Sins of a Virgin (39 page)
“This can’t be a real bid.” The words sounded distant.
“It is. Only about a third of that is mine, and the rest is from my—” He cleared his throat. “My father.”
“You went to him?” Madeline tried to cover the fact that she was clutching the paper to her chest like a sappy imbecile.
“This afternoon, before I met you at Naughton’s.” A touch of color bled across Gabriel’s cheekbones. “I couldn’t let anyone else win you. Not even in pretense.”
Madeline blinked against the salt stinging her eyes. “But the auction was over before you wrote anything.”
“No, everyone thought the auction was over. I wrote my name at the bottom with three seconds to spare.” Wiping away a tear that ignored her commands, Gabriel raised his brow. “Now I believe you owe me a night that exceeds my wildest fantasies, correct?”
Madeline braced her hands behind her on the desk, letting the heat she was feeling enter her eyes.
As Gabriel leaned in, she stopped him with a finger on his chest. “I’ve arranged for you to spend the evening fighting a killer in the house of a former spy, who also happens to be your betrothed, while a duke listened outside the door. I think I’ve surpassed any fantasy you have ever had. I’ve fulfilled my obligation to the auction.” She crumpled the paper and tossed it over her shoulder. But then she wrapped her legs around Gabriel’s waist. “But my obligation to my heart—that’s another matter entirely.”
Gabriel’s kiss left her breathless before he pulled back, his expression serious. “You’re my wildest fantasy, Madeline. I love you.”
His green eyes held hers, and in that moment, finally, she believed.
“T
he coach is ready, Mrs. Huntford.”
Madeline glanced up at the butler’s retreating back. It was still vaguely odd to see a butler without Canterbury’s flourishes, but Canterbury had refused to displace Gabriel’s old butler and instead accepted an offer of employment from Clayton. Not that she could blame him. Clayton’s investments had paid off. He was well on his way to being wealthy enough to buy and sell the Bank of England. Yet he was still angry and bitter at the world. Especially at the woman who had sent him to the gallows. And Ian had disappeared, intent on tracking down the man who had betrayed her to Einhern.
Sighing, Madeline glanced at the clock, then started. “Heavens, it’s late.” She hurriedly tucked the case files she was reading back into the desk. “But I really think your best bet is to interrogate the maid again. I don’t believe her when she says she doesn’t remember a plate with a different china pattern coming through the kitchen that night. I was a scullery maid once in Seville. As intimate as I was with those dishes, there was no way I would have missed it.”
“I’ll follow up with her later this afternoon.” Gabriel helped her to her feet, even though the small bump on her belly hardly showed yet.
“Tomorrow. Your mother will never forgive us if we miss any of her wedding festivities.”
Gabriel placed his hands on Madeline’s stomach in a gesture that was at once awestruck and fiercely protective. Her heart leaped as it did every time.
“I still say once she accepted Northgate, she should have obtained a special license and exchanged vows in front of the nearest vicar. It worked for us.”
Madeline smiled. “That’s because we couldn’t manage to keep our clothing on long enough for anything more elaborate.”
“Speaking of clothing—”
She gasped in pleasure as Gabriel’s thumb brushed the underside of her breast, but she tried to focus on the conversation at hand. “She’s had thirty years to imagine what her wedding might have been like. She has every right to make it as extravagant as she desires. Although I think the most elaborate plans came from your father.”
Gabriel raised his brow. “I believe society realizes he’s not ashamed of us. Hell, the entire world is probably well aware he’s not ashamed of us.”
His words were gruff but Madeline could hear the growing affection in them. Even if Gabriel wouldn’t admit to caring for his father, the mutual respect between them definitely showed the promise of something deeper.
Gabriel’s lips traced the edge of her bodice. “Now back to the topic of your clothing . . . How much time did you say we have?”
Madeline’s knees trembled, but she forced them to steady. “Not enough time to get me out of this dress and back into it.”
“Well then, what if it happened to become a bit creased in the carriage ride over?”
Madeline smiled, lifting her lips to his, her heart aching with happiness. “Some things just can’t be avoided despite the best-laid plans.”
ANNA RANDOL
lives and writes in sunny Southern California. When she’s not plotting sexy storylines, she’s usually eating chocolate, having wild dance parties with her kids in the living room, or remodeling her house, one ill-planned project at a time.
Anna loves to hear from her readers through her website at www.annarandol.com or on twitter @AnnaRandol.
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Sins of a Virgin
A Most Naked Solution
A Secret in Her Kiss
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
K.I.S.S. and Teal is a trademark of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
SINS OF A VIRGIN
. Copyright © 2012 by Anna Clevenger. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062197986
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062025791
FIRST EDITION
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