AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He laughed. “Liar. Has anyone ever told you you’re a horrible liar?”
She pushed away from him. “We’ll see who’s lying when I return to London and take a lover. Our little interlude last night reminded me how much I miss those intimacies. I cannot wait for the gallants of thetonto learn I’m looking for someone to warm my bed.”
He knew what she was doing. She was trying to anger him. It shouldn’t be working, but it was. “You’d be smarter to marry. Or have you forgotten the small matter of your husband’s debt?”
“I have no intention of marrying again.” She paced the room to the small window. “Too confining. But if I find the right lover, he may provide some protection until I find enough resources to repay the rest of the debt.”
“Steal enough artifacts, you mean.”
She rounded on him. “And what do you care? At least I have a good reason for stealing. What’s yours?”
He opened his mouth then closed it abruptly. “That’s what I thought. You never could share anything of yourself. You couldn’t when we first met, and you can’t now. Thank God I never married you.”
“I didn’t ask.” He saw the flash of hurt in her eyes and was glad.
“You wanted to,” she countered.
“And you wanted McCullough. Pretty, insipid McCullough with hislittlegambling problem. Look where that got you.”
“How dare you!” She marched to him and jabbed him in the chest. “Don’t speak of him that way.”
“It’s the truth.” He caught her finger to stop her from poking him with it again.
“And where would I be if I’d married you?” Her eyes snapped accusations.
“I can tell you where you wouldn’t be. You wouldn’t be in Paris. You wouldn’t be in danger. You wouldn’t be working for the Scarlet Pimpernel or running for your life from thugs back in London! If you were mine, I wouldn’t let you out of my sight, much less my bed!”
Her jaw dropped, and he didn’t know what she would say next. Regardless, he didn’t want to hear it. In one fluid motion, he pulled her into his arms and crushed his mouth to hers.
He expected her to fight, but she clawed at him eagerly, her hands fisting in his hair. She was heat and power and beauty. She kissed him back with passion, wrapping her legs around his waist as she did so.
He pulled her close, pushing her back against the wall so his hands could go to work on the bodice of her redingote. “Too many clothes,” he murmured against her ear. He knew it was a sensitive spot for her, deliberately teased it with his tongue until she shivered.
“Take yours off first.”
He wanted to, but that would mean letting her go, and he wasn’t about to move one inch from her. Instead, he fumbled with the fastenings on her bodice and managed to lower it enough so his mouth could lock on to the flesh of her breast. That skin was soft, so incredibly soft. He traced it with his tongue and felt her arch against him. Since their bodies were locked together, she rubbed his erection, driving him to madness.
But he wouldn’t give in yet. This might be his last time with her. It almost certainly was, and he wanted to take his time touching her. He wanted to memorize her body. It might provide some comfort through all the lonely years ahead.
He lowered his mouth until his lips raked over her hard nipple. It pebbled for him, and he pulled back to tease it with his tongue. She was writhing against him now, moaning, and arching her back.
He caught a glimpse of her face. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes a dark blue, tendrils of her hair clinging to her neck in tempting curls. He dipped his head again, ministered to her other nipple. All the while his hands massaged her buttocks where he supported her. He’d been working her gown up, and he knew in a moment he’d be rewarded with bare flesh.
But Gabrielle had other ideas. Her hands were free. They’d been clawing down his back, but now they moved around his hips. She pulled his shirt free and dipped into the band of his breeches. Her fingers brushed the head of his erection, and he jumped.
“You like that, don’t you?” She released the fall on his breeches, and he sprang free—into her warm palm.
“How could I not?” he grit out. She was caressing him, stroking him.
“You hardly let me touch you last night.”
“I had…other things on my mind.” Her hands were magic, sliding over him, pausing just long enough to make him agonize over her next move.
“And I didn’t mind those other things. I don’t mind them at all.” She glanced down where his hand fondled her breast.
“But I’m not feeling so patient right now.” Her hand stroked him hard, and he had to concentrate to stop himself from coming. “Touch me and you’ll see.”
He couldn’t deny her—didn’t want to deny her—and slid his hand between them, under the folds of her gown, to the apex of her legs.
