Far Beyond Scandalous (16 page)

Gibson was tired after only a few
days of being almost constantly in Amy's presence.
 
He was tired of pretending that Amy was nothing more than a
friend, that they had never shared an incredible afternoon of passion.
 
More than that, he was tired of lying to
himself.
 
And to her.
 
When he had departed Cheltenham House last
night, leaving Amy with nothing more than a chaste bush of his lips across the
back of her gloved hand, he though he would be satisfied.
 
That he had done the right thing.
 
Yet desire for her still churned in his gut,
and he could not keep it inside any longer.
 
He simply could not resist her.

In the deep of the night, images of
Amy flirting with Lord Drake, and, God help him, perhaps even some day marrying
the man floated through Gibson's mind.
 
They teased and tormented him, leaving him unable to rest, and no longer
able to deny that he cared deeply for Amy.
 
He lusted after her.
 
In some
ways, he might even love her.

Gibson could no longer pretend
otherwise.
 
Nor could he lie to himself
any longer.
 
He didn't want to, either.

Fate had seen fit to give him one
chance to live his fantasy, and by God, he would take it.
 
Even if meant a shattered heart in the end.

"You know very well that what
I do is more than simply about friendship.
 
And, quite frankly, I am tired of pretending otherwise, though do not
say that I did not try.
 
I am no longer
satisfied with our agreement to forget that afternoon and go forward simply as
friends, albeit scandalous ones."
 
He never had been.
 

Reaching out, Gibson pulled Amy
closer to him before pushing the door closed behind him so that they would not
be discovered and interrupted.
 
"Yet, how can I speak those words to you when London has more
listening ears than all of the English spies in France?
 
I cannot risk harming your reputation."

Amy swallowed hard, aware of their
closeness and the heat that radiated like pure fire from his body.
 
She was also aware of how much she wanted
him to kiss her again.
 
He felt the same
as she did.
 
Thank God!
 
"We are in private now, Gibbs.
 
The servants are all belowstairs, as I have
barred them from this floor, save for the nurse sitting with my mother.
 
We are well and truly alone.
 
Of that, I can assure you.
 
What do you have to say now?"
 
She had meant to challenge him by adding a
teasing and somewhat seductive tone to her voice, and she prayed that she had
succeeded.

He arched a single aristocratic
eyebrow at her, and she could glimpse the would-be viscount lurking behind the
doctor's clothing and demeanor.
 
"Now?"
 
His golden gaze
was predatory, and while she did not feel fear, Amy suddenly knew what it was
to be stalked like prey.
 
There was no
question in her mind now that Gibson did, indeed, still want her, that he was
doing this enormous favor out of more than just friendship and obligation.
 
There was truth in the words he had just
spoken.

"Now," he continued
silkily, the tip of his tongue sliding along his upper lip, making Amy's heart
pound and her mind go blank, "I will tell you that I long to feel your
body against mine.
 
I yearn to taste
your sweet lips and sample the delights of you as I did that day."
 
He stroked a thumb along her cheekbone,
caressing the soft flesh.
 
"I meant
what I said. For me, that day is burned into my mind, and, were it within my
power, we would repeat that same seductive dance every night for the rest of
our lives.
 
Except that if I had the
right to have you in my bed, we would not stop where we did that
afternoon."

"No?"
 
Amy was breathless now, a dampness growing
between her legs and a rush of longing bubbling up inside of her.
 
Never had she imagined that Gibson would say
such words to her.
 
Such delicious,
naughty, seductive words.
 
She might
dream of it when she was alone in her bed at night, but she never thought she
would witness him actually speaking them.

A predatory smile graced his full
lips, and he backed her against the closed door, a hand on either side of her,
holding her prisoner.
 
Not that she had
any desire to flee.
 
"No,
sweeting.
 
Were I able, I would show you
everything, teach you all of the pleasures of the flesh, and explore every inch
of your delectable body."
 

Gibson knew his words were beyond
scandalous, but in that moment, he didn't care.
 
He had been denying his feelings for months, ever since he had
departed Seldon Park without telling Amy how deep his feelings for her ran.
 
She might very well toss him out in the next
few moments, precisely as he deserved, but for once, he would speak his mind.

"I would claim you as mine,
pet, flaunt the true depth of my desire for you in front of all of
society.
 
And at night when we were
alone, I would show you how many ways there are to experience pleasure.
 
Repeatedly.
 
For I am a physician, and I know them all.
 
Yet I have not experienced them all.
 
But I want to.
 
With
you."
 
Gibson closed his eyes as he
imagined just such a scenario.
 
He was
hanging on to his control by a thread, and he knew he should leave before he
did something he might regret or say something that he could not take
back.
 
Yet he could not make his feet
move either.

Against him, Amy whimpered and
pressed her body closer to his, his words stirring both her emotions and her
passion to new heights.
 
"I want
that, too, Gibbs."
 
There was no
reason to lie any longer.
 
She had
demanded this confession, after all.
 
"More than you can ever know.
 
I want all of it.
 
With you.
 
Only you."
 
Then she pressed her breasts to his chest, needing to feel the
sweet pressure that only he could provide her.

Gibson ran a hand down her back,
pulling her so tightly against him that she could now feel the hard press of
his erection against her stomach.
 
He
was bigger than she remembered, or perhaps time had dimmed her memories of
exactly how well-endowed he was.
 
She
longed to divest him of his clothes and reacquaint herself with that particular
part of his anatomy.
 
Wicked thing that
she was.

As she was imagining all of the
delightfully naughty things they could do together, she felt him slump back
away from her, though he did not completely relinquish his grasp on her
either.
 
"But we both know that I
cannot do any of those things, no matter how much I might wish to.
 
It is not my right and never will be.
 
Just saying the words, admitting those
wishes out loud is pure torment.
 
I am
not a weak man, Amy, and yet you somehow manage to bring me to my knees."
 
He cradled her face gently in his hands,
hating himself for what he had to say next.
 
"That is why, despite what I have just said, we must return
to the way we have been conducting ourselves the moment we leave this
room.
 
I will not ruin you and force you
into a marriage that will cost you everything."

Amy, however, was not about to give
up that easily.
 
Not when she was so
close to having precisely what she wanted.
 
She had secrets of her own, ones that Gibson knew nothing about, and
while this was not the time to speak of them, she wanted him to know that she
would not consider being bound to him for the rest of her life a tragedy.
 
She would give up everything - her position
in society, her family's wealth, all of it.
 
If only she could just have him.

She felt the burn of Gibson's body
through her thin day dress, and, unable to stop herself, remembered once more
the hard planes and contours of his chest.
 
A rush of longing and heat flooded her body, and she knew she was
blushing scarlet all over.
 
His attitude
towards a relationship between them was different now than she remembered, especially
if he thought he could put her off so easily after having just made such a
shocking confession.
 
At Seldon Park, he
had not particularly seemed to care if anyone discovered them.
 
Then again, neither had she.

She did not know the reason for the
change, other than the difference in their location, and did not care to guess
at it.
 
It was another part of the
mystery that was Gibson.
 
However, she
wasn't about to give up on him.
 
She
would win this battle, one way or the other.
 
She would find a way to win his heart.

He might be willing to walk away
from her, but she would not let him go so easily.

Looking up into his tawny eyes, she
longed to be able to claim him in public.
 
Just as he wanted to do to her.
 
But not today, unfortunately.

For now, a passionate kiss in
private would have to do.
 
She would
work on his complete submission later.

Rising up on the tips of her toes,
she wreathed her arms around his neck, gratified when he did not immediately
push her away.
 
She had made her
choice.
 
She wanted him, and she would
find a way to have him.
 
Forever, if she
could manage it.

"But in this room, then, it
does not matter what society thinks?
 
How lovely!"
 
Without giving
him a chance to respond, she brought her lips to his for another kiss, this one
full of longing and passion, not a surprised brush of the lips as the one a few
nights before had been.

Gibson knew he should push Amy
away.
 
It would be the right thing to
do, the proper thing.
 
Yet with the soft
press of her lips against his, he knew that he was damned to be anything but
proper.
 
When she ground her hips into
his, the last of his resolve deserted him.
 
This was the Amy of Seldon Park, and he could no more resist her than he
could force his heart to stop beating.

Just this once,
his mind
whispered seductively.
 
You know you
want to, and you all but have Lady Evanston's blessing.

In the end, however, it was the
soft press of Amy's breasts against his chest and the hard pebbling of her
nipples that was his ultimate downfall.

With a growl, Gibson moved back
deeper into the room, seeking the bed he had caught a quick glimpse of when Amy
had pushed him inside.
 
Finding it, he
sank down into its softness before settling her on his lap so that she might
straddle him.
 
She still fit there just
as perfectly as she had that day, much to his both delight and shame.

"I should not be doing this,
but God help me, I cannot stop myself," he whispered as he peppered her
throat with kisses, nipping at the delicate skin.
 
God, she tasted like perfection, all tart peppermint with a hint
of the sweet honey she had made certain was delivered to her mother's room
earlier.

"Yes," she breathed in,
snuggling her body against his more closely, spreading her legs as wide as she
was able, "you should be.
 
In fact,
it would be far better if we were naked in this bed.
 
Together."

He growled in agreement with that
assessment but forced his mouth to say otherwise.
 
"While in theory, I agree with that statement, in practice,
that cannot be today.
 
We have been gone
quite awhile and risk discovery."
 
At the beginnings of her protest, however, he licked at the hollow of
her throat, earning him another whimper of pleasure from her sweet mouth.
 
"That said, I can give you another
taste.
 
Like before."

Amy wanted more than a taste.
 
She wanted everything, all of it.
 
All of him.
 
She wanted the feel of Gibson's massive cock sliding deep inside of her
body.
 
She wanted the mark of his kisses
upon her breasts, to feel him suckling at her nipples.
 
She wanted each last piece of him, all that he
had to give.
 
However, when he swiftly
pulled down the bodice of her dress to reveal her breasts, she decided that
perhaps a taste was better than nothing.
 
What he was currently offering was certainly better than kissing.

She tasted as sweet as he remembered.
 
That was the only thought Gibson was capable
of as he teased Amy's nipples with his tongue, biting down on them lightly with
his teeth before soothing them again with a laving kiss and tracing them with
his tongue.
 
No, in some ways, she was
better than she had been that day.
 
In
the months they had been apart, she had grown into herself, knew better what
she wanted, and in this moment, she wanted him.
 
He would not argue with her on that point.