Page 215 of Dukes for Dessert

“You are incorrigible!” she said, giving him a sidelong glance. “And greedy.”

“Why? Because I love my wife and covet her for myself.” Despite the exaggeration, she laughed, and he guided her around the house, pressing her up against the ivy-covered brick around the corner from the rose garden. At the moment, not even her rounded belly could dissuade him.

“If you do not cease and desist, at once, we will never again have time to ourselves.”

“Alas, I am greedy,” he lamented. “Guilty as charged. But I assure you I feel no remorse.”

Once again, Maggie laughed. Six sweet years they’d been married, six years of laughter, six years of joy and few regrets.

Maggie drew him by his lapels, lifting her face for a kiss… puckering her lips… remembering the first kiss they ever shared, in a bumpy carriage en route from Gretna Green. She’d asked him then for but one, and if he ever denied her now, she’d weep on her knees. “Happy anniversary, my love,” she said.

“Happy anniversary, Brat.”

Even after all these years, Margaret reveled in the endearment. “Brat?” she said, reaching down to caress the front of his trousers. “I will show you a brat, my dear.” And her lips turned mischievously at the corners, her eyes alight with the tint of a bright blue flame. “Kiss me,” she demanded, and he fell to his knees.

“Gabriel!”

He ducked his head beneath her skirt, ensconcing himself beneath—not something any gentleman would ever do—and no true lady would ever allow it.

“Gabriel! Someone will see us!”

In answer, Gabriel lifted his tongue into the cleft between her thighs, kissing her in his very favorite place—hers as well, it mortified her to say. With a contented sigh, Maggie sank against the ivy-covered wall, allowing her husband to explore. And, perhaps, indeed, kisses weren’t contracts, but in this case, they were certainly promises, and she knew he would always keep them.

“Shall I stop?” she heard him ask.

Margaret shuddered as his tongue played, and she shook her head with absolute delight. “Nay, my love… I’ll gladly enjoy… just… one more... kiss…”

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