Chapter 14

A week after Lady Ulley’s ball, Hal stood at the Duke of Rother’s door once more, bouquet of flowers in hand, and plied the brass lion-head door knocker. The past seven days had been frustrating beyond belief, despite his formal betrothal to Gabriella. Of course, his frustration stemmed from their betrothal and the fact they were still being watched like hawks.

Because Rother still wouldn’t allow their wedding to be moved up, Hal had had to resort to one subterfuge after another to have any time alone with his beloved. Instead of being able to take her in his arms—and into his bed—whenever he wished, he was relegated to merely wooing the woman he would’ve married in a heart’s beat if only her father would get off his high horse and let him. It wasn’t even as if Rother was paying complete attention to Gabriella. He and the duchess spent an inordinate amount of time together, though they were putting off their wedding trip in order to chaperone Gabriella until her wedding.

Hal had to admit, it was only the Rothers’ perpetual presence that had kept him from pressing Gabriella to run away with him and use the special license he’d already obtained. Or at the least spirit her away somewhere to anticipate their wedding night. Likely that was the real reason the duke had remained in London.

The door opened, and Hal was admitted and shown to the family drawing room, where Gabriella was sitting talking animatedly with her parents. She jumped up and ran to him, throwing her arms around him and pulling his head down for a sweet kiss. When she stepped back, her mother looked fondly at him and her father glared as though he’d like to run him through with a saber. Well, that was to be expected when the man had only just found Gabriella. But that didn’t make it any easier.

“Good afternoon, Duke, Duchess.” He bowed quickly then addressed himself to Gabriella, who had slipped her arms around his waist. Now the torture would begin. Every time he’d touched her in the days since they’d become betrothed, the fire she lit in his nether regions threatened to consume him completely. Did she know the agonies she caused him? He gazed down at her. Something in the saucy smile she sent him told him she did—and delighted in it. “Good afternoon, my love.”

“Good afternoon, mon cher .” Gabriella squeezed him, and Hal had to bite back a groan as his cock made its presence known with a vengeance. The last thing he wanted was for the duke to see how strongly his daughter affected him. Especially not today. “Come sit beside me on the chaise.”

“First, my dear, these are for you.” He handed her the bouquet of primroses and larkspur, the best blooms from his father’s garden.

“Oh, il sont très jolie .” She buried her petite nose in the blooms and breathed deeply. “ Merci, mon amour .”

“Gabriella,” the duchess called to her, “ring for Carter. They must be put in water immédiatement .”

“ Oui, Maman .” Still sniffing the flowers, Gabriella pulled the bell. “Please take your seat, Hal.”

“I would, my dear, but I had hoped your parents could spare you for an hour or so. I’d like us to visit the house where we will live once we are married.” Hal looked hopefully at the duke. He’d not been completely alone with Gabriella since the engagement, and he wanted that to change. Today.

“I believe we can make time to accompany you, Halford.” The duke’s gaze pierced him, as if the man understood all too well what Hal had in mind. “We have no fixed plans for the day.”

Hal’s heart sank. Even this little time alone with the woman he loved was going to be denied him.

“ Mon amour. ” The duchess turned to her husband. “I fear I am trop fatigue . I thought I might rest for some time before dinner.”

“Are you ill, my dear?” The alarm on Rother’s face did him credit. The man had fallen back in love with Gabriella’s mother the moment they’d been reunited.

“ Non, mon amour . Do not fear. I merely need some time in bed.” Her eyes closed to mere slits. “I had thought you might keep me company.”

Rother’s brows swooped upward, like birds taking flight. He took the duchess’s hand. “Of course, I will, my dear. Halford and Gabriella can wait to see the house, can’t you, Halford?”

“Certainly, Your Grace.” Hal bit out the words with a cheerful and totally false smile.

“Good.” The duke rose and assisted his wife to her feet. “Carter will see the marquess out, Gabriella.”

“ Oui, Papa .” Gabriella continued sniffing the flowers, completely unconcerned that they still could not be alone.

“Will you dine with us this evening, Lord Halford?” The duchess spoke as she and the duke stepped into the corridor.

“I would be delighted, Duchess.” At least he could see Gabriella even if he couldn’t touch her.

Gabriella sent him a sweet smile then her gaze shifted to her parents. “ Sentez-vous mieux, Maman. ”

“ Merci, ma petite .” The duchess waved as she and Rother hurried out of sight and Carter entered the drawing room.

“You rang, Miss Gabriella?”

“Yes, Carter.” She handed him the flowers. “Will you please put these in water and set them in the foyer. I wish for everyone who enters to see them.”

“Very good, miss.” The butler took the bouquet, bowed, and left.

“ Bon .” Gabriella turned to Hal, her eyes suddenly hungry. “Now you can kiss me properly, mon cher .”

“I thought I was leaving.” Hal peered at the thin crack where the butler had left the door open.

“Only if you wish to.” Gabriella slid her arms around his neck. “Or would you rather kiss me?”

“Oh, I would rather do much more than kiss you, my love.” He skimmed his arms around her slim waist. “But I will take what I can get and be thankful.” Then his mouth was on hers, and thoughts of who might see them vanished like a puff of wind. The taste of her sweet lips drove him wild with wanting her. He pressed closer then slipped his tongue into her mouth.

Gabriella grasped his face, pulling him further into her, shocking him to his core. Before he could recover from that, she turned the tables and thrust her tongue into him. Groaning, he cradled her head, marveling at how perfectly they fit together. At how wonderful it felt to be so close to her. At how much he wanted her in his bed. Uncaring who might walk through the door, Hal slid his hands down her back, reveling in every luscious curve until he reached her derriere , which he cupped and squeezed, pressing her firmly against the hardness in his breeches.

She broke the kiss, gazing up at him with passion-filled eyes. “You wish to go to my chamber now, mon amour ?”

“I…uh…” The woman had a knack for throwing him off kilter at every turn.

“That is why you wished to take me to our house, n’est-ce pas ?”

“Well, that…might have crossed my mind.” He didn’t know where to look. Not at her, though he could feel her gaze on him.

“I think it must have crossed something else as well, mon cher .” She stroked the front of his tented breeches ever so slightly, and he danced backward, her bare touch like fire to his cock.

“Gabriella!”

Chuckling, she came toward him and took his hand. “Do not be shocked, Hal. I am not one of your English maidens who knows nothing of how to please a man.”

His jaw dropped. Never had he expected such a statement from his bride-to-be. “You know?”

“Once I was affianced, Maman instructed me in what to do to make certain I pleased my husband.” She tugged him toward the door.

“But, Gabriella, we are in your father’s house,” Hal whispered, although no one seemed to be in the vicinity.

She shrugged and opened the door a little wider. “It is a very large house, mon amour . Almost a mansion. I do not believe my papa will know a thing.” The minx grinned at him. “Maman will make certain he is paying attention only to her.”

Hal didn’t know what to think about that. Had the duchess given her tacit approval for their tryst?

“Be very quiet, mon cher .” Gabriella led them at a fast pace out into the corridor, in the opposite direction from the one the duke and duchess had taken. Almost immediately, they came upon a narrow set of stairs that wound upward. “Come with me.”

They climbed the steep staircase to the next floor where Gabriella paused at the door. “The good thing about having been a servant is my knowledge of how a noble household works, including the servants’ stairs. They are always tucked out of the way, for the master does not wish to see the servants at all.” She opened the door a crack then poked her head out. “ Viens .”

She pulled him down the corridor, their feet making little noise on the soft beige and brown Turkish carpet. Halfway down the hall, she stopped before a stout oak door, glanced both ways, then opened the door and pulled him inside. “Now we are truly alone, mon amour .”

That they were. Hal gazed around at the chamber, taking in the feminine furnishings but also the fact that they were as alone as they had ever been. Suddenly, Hal had misgivings. “I don’t think I should be here, Gabriella.”

“Perhaps not if we wish to be strictly by the rules, as my papa would want.” She laced their hands together. “But we will be married in two weeks. What difference can it make?”

“If your father were to find out—” Hal had a nightmarish image of the duke crashing through the door as he and Gabriella were in delicto flagrante .

“And if he did, what then?” She came toward him until she stood between his feet. Peering up at him, she unbuttoned his jacket. “Will he break the betrothal? Challenge you to a duel?” Gabriella waved that away as though it were a dish that displeased her. “In his youth, peut être . I understand he was assez sauvage . Now, though, he can do nothing.” She gazed at him, a look in her eyes that made him catch his breath. “Because I, his daughter, love you. There is nothing he will do to hurt me, so he can do nothing to you, mon c?ur .”

She might speak the truth, but Hal wasn’t so sure. Perhaps if he hadn’t been under the duke’s roof, he would’ve been less nervous about indulging in the pleasures of the bed with the man’s daughter before they were married. Still, he didn’t attempt to stop her when she drew his jacket off and started on his cravat.

“Is this your method of seduction, Gabriella?” His heart had begun to race as she freed his cravat and draped it gaily over the mirror that sat on her toilette table.

“ Mais oui .” She unbuttoned the placket of his shirt and slipped her hand inside.

The moment she touched him, Hal knew he was lost. Her bare skin against his was incredibly arousing, his body playing traitor to what his head told him was unwise. “Gabriella, we shouldn’t—”

Her other hand went to his lips, silencing him. “Yes, we should, mon amour .” She pulled his head down and kissed him again, shattering any vestige of resistance he had left. “When two people love one another as we do, then absolument, they must make love.”

He didn’t disagree with her. Couldn’t. Easing his arms around her, Hal pulled the bow that tied the lacings of her gown and expertly unthreaded them. The garment began to sag, and Gabriella laughed and pulled it down over her shoulders. With a plop, the material fell to the ground, leaving her in only her stays and chemise, stockings and slippers.

“Your turn.” She reached to unbutton his fall, but Hal stopped her.

“Allow me to do that, my dear. You may very well set off an explosion that will cause a delay in our plans.”

“Very well, then.” She began instead on her stays, pulling the strings out quickly. When that garment dropped to the floor, without any further attempt at seduction, Gabriella grasped the edge of the chemise and stripped it off, leaving her magnificently naked before him, save only her backless pink slippers and clocked stockings.

The sight of her glorious figure—round, sumptuous breasts, pert nipples pebbling in the exposed air, tiny waist with curvaceous hips he wanted to grasp this moment—made him stop and stare at the ultimate beauty before him. “Oh, my love. You are the most exquisite woman.”

A proud smile spread across her mouth, and she raised her chin. “I am glad I please you, mon cher .” She arched her back, thrusting her breasts toward him, and he groaned. He would never be able to get these blasted breeches off in time.

Gabriella bent to untie her garter then turned to him, an impish gleam in her eyes. “Would you like my stockings on or off, mon cher ?”

With a growl, Hal tore at the buttons of his fall, ripping several off, their ping ping sounding like the patter of light rain on the carpet. His breeches went down, sweeping everything else off with them. He pulled his shirt up and over his head in one effortless movement, until he stood as naked as she. “On, sil vous plait , mademoiselle .”

“ Ooh, mais oui, certainement .” She straightened and backed toward the bed, holding out her hand to him. “ Viens à moi, mon amour .”

Mesmerized, Hal followed her until they stood together at the edge of the bed. “You are certain, love?”

Her only response was to slide up onto the bed until she lay in the center, the covers fanned out all around her and her desire for him written on her face.

Hal climbed up until he lay next to her, head propped on one hand, drinking in the beauty of the woman beside him. He skimmed his hand down her body, light as a feather, until she shivered. Encouraged, he licked the sensitive dark peak of one nipple, while he traced a finger around the other until her skin pebbled beneath his touch and Gabriella moaned and clutched him. “Oh, mon Dieu .”

****

Everything Maman had told her simply had not prepared Gabriella for the wild sensations Hal’s mouth was causing all over her body. Her breasts had grown pleasantly taut with each stroke of his tongue, which was such a lovely feeling she wished he would never stop. Also deep inside her, an ache had begun that increased each time his finger grazed the tip of her nipple. The more that ache increased, the more she wanted Hal inside her, where he was supposed to be. Once he did that, somehow, he’d assuage this ache that didn’t hurt but made her long for it to end. She’d been assured, after a brief pain, there would be much pleasure for both her and her husband-to-be.

Gabriella moaned again and cupped his cheek. “You will come inside me now, mon amour ?”

He nodded and slid his hand down the length of her body, causing wave after wave of the most delightful shudders to wrack her. When he reached the apex of her thighs, Gabriella slid her legs open, and gripped Hal around the neck. Excitement warred with fear, but she wanted only the anticipation of what was to come to fill her mind now.

His fingers wandered down to the opening of her sex then stroked upward, making Gabriella catch her breath. Her body seemed to be aflame everywhere, like molten fire was pulsing through her veins. Again, his fingers stroked, this time dipping inward.

“Oh, mon Dieu .” Gabriella could scarcely speak, the sensation was so strange and wonderful.

“There is more, ma chère .” With a smile, Hal slid down until his face was pressed against her curls, his fingers poised at her opening. Then he pressed one finger inside her, making her gasp at the burn. Which was forgotten immediately when he set his tongue against her little nub, and Gabriella cried out as the ache within her throbbed uncontrollably. He pumped his finger in and out as he laved her nub, until she exploded, pulsing around his finger as she clutched his shoulders, not wanting the incredible pleasure to stop.

At last, however, her body stilled, and she sank into the mattress, completely spent.

Hal withdrew, rolling over to lie next to her again, his gaze sharp on her face. “Did I please you, Gabriella?”

She opened her eyes and cupped his dear face. “ Oui, mon amour. Tu m’as beaucoup plu .”

“I believe that was a yes.” He smiled and rolled onto his back, his arm over his face.

“Very much a yes.” Gabriella snuggled next to him, her gaze straying down Hal’s wonderfully sculpted body, until it fell on his member, standing almost vertical. “What is wrong, Hal?”

He removed his arm from his face, followed her gaze, and shrugged. “It will take care of itself shortly.” He turned toward her, a softer look in his eyes. “I decided I wished for you to remain an innocent—or mostly innocent—until our wedding night. But luckily, I know ways to give my wife-to-be exquisite pleasure without the ultimate act of love.”

Gabriella stared back at him, torn between love for the man who wished to be honorable, and pique that he had not consulted her on the matter. That would be a topic for discussion in the near future. In the meantime, however…

She pushed him onto his back and sat up.

“What are you doing?” His look was half puzzled, half wary.

“Giving sauce to the goose, I believe Celinda said.” She grasped Hal’s cock lightly, thrilling when it struggled against her grip. “You are not the only one, monsieur , who knows how to give another kind of pleasure.” With an impudent grin, Gabriella slid down the bed until she was next to his almost fully erect member. Another look at Hal showed his eyes wide and staring as she put her lips around la bite and engulfed him.