Chapter Thirty-Four
The next morning, Gabriel managed to get Thea alone in the library. He shepherded her in between the bookcases. They didn’t have much time; Kent and the others would be arriving shortly to accompany him to Spitalfields, and he wanted a moment alone with her.
“You’ll be careful today?” Thea said.
“Yes.” He rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip, savoring its softness, the contact between them once more. “We’re probably just chasing our own tail.”
“You never know.” She shivered. “I just wish this business was truly over.”
“It will be soon. All evidence points to Heath being the Spectre, and, if anything, finding Fournier will just put the nail in his coffin. Now stop fretting, princess,” he murmured, “and give me a kiss goodbye.”
He bent his head, intending only to give her a little peck. But after a week of going without, desire roared over him… along with potent, heady relief when she responded.
She still wants me. I haven’t bungled things up beyond repair.
Before he knew what he was doing, he’d backed her into the shelves, her palms flattening against the leather spines, her lips parting in sensual surrender. Her taste, the feel of her so soft and giving, overwhelmed him. The need burgeoned in him to be closer to her, as close as he could possibly be.
He threw up her skirts, his hand finding the curve of her knee and upward, past the frill of her garter. Her thighs were down-soft, tempting as hell. But he didn’t have time to linger.
“Gabriel, anyone can see,” she protested.
“Then you’ll have to decide, won’t you? Whether the risk is worth it.”
“I can’t possibly—oh.” Her eyes closed, pink suffusing her cheeks.
Triumph surged within him. “Open your eyes, princess. Look at me when I touch you.”
Her lashes lifted, the hazel depths swirling with passionate gold. He rewarded her by circling his thumb over her pearl, his other fingers surging upward into her voluptuous warmth. She was so snug and wet around him that he could hardly breathe.
“Did you miss this?” he said against her ear. “My fingers inside you?”
“Yes. Oh yes.”
He withdrew, drove upward again. “You’ve got two of them now. Can you take another?”
She whimpered, and a gush of dew dampened his palm. He’d take that as a yes.
It was the work of a moment to give her more, his cock rock-hard with envy at the way her sheath clutched his driving touch. Oh, to be balls deep in her pussy… heaven for another day. For now it was enough to reestablish that he owned her pleasure, that she was still his. This was real between them. Intimacy he knew how to give.
His teeth ground together as she came. He endured the exquisite torture of her cunny convulsing around his fingers, milking his thick digits before the flutters subsided. Only then did he pull free of her and settle her skirts back into place.
Smiling into her bliss-glazed eyes, he said, “Now give me a goodbye kiss, and I’ll be off.”
She looked at him and, in the next instant, sank to her knees. To his astonishment, she went to work on the fastenings of his trousers. When his heavy erection fell into her hands, he came to his senses.
“Thea, love, I don’t think—”
The rest of the sentence evaporated from his brain as her lips closed around him.
Christ. Holy Mother of God.
His knees nearly buckled as she took him hard and fast, her fist pumping him as she sucked on his shaft. Her taking control like this wasn’t their agreement, he thought dazedly, but at the moment he couldn’t give a damn.
Her curls bobbed prettily as she took him deeper and deeper. As she endeavored to swallow his prick whole, to consume every living inch of him with her wildfire. His hands clenched in the silk of her hair; his hips thrust with animal volition, fucking her beautiful mouth, and she didn’t pull back. Raw words tore from his throat.
“I need this,” he growled. “I need you.”
She moaned in response, the moist vibration making his neck arch. Her hot, wet sucking drove him to the edge. When his cockhead nudged the silken end of her throat, lights streaked across his vision. Heat rumbled up from his balls, and with his last ounce of sanity, he tried to pull away.
She wouldn’t let him. Feeling her fingers dig into his buttocks, holding him in place as she had her wicked way with him, he lost all control. He came with a roar, the hot load rushing from him and into her generous keeping.
He staggered backward, his shoulders sagging against a bookcase. As he tried to catch his breath, she refastened his pants and rose. Through the haze of pleasure, he saw that she looked perfectly pristine and ladylike… unless one looked at her eyes. They were slumberous and sultry, brimming with feminine satisfaction.
The merging of lady and siren, the glowing wholeness of it, made his senses spin.
“That,” he said hoarsely, “was the best goodbye kiss I’ve ever had.”
“Consider it an incentive.” Her smile beguiled the hell out of him. “Because my hello kisses are even better.”
***
After Gabriel and the others left, time seemed to drag by at a snail’s pace. Thea tried practicing at the pianoforte, but she couldn’t concentrate. She was too distracted by thoughts of what might be happening in Spitalfields… and of the sensual encounter between her and Gabriel this morning.
I need you.
She hugged the words to herself. It was the closest he’d come to saying that he loved her. He’d trusted her enough to let her take the lead in their lovemaking, and it had felt glorious to be in command of his pleasure. More importantly, last night he’d apologized for his behavior and opened up to her. He’d reaffirmed his desire to marry her.
Things were progressing between them.
Her previous worries began to seem like the bridal jitters after all.
Seeing that she was getting nowhere with practice, Thea went to check in on Freddy. The boy was sitting at the desk in his room, his tawny head bent over a piece of parchment. He had a half-finished tray of roasted beef and carrots beside him.
Freddy’s health had continued to make excellent progress. Dr. Abernathy had begun to experiment with various foods in order to see their effects on the boy’s ailment. Thus far, they’d discovered that Freddy tolerated meats and fatty foods without any problem, while breads and sweets could trigger a megrim. Though the process required trial and error, Freddy remained full of hope, his resilience filling Thea with pride.
“What are you doing, dear?” she said.
Freddy looked up, his eyes bright with excitement. It was a common expression for him these days. “Edward and I are playing a game. We’re pretending to be spies,” he said eagerly. “I’m writing him a secret message using the invisible ink Harry gave me.”
Thea hid a grin. I wonder what Gabriel would think of this new game.
“That’s lovely,” she said. “Shall I see if Edward is available for a visit today?”
“Oh, yes,” Freddy enthused. “But I must finish my message before we go.”
Leaving him to the task, Thea sent a note to Marianne and received an affirmative reply to call. Thea debated sending for the carriage, but the idea of stretching her legs and getting some sunshine and fresh air seemed preferable to the trouble. It was less than a ten-minute walk away, and they’d take a pair of footmen with them. She decided to let Freddy make the choice.
“Let’s walk,” he said. “That way I can test the ink outdoors. I want to see if I can leave secret messages on fence posts for Edward to find.”
“I’m afraid that would be vandalism, dear.”
“How is it vandalism if you can’t see it?” Freddy said in reasonable tones. “Unless someone puts a flame near it, the ink will remain invisible. And if the ink does become visible, Harry says all you have to do is put water on it to make it disappear.”
Thea opened her mouth—then closed it.
“Just don’t let anyone see what you’re doing,” she said with a sigh.