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“Don’t you want me just as deeply?” she asked. Her voice was softer as it whispered across him and echoed in his heart.
“You know I do,” he admitted just as softly, because he could not deny that indisputable fact. To do so would see him struck down by lightning, but—
Victory flashed in her eyes. “Then let’s do hurry,” she said as she began to tug him toward the doorway. “We’ve already lost four years. I don’t want to lose a moment more.”
Neither did Gabe. It had been four years, four long years they’d been separated. She was right about that, and his heart lifted just a bit at the thought of running off with her and to hell with everyone else. They had been apart for entirely too long. But even so, he wasn’t ready to run off with her, not quite yet…
He dug in his heels and made her turn back to face him.
“Gabe?” There was a question in her pretty blue eyes and a hint of despair.
He hated that despair and hoped to never see it again for the rest of his days. “We can’t leave quite yet,” he said softly.
“Gabe…”
“We’re only going to do this once, Soph. At least let me be as proper as I can.” And then he dropped to one knee, never letting his gaze leave hers as he held her hand tightly in his. Gabe cleared his throat. He had clearly lost his mind, whatever of it he had left. And she’d lost hers too, he had no doubt about that. If they were going to consent to madness, he supposed there was no one else in the world he wanted to fall into that abyss with other than Sophie. “Sophia Josephine Hampton, will you do me the greatest honor in the world by becoming my wife?”
The despair was gone and hope shone in her eyes before she threw herself around his neck and squeezed him to her. She nearly smothered him in her bosom, but Gabe would never complain about that. She was so soft and she smelled so familiar, like a memory from so long ago had washed back over him.
He pushed back to his feet and tucked a strand of her damp hair behind her ear. “Is that a yes, then?”
“You know it is.” Sophie nodded quickly. “But we should leave, Gabe. We should put as much distance between us and London as we can.”
“Aye, love.” He smiled down at her and cupped her jaw in his hands. Her skin was so soft and her face so lovely, he’d seen it in his mind nearly every day he’d been away. “But there’s certainly time enough for this.” And then he dipped his head down to brush his lips against hers.
A soft sigh escaped Sophie as her hands settled against his chest. Her touch urged him on, and he deepened their kiss, tangling his tongue with hers, bringing his cock to life. Gabe breathed her in like his very life depended upon it, threading his fingers through her hair and relishing the feel of her in his arms. Kissing Sophie now was so much better than the memories of their kisses that had kept him warm all these years, and he never wanted to let her go.
But she was right. They needed to make quick work getting to Scotland and hope Beckbury wouldn’t be able to catch them. Gabe slowly lifted his head and broke their kiss. Sophie blinked her eyes open and the color in her cheeks made her even more lovely than usual. “We should go,” he whispered.
She nodded in agreement. “Will you kiss me like that all the way to Scotland?”
He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “Just try to stop me.”
He had kissed Sophie so long, so passionately as they traveled north, she thought she might very well burst into flames at any given moment. Her insides had tingled, her blood had rushed, and her lips were swollen. But he hadn’t done anything beyond kissing her, nothing beyond holding her in his arms. He hadn’t lifted the edge of her skirts, nor had he tugged at her bodice, no matter how much Sophie had wanted him to. She hadn’t voiced that, of course, but she’d wished for his touch, for his skin against hers the majority of the day.
Still, there was nothing in the world that compared to being held by Gabe, nothing in the world like knowing his pulse beat for her as much as hers beat for him, nothing in the world that compared to his kisses or to the feel of him beside her as they embarked on this journey together. It was almost as though she was truly living for the very first time in her life.
They’d changed horses a number of times along the way, but Lumley was quite expedient in doing so. They even seemed to be traveling at breakneck speed along the road, and for that Sophie would be eternally grateful to the driver even enough to forgive him for dragging her through the mud. The further distance they put between themselves and London, the more difficult it would be for Papa to catch up to them. If Papa caught them before they managed to say their vows over an anvil, there was no telling what he would do…to both of them.
But she was more at ease the further they traveled down the road, and the reality of the future she was running toward became clearer with each mile they gained. Sophie loved the feel of Gabe’s arm draped around her shoulders. She loved his sandalwood scent that enveloped her in their confines, making her feel safe and protected within. And she loved the way his deep baritone made her belly flip whenever he spoke and particularly when he said her name. She loved every single thing about him, she always had.
Along the way, he told her of his travels with the 9th across the Continent and then all the way to Canada, and how much he’d wanted her beside him during those years. She told him of her first two London seasons and of the private foundling hospital where she and Charlotte spent so much of their time the last few months. He told her about surviving a French bullet during the Battle of Vittoria. She told him about the fire in the Worfe Mill back home in Beckbury and the village’s repair efforts. He told her how much he missed her. And she told him the same.
In so many ways, it was like they’d never been apart. Oh, Gabe was not the same young man he’d once been, but how could he be after several years at war? No, no. He was more serious and quiet now, perhaps even stoic these days. But the core of who he was had not changed in the least. He was honest and true and noble and brave. And when he kissed her, her toes curled and the rest of the world faded away into a blur.
Against the fading light, the ducal carriage began to slow, and Sophie noticed a coaching inn appear in the window.
“We’ll just stay long enough for Lumley to get a bit of sleep before we start again,” Gabe said softly.
Sophie nodded in agreement. The last thing in the world they wanted was for the coach to careen off the side of the road due to the driver’s fatigue.
“Perhaps you’ll want to even pen a letter to Charlotte or your father to keep them from worry.”
Sophie bit back a smile. “Knowing I’m eloping with you would hardly bring either of them comfort.”
Gabe’s brow lifted as the coach rambled to a stop in the yard. “I know your father hates me, but I thought Charlotte liked me.”
“She did before you broke my heart. Now you have the distinction of being the one person in the world Charlotte cannot abide.”
