had drawn out to the fullest until Bryn was sobbing and the tears flowed down her cheeks.
‘I’m fine,’ she answered him shakily, limp in his arms as she lay draped across his chest. ‘Better than fine,’ she added. ‘That was the most amazing thing— I had no idea— It was truly amazing,’ she repeated breathlessly.
‘I aim to please, ma’am.’ Gabriel chuckled softly.
‘Oh, you did! You do,’ she amended huskily, hand lightly caressing his shoulder. ‘That was truly unbelievable. I— Are we going to stop now?’
‘Not a chance,’ Gabriel assured indulgently. ‘I’m just giving you time to recover. You seem a little overwhelmed.’
‘A little?’ Her laugh was shaky. ‘I could become addicted to so much pleasure!’
‘You’re doing wonderful things for my ego, Bryn,’ he murmured wryly.
‘I invariably tell the truth too,’ she assured quietly.
Gabriel frowned slightly, not wanting either of them to dwell on the reason he had said that to her earlier, not when they were together so intimately. They could deal with the past, and the future, later; right now he just wanted to be with Bryn, with no tension or animosity between them. ‘Didn’t any of your other lovers pleasure you so well?’ he teased.
Her fingers twirled in the curls on his chest. ‘What other lovers?’
Gabriel stilled as he looked down at her searchingly, a smile of satisfaction curving her lips as she tweaked one of his nipples and watched as it hardened in response.
She looked up at him. ‘Do you like that too?’
‘I love it.’ He nodded distractedly. ‘Bryn—’
‘Do we have to talk right now, Gabriel?’ She moved to lay between his parted thighs as she flicked her tongue across his hardened nipple, causing Gabriel to draw his breath in sharply as his shaft once again jerked and swelled in response to the caress. ‘You do like that,’ she murmured with satisfaction, the heat of her breath brushing across his dampened flesh.
‘Yes,’ he grated between gritted teeth. ‘Bryn—’
‘Not now, Gabriel.’ She glanced up at him pleadingly, her hands looking very pale and slender against his olive skin. ‘I don’t want to talk—to think—I just want to taste you some more.’ She moved sinuously down his body until she knelt between his parted thighs and her hands both curled about the length of his shaft.
Gabriel sat up slightly as he reached down to grasp her wrists and stop those mind-numbing caresses before it was too late. ‘Not yet, Bryn. I— Have you had any other lovers at all?’ he prompted cautiously.
She frowned as she looked up at him. ‘This isn’t the part where we confess to past relationships, is it? Because I really would rather skip hearing about all your previous conquests!’
So would Gabriel; there hadn’t been so many women for him that he didn’t remember their names and their faces, but there had certainly been enough. Not so much during the past five years, but Bryn wasn’t ready to hear the reason for that. ‘We aren’t talking about me, Bryn—’
‘Well, we’re not going to talk about me either, if this is going to be a one-sided thing!’ she assured impatiently. ‘Let go of my hands, Gabriel—’
He ignored her request. ‘Bryn, are you even on any contraception?’ he prompted exasperatedly.
She shrugged. ‘I’ve never had a use for it. Don’t tell me a man like you doesn’t have a condom or two in his pocket somewhere? Weren’t you ever a Boy Scout?’
‘Bryn, will you please answer me?’ Gabriel sat up, taking her with him, looking down at her intently as he continued to hold both her hands captive in his. ‘How many lovers have you had?’
She blinked. ‘Why do you need to know?’
‘Because this is important, damn it!’ he groaned. ‘I really need you to answer the question, Bryn.’
She frowned. ‘Am I doing something wrong? You seemed happy enough a few minutes ago—’
‘I was very happy, Bryn. I am happy.’
‘You don’t look it.’
‘That’s probably because you keep avoiding answering my question,’ he said, sighing his exasperation.
Bryn sat back, completely unconcerned by her own nakedness; Gabriel had seen and touched and licked parts of her that no other person ever had, so it was a little late for her to feel in the least self-conscious now. ‘Are you going to make a thing out of this, Gabriel?’ she prompted impatiently.
‘That would depend on what “this” is,’ he answered cautiously.
‘Okay, let’s just get this out of the way so that we can move on.’ She sighed. ‘No, I haven’t had any previous lovers. Which actually answers your second question, doesn’t it, because if I haven’t had any lovers then I’ve obviously never felt the need for contraception either.’ She looked up at him uncertainly as he released her to stand up abruptly. A nerve pulsed in his clenched jaw as he stared down at her.
‘No lovers?’
‘Not until tonight, no.’ She slowly shook her head.
‘Sweet mother of...’ He ran an agitated hand through his already tousled hair as he began to pace restlessly. ‘You should have told me, Bryn.’
‘Why should I?’ she reasoned. ‘I should tell you that fierce pacing doesn’t have the same impact when you’re stark naked.’ She fell silent as he quickly pulled on his briefs, trousers and shirt, not bothering to refasten the latter. ‘Gabriel?’
He breathed raggedly. ‘Just give me a minute, please, Bryn.’
‘I believe there were two of us here tonight, not just me,’ she continued despite his warning. ‘And I don’t remember you bothering to ask me any of these questions before we both took our clothes off.’
No, he hadn’t, had he? Which was more than careless on Gabriel’s part. His only excuse—if it could be called one—was that Bryn affected him so deeply he couldn’t think of anything else but her when he held her in his arms.
He looked at Bryn now, still unsettled at learning that he was her first lover— Well, her almost lover. ‘Bryn, I would have— I wouldn’t have pushed so hard if I had known of your...inexperience,’ he said gently.
She frowned. ‘What does that mean?’
He shook his head. ‘Well, I wouldn’t have made love to you in my office, for one thing.’
‘Why not?’
He closed his eyes briefly. ‘Your first time should be in a bed, Bryn, preferably a four-poster—’
‘I never imagined you as a romantic, Gabriel.’
His jaw tightened. ‘Don’t mock me, Bryn.
