Bride for a Night(78)

“Some are not so burdensome as others,” he said lowly.

This time she made no protest as his mouth lightly teased over her cheek before settling on her lips.

Perhaps she could not ease his troubles or prevent the looming disaster, but for the moment she could give Gabriel a few moments of distraction.

Closing her mind to the bittersweet emotions tugging at her heart, Talia shrugged off the jacket, allowing it to slide to the ground as she wound her arms around his neck.

Even knowing that every moment spent with Gabriel was destined to entangle her stupid heart ever more tightly, she could not deny his need that she could feel with every burning kiss and every stroke of his hand.

In return she offered an eager response that made him groan with approval, gathering her close as he lowered her onto the hay-strewn floor.

“Talia…” he whispered, gazing down at her with a vulnerability that seared away any lingering barriers she tried to place between them. “My beautiful gypsy.”

She smiled wryly at his husky words. “You call me such charming names,” she said. “Mouse…shrew…gypsy…”

“Wife,” he added softly, bending down to claim her lips in a kiss of raw need.

The simple word made something shift deep inside her, and, desperate to divert her mind from the dangerous emotions, she focused on the sensation of his hands gliding down her back. Arching closer to the heat of his body, she explored the hard planes of his chest, smiling as she felt the vibrations of his groan beneath her palms.

She might never have Gabriel’s heart, but his body was eager to belong to her.

Refusing to consider how many other women had known him just as intimately in the past and how many were yet to know him in the future, Talia tilted back her head as he nibbled a path of kisses down the sensitive line of her throat.

For the moment he was hers. Completely and utterly.

His mouth traced the curve of her breast before he captured the tip of her nipple between his lips, making her gasp in sharp pleasure.

“Yes,” she muttered in approval.

Continuing to pleasure her, Gabriel reached to grasp her hand, guiding it down to his straining erection.

Talia paused, feeling oddly shy. Then, curiosity overcame her modesty, and with a hesitant touch she curled her fingers around his hard length.

Gabriel muttered a low curse as she stroked from the tip to the wider base, taking time to discover the soft pouch beneath his erection before stroking upward.

“Christ,” he breathed, his hand shifting to part her legs. “You have only to touch me and I am lost.”


He was not the only one lost, she acknowledged as his hand sought the heart of her femininity that was already damp with her aching need. A moan wrenched from her throat as a slender finger dipped into the heat of her body, her hips instinctively lifting in silent invitation.

Oh, yes. Her eyes fluttered shut. Already she could feel the delectable pressure beginning to build in the center of her womb, and her fingers tightened on his arousal making him moan in pleasure.

“Wait, Talia,” he pleaded, covering her hand.

She frowned. “Wait?”

“My control is not as impervious as I had so arrogantly assumed,” he murmured, his lips teasing along the line of her shoulder as he gently turned her to lie on her side.

“Gabriel?” she breathed in confusion.

“I promise to please you,” he said, his lips brushing her ear as he molded himself against her back.

Talia did not doubt Gabriel’s skill. How could she when her entire body trembled on the precipice of bliss? But she found herself floundering as he gently tugged her leg up and over his hip.