want to fight, Bella?”

She gave a quick shrug. “I had something else in mind, but some physical activity is in order.”

He squared his shoulders in her direction. “Is that right?”

She swung the sword around once and thrust toward him in a pirouette as graceful as any ballerina and much more deadly.

Gabriel ducked and pulled a long knife that had been concealed in his boot. When her blade came around again, he parried and at the same time kicked her left foot with his right.

She tumbled, the dirk clattered to the floor, but she made a pretty somersault of her mistake and came up facing him on the other side of the room.

Her dress was already torn from her hip to the floor revealing her long, lean, muscular leg, a stocking and the garter holding it up. The expanse of her stunning flesh distracted him. “It would appear that you need little help in divesting yourself of that garment, my love.”

“Claire will be very upset with me.” The words sounded remorseful, but her bright eyes and rosy cheeks told him she was invigorated and excited by their sparring.

He bent his knees for better balance and moved away from the corner, tossing his knife from hand to hand and watching her eyes to see where her next move would come from.

She rounded and flew at him feet first.

He ducked the blow of her sword, came around and knocked that weapon from her hands as well.-

Tossing his knife across the room, he barreled forward grabbing her around the waist and tossing her onto the soft mattress. He leapt on top of her, but she rolled out of his grasp. He fell on his face when her leg came down hard against his broad back. The wind rushed out of him and his jacket tore at the seams.

With one hand, he grabbed her ankle and used the other to lift Belinda, toss her toward the pillows and jumped on top of her, straddling her hips.

Her dress was in tatters. One breast was nearly exposed. The skirts were torn and her stockings had rolled low on her calves.

Gabriel reached back and touched her bare thigh. The skin was soft over the firm leg.

She smiled up at him. “You’re faster.”

“I have to be.” He tossed his torn jacket to the floor and pulled the blouse over his head and tossed it in the same pile.

Belinda caressed his stomach and ribs.

He quivered under her light touch.

“Are we done fighting now that are wedding clothes are in tatters, Bella?”

“Foreplay.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“We were not fighting. It was just foreplay.” Her smile was slow. Her perfectly-coiffed hair had come loose in the tussle and lay in a halo around her head.

She could probably have gotten out from under him if that was what she wanted, but she lay beneath him and continued to run her hands along his skin. She touched his arms and shoulders and even that touch made his cock jump in his smalls.

“Will our foreplay always leave me bruised?”

She laughed. “Probably.”

He covered her body with his, pressing between her legs so she could feel how aroused he was.

She wrapped her hands around his back.

Sliding his arms under her, he rolled so that she was on top looking down at him. Her initial expression of surprise shifted and her sultry smile returned. She pressed her hands against his chest and sat so that she straddled him. She tugged her skirts out from under her knees. The front was ripped, as were the ties at the back. What remained of the lacy garment, pulled easily over her head.

Only a thin chemise remained to enhance the view of his beautiful wife. Her dark nipples stood out as did the patch between her legs. The curve of her waist to the hip and the shadow of her navel enticed far more though the thin material than hid her assets. Her breasts peeked over the top of the low neckline.

“No undergarments and no stays on your wedding day.”

She pushed her hips forward riding her mound along his shaft and creating a hum of excitement through every inch of his body.

“You have no idea how Claire fought me. It took quite a lot of effort for you to find me in this state.”

“I can imagine.” He chuckled. “I appreciate the effort.”

She eased out the dangerous hair combs that no longer served any purpose, since her hair had escaped all restraints. Leaning provocatively over his chest, she placed them on the bed stand.

As she tried to move back, he wrapped his arms around her and kept her close. Breathing in her warm floral scent, his lips pressed to her pulse. The sigh that escaped her, encouraged him to run his tongue up from that sensitive point to her earlobe and suck the delicate flesh into his mouth. He worried the soft skin between his teeth and exhaled.

Belinda gasped as his breath tickled her ear, exactly the way he had intended.

He moved his lips so that they were just touching her lobe. “Tell me you want me.”

She pressed her hips down and forward. “Is it not obvious?”

“Tell me.”

She turned her head and kissed his cheek.

“I want you, Gabriel.” Her voice was low and tight with desire. She slid lower and kissed his chin. “I want you.” Still lower, she kissed his neck and chest. “I want you.”

He released his hold on her, and she slipped lower. Her warm breath tickled his stomach as she trailed wet kisses down. Her tongue dipped playfully into his navel, which was surprisingly erotic.

His cock jumped at the invasion as he watched her beautiful blond head sink lower. Her soft hair trailed behind teasing his chest and ribs. The delight of her touch, her body, had him vibrating with need.

Reaching down, he pushed her tresses aside to see her face as she kissed his stomach. Alluring green eyes stared up at him, while her fingers worked opened the fall of his breeches. Her full lips pressed to the flesh there, while her hand closed around his shaft.

A low moan erupted from his chest, a sound he didn’t think he’d ever heard from himself before. Raw desire flooded him, while her mouth closed over his cock and she sucked him deep in her mouth. His body was on fire. Nothing beyond the moment and need for more could penetrate his impassioned state.

She opened her throat taking him deeper and moaning against his sensitive flesh.

He was on fire. His hips came up to meet her slow drawing in and out.

Her teeth grazed him, changing the friction.

He gasped her name. He wanted to be inside her when he spilled his seed but didn’t have the will to make her stop loving him with her mouth.

Holding himself in check while reveling in the power her lips had over him, became more difficult.

Her tongue swirled around his head, parting the slit and swirling again. Then she sucked him deep in her throat and let her teeth scratch him as she let him out.

His body was near its limit.

She would drive him crazy if he didn’t come soon. She didn’t seem to know or care that she was killing him. The sight of her swollen lips around his engorged cock along with the deep moaning in her throat tested his will.

Gabriel sat up, gently pushing her shoulders back. His cock popped from her mouth, and she smiled.

“You did not like it?” From her satisfied expression, she knew he’d liked it very much.

“I do not want to finish this too soon. I want to see your rapture before that happens. I want you to scream with pleasure before I thrust deep inside you as my wife for the first time.”

Her nipples were distended and she moaned from just his words. “How will you accomplish all of that, my lord?”

He was sure his smile was as wicked as his thoughts. Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her up until she was flush against his chest and then rolled over pressing her into the soft mattress. His mouth descended on hers, opening and mating with her lips. His tongue delved inside and hers swirled within. She was delicious.

Soft moans mingled together. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers toyed lightly with his hair.

He saw the surprise in her wide eyes when he stepped off the bed and then when it was replaced by pleasure as he stripped off the rest of his clothes.