Page 69 of The Duchess Debt

She nodded, her gaze focused on the diamond pattern of his satin waistcoat. “I thought he was nothing but bluster, that it was nothing to concern you with until after the wedding when he’d left.”

“And you didn’t want to drive a deeper wedge between us,” he guessed grimly. “That’s why you didn’t tell me.”

She nodded, then bit her bottom lip. “But based on his unusual behavior tonight…”

“You mean the way he’s behaving himself?” he said, deadpan.

Instead of laughing or even smiling at that, her mouth pulled down into a grim expression of worry. “Exactly. What if he’s contemplating something terrible?”

Taking her chin in his fingers, he tilted up her face and leaned down to place a tender kiss to her lips to ease her distress.

“He approached you because he knows you possess a kind heart and want to mend all the rifts in our family.” He lifted a brow and added, “And he also knows I plan on refusing to givehim a single penny more than he is owed. His only chance for more is to play us against each other.”

She searched his face in the shadows. “Do you really think that’s all he’s doing?” She shook her head. “Maybe we should just pay him, to make him go away once and for all where he can’t hurt us or Alice.”

“His threats are empty. He won’t be in England long enough to enact any of them.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Hecouldprotest tomorrow during the ceremony, and Reverend Barlow would have to stop the wedding.”

“Then I’ll have to make certain he misses it.” By having Mr. Brown lock him into his inn room tonight and not let him out until well after noon.

“And misses the last chance to establish peace between you,” she said quietly, a touch of grief coloring her voice.

“He missed that chance years ago, and none of it was your fault,” he assured her. “You don’t need to worry. By this time tomorrow, we’ll be married, and Adam will be halfway to the port to catch the first ship for Kingston.” Even if Gabe had to hogtie him himself, shove him into a sack, and pay a porter to cart him to the harbor. “We won’t have to be bothered with him ever again.”

When she parted her lips with a troubled frown, he kissed her until her mouth softened beneath his and her worried expression eased. He bit back a groan at her sweet taste.

“My troublesome brother is the last thing I want to think about tonight.” He slipped his arms around her and brought his hands up to undo the short row of buttons at her back, loosening the bodice of her blue satin dress. “Tonight, all I want to think about is spoiling you.”

“You already have.” She trailed her fingers over the sapphire necklace. “This was too much, Gabe. You reallyshouldn’t have.” A sly smile curled her lips. “But I’m absolutely thrilled you did.”

“You like it?”

“I love it.” She brushed her hand across his shoulder to play her fingers through the hair at his nape. Electricity sparked over his skin everywhere she touched, including his lips when she rose onto tip-toes to kiss him.

“I’m glad,” he murmured against her mouth and splayed his hand wide over the necklace at her throat. “It looks simply radiant on you and as beautiful as you are.”

He slid his hand down her chest to her breasts and easily pushed her bodice out of the way, happily surprised to find her corset sagging beneath the satin, its ties already loosened. Her skin was so soft and warm beneath his palm that a slow but persistent ache began to pulse in his gut, intensifying at the sight of her when he wiggled down both her corset and the low-cut shift beneath to expose her bare breasts to his eyes.

“Your corset was loose,” he mused appreciatively as he traced a fingertip slowly over her tightening nipples.

“I had my maid…leave it untied,” she panted out, rising excitement already making her tremble, “in case we had…a moment alone.”

“Beautiful,” he repeated with a groan. “And brilliant.”

He kissed her both with gratitude that she would anticipate this moment and with pleasure that she craved him as much as he did her. Then he lowered his head to take her nipple into his mouth and suckled.

When he worried the sweet bud between his teeth, she inhaled sharply and reached for the edge of the reading table behind her to steady herself. But her need for him only increased her trembling, only deepened the arch of her back as she thrust her breast deeper into his mouth. He eagerly gave her the pleasure she sought. While his tongue and lips tormentedher left breast, his fingers wickedly teased her right nipple with both soothing caresses and arousing pinches and pulls, both demanding and tender at the same time.

He released her nipple from between his lips with a soft pop, then darted his head up to capture her mouth. He shoved his tongue between her lips in hard, possessive thrusts that made her melt against the table behind her and drew a shuddering moan of need from her throat. Her fingers ran through his hair and dug into his scalp, boldly urging him on. He gladly obliged by drawing her tongue into his mouth, closing his lips around it and sucking hard to draw out every drop of her sweetness.

She tore her mouth away from his to recover her breath, but he didn’t ease the torture. Instead, he left open-mouthed kissed down her throat and across her breasts that rose and fell temptingly with each panting gasp she took. “We shouldn’t…not here…”

He slid his hands down to her buttocks and pulled her against him. “Oh, we very much should.” A press of his pelvis into her soft belly showed her exactly how much. “Because I won’t be able to come to your room tonight and make love to you there.”

“Why… Oh.” She nestled back against his front when he turned her in his arms to face the window overlooking the lawn and the guests lingering in the torchlight. “You mean Verity.” Throaty laughter bubbled from her lips as he placed open-mouthed kisses against the side of her neck. “Thetalk.”

“She’s unmarried and not the best expert on intimacies between men and women, but I’m certain she’ll be in your room all evening attempting to explain it to you,” he murmured as he slid his hands languidly down both sides of her body. “I can only imagine what she’ll tell you.”