Mary covered a giggle with the back of her hand as she watched Gabe cooking in the Winning estate’s kitchens. He wore only an apron to protect his man-bits from the hot stove, the string from the loose knot dangling down the crevice of his finely rounded bottom.
“I can scarcely believe that a month has passed since that night…” Mary mused, staring at Gabe’s bottom.
Gabe grunted. “Indeed.”
“Thank you for bringing me to the Winning estate with you.”
“Yer welcome!” Gabe laughed. “’Constant meetings with the family’s solicitors is verra riveting, I’m certain. I’m just pleased tha’ ye were able te get some time away from the theatre, te spend with me.”
Mary leaned her back against the edge of the table and shifted her seat on the wooden bench that sat in the corner of the kitchens. It was ordinarily where the staff would sit to eat their meals, but the moment Gabe had entered the estate, he had relieved the staff of their duties. He was determined to remove everyone within the home that had been unkind to his mother when he was a boy.
Clearing her throat, Mary returned to the moment. “My still-obvious injuries prevented me from keeping my part in the next play, but I confess I do not miss it one jot. There will always be another opportunity. And I quite like being here with you, meetings and all.”
Mary stood and strode toward him, then raked her fingernails gently over his back as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder.
“Ayaah!” Gabe exclaimed, waving his hand in the air. “Ach, yer distracting me, love.”
With a laugh, Mary returned to the table. She chose the opposite side, sliding her feet out beneath the table.
“Ye may giggle, my heart, but I believe ye’ll be verra pleased with these eggs.”
“I love to watch your bum move when you walk about…”
Gabe laughed. “Naughty lass.”
The smell of Gabe’s cooking filled her senses; the eggs crackled in the hot pan over the fire and the scent swirled its way alluringly to her nose. Her stomach grumbled in response.
Mary placed her elbows upon the tabletop and smiled dreamily at him. Her love grew for him with each passing hour…particularly when he strode about nude.
“I would like to be more naughty, if you would join me at the table…”
His head swung around, his eyelids heavy with desire as he stared at her partially hidden nude form.
“Donnae tempt me, Mary. Ye’ll make me burn yer eggs.”
She rose from her seat on the bench to sprawl herself across the table’s top. “I would not mind burned eggs,” she purred.
His throat bobbed, but he turned back to his eggs, hissing a breath through his teeth. “Ye’ll make me burn off me manhood, love!”
She laughed again.
Their journey north had been a wonderful one, indeed. While they’d not spent a single night in an inn, but posted through each night, she had slept wonderfully within the circle of Gabe’s arms to the gentle rocking of their carriage.
“There we are.” He turned to the worktop and carefully divided the eggs onto two plates, then removed his apron.
He added a green garnish of parsley and sprinkled the plates with a red spice before bringing them toward the table.
Mary watched his manhood standing proudly erect as he walked, her gaze riveted on the sleekness of him, and her body heated wantonly in response. His injuries were healing wonderfully, the still-red scars on his chest and thigh fading away, and the bruises on his face were all but entirely gone.
Gabe slid the plates on the table, one before her breasts and one in front of him, closest to her hip.
Teasingly, Mary lifted a hot piece of egg with her fingers and placed it between her lips. Her mouth exploded with flavour. Some salt, some sweet, some heat, and a new divine sensation in the combination of the three.
“Oh my! Oh, Gabe these are delicious.”
She lifted her body up to prop her elbow beneath her, then picked up another piece of egg, and another, each tasting just as delightful as the last.
“I am verra pleased tha’ ye like them, Mary.”
“Oh, I do!”
She dabbed at her lips with the napkin he held out to her. There was something she needed to say to him…something that had been in her thoughts since they had left London.
“Gabriel, I must speak to you…”
Abandoning his own plate, he turned his gaze up to meet hers. “Yes, love?”
Her stomach quivered at the endearment, but she determinately set the feeling aside and spoke her mind. “I’ve thought about this often in the past several weeks… I wish to remain a spy. I do not believe there is anything that will change my mind on that score.” His gaze dipped back to his plate, unreadable. “But,” she continued, “I no longer wish to be an actress on Drury Lane.”
He sat bolt upright. “But tha’ has been yer dream, Mary.”
“Yes,” she said, feeling somewhat nervous. “However, I feel there is another way that I might be able to feel the delights of the stage without having to suffer the attentions of so many witless, dandified men.”
His eyebrows rose, apparently intrigued. “Oh?”
She nodded her head, rather proud of her plan. “The school!” she said excitedly. “The war with Napoleon Bonaparte has been won, but our band of crown spies are still very much in demand. I had thought to seek an audience with Hermes to request a position as a teacher within the school for spies. That perhaps I might not only teach the students the virtues of superior acting skills in infiltration assignments, but that I might arrange for a theatrical at each year’s end.”
Gabe’s response was to pull her into a deep, passionate kiss that sent wanton tingles over her skin and through her quickly heating body.
He pulled back, breaking their kiss. “Leannan, I cannae tell ye how truly pleased ye’ve just made me. Ye ken tha’ I will support ye, whatever ye do. The only thing tha’ I need is fer ye te be happy.”
Mary grinned and popped another piece of egg into her mouth, and Gabe followed suit.
She picked at another piece, but hit something metallic on the plate.
Oh dear. Not wanting to embarrass Gabe by letting him know something had gotten into his delectable food, Mary tried to discretely remove it without his knowing. But as she picked the item out from beneath the eggs, Mary’s breath caught in her throat.
It was a ring. Abandoning her relaxed position, Mary sat upright on the tabletop, her heart and stomach fluttering wildly within her.
“Oh my goodness,” she breathed.
The slender gold band was topped with one large glittering sapphire surrounded by a dozen or more small, purple stones. A lump caught in Mary’s throat and she swallowed heavily. It matched her favourite pendant perfectly.
Suddenly Gabe was kneeling on the cold kitchen floor before her, holding her hand in his.
He cleared his throat. “Mary. I have nae always been kind te ye, but I’ve always considered ye my friend. Since tha’ first time I saw ye runnin’ headlong across a field of bluebells, I’ve been enchanted. Ye captured my heart and I let it go willingly. Yer a bewitching lass with endless virtues. And I love ye. I love ye more than anythin’. I dream of building a family with ye. Making a life with ye.” He took the ring from her numb fingers and held it, hovering before her left hand. “Mary. My friend, my love…will ye do me the greatest honour of becoming my wife?”
The lump stuck in her throat, preventing her from speaking, but she nodded franticly, anyway, her loose hair falling forward over her shoulders. Her pulse sped happily, and her vision clouded with unshed tears as he slid the ring onto her finger.
She leaned down to press her lips firmly to his and he returned it with a passionate kiss of his own. He stood, forcing her to tilt her head back.
“Ta, Mary. Thank ye…”
He skimmed his hands reverently over her waist and gently lowered her back to the table. Mary lost herself in the euphoria of his attentions, her hands gripping tightly to his strong, broad shoulders.
His lips found hers again as he slid his rigid member deep within her. He thrust quickly and intensely, each plunge driving her closer and closer to ecstasy, until she broke. Her cries of “Yes!” echoed through the room, as tears of joy slid across her temple and into her mass of auburn locks.
The End