Courting Guinevere (The Davonshire Series Book 1)

by Olivia Gaines

  Tonight, he was going to be the good man she needed. Tonight I plan to just hold her and thank her for the robe. In all honesty, he had never owned one. His bathroom at his parents’ home was located in his bedroom. You never left your bedroom in his parents’ house undressed. His mother felt it was not proper. At his brother’s ranch as well as his sister’s apartment, his bedroom also held his bathroom and again he had no need for a robe. In San Francisco, it was basically the same, and he was often there alone and walked about in sweats and a tee.

  Yes, I will thank her properly.

  Tonight, we will just talk.

  I will show her a great deal of affection and maybe, in the morning, we will make love.

  Gawain knew he could do this. I am a gentleman and I can contain myself.

  An enlarged photo on the wall caught his attention. It was a photo of the two of them from the nightclub on their first date. The nightstands held a photo of him on the living room couch wearing his earpiece having a conversation. When did she take that photo? She had stocked his nightstand with the intimate products he preferred to use. The other nightstand held another photo of the two of them on the dance floor. The way she was looking at him while they were dancing as he held her in the picture made him feel all itchy. He scratched at his neck again. Who took that photo? He quickly put it down.

  He began to focus on the smaller things, even noticing the lavender scent she used as either a fabric softener or a bed spray.

  “A man could get used to this,” he said aloud then he heard Shontae clear her throat. He peered from under his hand and there she stood, adorned in a Vanity’s Pleasure red silk seductress teddy.

  MyBoo-Bear in a teddy.

  As she walked around to his side of the bed, he propped himself up onto his side, leaning on one elbow. Watching her walk towards him. His eyes started at the top of her head, and worked their way down to the high-heeled red mules that adorned her sexy feet. Gawain wasn’t sure where she had picked up the little red riding crop but it didn’t matter – she could beat the shit out of me with it for all I care. I just need to feel her skin next to mine.

  All thoughts of just holding her drained from his brain and rushed to his nether regions. He cursed himself for his lack of discipline but his dick was thinking for him now and Dick wanted to play. He unwillingly licked his lips. Each step she took towards the bed made it harder for him to concentrate. By the time she rounded the bed, he had moved completely to his back and propped up on both elbows, knowing that the crop meant cowgirl.

  Gawain stiffened his resolve to be a good man and only just hold her tonight. To turn her down and refuse the gift she was offering would confuse and hurt her feelings. I don’t have a choice but to make love to her. He wanted to use his words and explain his thoughts, but she said his name. The way she said his name…his skin started to heat up. It was now matching the hotness of the rest of him.

  Shontae flung back the covers and climbed onto the bed to sit astride him. “You were saying something earlier about getting your just desserts.” I can cuddle with her afterwards. He was ready and needed to quickly prep her body for what he was about to do to it. Grabbing her hips, he roughly pushed and pulled her hips so that her lady parts rubbed over his need. I need to be gentle with her, but I am starving.

  He sat up and met her mouth with his own while rolling her over to her back. His hands were everywhere as he grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his back, throwing the high-heeled shoes across the room. He attempted to unsnap the seat of the teddy, but ended up tearing away the crotch.

  His words were tense when he said, “Please tell me you’re ready for me.”

  He rolled her further underneath him and buried his face between her breasts. His right hand started at her knee and purposely slid down to the meaty portion of her ass cheek that he smacked sharply. Shontae’s breath caught. But that wasn’t the sound he needed to hear. He used his whole hand, then his fingers, and when that wasn’t yielding the desired result, he used his mouth.

  He didn’t want to waste the time trying to unfasten the mind-teasing red trap that she wore. Gawain tore it from her body to bare her breasts.

  “Oh!” She exclaimed, excited and mentally preparing her body to receive him.

  “Shontae, baby, please tell me you’re ready for me,” he asked, rougher than before, while he rubbed himself against the precipice. He buried his face in her breasts, still moving his hips, digging his toes into the mattress.

  He wasn’t going to be able to wait much longer. “Não posso esperar muito mais longo,” he told her.

  She had been quiet until this point. She was so close herself that she knew the moment he entered her, she was going to embarrass herself. Ever since she heard his voice three days ago, she had been thinking about this moment. Watching him all night as he talked to her friends, bonded with her brother, played with the kids, all solidified that he was her man. Her man needed her loving. He had waited for three weeks for this moment and she didn’t want to rush it. She knew he was nearly out of his mind with need when he lapsed into Portuguese. She had a surprise for him tonight. She was ready for him in more ways than one. Her body was on fire and that ass-smacking thing nearly sent her over the edge. Her need to have him was already matching his desire to be inside of her. She wanted to please him. It was going to be a bigger surprise when he found out that she had learned a few words in Portuguese.

  She rolled her hips and moved her legs further up his back so that she could feel the tip of him pressing into her womanhood.

  “Venha-me o bebê,” she responded as her body moved to take him in. She could hear the growl that emanated from the back of his throat.

  Gawain looked down at her face, his irises almost black, “Say it again, baby. Tell me the words again.…”

  Shontae wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face down to hers, kissing his cheek, and whispered the words in his ear, “Venha-me o bebê.” She said it first in his language, then again in English, “I am ready for you, baby.”

  He responded by planting his hands into the mattress on either side of her while arching his back and sinking all of himself into her as far as he could go.

  “Damn, you feel so amazing,” he whispered when he lowered his head into the crook of her neck, bringing his lips close to her ear. Shontae let go, clawing at his back, bucking her hips against him as she found her release. It felt primal. It felt raw. He captured her mouth with his own and he encouraged her to move with him. The lights were still on and he knew that tonight was not going to be a marathon, but he was going to unload the past three weeks right now. He slowed his movements and looked directly into her eyes asking her permission.

  Shontae noticed that the irises of his eyes were darkening to almost an obsidian color and she even understood what his body was requesting. She tightened her legs around his back and nodded her consent. Gawain wanted to let go. Her man wanted to empty the recesses of three weeks of tension and he wasn’t planning to be gentle when he did it. He held her gaze as he increased his pace before allowing himself to completely let go. Although he had intended to whisper words of endearment as he took her tonight, he was angry that his words only came out in grunts and moans. He could feel her second release building and he didn’t care, he just needed feel the joy of being with her. The pleasure of being inside of her. The completeness of her love for him. Gawain slammed himself into her again and again, pushing, thrusting, and seeking the release he desperately needed. They sounded like two animals and he reached his climax as she found hers.

  Minutes later, he lay sated and sprawled on his back like an oversized puppy that had eaten too much. He pulled her across his chest with her harassed hair, tattered teddy and lips that were swollen from his kisses. It wasn’t his best work, but he had given it the ole college try and this was only a third of his usual first run. He laughed out loud as he rubbed his thumb across her arm and noticed that he hadn’t even bothered to remove his underwear. He lay in b
ed with her with his junk hanging out of his drawers. I belong to her … with her, I can stave off the loneliness.

  He vowed to himself that he would treat her well. Shontae was indeed a special woman that knew how to treat a man. She had begun to learn his language so that in these private moments, she could connect on a deeper level with him. She did that for me.

  Shontae had altered her meager apartment to make it more welcoming for his stays in their little oasis. She was making adjustments for him to share her life, and he was going to step up and do the same. He swore that if he could not learn to let go enough to love her, he would shower her with his affection and take good care of this beautiful woman. Which meant that he needed to protect her from the ugliness of his world to keep what they shared here private.

  Shontae spoke softly to him, “I have been working out so that I can be able to hang with you.” Her fingers rubbed absently across his chest before he detangled himself to go to the bathroom. She knew he only needed about a half hour before he would be ready for rounds two through four, and she didn’t know what to make of him putting it all out there, but she did know that it was hot!

  She was shocked when he returned from the bathroom and removed a t-shirt from her drawer and undies while helping remove the teddy that he had ripped to shreds to get to her. This man was hard on lingerie.

  She was now adorned in a t-shirt and cotton undies as she watched him maneuver about the room. Not an ounce of fat on him. He picked up the bathrobe that had fallen to the floor and draped it back across the base of the bed before he slid under the covers and pulled her close. “I can honestly say that this is my first bathrobe. I love it. Thank you.”

  He continued to talk to her about the other touches and how much he liked each as he turned off the lamp on his nghtstand. He nibbled on her shoulder and she asked, “Are you ready for seconds already?”

  He only responded with, “Thanksgiving.” Shontae looked over her should while questioning the word choice, waiting for him to answer.

  “You know how on Thanksgiving you are stuffed, but you still go back to the kitchen and nibble,” he said, “because everything is just so damned good?” They both laughed a little, but he could sense something else was on her mind.

  “Baby,” she said softly.

  “Hmmm,” he murmured into her shoulder.

  Shontae exhaled slowly, trying to garner her courage, “I know we have only been seeing each other for a few months …”

  Gawain said nothing. He waited for her to finish the sentence.

  “I hope it didn’t mess anything up by telling you I was falling in love with you … you know … so soon.”

  He turned her slowly onto her back and looked down to where he thought her face was in the darkness of the bedroom. “My beautiful Shontae, you never had to say the words. Last month, I lay in this same bed, weak, helpless, and completely at your mercy.”

  He planted a soft kiss on her cheek, then a feathery light one to her lips. “You stayed at my side for three days and nursed me until I was strong enough to get back up.” He pulled her in close, squeezing her in his arms. “Your actions said more than any words you could speak.”

  As he held her close, he could feel the moisture from the tears rolling down her cheeks. She whispered his name as if she was committing to the winds of fate, “When you do say stuff, it comes from your heart and sounds so nice. I love that about you. That is why I had to tell you that I loved you.”

  He kissed her again. “Tell me often, show me every day, and teach me how to properly love you back,” he told her as his head sunk into the pillow and drifted into a peaceful slumber.

  9

  The Squire's Understanding

  Who could be knocking at the door at 7:15 in the morning? All kinds of thoughts flooded through Gawain’s mind as he hesitatingly made his way to Shontae’s front door. His breathing was labored as he placed both hands on the wood and leaned his body forward to peer through the peephole. His heart thudded in his chest as he silently prayed it wasn’t her other man. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw it was only her brother.

  “You’re here early,” he told Darius as he opened the front door, careful to stay out of the cold air. He was clad only in a t-shirt and lounging pants.

  “Good morning to you too, pretty boy,” Darius told him with some disdain in his voice. Gawain ignored it.

  “Coffee?”

  Darius looked around the apartment and immediately noticed all the new touches, especially the Eames recliner. “Sure. Shontae ain’t up yet?”

  Gawain poured him a cup of coffee and sat it on the table, placing the creamer and sugar containers in front of him.

  “She usually sleeps in on Saturday morning, but I am about to start her breakfast. When she smells the food, she’ll get up.”

  Darius tried to hide his surprise as Gawain began to crack eggs, add milk and whip up omelets that he would serve with toast. The first omelet, he sat in front of Darius. He halved a grapefruit and placed it in a bowl where Shontae would sit and offered the second to Darius, who declined.

  As soon as the toast popped up, so did Shontae. Her hair was mussed on one side and sticking up in the air on the other. The robe she wore over her t-shirt and undies was twisted revealing a perfectly toned thigh. Even in this state, Gawain found her extremely adorable. She mumbled something to him as he enveloped her in his arms, lifted her from the floor and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Good morning, baby.”

  Gawain gently lowered her feet to the floor and then pulled out her chair. A perfect ham and cheese omelet, unbuttered wheat toast, and apple juice was placed in front of her seating. He poured her a cup of coffee. “Oh Shontae,” he said to her as he picked up his satchel, “Per your request, a French Vogue magazine.” He placed the periodical on the table next to her food.

  “I will let you two enjoy breakfast. I will be in the back,” Gawain told them as he grabbed a bottle of water and headed towards the second bedroom. As he walked down the hall, his phone chirped. He took the call as he closed the door.

  Shontae cut into her omelet, placing a small chunk in her mouth. She chewed slowly as if savoring every taste as she looked over at her brother, who had done the same. Darius’s eyes were wide, “This is good as hell!”

  “You should taste his chicken,” she said as crunched on the piece of toast.

  “He cooks for you like this all the time?”

  “Not all the time, but if I cook, he does the dishes,” she said as she watched her brother’s face. “You came here this early expecting to find what exactly, Darius? Me up cooking and waiting on him hand and foot?”

  Darius had finished the omelet and tasted the coffee, “Damn, even the coffee is good. What is this?”

  “I’m not sure, it is some special blend he likes. You can ask him, I’m sure he will give you some if you want it.” She still stared at her brother.

  “Shontae, this will never work between the two of you. You know that right?”

  “Actually, I don’t know that. And what makes you think you do?”

  “You want different things. You saw how good he was with Jaeden and Candice … his special coffee.… Even last night in the card game when Rico and his brother started speaking in Spanish, he knew what they were saying.”

  “What are you saying, Darius? That he is out of my league?”

  Darius got up to refill his coffee cup. “No, what I am saying, little sister, is that you aren’t ready for the majors. That cat is in a different class altogether.”

  Shontae almost stabbed the grapefruit with her spoon. “You’re right, he is. And I plan to have him school me well. As a matter of fact, you should take a few cues from him yourself.” She paused. “When was the last time you cooked breakfast for your woman? Hell, when was the last time you cooked anything for her? And do yourself a favor, go and find a book on the Kama Sutra, read and learn.”

  “So that’s what this is about, him doing fancy sex tricks on you and
hooking you?”

  “No, Darius, a woman truly cherishes a skilled lover who knows her body and how to bring her pleasure. But she truly appreciates him even more when he makes her breakfast the next morning. That is why I am hooked. It is not about what he gives me, but how he treats me. He has never treated me or spoken to me like I’m some hood rat. He treats me like I matter to him.”

  She gulped down her apple juice. “Making my breakfast tells me that I matter. Remembering the small things that I like, tells me that I matter. Hugging me and greeting me in the morning even though I look like hell, tells me that I matter to him.”

  “I hope more than that matters to you,” He told her as he polished off his second cup of coffee. “Let me know when he tells you that he loves you. Better yet, let me know when he takes you home to meet his mama.”

  It was those words that stuck with Shontae like a bad smell at a seafood joint. The words unfortunately dogged her for the years to come. Always niggling in the back of her mind that her brother was right, maybe she would never be good enough for him.

  10

  The Knight's Match

  Three months, three weeks, and three days before their three-year anniversary, she dumped him. He listened carefully as she laid out her well-rehearsed speech. Gawain ate his dinner in silence as he listened to her state how he had spent the last three years waking up in her bed, yet she had never been given a chance to wake up in his.