Antonia's Bargain by Kate Pearce

much.”
    “You sound disappointed. I took you there first to show you how the average man
    about town gambles.” His fingers settled over her bound breasts. “Gambling is a
    serious business. Fortunes are lost and gained in an evening’s play. The amount of
    money I won this evening might mean the difference between a man’s survival or his
    complete ruin.”
    She closed her eyes as her nipples tightened between his finger and thumb. His
    erection settled against her mound, rocking into her with the movement of the carriage.
    She sighed as the now familiar heat of her excitement began to grow. Gideon was like a
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    drug. The more he touched her, the more she wanted him. Would any other man be
    able to make her feel like this? Somehow she doubted it.
    “What are you thinking?” He kissed her ear, his cheek smooth against her skin, his
    sandalwood scent as beguiling as the finest champagne.
    “I believe you are leading me astray.”
    He chuckled and settled his hand over her buttocks, pressing her closer. “And isn’t
    that exactly what you wanted?”
    She stared into his amused eyes. “I’m not sure. I didn’t realize I would enjoy being
    seduced so much. It makes me forget why I started this masquerade in the first place.”
    His teeth grazed her lower lip and a pang of pure lust shot straight to her sex. “I didn’t
    know that being touched so intimately could be so pleasurable.” She licked the now
    tender spot on her lip. “My mother seemed to find only pain in her couplings with my
    father and none of the excitement I feel.”
    “Perhaps your father was an inadequate lover.”
    “Perhaps you are an exceptional one.”
    He smiled at that and spread his fingers over her buttocks, lifting her into the swell
    of his cock. “I’m not one to boast but…” He kissed her hard, his tongue plunging into
    her mouth until she squirmed against him. He winced and grabbed her hips.
    “Be gentle with me, my cock is tender.”
    Antonia remembered how early he had left the ball on the previous evening. Her
    chest tightened with a sensation she refused to acknowledge as jealousy.
    “Is that why you left the ball? To slake your lust?”
    He caught her chin in his fingers. “Do you want me to answer that?”
    A spark of bravado shot through her defenses. “Why not? You offered me your
    expertise.”
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    “I’m sore because my lover sucked and bit my cock too much. Although I can
    assure you I didn’t complain at the time.” His expression darkened. “Now it’s my turn
    to ask you a question. How did you know I was at a ton ball?”
    She licked her lips as he continued to stare at her. Was he asking her to reveal her
    identity to him and if so, what effect would that have on their relationship?
    “I was there with my family. I saw you leave.”
    He studied her as if waiting for her to say more. She continued to look back at him.
    “You can’t hide from me forever, Antonia.” Gideon picked her up and dumped her
    on the seat beside him, scattering the pile of money all over the carriage floor. It hurt to
    breathe as she struggled to douse the rise of her arousal. Her breasts ached to be
    touched and an insistent throb between her legs begged to be satisfied.
    Gideon bent to kiss her, his mouth hard and demanding. When he finally raised his
    head, he was breathing as harshly as she was. Perhaps he was not as unaffected by her
    as he tried to pretend. The reckless streak within her demanded she find out how far
    she could push him. She forced herself to sit still and not press shamelessly against him.
    He gestured to her untucked shirt.
    “We will arrive at our second destination at any minute. Make sure you are
    presentable.”
    Gideon swept past the butler at White’s and headed for the porter’s desk. Antonia’s
    refusal to tell him her full name had obviously rankled. She knew it was inevitable that
    they would meet in the narrow social world they both inhabited, but