“Are they not at home now?”
She shook her head. “They’re in London. I dined with them. They had just arrived on business and said they would be a few days enjoying some time without the children.”
“Probably making a third.” Gabriel laughed without mirth. “Some people take to it so easily.”
“Eve had her share of struggles with her first husband. She supposed that it was her fault she hadn’t conceived, but apparently she was mistaken.”
“Apparently so.” Gabriel kicked some brush out of their path and ushered her on, his hand remaining at the small of her back once they were well beyond the slight obstruction, a fallen branch. “I had no idea.”
“You wouldn’t. It’s not polite conversation for the dinner table.” She smiled. “I conceived fairly easily though, if you recall. We might be that lucky again.”
“Are you ready to try? Does it appeal to you now, the idea of having children?”
She sighed. “The idea has always appealed to me, even if the reality still frightens me more than a little. I can imagine a time when I will be ready in the near future.”
If things continue as they have, she wanted to add but did not. She couldn’t chase the feeling that something could go wrong at any moment. She would say the wrong thing, or he would. One of them would give some hint that they had always been unsuited, and their world would unravel like the sweater she had tried to knit him the Christmas before he went away.
“It would be easier if we were on our own again like we used to be,” he said.
“We’ve never been on our own. Not really. It’s the burden of caring for such a large house and everyone we need to maintain it.”
“Yes, but if we could be rid of Mother and Charles. Of the Waldens.”
“And Mr. Grant? Ah, but you seem to have made your peace with him.”
“I admire his business sense. It doesn’t mean I have to like the man. I admire yours too. I probably should have said so earlier. It’s just that I was preparing a surprise for you and I didn’t want you to spoil it. There, I’ve said it.”
“That’s what you were up to this morning? It’s not that you thought I was too…too feminine to be involved in business?”
“Not at all.” He stopped walking and turned to face her, smoothing a loose tendril of her hair off to the side. “I knew you were angry with me. I tried not to upset you. Or rather, I tried to upset you just enough to chase you off, but I hoped not so much that you wouldn’t speak to me again.”
“Obviously, I’m still speaking with you. I felt much better once I got some air, a secretary of my own, and some pie. But don’t think I’m that much of a pushover. I already have plans. I warn you that I’ll not be nudged aside so easily.”
“Duly noted, and as expected. Nothing is easy when it comes to you, darling.”
“Why should it be? Now what is this surprise you have for me?” She narrowed her gaze.
“If I tell you, it will no longer be a surprise. I’m not ready to reveal it yet.”
“I’m very curious by nature. That much hasn’t changed. I’ll find it out.” She tilted her head and walked on.
He caught up in two strides. “And spoil your own surprise? You wouldn’t. I know you too well. But just in case, I plan to keep you distracted.”
“Distracted? How—” Before she could finish asking, he swept her into his arms and kissed her, not a mere brush of the lips. She opened her mouth, eager for him. Having him home again opened up a world of emotions, most of them good but some dangerous, like this overwhelming physical need. She couldn’t recall ever having craved his touch so much in all of their years together as she had in the last two days.
His tongue, molten lava, slicked over hers, and she could no longer recall anything, not even her own name, until he moaned it low from the back of his throat. “Sophia.”
Clearly, he’d gotten very good at distractions. She struggled to find reason through the fog that filled her brain, but all she could manage was a physical response. She reached for him, her hand skimming down his taut abdomen to pause at the top of his trousers.
His eyes glinted gold in the sunlight that spilled through the trees as he waited to see what she would do next. His hand covered hers when she paused, and he guided her attention upward to the buttons of his shirt, where he helped her undo the top few. She smoothed her hand over his bare chest, so tan and muscular. He’d spent some time without his shirt in Italy. She wanted to ask about it but found that the words were dry as ash in her mouth as she imagined him naked to his waist and lower. Her fingers splayed over his smooth skin, rediscovering him, the fine golden hairs bleached white from the sun, his copper nipples that pebbled at her touch, the ripples of his hard stomach.
He let her explore as he guided her deeper into the rim of trees, backing her against a bark-roughened trunk. “Is this what you want? Here? Now?”
A thrill coursed through her at the thought of him taking her against a tree, right out in the open. She felt a hot wetness at her core. Dear God, it had been so long, so very long. She still couldn’t find her voice to speak, but she managed to nod.
“Not here. It wouldn’t suit.” His thumb stroked her lips. She rolled her tongue around the tip of it, eliciting his groan. “Or…”
“Please.” She managed to get one hoarse word out. If not now, she might come to her senses and change her mind. She didn’t want to change her mind, even if it meant spending the rest of her life in a mindless trance.
He cupped her face and took her mouth again, more fiercely, drinking her in like a man dying of thirst. She could feel him hard against her through her skirts. Desperate to feel him even closer, she parted her thighs and rocked her hips against him.
“Another minute and I won’t be able to stop.” His breath hot against her neck, he dipped his head to blaze a trail of kisses along her collarbone and lower. He’d expertly undone the top buttons of her dress while he was kissing her, as she discovered only after the fact when he slipped his hand inside her corset and tugged a swollen nipple between two fingers.
“I don’t want to stop. Not now.”
He took her hand. “Come with me.”
She followed him to a gardening shed a short distance away. “Here?”
He opened the door and ushered her inside. “It’s dark, quiet. There’s an old chaise longue there in the corner.”
She followed his gaze. Indeed there was. “I feel like a schoolgirl sneaking around.”
“Exciting, isn’t it?” He fluffed the cushion and a cloud of dust wafted up, catching the rays of sun streaming in broken fragments through the one small, dirty window. “We’re not likely to be caught.”
“A good thing. Can you imagine the talk?”
“I can’t imagine anything right now but the thought of you naked. Let’s get you out of these clothes.” He swooped her into his arms again, kissing her neck.
“You can loosen my stays, perhaps, but corsets don’t come off easily.” She laughed. “And it will take time to dress again properly. Let’s just…”
“Your gown is light. It will be ruined.” He unbuttoned her further and eased the dress down her shoulders. “Unless we remove it.”
She was about to protest when he kissed her again as he worked at her buttons, and she gave up all thoughts of stopping him. As the cotton pooled around her legs, she stepped carefully out of the garment and allowed him to set it aside, draping it over a reasonably clean-looking crate. She stood before him in only her corset, chemise, and petticoat.
“Off with it. Everything. This is no time for modesty, Countess.” His fingers unlaced her with deft precision, loosening her corset and removing it with surprising speed.
Reluctantly, she began to peel off the remaining garments as he abandoned his own clothes with such haste that she barely had time to get a good look as they were co
ming off. His broad shoulders and strong chest tapered to a trim waist and steely abdomen sectioned into six by well-defined muscles. His skin went from tan to white as he exposed his hips. And lower. Her breath caught. His erection stretched out from a thatch of golden curls. So many times, he had called her exquisite, but he was male perfection. A golden god. All hers.
Without another word, she reached out to stroke him, relishing the feel of his rock hardness beneath his petal-soft skin. When she slid her hand up the length of him, around the tip glistening with a bead of wetness and down again, she wasn’t sure if her knees would buckle first or his. He moaned from low in his throat as they fell to the frayed cushion together and his mouth found hers again.
Her need flamed into an inferno threatening to consume her whole. He stroked her cheek, her neck, her breast, taking his time, so tender. She couldn’t control her response to him, wrapping her legs around him and urging his hips to meet hers, rolling her body into his and teasing the tip of his cock with her sex. “Please, darling.”
He laughed wickedly, pulling away. “Only if you’re certain.”
“Gabriel.” She reached for him, unwilling to be put off. She would do it all on her own if necessary. “Now.”
He entered her, the devilish smile still in place as he met her gaze. “Better?”
She’d been prepared to answer until he slipped deeper inside her and she lost all power of speech. She tipped her head back and let her blissful sigh answer for her. At last, she felt complete, as if with Gabriel away from her, she had been scattered in pieces to the wind. And now, he was home, thrusting deep, kissing her, teasing her with his fingers all the while, creating a delirious tension in her every nerve that strained to bursting as she moved with him, desperate for him, calling out his name as she reached a fever pitch. He spilled himself inside her.
And she was whole again. At peace. At last. His body rested atop hers as their breathing slowed in rhythm, their hands clasped over their heads against the wood frame of the shed.
Ten
He couldn’t stop kissing her. Her lips, her neck, her breasts, that little vein that pulsed along her collarbone. Buried deep inside her, the weight of the world falling off his shoulders at last, he kissed his wife and knew that there was no greater happiness than being inside her, reaching climax together.
Until he felt her pulsing around him, sighing as she buried her face against his shoulder, he hadn’t been sure that she was enjoying it too. It all felt so rushed and clumsy, not at all what he’d planned in his mind. But it had been so very long for both of them. Next time, he would take his leisure, explore her properly, make her quiver beneath his touch. Next time, they would take hours in a proper bed, his or hers…
Theirs. His most ardent hope was that she would be ready to move back into a room they shared, a bed for two. He was about to ask her about the possibility when the door swung open and Brian Sturridge, the groundskeeper, entered.
“Lord Averford,” Sturridge said, startled. “And the countess.” He turned abruptly, his back to them. “Forgive me. I had no idea. I heard noises, thought an animal had gotten in here.”
Gabriel tensed but did not move a hair, aware that he had given his groundskeeper a good glimpse of his backside. There was nothing to be done for it. His body was the only thing shielding Sophia from exposure.
“What did you find, Mr. Sturridge? Rabbit? Raccoon?” A lad walked in after Sturridge and turned away as abruptly. “Oh! Uh. I’m going to go check on the roses.”
“I’ll come with you. Move along there, Jimmy.” Sturridge shooed the lad out, shut the door, and ran after him.
As quickly as they were interrupted, they were left alone again. “I’m sorry, Sophia. I thought they were working in the orchards all day, far enough from here. I had no idea…”
Fortunately, her body wasn’t shaking under his from anger. He realized that she was laughing uproariously.
“Oh dear,” she said, once she caught her breath. “We’ll be inspiring some bawdy conversations among the staff.”
Playfully, she slapped his rear as he backed off her to reach for his clothes. “Do you really think they’ll talk?”
“If it were only Sturridge, perhaps not. The man can be trusted.” She nodded decisively. “But the boy? It’s going to be all over the house, probably even the talk of the village. They’re all aware of our estrangement, but that we’ve made love in secret? Out of the house on our own estate?”
“In the garden shed, for goodness’ sake. How desperate can two lovers be?” He tugged his shirt over his shoulders. “You’re right. News will travel fast and far.”
“It’s not so bad.” She sat up on the longue and reached for his hand to steady herself as she got to her feet. “Maybe they’ll stop thinking I’m a cold-hearted shrew, and you’ll certainly be lauded as a hero. Rightfully so. If only they could know how much of one.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and dropped a kiss on her pale shoulder, his bare-naked goddess. She seemed in no rush to get back into her clothes. “Yes? I finished so quickly. I hoped you wouldn’t think badly of me.”
“Of you?” She arched a brow. “I’m the one who insisted, if I recall correctly. Something just came over me, and I couldn’t stop.”
“I’m glad. I didn’t want to stop. I don’t want to ever lose this intimacy between us again.” He tipped her head up, a finger under her chin. “Do you understand?”
“I’m not sure it’s as easy as it sounds. We still have obstacles.”
“We’ll surmount them. One at a time. First…”
“First, my clothes. I can’t stand here all day bare as a—”
“Bare as a goddess? You can if I have any say in the matter.” He soothed his hands down her arms and drew her close to him again.
“Oh no, my lord.” She backed away and gestured to his growing erection. “Not again. Put that away. It’s dangerous. We can’t stay in here all day, or they’ll think we’re at it again.”
“I don’t mind.” He flashed her a grin.
She rolled her eyes but smiled back at him. “Get dressed, Gabriel.”
“Let me help you first.” He picked up her corset and held it backward, showing none of the skill he’d displayed in removing it.
Once they were both properly attired, they headed back to the house. Walking more slowly than they had earlier, Gabriel pointed out things that delighted him along the way. The garden overflowing with roses, though they kept some distance from it knowing that Sturridge and the garden boy were working there. A patch of mushrooms, the inedible kind. The low stone fence around the edge of the fields. The vibrant green of the grass.
“I missed that green in Italy. They have grass, of course, in patches, but not as green as ours and not stretching out as far as the eye can see.”
“It’s drier there, perhaps. Or the earth has more stone and clay,” Sophia ventured.
“Do you know what I missed most?” She shook her head, not hazarding a guess. He went on. “Blue. I had the deep blue of the sea and the cerulean skies. But I couldn’t find the blue of your eyes anywhere except in my mind. I dreamed about your eyes, darling. Every night.”
She laughed. “I haven’t been to Italy recently, but they do have cornflowers as I recall. Fields of them.”
“They’re as close as I could get, but not the same. There’s a certain luminescence only found in your eyes.”
“Says the world traveler. I’ll have to take your word for it.” She stopped walking, but not to hear more compliments on her eyes. “We’re almost there. I hate to go in.”
“But it’s our home, darling.” He took her hand. “Thornbrook Park. Where else would you rather be?”
“The garden shed had a certain appeal, didn’t it?” She blushed. “If only we could have locked the door.”
“I can’t say it would have been very comfort
able for any length of time, but at least we were alone. A rarity for us in the coming weeks perhaps, unless…”
“Unless?” She glanced up at him through her dark fringe of lashes.
“We could start sharing a room again?” he asked, hopeful. “It’s one way to get more time to ourselves in an otherwise crowded house.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip. “I don’t know, Gabriel. That’s a big step. I’m not sure we’re ready for that.”
“Of course.” He adjusted his cuffs, trying to appear detached even though he felt a keen stab of disappointment in her answer. “Wouldn’t want to rush things along.”
“I’m not ruling it out. I just need more time.”
“I understand.” He took her by the hand, a show of support though he didn’t understand. Not at all. “Well. Shall we go in then?”
He led her up the stone walkway, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
* * *
As soon as Sophia walked through the door, she knew everything had changed. She felt the shift as surely as if the floor had rocked beneath her feet. The magic that she’d found in Gabriel’s arms outside the house had not followed them in through the door. Within these walls, they remained very much apart. How could it be? They both loved this house. Outside, they could lose themselves in the enchantment. Inside, they were all business, reality. And the reality was that she still wasn’t entirely sure of him, or even of herself.
“There you are, Gabriel. I’ve been looking all over for you. Hello, Sophia.” His mother paused at Sophia, looking her over top to toe. “What happened? You look a tad disheveled.”
Dear God, it only just occurred to her that she must look a fright, having put herself together quickly and in low light. Basking in the afterglow, she really hadn’t cared much what she looked like, an unusual departure for someone so concerned with appearances. Leave it to Gabriel’s mother to call it to attention.
“It was quite a vigorous walk.” She flashed a look at Gabriel but found that she did not blush. Soon word of their adventure would be out, but there was nothing wrong with a husband and wife having relations. The venue might have warranted some reconsideration, but so be it. She had no regrets. “I’ll have to go put myself together properly.”
The Great Estate Page 11