It was too much. The last of his control snapped and with a hoarse cry, he thrust back. She tilted her hips to take him deeper, her legs wrapping around his hips to urge him on. That was all the encouragement he needed, and he plunged in again. And again and again, his body heaving and convulsing in his passion, while hers writhed against him in electrified response. Gradually she found his rhythm and they began to move as one, thrashing and arching in frenzied pleasure, Gideon's every forceful stroke driving them closer and closer to what they both sought. When they began to swirl into rapture, they did so together, crying out in unison as their senses exploded. They climaxed in perfect harmony.
"Oh, Gideon! You were right. It is wonderful," Julia sighed, when she could at last speak.
Gideon chuckled and kissed her. "I am glad that I did not disappoint you, sweetheart."
She giggled and kissed him back. "The only way I shall ever be disappointed is if you do not do to me again what you just did, and soon."
Chapter 20
"My turn! My turn!" Bliss exclaimed, hopping up and down in her glee at their game.
Gideon smiled. "I should think that you both would have had more than enough turns by now," he said, lowering the giggling Jemima from his horse into the arms of a waiting footman, who in turn eased her to the ground.
The instant her feet touched the drive, she, too, began jumping up and down, joining Bliss's chorusing demands with her own cries of, "Again, Gideon! Again! Again!"
The prim, sober child Jemima had once been had all but disappeared in the weeks she had been at Critchley Manor, replaced by a sweet hoyden with a contagious giggle and a mop of golden curls that could never stay combed, no matter how much Julia fussed over them. At the moment she looked more like a ragamuffin than the lady she was bred to be, with her blue satin sash crushed and half untied, and her white muslin gown smeared with grass stains from the boisterous game of Prisoner's Base the entire family had played an hour earlier.
The family. His family. Gideon's smile broadened at the thought of the unorthodox brood he jokingly referred to as his tribe, his joy bubbling over as he shifted his gaze from the two girls' bright, eager faces to where several other tribe members took their leisure in the Critchley Park.
A red, blue, and yellow Oriental carpet had been spread beneath a cluster of shady oak trees, upon which sat Bethany, Maria, and Kesin. Bethany, who was engaged in sketching Maria and Kesin, had set aside her sketchbook and pencil to help Maria with the bonnet she was making for Kesin. Maria and the droll little primate had become fast friends over the past weeks, due in part, no doubt, to Maria's constant feeding of the beast, and the girl had decided just last Monday to adopt him as her baby. That, of course, required that she make him a frilly infant's bonnet to wear. Oblivious to the indignity that awaited him, Kesin sat beside his new mother as if he were a miniature person, which he most probably
thought he was, doing what he did best: devouring fruit.
As Gideon admired the charming picture they made, chuckling at the notion of Kesin in a bonnet, there was a nearby eruption of childish shrieks and chortles. Glancing in the direction from which they had come, he saw Jagtar swinging a delighted Bertie high in the air, dipping down as he did so to plop the boy on his shoulders. Bertie's pretty French nurse, Jolie, looked on with a smile, exchanging glances with Jagtar that spoke of an interest that went beyond their mutual adoration for the young lordling upon whom they presently doted.
Gideon watched the trio's jolly antics for several moments, and then took in the entire scene, wishing, not for the first time in the past weeks, that he had a talent for painting so he could capture the precious moment on canvas. Of course, the picture would not be truly complete without Christian, who was in Liverpool interviewing the captain whose ship might have carried Caleb to Jamaica, and Julia, who had been summoned inside to settle a laundry dispute. After all, they were an integral part of the core around which the entire family was formed, with Christian being the peacekeeper, and Julia the nurturer, under whose gentle care they all thrived and bloomed.
As always happened when he thought of Julia, Gideon's heart soared with happiness. For all his dreams of having a quiet, satisfying life, he had never once dared to hope that he would someday find the euphoric bliss and profound peace he had found in loving Julia. She was everything he could have ever wished for in a wife: kind, caring, capable, intelligent, beautiful, and sensual to the point of voluptuous naughtiness.
He out-and-out grinned at that last. Oh, but she was a lusty little baggage, as hungry for him as he was for her, and never shy about provoking his passion. Not that it took much for her to do so, not when her slightest touch inflamed and seduced him.
Unbidden, the memory of her latest provocation sprang forth and sizzled through his mind, its smoldering heat threatening to sear his loins to cinders.
He had been awakened by his arousal at dawn to find Julia beneath the covers fondling him. When she had discovered him awake, she had mounted and taken him at her wanton leisure, controlling and teasing his desire until he had at last wrestled her to the mattress and driven them both to paradise. Simply remembering the way she had moved beneath him, how she had wrapped her beautiful legs around his hips to urge him faster and deeper, made him long to march into the house and carry her off for an afternoon of carnal games, something he knew she would enjoy as much as he.
A powerful sense of contentment swept through him at the knowledge that he had found his perfect mate. And Julia truly was perfect in every way. Not only was she the perfect wife, exemplifying the word in all the expected ways, but she was also the perfect lover, one of those rare women blessed with innate sensuality. Why he had only to caress her for her to-
"Gideon!" Whap! Someone slapped his leg, unceremoniously demanding his notice. That someone was, of course, Bliss, who now stood with her hands braced on her hips, scowling at his inattentiveness. "It is my turn, Gideon," she insisted in an exasperated tone.
"Again. Oh, I want to go again!" Jemima chimed in. Her sash had been further loosened from her jumping up and down, and had slid down almost to her hips. To Gideon's way of thinking, she looked exactly as a child should.
A silken laugh drifted from the opposite side of his horse. "Well, you heard the child, Gideon. Again."
Gideon glanced to his right to see Julia standing beside his horse, her eyes sparkling with amusement and her ripe lips curved into a teasing smile. Though she was demurely dressed in a pink-and-white sprigged muslin gown, her V neckline offered him an unobstructed view of her soft white cleavage from his current vantage point. Letting his gaze roam freely over the delectable contours, the same path his kisses had taken that morning, he drawled, "Again, you say?"
"Again," she confirmed, a response echoed by Bliss and Jemima from the left of his horse. She laughed again, a rich, throaty ripple, tipping her head to slant him a saucy look. "You would not wish it to be said that you disappointed a lady, would you?"
Gideon tossed her a grin as lascivious as his thoughts. "Never, my lady." Locking his gaze into hers for a brief, heated glance, he wheeled Abhaya around, urging the animal to a quick trot as he guided it down the long, curving drive. When he was a goodly distance from where Bliss and Jemima stood, he turned around again and took his position.
The game they played was not a game at all, but an exhibition of a feat in horsemanship he had learned while in India and had often used on the battlefield. It was the same trick he had employed to snatch Bliss out of harm's way the day she had dashed in front of his and Christian's horses. When Bliss had related the incident during their earlier round of Prisoner's Base, well, at least her version of it, which completely eliminated her culpability in the near tragedy, Jemima and Maria had clamored for a demonstration. And what had begun as a simple display of horsemanship had quickly been adopted as a game by the children, all of whom clamored for a turn at having Gideon gallop up to them and snatch them up into the saddle with him.
It was somet
hing they had been playing at for a half hour now, and while Gideon genuinely enjoyed frolicking with his youngest tribe members, he was of a mind to play a more interesting game now that Julia had made her appearance.
Shifting his narrowed gaze from the girls at the edge of the drive to where Julia sauntered across the lawn toward Bethany, her enticing hips swaying temptingly beneath her flimsy skirts, he urged Abhaya to a gallop, leaning low over the animal's neck as they picked up speed. He was almost to where Bliss waited when he abruptly steered the horse around her, racing across the lawn to snatch up Julia. She shrieked in surprise as he swung her up onto his lap. Recovering her senses in the next instant, she laughed, snuggling against him in a way that hardened both his sex and his resolve to have his way with her. From behind them he heard Bethany, Jagtar, and Jolie's shouts of laughter, punctuated by Bliss and Jemima's disappointed protests.
Ignoring them all, Gideon urged Abhaya toward a distant, wooded grove, his hand roaming from Julia's waist to cup her breast. As always happened when he fondled her, she moaned and melted against him.
"Wicked man! Whatever possessed you to carry me off like that?" she teased in a husky whisper, her hand wandering downward to squeeze his manhood through his breeches.
And as always happened when she fondled him, he hardened completely and surged against her. "I was merely following your directive, my sweet," he murmured, his fingers now slipping down her neckline to stroke her nipples. Like his manhood beneath her hand, they instantly hardened to his touch. "You did say 'again,' did you not?"
"But the children." she demurred between her soft moans of pleasure. "What if they should follow us?"
Now concealed by the trees, Gideon drew Abhaya to a halt. "They shall not follow us. Bethany is certain to know what we are about and keep them away." That said, he dipped down and claimed her luscious mouth with his. No matter how often he kissed her, no matter how thoroughly, their fevered hunger for each other made every time feel as if it were the first one, stirring uncharted sensations that drove their passion to exhilarating new heights.
True to her naughty nature, Julia began moving her hands all over him, her body squirming and jerking in a way that finally forced him to pull back to see what she was doing. She was working to position herself so that she sat facing him, straddling his lap. Liking the idea and the possibilities it presented, Gideon aided her in her endeavor, effortlessly lifting her so she could shift her legs. Now in the desired pose, she curled her legs around his hips, drawing his pelvis between them.
The sight of her thus, with her skirts rumpled up around her waist to expose the white-silk-encased length of her legs and her woman's place pressed tantalizingly against his hardness made Gideon sob aloud in need.
She smiled, clearly enjoying his sensual torment. Slanting him a sultry glance, she slipped her hand down his breeches. Grasping his engorged sex, her fingers lightly working his most sensitive place, she murmured, "My, my. What have we here?"
Gideon groaned in inflamed response, his own hands moving beneath her skirts to caress her womanhood. When he found it damp, he knew that he had to have her, then and there.
Apparently they were of like mind, because her hands were now on his falls, unbuttoning them. A moment later he sprang forth, straining and pulsing, and ready to take her. Emitting a rough growl, he grasped her buttocks, lifting her up to sheath himself in her honeyed warmth. Commanding Abhaya to stay, he thrust deeply inside her, plunging in again and again until they collapsed against each other, quivering in ecstasy.
For several blissful moments they remained like that, sagging in each other's embrace in boneless rapture, with Gideon still inside Julia. At length Julia straightened up, a frown creasing her brow. "Do you hear that?"
"What?" Gideon murmured, kissing her furrowed forehead.
"That noise. It sounds like a coach or a wagon coming up the drive."
Gideon forced his thoughts away from the fact that he was again hardening inside her to concentrate on listening. He, too, heard the rumbling, which indeed sounded like a rapidly approaching vehicle. Promptly losing interest in the noise in favor of nibbling Julia's ear, he confirmed between nips, "I do believe you are correct. I daresay it is the kitchen staff returning from market."
"Market day is Wednesday. Today is Friday," she pointed out.
"Mmm," he responded, working his way down her neck.
"Gideon! Do pay attention," she chided, pulling away.
"I am paying attention. You have my full attention." He thrust his hips, driving his again-erect sex deeper inside her to demonstrate the fact.
"And I love that sort of attention," she replied, giving him a playful thrust back. "However, do you not think that we should go and see who it is? It could be Christian returning with news of Caleb, you know."
Gideon considered her logic for a moment, moving inside her as he did so, enjoying the feel of her. Then he sighed and reluctantly withdrew. "I suppose you are right. Besides if it is Christian with news, he will send someone to fetch us, and it would be highly unseemly for the servants to catch their mistress with her skirts tossed up like a doxy."
"Indeed? And would it not reflect equally poorly on you for them to catch their master tossing up their mistress's skirts on the back of his horse in the middle of the day?" she inquired with a laugh, tugging her bodice back into position.
He chuckled. "Ah, but it is different for a man. I daresay that such roguishness would serve only to add luster to my manly reputation."
She gave his cheek a playful cuff for his impudence, to which he responded with a kiss. Then they got down to the business of straightening their appearances, well, at least as best they could. Several minutes later they emerged from the trees to see a coach stopped at their door and bustling activity all around it. Not recognizing the vehicle, Gideon glanced at Julia in query.
Apparently she did not recognize it either, for she murmured, "Who do you suppose it could be?"
Gideon, who had drawn Abhaya to a halt in order to study the scene, shrugged. "I cannot say. However, there looks to be a crest painted on the side."
Julia squinted at the crest, as if trying to make out the details. Unable to do so for the distance, she shook her head, musing, "Perhaps it is someone who is lost and is seeking directions. Or a traveler in need of aid."
"Or it could be a spy sent by the ton to report upon our marital progress," Gideon contributed with a chuckle. "The only way to know for certain is to go and see." With that purpose in mind, he spurred Abhaya forward, cutting across the park lawn to where three footmen had begun to unlash the trunks atop the fashionable blue and gold vehicle, while two grooms moved forward to take charge of the six gray horses. They were halfway there when Gideon heard Julia groan.
"It is the Duke of Hunsderry's crest," she muttered. Gideon looked down in time to see her make a face. "I wonder what the Dunvilles could be doing here? They are hardly the sort of people to drop by a person's country house simply for the pleasure of their company."
Though Gideon, too, was less than thrilled by the prospect of having to suffer the insufferable Dunvilles, he gave Julia a reassuring hug, saying, "Again, the only way to know for certain is to find out." They had now drawn near enough for him to see that their sisters had rushed over to the coach and now greeted their callers. As he watched, Bethany curtsied to the duchess, an imposing harridan decked out in purple and black, who Maria appeared to be introducing, while a footman helped Lady Helene from the coach. A moment later, Lady Wilhelmina Edicott emerged.
"Why, it's Mina," Julia exclaimed, her glum expression brightening at the sight of her friend. "Her Grace must be on a matchmaking mission."
Gideon frowned. "Matchmaking? Here?"
"Well, not here. My guess is that the group is either going to or returning home from a country house party hosted or attended by a gentleman Her Grace wishes to secure for Helene."
"And how did you come to that conclusion, pray tell?"
"Because Mina
is with them. Her Grace always invites one of Helene's plainer acquaintances to accompany them to gatherings where there will be likely gentlemen present, so as to make Helene appear all the more beautiful in contrast."
"I rather prefer Lady Mina's looks, myself," Gideon commented truthfully. "At least a man knows what he is getting with her."
"That is because you are a man of rare good taste," she retorted, tipping her head back to invite his kiss.
He obliged, but quickly, since they were almost to the coach now. He had just lifted his lips from hers when Jemima rushed to the edge of the road, calling, "Do come, Julia! We have company."
Julia made another face, only to promptly rearrange it into an expression of bland cordiality as two grooms rushed over to help her dismount.
"You must pardon me if I greet our guests from horseback," Gideon whispered into her ear, as one man joined his hands to make a step, while the other hovered by his side in preparation to steady Julia as she stepped down. "My breeches are soiled from our romp, which will show if I dismount. Since it would never do for Her Grace to think that I am completely consumed by my primitive urges . . ." He finished his sentence with a meaningful lift of his brows.
She snorted. "I truly do not care what Her Grace thinks. I love you, and that is all that matters."
Gideon grinned, pleased that she valued their love above the ton's opinion. Dipping down to kiss her cheek, he murmured, "Have I told you today how much I adore you?"
"Only a dozen or so times. You are rather behind in the number today. I shall expect you to work very hard to correct your oversight." Tossing him a saucy look, she dismounted. After pausing to smooth her gown, she took Jemima's hand, allowing the child to pull her around the coach to where the assembly had congregated. Gideon followed them on horseback.
"Julia, oh Julia!" Mina cried, rushing forward to hug her friend. "How I have missed you!"
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