Katie Rose (28 page)

Winifred’s gaze caught his and Gabriel shrugged. “That was quite a show. But now won’t you three feel guilty if that women scours the earth, looking for this fictitious child?”

“How do you know he’s not real?” Winifred asked. “I’ve never seen Jenny say something like that before. She must have been very certain.”

“Are you saying she really can talk to the dead?” Gabriel demanded angrily.

Winifred shook her head. “I don’t know. All I’m saying is that Jennifer seemed to sense something tonight.
And even if she is wrong, do you really think it is harmful for Adele to know her husband really loved her? Or to have given her a reason to live?”

Gabriel couldn’t argue with her logic. He had been moved by what he’d seen, especially the way the séance had brought peace to this poor, grief-stricken woman. Still, it didn’t excuse Jennifer, nor was he ready to forgive what she’d done to him.

She burst into the room a moment later. “Can you believe what happened? I saw that child! My God …” Her voice trailed off as her sisters gestured wildly at something behind her. Whirling, Jennifer saw him standing near the door, his arms folded, his brow lifted in a mocking expression. Penelope lifted her hands helplessly.

“He made me open the door. He did promise not to stop the séance, and he didn’t.”

As Jennifer looked at Gabriel and saw the dark fury in his eyes, the promise of retribution, all color drained from her face. Giving a high squeak, she turned to rush out of the room, but he simply extended his arm, effectively preventing her from going anywhere. She skidded to a stop right in front of him.

“That’s right, Miss Appleton, it is I, alive and well, no thanks to you. Unfortunately, your sleeping draught lasts quite a bit longer on little old ladies than on full-grown men. You might want to note that for future reference.”

“We didn’t—I mean, I didn’t—”

“Forget it, Jennifer, I know exactly what happened. You had to do it, didn’t you? Make a fool out of me one more time? You weren’t content with simply jailing me, but had to poison me in the bargain! Well, this is the last time …” Without warning, he stooped and effortlessly scooped her up, holding her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, then turned to her sisters menacingly. “We’ll finish this conversation in private. And I mean,
in private
. Do you two understand?”

“Put me down!” Jennifer pounded on his back, unable to see him wince as she struggled to get free. Astonished, Penelope and Winifred could do nothing but stand aside and nod as he hauled their sister across the threshold and down the corridor. A door slammed shut but they could still hear Jennifer’s shrieks and Gabriel’s rumbling.

Winifred turned slowly to Penelope. Her scholarly face knotted in thought and she tapped her cheek with a fingertip, as if she were trying to figure out the most abstract math problem. “Maybe the sleeping draught wasn’t such a good idea,” she said.

“Put me down, you oaf! Do you hear me?” Jennifer kicked and squirmed, accidentally striking the back of his head as she thrashed. Gabriel grunted in pain, and Jennifer received a smack on her rump for her trouble. Yelping, she stopped fighting as he carried her into the guest room and plopped her unceremoniously down on the bed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jennifer asked, her eyes widening. It had occurred to her already that maybe poisoning him wasn’t the smartest thing they could have done. Faced with the results of his ire, Jennifer was now certain.

Gabriel didn’t respond. He simply slammed the door shut and locked it. Jennifer sank back on the bed, swallowing hard as he removed his gentleman’s jacket and flung it aside. Next he untied his cravat, his eyes never leaving her. He undid his shirt buttons, then pulled the good linen garment from his body. Throwing it against the wall, he turned toward her, his eyes blazing in outrage.

“I want to know what exactly possesses you, and why you feel the need to torture me,” he stated, his voice thick with ire. “Why, Jennifer? Am I some toy for your
amusement, some example of the male species you need to torment?”

“No!” Jennifer rose from the bed, stunned that he would think such a thing. His naked chest filled her vision, and she had to fight to remember what he’d said. “We really thought you’d ruin the séance! You’ve made your thoughts clear on the subject often enough …” she finished weakly, aware that even to her own ears, her argument sounded lame.

“And if I wanted to cause you trouble, why haven’t I done so already? I could have summoned the police numerous times, brought you to court, drained you financially with fines. Have I done any of this?”

His eyes blazed as he stepped closer. Jennifer swallowed hard. “No,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper.

“Then why?” he demanded. “Was it because I made love to you?”

“No!” Jennifer shouted, though shame and confusion welled up inside of her. Deep inside, she had to admit that some of her resentment toward him was because of exactly that, though it was mixed up with a million other emotions as well. Embarrassment stung her, and shock that he would dare bring that up. She felt the heat on her cheeks. “Gabriel, I’m sorry! We’ve both agreed that what happened between us was a mistake. It meant nothing! Putting you to sleep wasn’t an act of revenge. We were only trying to get you out of the way. Everything sort of … snowballed from there,” she finished weakly.

“It always snowballs where you’re concerned,” Gabriel ranted, full of self-righteous anger. He couldn’t admit how much she’d stung him, with her assertion that his lovemaking was so easily dismissed. His pride inflamed, he took a menacing step toward her. “You’re always plotting, always suspicious of my motivations, when I’ve been honest with you from the start! Well, I’ve lost all patience with you. This time you’re not getting away with it.”

“What are you going to do?” Jennifer asked, backing up as he stalked her. Her throat closed and she felt choked, a woman vulnerable and alone with a furious, half-dressed male—one that she found incredibly attractive. His steel blue eyes bore into hers, and he reached for her. The back of her knees hit the bed, and she struggled to stay on her feet. But instead of attacking her, as she had half feared, he took a cool cloth from the washstand and thrust it at her.

“Here. You did this to me, you fix it.”

When he turned his back to her, Jennifer gasped in horror. “My God, what happened to you? You’re black-and-blue—”

She bit her words off as the picture of him thumping up the steps came back to haunt her, and she pressed her hands to her mouth in shock. “Oh, no, Gabriel, we didn’t do that, did we?”

He glanced back at her, furious. “Yes, you did. I understand I was hauled up the stairs after you drugged me. I thought I’d been in a prizefight when I first awakened.”

“Gabriel, I’m so sorry. You have to know we didn’t mean to hurt you like this.”

“I don’t know anything of the sort. Excuse me if I seem reluctant to believe you, miss, but women who poison their guests aren’t exactly known for their truthfulness. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to be able to sleep tonight, without the swelling. I suggest you start with my back, and then we’ll discuss where else it hurts.”

Jennifer made a low, strangled noise, clearly visualizing the many times his derriere had struck the steps. She approached him with the same trepidation that she would an angry lion, clutching the compress and ready to bolt if he made a sudden move. His half-naked body, distinctly outlined in the dim light, looked strong, muscular, and far more sensual than she cared to notice. Unavoidably she thought of the previous night, when her hands raked that back in ecstasy. It was a thought she didn’t encourage.

Lightly, she pressed the cloth to his back, then withdrew it instantly as he howled.

“Ouch!” He looked over his shoulder and glared at her again. “Do you mind?”

“Sorry. Let me try again—” She chose another spot and tried to place the compress on it. He jumped, hissing in pain, and she moved the cloth again, this time trying between his shoulders. Even that spot seemed sensitive, and he leaped nearly to the ceiling.

“Ow! Is that all you can do, torture a man? Forget it, I’ll heal myself.” He tried to snatch the cloth from her, but Jennifer held it firmly.

“I can’t help you if you won’t let me touch you!” Jennifer exclaimed, exasperated. A sudden thought came to her and she gestured to the bed. “Lie down. I want to try something.”

“What?” Gabriel looked apprehensive, justifiably, Jennifer acknowledged. Laughing, she placed a pillow out for his sore head.

“Nothing painful, I promise.”

“Why doesn’t that reassure me?” Gabriel muttered, but allowed Jennifer to arrange him on the bed. “I watched your séance act,” he sneered as she laid her hands on him and concentrated. “Pretty impressive, but aren’t you afraid you’ve given her false hope?”

“How?” Jennifer asked, puzzled.

“Telling her that nonsense about a child. You can’t know any of that, and suppose it isn’t true?”

Jennifer stared down at him. Her expression was puzzled, as if he were trying to explain a riddle she couldn’t figure out herself. “You know, it’s so very strange, Gabriel, but I did see a child when I looked at the cards. Apparently, I also told her that when I was doing the séance, although I didn’t remember it later. But something inside me tells me it’s the truth—there really is a child.”

“Jennifer, you can’t—”

She shook her head as if still confused. Instead of arguing, she changed the subject. “Gabriel, if this is going to work, you have to be quiet. I can’t concentrate.”

Smirking, he did as she insisted, watching in fascination as her half-closed eyes focused on something far away. At first, he felt nothing, then strangely enough, an odd tingling began where her hands touched him. Apparently, Jennifer was an incredibly talented masseuse. She seemed to have a magical touch, and his body responded with a will of its own. The painful throbbing seemed to melt away, as if he were in a warm bath, and the aches slowly subsided.

Her hands slid sensually down his chest, and Gabriel felt his emotions veer completely in another direction. Desire, white-hot and searing, filled him, and he experienced a jolt of passion so intense that it took every ounce of discipline he had not to pull her into his arms. His anger, fully inflamed a moment ago, transformed into need. He looked up and saw that her full pink lips were even darker from pressing together in concentration, and looked incredibly appealing. Her thickly lashed eyes were closed against her alabaster cheeks like twin fans, and he wanted to kiss her into submission, making those eyes close with another kind of concentration.

Amazed at the emotion she stirred in him, Gabriel waited until her eyes opened and she glanced down at him. A pink flush stole over her, as if she knew what he was thinking, but she smiled softly.

“Is it better?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said, surprised at his own admission. He flexed an arm and felt a only tiny pinprick of pain. Even his head was better, for the incessant throbbing had subsided, replaced by a dull soreness that was still much more bearable. “It really is,” Gabriel said in amazement.

“See? Maybe now you’ll credit I’m not a total charlatan.”

Gabriel grinned, remembering the first time they’d
met and he’d thought her exactly that. His hand covered her pale one where it lay on his chest, and he turned toward her, his eyes smoldering with desire. “You’re not a charlatan in every area, I’ll grant you that much,” he whispered hoarsely. “In some ways, you are very real indeed.”

He took her into his arms then and Jennifer watched him come to her, breathless with need. The passion he’d so easily aroused in her the previous night came back like a pulsing ache, and the tension that had passed between them only served to fan the flames of desire even hotter. His lips covered hers and she was lost in the white-hot heat that ignited between them. She no longer cared that he would someday leave her for someone more appropriate; she couldn’t see anything past the moment. He was hers now, and that was all that mattered.

Moaning, she assisted him as he struggled with her clothes, laughing as he cursed the many buttons and hooks that needed to be unfastened. Jennifer wanted to feel his burning flesh against hers once more, wanted to revel in that moment when they became one. He took his time with her, however, slowly stoking the fire within her until it burned out of control.

As her gown finally puddled at her feet, Gabriel took her mouth in another molten kiss, intoxicating her with the intensity of his desire. The tray she’d brought him earlier stood by the bedside, a single hothouse rose gracing the simple offering. Blindly, his hand crumbled the flower, then brought the soft petals to her skin, letting them flutter and skim across her like liquid fire.

Jennifer gasped, drowning in sensation. Gabriel lowered her to the bed, lavishing her with his mouth, then teasing her sensitive flesh with the rose petals. Her body cried out for release, the heat building shockingly between her legs. She arched up against him, no longer caring about anything but the tingling, burning ache within her.