Page 64 of The Lady's Forbidden Marquess
Gabriel kissed her soundly on the lips.“Because the carriage did.”
Pere blinked at him, then frowned.“I missed that part.”
“You were distracted,” he answered, still studying her gaze, drunk with desire.
“I rather like being distracted,” she answered boldly, a seductive grin on her lips.
Gabriel swallowed a groan at the glory she presented.“And now I have to be proper when I, decidedly, do not wish to be.At all,” he confessed, kissing her once more, lingering against her lips.
He took a slow, steadying breath and then carefully moved his wife from her delightful position on his lap to the carriage seat beside him, and with a final kiss, he stepped from the conveyance.
He adjusted his coat and waited as he watched his wife do a few similar tweaks to her person as she paused a few moments in the carriage.He offered his hand, and with a challenging arch to her brow, she alighted from the carriage.
Determined to do this correctly, he resolved to make all the formal introductions.This was Peregrine’s new home.He wanted the staff to know her.Damn, he wanted to bloody crow it from the rooftops that she was his wife and mistress of his home.
He led her through the grand doors where the staff awaited in a neat line.
Pleasure swelled in his chest at the sight.“May I present Lady Hawthorne,” he announced, his voice laced with pride.“The new mistress of the house.”
The servants curtseyed and bowed, murmuring congratulations, but Peregrine’s eyes sparkled with mischief as she turned to him once they were alone in the foyer.
“Oh, Gabriel, must we linger on proprieties?”she provoked him with her tone, her fingers trailing lightly up his arm, sending a shiver through him.
He swallowed hard, striving for gentlemanly restraint.“My love, there’s no rush.We’ve all the time in the world now.I wouldn’t wish to pressure you after such a day.”
She gave him a wry smile and a teasing giggle.Her laugh was low and inviting, her body swaying closer as she whispered, the words unraveling his resolve like a pulled thread.“Where is my reformed rake?I rather believe I’m waiting to be seduced, unless I was mistaken, perhaps my rogue isn’t—”
He silenced her words with a kiss.“Never tempt a desperate man.”With a groan, Gabriel abandoned all pretense of decorum, sweeping her into his arms.
“Finally,” Peregrine murmured against his lips, her arms winding around his neck as he carried her up the staircase, their laughter echoing through the halls.“I do believe temptation is the name of the game today…”
“No, it’s seduction, and you, my dear wife, are about to get the most delicious lesson of your life.”
He nudged open the door to his chamber—their chamber now—with his shoulder, setting her down gently amid the opulent space.His heart hammered an odd rhythm of desire, desperation, and vulnerability as he watched Peregrine pause, taking it all in.The massive four-poster bed draped in rich velvet, the flickering fire in the hearth casting golden shadows on the polished wood panels, the scent of beeswax and fresh linens mingling with the faint aroma of his cologne that lingered in the air.Her eyes widened slightly, a mix of awe and intimacy washing over her features as she turned back to him, her gown whispering against the carpet.
He swallowed, watching her with a focus that was near obsession.
“It… feels like home, because it reminds me of you.”She turned as she finished the words.
And without any of the rakish charm he was known to have, he closed the distance between them and kissed her with a desperation that was born of reckless love, deep need, and the recognition a soul had when it found its mate.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Pere wasn’t certainhow one could be both shivering and on fire at the same time, yet her body seemed capable of both simultaneously.Gabriel’s touch was searing as he held her close, his lips dancing with hers in the most tender of kisses.He lingered at her mouth, then withdrew.As her eyes fluttered open, she watched him, obsessively so.
“Why did you stop?”she asked.
“You’re shivering, and…” He leaned down, kissing the arch of her neck, his arms wrapping around her hips and pulling her in tightly.“And I want to make sure it’s because you’re chilly, not afraid.Because I promise.”He placed a lingering kiss along her jawline, then grazed his nose along her cheek and he continued.“There is nothing to fear.”
Pere felt her body relax a measure of the tension she hadn’t realized had been present.
“I love you, completely.You undo me with a glance.”He bent and kissed her shoulder, somehow now exposed to the cool air.
Her breathing stuttered as he ran a fingertip up her back, the stays loosening at his touch.
“Your smile makes me weak.”He nipped the flesh at her shoulder playfully, his hand reaching up to gently tug on her hair, the delicate sound of pins hitting the floor punctuated the shivers that were now deliciously warm and intoxicating.
“Oh?”she managed, unable to make the word more than a whisper.
