The Lady Forfeits (14 page)

Remarks that were very odd, considering that Diana had been the one to make both the suggestion that her maid sit with his mother and that they should take her to London in the first place. What was going on here?

Jennifer visibly relaxed. ‘Now that tempers have cooled, I suggest we all sit down and resume eating our dinner.’

‘An excellent idea.’ Diana smiled brightly as she removed her hand from Gabriel’s arm and retook her seat at the table. ‘One always develops such an appetite when one is in the country.’ She placed her napkin lightly across her silk-covered knees before looking up to smile at the now-seated Jennifer Prescott.

Gabriel resumed his own seat at the table far more cautiously. His uncle’s wife had just seriously insulted Diana, in both word and deed, and yet the smile that curved his fiancée’s delectable lips could not have been sweeter. Not because she was not fully aware of the personal nature of the attack, he felt sure; as he had learnt to his cost, it was most unwise to underestimate the woman he was betrothed to.

Undoubtedly something was seriously amiss with Diana’s contradictory behaviour, but Gabriel had no idea what it was. He intended to find out at the earliest possible opportunity, though.

He was none the wiser by the time the meal finally came to an end almost two hours later. An excruciating and long two hours for Gabriel, although the ladies appeared to suffer no such discomfort as they conversed
on such subjects as London fashions and the difficulty of acquiring the correct silks and lace. The capabilities of the cook at Faulkner Manor were also extolled as each delicious course was served to them. Diana had briefly excused herself from the table to go off in search of a handkerchief after the main course was finished, leaving Gabriel and Mrs Prescott to enjoy an uncomfortable silence. Diana had resumed control of the inane conversation upon her return, this time asking about the comfort and size of the congregation that attended the church in the village of which Jennifer’s father was still rector.

All of them innocuous subjects—and so totally boring Gabriel found himself in danger of falling asleep over his dessert.

‘That is two hours of my life that I hope never to live through again,’ he muttered as he and Diana ascended the wide staircase together. Gabriel had requested that his after-dinner brandy be delivered to the privacy of his bedchamber rather than run the risk of having to suffer any more of his uncle’s wife’s company.

Diana could not help but laugh at his disgruntled expression. She agreed; it had been a most tedious evening. Worse than tedious, in fact. ‘Never mind, Gabriel.’ She patted his hand sympathetically. ‘This evening has served one purpose at least—I now completely accept your explanation as to how Mrs Prescott has knowledge of your birthmark.’

He raised surprised brows. ‘You do?’

‘Oh, yes.’ Diana snorted. ‘I am sure that even at a
very young age you would have required at least some intelligence in the women you bedded.’

Gabriel stiffened. ‘I am not at all sure this is a correct conversation—’

‘Oh, don’t be so pompous.’

He scowled. ‘I have just suffered the most agonisingly boring evening of my entire life and now you dare to call me pompous?’

She turned to eye him teasingly as they reached the top of the staircase. ‘It is not in the least flattering that you include the apparently boring company of your future wife in that sweeping statement.’

‘Damn it, I was not referring to you!’

‘Now you are swearing in front of your future wife, too.’

‘I shall do a lot more than that if you do not soon explain your previous remark,’ he vowed as she continued to walk along the hallway to their bedchambers, leaving him no choice but to follow her, as he carried the candle to light her way. ‘In fact, I wish you would explain the whole of this peculiar evening to me. I would be interested to learn, for example, at what point in the evening you became convinced that Jennifer Prescott has, and always did have, the intellect of a pea?’

‘I believe you may be insulting the pea!’ Diana laughed. ‘And I believe it became apparent to me when she first described your mother’s health as being nothing more than a simple malaise that did not require the attendance of a doctor or nurse, before only minutes later claiming your mother was far too fragile in health to be removed to London.’ She pursed her lips. ‘It has
always been my belief that one is in need of a certain amount of intellect in order to be a successful liar.’

‘But—’ Gabriel was left standing outside in the hallway as Diana entered her bedchamber without so much as a backward glance, meaning he had to follow her if he wished to continue this conversation. ‘Are you telling me you had decided over two hours ago that she is an unmitigated liar?’

She remained completely composed as she removed her long lace gloves. ‘Oh, no, Gabriel, I decided that several days ago. Before I had even met her. Think, Gabriel,’ she urged as he looked totally dumbfounded by her admission. ‘I could hardly claim to believe your own version of past events without at the same time acknowledging that the young woman involved must therefore be a liar. As Jennifer Prescott is that young woman, ergo Jennifer Prescott must be a liar. Once I had that firmly established in my mind—and, once again, I apologise for my slight wobble over doubting your word earlier—’

‘It is I who should apologise to you for behaving so boorishly,’ he inserted swiftly.

‘Let us not now argue about who should apologise to whom,’ she dismissed with her usual briskness. ‘In regard to Mrs Prescott’s lack of honesty… Once I remembered that she
is
inherently dishonest, it became so much easier for me to realise I must disbelieve anything she had to say. She has also been very cunning, of course—’

‘You just claimed that she lacks intellect!’ Gabriel eyed her with some considerable exasperation.

‘Really, Gabriel, I am sure you must be aware that true intelligence and the slyness of a cunning vixen are not at all the same thing.’ Diana shot him a chiding glance.

‘I must?’

‘But of course,’ she said. ‘You are, I am glad to say, the most intelligent gentleman—apart from my father—that I have ever met.’

Gabriel was not feeling particularly intelligent at this moment; in fact, this whole conversation seemed to have run away from his understanding!

Diana, on the other hand, seemed cheerfully satisfied with her evening. And in her happy state of contentment, she was even more desirable to him. He suddenly realised that, although he still did not want to make love to her properly for the first time under this roof and before they were legally married, there
were
other ways he could satisfy the desire that ignited between them every time they touched. And he was pretty sure he knew them all…

Diana was so caught up in thoughts of the positive results of her evening that she did not even notice as Gabriel placed the lighted candle upon the dressing table before locking the bedchamber doors, only becoming aware once he stood very close to her, the warmth in his eyes unmistakable as his arms moved about her waist and he pulled her gently but determinedly into the heat of his body.

Her eyes widened. ‘What are you doing, Gabriel?’

‘I am sure you, at least, are far too intelligent a
woman for me to need to explain.’ His head lowered, his lips nuzzling against the rapidly beating pulse in her throat.

She was undeniably flustered by the warmth of those lips against her flesh. ‘But—’

‘I have decided that this evening does not have to be a complete waste of time.’ Those lips now moved the length of her throat, slowly, pleasurably. ‘I also admit the only thing that made this evening at all bearable for me was the thought of reacquainting myself with the mole upon your left breast once we were finally alone together…’ His hands were at her back as he began to unfasten the buttons of her gown that ran the length of her spine.

A quiver of anticipation travelled down that spine at the mere thought of his previous familiarity with her breasts; breasts that now tingled in awareness beneath the silk of her gown, the now familiar warmth growing between her thighs. ‘And is it also your intention to acquaint me with the birthmark upon your thigh?’

His husky laugh reverberated throughout her body. ‘It might be, yes. With your agreement, my dear?’

She lifted her head to look up at him and saw the desire that burned in the dark-blue depths of his eyes and the laughter lines fanning out from the corners. The slant of his cheekbones seemed less severe than usual, too, and his lips, those firm and sculptured lips, were curved up into a lazily amused smile.

This was a question to which Diana could have only one answer…

I
t was the very gentleness in Gabriel’s expression—an emotion so at odds with his usual uncompromising arrogance—which succeeded in melting the very bones in Diana’s body. ‘I believe I should enjoy that very much,’ she responded huskily.

‘I am much relieved to hear it.’ He had finished unfastening the buttons at the back of her gown and now allowed that garment to slide down the slenderness of her arms before dropping it softly to the floor to pool silkily at her slippered feet, leaving her clothed only in her short shift and a pair of white stockings held in place by pretty white garters decorated with tiny pink rosebuds.

Gabriel’s breath caught in his throat as he looked down at her, the fullness of her breasts visible beneath the thin material of her shift, the tips of those breasts already aroused and pouting as they pressed invitingly against it, a darker vee of golden curls also visible between her silky thighs.

His gaze glowed hotly as it moved back up to her face. ‘So much has happened since coming into this household, I have discovered that it is only your beauty and honesty which seems real to me.’

Diana felt a wealth of emotion growing, swelling, inside her chest. Gabriel had stated clearly at the time of their betrothal that he did not love her and that he never would, but to have won the regard and the respect of a man as jaded as he was, was a pearl beyond price.

The joy of that lit her eyes as she reached up to begin unfastening the buttons of his waistcoat. ‘In that case, allow me to act as your valet again, my lord…’

There was no slow and agonisingly pleasurable removal of his clothes this time, as he aided her in their removal before throwing them on to the carpeted floor beside the bed.

Diana smiled in satisfaction as the small brown birthmark was revealed only several inches above his knee after he had sat down on the bed to remove his boots and then peel off his pantaloons. ‘Most respectable, my lord.’

Gabriel grimaced. ‘That woman is a vindictive witch—’

He was silenced from further comment as Diana placed her fingertips lightly across his lips. She gave a gentle shake of her head. ‘She has no place here with us now.’

‘No.’ He was completely unconcerned by his nakedness as he stood up before reaching to remove the pins from Diana’s hair.

Gabriel drew in a sharp breath as those tresses were finally released to fall, as he had once imagined they
might, in a warmth of reddish-gold curls that reached down to the tender curve of her waist, several of those delicate curls framing the creamy warmth of her flushed cheeks and brow.

His hands shook slightly as he raised them to cradle each side of her face before gazing deeply into her eyes. ‘You are beauty incarnate, Diana. A veritable goddess come to earth.’

Diana felt almost overwhelmed by their intimacy, the nakedness of his body more perfect, more wonderfully masculine than she could ever have imagined; the muscled hardness of his shoulders and chest was beautifully, gloriously sculptured in the glow of candlelight, and tapered down to the flatness of his stomach and leanly muscled thighs. Those drawings in the book of the Greek gods in her father’s library, which Diana had once looked at so admiringly, had not prepared her for the physical evidence of the arousal of a flesh-and-blood man—but then, in all fairness to those Greek gods, none of them had been drawn fully and magnificently aroused!

Diana was unable to stop staring at Gabriel’s arousal, steel encased in velvet. What would it be like, she wondered, to kneel down in front of him and place her lips about that—?

She stopped, stunned at herself and her fantasies. She had no idea where they had even come from! Except she knew it was something that she felt compelled to do; she was sure he would enjoy it as much, if not more, than she would…

‘Your turn will come later, little goddess.’ Gabriel reached out to grasp her arms before she could sink to
her knees in front of him, having seen the direction of her hungry graze. Experienced as he was, perhaps even jaded from the women he had bedded this past eight years, if she so much as touched his aching and throbbing shaft with her mouth at this moment, then he would lose all control. And he wanted to please her first.

‘I wish to give you pleasure, Diana.’ He slipped one thin strap from her shoulder, then the other, allowing her shift to fall softly down about her hips revealing the deliciously full, naked thrust of her breasts. ‘Ah, my familiar friend.’ He ran the tip of his finger across the tiny mole now visible just slightly above her left nipple.

She trembled from the pleasure of that single caress, her legs beginning to shake almost uncontrollably as he lowered his head to run the tip of his tongue across that mole before he moved lower, his tongue now a moist rasp across the aching crest of her breast, the nipple standing erect even as his lips parted, his breath hot against her skin before he took that rosy tip fully into the heat of his mouth.

Pleasure coursed from her breast down to between her thighs. She reached out to grasp on to the flexing muscles of his shoulders as she felt her core burning as he drew harder on her nipple even as his other hand cupped its twin and the soft pad of his thumb moved across its tip with the same delectable rhythm.

Diana was so lost in wonder, in pleasure, that she barely noticed as he discarded her shift altogether, only becoming aware that he had done so as he moved his hand to caress a path from her breast, over the slight curve of her stomach, before cupping her lower, the
press of his palm sending quivers of pleasure coursing through her even as his fingers began a skilful caress of her moist and sensitive opening.

She gasped, her hands moving up and allowing her own fingers to become entangled in the dark thickness of Gabriel’s hair as ecstasy unlike anything she had ever known before claimed and rocked her in a crescendo of ever-increasing waves.

She groaned achingly at her release before collapsing weakly against him.

He released her breast slowly before raising his head to see that Diana had not just collapsed but truly fainted, her lashes resting long and silkily upon her flushed and creamy cheeks, her breathing soft and shallow.

Gabriel frowned with concern even as he swung her up into his arms and carried her towards the bed. He had, he realised, made love with women too numerous to count, but none of them had ever fainted away after climaxing. Had he hurt her? Perhaps she was too delicate, too ladylike to enjoy such pleasures? That had to be it! What a fool he was!

‘Gabriel?’

His gaze sharpened on her face, his expression softening in relief as he saw that she was looking up at him with dreamy satisfaction rather than horrified accusation.

She frowned slightly at his continued silence, one of her hands lifting to cradle the side of his sharply etched jaw. ‘I had no idea that lovemaking would be so—so gloriously overwhelming.’

‘Neither did I,’ he assured her huskily as he knelt on the bed to lay her gently down upon the bedcovers.

‘But you are a man of experience,’ she said wonderingly.

‘I would rather not talk about that now, my dear,’ he said uncomfortably. He realised the women he had bedded in the past had all ceased to matter, been forgotten, had faded into insignificance after holding Diana in his arms and making love with her. Why that should be he had no idea.

‘I believe it is now my turn to—explore,’ she said shyly.

Gabriel’s heart leapt in his chest at Diana’s reminder that he had brought a halt to her caresses earlier. ‘Perhaps we have explored enough for one night,’ he said gently, recalling how overwhelmed she has just been. This was, after all, her first experience of lovemaking.

‘Oh, no, Gabriel.’ Diana sat up, the long length of her golden hair falling silkily about her shoulders, the naked pout of her breasts peeping through those curls, the nipples as full and ripe as the berries they resembled.

His breath caught in his throat at the sight of those juicy orbs, his shaft aching as he imagined feasting on them once again. ‘Diana—’

‘You will lie still, please,’ she instructed as she moved up on to her knees to push him down on to the pillows, appearing not at all abashed that she wore only her stockings and garters as she knelt between his parted legs.

‘Lie still,’ she said—and how in the blazes was he supposed to do that when she first bent to place a soft kiss against that damned birthmark before straightening to run her tiny hands the length of his thighs? His head fell back on to the pillows as he finally felt the warmth
of her lips closing about his hard and throbbing arousal and her hair fell about her like a golden curtain before spilling softly down on to his thighs.

Diana was encouraged in her caresses by Gabriel’s throaty groans and the hot leaping of his arousal as she took him deeper into the heat of her mouth. She had never tasted anything so succulently addictive in her life before.

‘Diana!’ Gabriel sounded short of breath, his voice a low and fervent appeal.

She raised her head to look at him, concerned to see an agonised expression on his face. ‘Am I hurting you?’

‘Dear God, no, not at all! It is too much pleasure, Diana. Much more of it and I shall disgrace myself completely,’ he explained even as he reached down for her.

She evaded his grasp, emboldened by his admission. ‘How so? You must tell me, Gabriel, else how will I ever learn how I am to please you?’ she pleaded.

He looked rueful. ‘If you please me any more than you already have, then I shall lose control and spill myself like some callow youth.’

‘Ah.’ She nodded in understanding, even as her avid gaze returned to the long, hard shaft she still cradled in her hand. There was a tiny bead of moisture on its glistening tip and she bent slightly and licked it with the slow rasp of her tongue before once again taking him fully into her mouth.

‘Diana…’ His hands were clenched at his sides, his body completely taut.

Only minutes ago he had introduced her to undreamt-of pleasure, one she now wished to give back to him.

‘Dear God!’ Gabriel’s groans became a litany as—almost against his will, it seemed—his hips began to rise and fall in a distinctive rhythm. Previously innocent of such intimacy, she nevertheless knew the exact moment that he lost all control and became utterly consumed in his own ecstasy.

Minutes passed; all Gabriel could hear was the sound of his own ragged breathing as he lay completely boneless, sprawled back upon the bedcovers, one of his hands still lightly entangled in the gold of Diana’s curls as they cascaded across him in wild disarray, her breath a warm caress against his thighs.

Somehow he had found heaven in a place he had come to think of as hell. Somehow this woman had lifted him out of the dark and taken him into a golden paradise. It was as if—

A knock sounded softly on the bedchamber door to halt his wandering thoughts, followed by an enquiring whisper. ‘Miss? Miss, you told me I should call you if—well, if I should need you?’

‘What the—?’ Gabriel was too satiated, too physically replete, to do more than turn and frown in the direction of the locked door.

Diana’s response was much more immediate as she sat up quickly to push back the wildness of her hair from her face before running across the room to pull on and belt her robe. ‘Dear Lord, how could I have allowed myself to forget?’ she muttered wildly.

‘Diana?’ Gabriel eyed her sharply as the fog of his physical repletion began to abate.

She shook her head. ‘I meant to go immediately after dinner—oh, I should not have allowed myself
to become so distracted!’ she told herself crossly as she hurried to unlock the door and open it just enough so that she could talk with the person outside in the hallway, but whoever it was could not see inside the bedchamber to where Gabriel still lay naked upon the bed.

He sat up, a dark and heavy scowl on his brow as he watched her at the doorway. He had just been transported to some hitherto-unknown plateau of pleasure and she had just referred to their intimacy as being a distraction from some more important purpose!

She had no experience with which to compare their lovemaking, of course, and could have no idea how rare and beautiful it had been. But he was fully aware of it.

She was utterly incapable of artifice. She was the most honest and forthright young woman he had—

‘We must both dress immediately.’ Diana appeared flustered as, her conversation concluded, she closed and relocked the door, not sparing him so much as a glance as she hurried across the room to fling open the wardrobe doors and began searching through the array of gowns that hung there. She halted as she turned back into the room, blue woollen gown in hand, and found that he had not moved. ‘Did you not hear me, Gabriel?’ She frowned her impatience with his inactivity as she removed her robe and replaced it with her shift. ‘You must dress. We cannot dally here a moment longer.’ She stepped lithely into her gown.

Gabriel looked taken aback at her increasing agitation. What on earth was going on? ‘I have no intention of dressing or going anywhere until I know exactly
where it is I am going and why,’ he said with some annoyance.

Of course he had no idea where they were going or why, Diana admonished herself as she finished pulling on her gown. How could he possibly know when she had found no opportunity—had been too lost to the wonder of what had just happened—to tell him what actions she had put into play earlier this evening?

It was far from an ideal end to the ecstasy of their earlier intimacy, but no doubt Gabriel would thank her once he knew what she had done.

‘My maid has been sitting with your mother for several hours now, with instructions to come for me should she receive any visitors,’ she started to explain hurriedly.

‘Your maid has been sitting with my mother?’ he repeated slowly.

Diana nodded. ‘Do you recall that I left the dining table earlier in search of a handkerchief?’

‘Yes.’ Of course he remembered that, and a damned long time she had taken about it too. Over ten minutes of absolute silence between himself and Jennifer, as they glared their glittering dislike at each other, knowing that if he said one word to the witch then an avalanche of them would follow, all of them unpleasant. She had seemed to know that too and for once in her life had remained silent.