Page 39 of The Rogue’s Countess

The slight pinch of her teeth against his lower lip made him grant access to his mouth. Eagerly, her tongue slipped past his lips to tease and tantalize him until a deep groan rose from deep within his chest. Desire surged through his veins with a force that startled him. The power of it swiftly dragged him down into a blood-red mist of passion. Everything fell away until the only thing he breathed, tasted, saw, or heard was her. There was a frantic edge to her kiss as her mouth nipped and teased his.

With every retreat and surge of his body into hers, her hips moved against his with unrestrained passion. A small pulse tightened around his cock as her body gripped him and resisted his retreat. Suddenly she jerked hard beneath him, then arched upward to cling to him, her fingers digging deep, almost painfully, into his shoulders.

In the next instant, her lips parted, and he quickly silenced her cry of release with his mouth as he absorbed the shockwaves of her body contracting around his cock. The strength of her climax tugged at him hard. It pulled him along as he pumped his body into hers even faster. Hot velvet clenched around him like a vise as one contraction after another issued her body’s silent demand for his surrender.

With one last, hard thrust, his body tightened with anticipation, then shuddered as he spilled his seed. His breathing ragged, he buried his face in her neck for a long moment. Small tremors still rippled through her, and the pulse on the side of her neck fluttered wildly against his mouth.

Gideon nibbled at her neck then slowly lifted his head to stare down at her. Eyes closed, her shallow breathing had begun to ease. There was an afterglow about her that made him ache for her all over again. Her cheeks were a dusky pink while her red mouth glistened in the light of the oil lamp from his kisses. Phoebe’s eyes fluttered open, and as she met his gaze, she grew still beneath him.

“I think the next time we should consider a bed-chamber,“ he murmured huskily as his fingers brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. When she didn’t say anything, he eyed her with a puzzled frown. Gently, he brushed his mouth across hers. “What is it, Phoebe.”

“It appears you’ve successfully picked your most recent flower.” The soft words were devoid of emotion, and he stiffened.

“What the hell does that mean?” he bit out between clenched teeth.

“It means you won the war, Lord Chelmbee,” she said quietly and turned her face away from him. As she called him by the detestable name he’d been given in the Currer Chronicles, Gideon went rigid. He’d barely opened his mouth to speak when there was a knock on the library door. Before he could order the individual to wait, the door swung wide open.

“Excuse me, my lord, her ladyship was—”

Gideon quickly shifted his body to shield Phoebe as she sucked in a sharp breath of horror. As he looked over his shoulder, he saw his mother’s lady’s maid staring at them in horrified dismay. The woman’s mouth was working as if she were trying to speak, while her face was a brilliant shade of red.

“Get out,” he ordered in a viciously harsh tone.

The woman didn’t need to be told twice, and she bolted from the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Gideon turned his head back to Phoebe and saw she was white as a sheet. Concern swept through him as she began to tremble.

“It will be—”

“Let me go,” she rasped in an almost inaudible voice.

Her hands pushed at his chest, and Gideon quickly lifted himself off of her and rose to his feet while adjusting his trousers. The moment she was free, Phoebe scrambled off the couch. She had barely shaken out her skirts when she ran toward the door. He charged after her and caught her by the arm to drag her to a halt.

“Phoebe, I’ll fix this.”

“Fix what?” she said bitterly. “My reputation? Do you seriously believe Polly won’t tell anyone that she saw you rutting with me like a common whore?”

“She won’t unless she wishes to be discharged without a character,” he said grimly as he was forced to admit the scenario Phoebe had just described was a distinct possibility. Phoebe’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Oh, dear God. She’ll tell your mother,” she rasped as the color drained from her face again. It was obvious how horrified and afraid she was of further degradation.

“Damnit, Phoebe, I’m not going to let the woman say anything to anyone.”

“I can’t stay here. I need to go.”

Every emotion flitting across her face indicated she was in a state of shock. With a savage twist of her body, she raised her arm and broke free of his grasp. The moment she was no longer restrained, she headed toward the door again.

“Phoebe. Listen to me.”

Gideon quickly followed her and pulled her to a halt once more. Hands grasping her upper arms, he forced her to face him. She was still mumbling to herself, and he shook her slightly to make her look at him. Brown eyes wide in her face, the panic and fear in her expression twisted his gut.

It was the stark vulnerability on her face that shook him the most. It was the same look she’d had that night five years ago. The same fragility that had made him want to pull her close and keep her safe. Every tenuous emotion he’d seen in her that night had returned to replace the strong, spirited woman he’d verbally sparred with since his return home. The same passionate woman he’d just made love to.

That woman had been replaced by the stranger he’d met long ago. The change in her struck a blow to his body. This time he was the reason for her pain, mortification, and fear, not someone else. Almost as if she could read his mind, her expression became unreadable. She’d closed herself off to him, and it was impossible to deduce what she was thinking.

“Let me go, Gideon. There’s nothing you can do,” she said in a dispassionate voice.

“Yes, there is. You’re going to marry me.” The moment the words left his mouth, Gideon clenched his jaw. He wasn’t sure what had prompted him to propose marriage, but he knew it was the only viable option that would protect her.

“What?” Phoebe recoiled from him with a look of shocked dismay on her face.