Page 104 of Notorious

Gabriel tweaked his ear and made him giggle. “My only wife, you little monkey. But she is a good one.” He winked up at her and swung Samir onto his shoulders as he stood, causing the little boy to shriek with laughter.

“Oh no,” Gabriel said, pointing toward the pond. “There is your duck, Sami—he is on top of that other one.” He grinned down at Drusilla and took her hand, giving it a hard, quick squeeze. “Let’s go see—what could that wicked duck be up to now?”

* * *

The next day Gabriel asked his wife if she had any objection to canceling their plans for the evening.

“You mean you don’t wish to go to the Carews’ ball?” she asked, looking up from the desk in the library, where she was engaged in writing a letter.

Once again, they’d spent the afternoon with Samir. Today, they’d taken him to a rather spectacular toy shop on Oxford Street. It seemed Drusilla was very well known there as she often bought toys in such quantity as to make her their most welcome customer.

They’d purchased a fine box filled with soldiers for Samir as well as several books that had been written expressly for children.

Afterward they’d brought Samir to Upper Brooks Street and introduced him to the senior members of their staff, all of whom would be accompanying them to Sizemore after the Season was over.

Gabriel suspected his servants already knew more than they let on, but it made him feel as if he’d taken a step in the right direction by bringing the two parts of his life together. As for his mother? Well, he had determined to wait to tell her anything until they left London in a few weeks. He assured himself that he was not afraid of her reaction—and he mostly believed that was the truth—but he did not wish to add yet more tension to what had already been a difficult Season.

After he’d taken Samir home, he’d returned to find Drusilla in the library and had settled down to do some much neglected paperwork. They’d spent the past few hours in companionable silence.

As the dinner hour approached, Gabriel realized he wanted more of her company—that he did not wish to share her tonight.

“Gabriel?”

He saw she was waiting for his answer, her graceful eyebrows arched and her full lips slightly parted in a way that sent a buzz of arousal through his body. She was, he thought with a shock, a remarkably sensual creature in addition to being clever and caring. He loved their time in bed, but he wanted more than that—no matter how wonderful their sexual relations might be.

“I would rather spend the evening at home.With you,” he added, diverted by the way she turned away, giving him her shoulder. A few weeks ago, he would have viewed such an action as rejection. But Gabriel was beginning to understand she was at her most prickly when she was most emotional.

“I shall write to express our regrets,” she said to the far wall.

Gabriel smiled, as eager for the evening as Samir had been for their visit to Gunter’s this afternoon. He strode toward her and took her upper arm, turning her.

She was a fiery red, her expression flustered. He lowered his mouth to hers, claiming her with all the hunger he felt. Her body shifted and molded itself against his, her arms circling his neck while she opened to him, sucking his tongue in a way that made his entire body hum with want. His wife was a very fast learner in many areas.

Gabriel was breathless when he pulled away. “I shall notify Parker that we will dine in our room tonight.” He took in her full, parted lips and slightly flaring nostrils and gave a growl of frustration. “I think we will have dinner early this evening. Very early.”

Chapter 22

Everything changed after that night.

Oh, they still needed to attend the interminable parties, routs, and balls that filled the Season every evening, but they spent part of every day together—days that sped by in a blur of happiness.

As Gabriel had suggested, Samir remained with his former mistresses until they departed for Sizemore.

Though Drusilla agreed that two moves in a brief time would be hard on him, she could not be comfortable with Gabriel’s frequent visits to their house to either bring Samir out for the day or read him a story before bed. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him; it was just that she felt . . . excluded.

To his credit, Gabriel tried to include her in his time with Samir. She saw the little boy every day, and, after a few weeks, she felt as though she’d known and loved him for years. She didn’t know if he was Gabriel’s son, nor did she believe the blood relationship mattered to her husband.

For a child who’d just lost both his parents, he was remarkably happy, but Gabriel told her Samir was plagued by nightmares, so Drusilla knew he was not as serene as he appeared on the surface. It would take years to help him overcome his grief. The best way to do that was to give him security and love. She was eager to begin their life as a family and could hardly wait for the day they could leave London for the country.

But, in the interim, there was the remainder of the Season to be gotten through.

In the evenings they went to balls, routs, soirees, and every other type of foolishness. She soon discovered that a Season with the man she loved was far more exciting and interesting than a Season as a wallflower. Drusilla was stunned by what a difference happiness made to activities she had always considered vapid.

Eva often accompanied them, and Drusilla was relieved to resume their friendship. She did not believe Eva felt excluded by the growing closeness between herself and Gabriel, although it seemed to her there was a new distance between herself and Eva. It was probably natural that their relationship had changed; they were now separated by a vast gulf of experience.

But it wasn’t only the fact she was now married; sometimes she felt as if Eva might be hiding something from her—or, at the very least, was distracted by somebody or something.

It was selfish of her, but Drusilla could not apply herself to discover whatever might be bothering Eva. Her daily life was simply too magical. Indeed, she could scarcely believe this was her life, that she had somehow managed to end up with the man she’d wanted and dreamed of all along. And that he seemed happy to be spending his days and, oh, his nights, with her.