Her.
He could count the number of times he’d kissed her on one hand, and yet he still knew, still understood, that this was the essence of her. She was unique in his arms, beneath his kiss, and he knew that no one else would ever do again.
He let go of one of her hands, stroking his way softly down the line of her arm to her shoulder…neck…jaw. And then his other hand released her and found its way back to the hem of her dress.
She moaned his name, gasping and panting as his fingers moved up her leg.
“Relax,” he instructed, his lips hot against her ear.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“No,” she said, grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her. “I can’t.”
Gareth laughed aloud, enchanted by her bossiness. “Very well,” he said, “don’t relax.” And then, before she had a chance to respond, he slid his finger past the edge of her underthings and touched her.
“Oh!”
“No relaxing now,” he said with a chuckle.
“Gareth,” she gasped.
“Oh, Gareth, No Gareth, or More Gareth?” he murmured.
“More,” she moaned. “Please.”
“I love a woman who knows when to beg,” he said, redoubling his efforts.
Her head, which had been thrown back, came down so that she could look him in the eye. “You’ll pay for that,” she said.
He quirked a brow. “I will?”
She nodded. “Just not now.”
He laughed softly. “Fair enough.”
He rubbed her gently, using soft friction to bring her to a quivering peak. She was breathing erratically now, her lips parted and her eyes glazed. He loved her face, loved every little curve of it, the way the light hit her cheekbones and the shape of her jaw.
But there was something about it now, when she was lost in her own passion, that took his breath away. She was beautiful—not in a way that would launch a thousand ships, but in a more private fashion.
Her beauty was his and his alone.
And it humbled him.
He leaned down to kiss her, tenderly, with all the love he felt. He wanted to catch her gasp when she climaxed, wanted to feel her breath and her moan with his mouth. His fingers tickled and teased, and she tensed beneath him, her body trapped between his and the wall, grinding against them both.
“Gareth,” she gasped, breaking free of the kiss for just long enough to say his name.
“Soon,” he promised. He smiled. “Maybe now.”
And then, as he captured her for one last kiss, he slid one finger inside of her, even as another continued its caress. He felt her close tight around him, felt her body practically lift off the floor with the force of her passion.
And it was only then that he realized the true measure of his own desire. He was hard and hot and desperate for her, and even so, he’d been so focused on her that he hadn’t noticed.
Until now.
He looked at her. She was limp, breathless, and as near to insensible as he’d ever seen her.