Page 60 of A Winter Scandal

Thea started to rise from her seat, but Gabriel’s hand clamped around her wrist on the table, holding her in place. “Nothing about you,” he said, his voice hard, “is a waste.”

She glanced at him, surprised. Gabriel’s face was fierce and unyielding. Thea smiled, warmth spreading through her at his words.

“That’s very nice of you to say,” she began.

He shook his head. “Not nice. Just truthful.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss into the palm, then held her hand against his cheek. Sighing, he let go of her hand. “Ah, Thea, I am not a good man.”

The tingling from where his cheek had touched her palm spread up her arm and through her chest. Her insides were in a tumult, needs and wants tumbling around madly. “You must not say that. I think you are a very good man.”

He looked straight into her eyes, and the heat she saw in them stunned her. “I would not be if I took advantage of this situation. Of you.”

Thea gazed back at him, and her next words were barely above a whisper. “What if I wanted you to?”

His eyes widened. “Thea … no. You don’t know what you’re saying.” He cleared his throat and turned away, rising to his feet. “I should not have given you that gin.”

“I am not inebriated,” Thea protested, jumping to her feet. “I hardly had two swallows of it.” She moved around to stand in front of him, blocking his way and forcing him to meet her gaze. “Are you going to try to tell me that I do not know my own mind?”

He smiled faintly. “Never that. But you don’t know what it will be like.”

“I know what it was like the other day.”

He swallowed convulsively, his face turning subtly warmer. “That was different. We were not alone.”

“So there was more chance of discovery and gossip.”

“You could have left then.” His voice was rougher, a hint of desperation on his tongue.

“And if I do not want to leave?”

“Blast it, Thea, do not make this any more difficult. I have put you in a very precarious position, and to do anything—to behave in the manner I would very much like to—would be dastardly on my part.”

“It certainly did not seem to bother you before now!” Thea told him tartly. “These compunctions came upon you rather suddenly.”

“You’re not being fair.”

“No. You are right.” She turned away abruptly. “I should not plague you. One cannot help it if one does not feel a … a certain way.” Thea returned to the table, embarrassment burning in her stomach. Why had she said so much? Taken things this far? The alcohol must have loosened her tongue. She busied herself with the things on the table, putting the cork in the bottle and moving it back to the cabinet.

“You think I don’t feel desire for you?” Gabriel rasped out behind her. “You think it’s easy? That I don’t care?”

“It does not matter.” Thea shrugged, still not looking at him. “I think that—”

“Doesn’t matter!” He crossed the room to her and took her arm in his hand, whirling her back around. “It matters to me!” He loomed above her, scowling, jaw set, his eyes glittering. He grabbed her other arm, and for an instant they simply hung there, staring at each other, scarcely breathing. Then he pulled her up hard against him and sank his lips into hers.

Heat rushed through Thea. She was suddenly intensely alive, every nerve ending tingling. Desire thrummed in her, warming her blood and stealing her breath. His hands slid down her back, sinking into her buttocks and pushing her up into him. He moved her hips against him, and she felt the unmistakable answering jolt of his desire. The message was clear, the hunger undeniable. Thea wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with all her fervor.

At last Gabriel released her and raised his head. His face was slack with desire, his breath rasping in his throat, his eyes wide and dark. “We shouldn’t—”

“I am tired of people telling me what I should not do!” Thea shot back fiercely. “For once I intend to do as I please.”

Cupping his face in her hands, she went up on tiptoe and pressed her lips against his, once, twice … and then, with a shudder, his arms clamped around her again, and he buried his lips in hers.

They kissed until she could not breathe and the blood was pounding through her veins. Thea thought she might faint, but when he released her, she let out a murmur of protest. However, he let her go only to bend and sweep her up into his arms. Thea sighed with pleasure and rested her head upon his shoulder, her arms twining around his neck. In his arms she felt small and precious. Wanted. Not an awkwardly lanky spinster passed over by every male eye, but a woman who stirred a man’s blood, whose kiss could make him hungry with desire.

Gabriel carried her into the small bedroom and closed the door after them. He set her down, and as soon as her feet touched the floor, he was kissing her again. His lips moved over her face and neck and ears. He nibbled at her sensitive earlobe, then traced the whorls of her ear with his tongue, and Thea let out a small noise of surprise that soon turned into a soft moan as the things he was doing sent shivers through her. She felt as if she were melting deep inside, something low in her abdomen turning heavy and molten.

He sank his hands into her curls, his fingertips pressing into her skull, and his mouth came back to hers, claiming it in a deep, long kiss that left her shaken and speechless. Thea felt as if she might slide right down to the floor, her legs like jelly, and she curled her hands into the front of his shirt, holding on. His hands went to the back of her dress, expertly unfastening it. She had thrown on the easiest dress to don, one with only ties; it was equally easy to undo. Thea could find no fault in that as Gabriel’s hand slid beneath the open sides of the gown.

She did not mind the cool air, for Gabriel’s hand was deliciously warm in contrast. He trailed his fingers down her spine as he took her mouth in another searching kiss. Heat burned with a low, insistent throb between her legs, and Thea was almost overwhelmed by the flood of sensations his fingers and mouth awakened.