Page 29 of The Heir's Fortune
He didn’t flinch when she spoke her mind, but instead seemed to take it all in stride. His steady presence came as something of a relief, even as he was surprisingly more enigmatic than she had ever given him credit for.
His blue eyes blazed as he stared down at her, and she reached out, lacing her fingers through his as she stepped closer to him.
“I wouldn’t have minded if you had compromised me last night,” she said quietly, the words coming out just as she realized them herself. His eyes widened in shock as he jerked in surprise, but he did not seem at all repulsed. Instead he seemed… interested. Before she could think better of it, Madeline stood on the tips of her toes and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips before pulling away.
“Thank you,” she whispered, moving but an inch away from his face. “For everything.”
Gideon stared at her, his eyes moving from one of her eyes to the next, before he gripped the back of her head with one of his large hands and then pulled her in close, kissing her once more.
Madeline’s heart swelled in her chest as his lips moved over hers, the kiss deepening and Gideon’s grip on her head tightening. His free hand moved to rest on her waist, his fingertips tracing circles against the fabric of her dress through her cloak. How could a touch through so many layers still feel so intimate? She moaned into his mouth, pressing herself closer to him as the fire between them ignited further.
He pulled away abruptly, confusion in his eyes before he stepped away from her completely. Madeline blinked up at him,caught off guard by the intensity of their kiss – and his reaction, which was as though he regretted it the instance it had occurred.
“I—” he began, and she prepared herself to stop him before he could apologize. She was, after all, the one who started this. Instead, he just shook his head with a small smile before he walked away without another word.
Madeline watched him go, warmth spreading through her limbs. She looked around her, taking in the beauty of her surroundings and the moment they had just shared, before she touched a hand to her lips as she slowly followed him back to the campsite, wondering what would happen next between them – and if he would ever allow it again.
Gideon choseto say nothing about their kiss as they packed up their campsite and gathered the horses. She had taken him by surprise, that was for certain – but it was his own reaction that most shocked him. Once he had a taste of her, he had become a man possessed and hadn’t been able to stop himself from going back for more.
Now he wondered how he would ever forget how magical she was, how soft her lips were, how lush her mouth was.
Then there was how perfect she had felt lying in the crook of his body all night. She was a mystery, this woman, and one that he was enjoying solving – which surprised him more than anyone or anything else ever could. He had thought that he was always on edge around her because he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Maybe the tension was for another reason altogether.
He had to be certain, however, not to allow himself to become too attached. As much as he had placed great hopesupon turning up a treasure that would solve everything for him and his family, there was a good possibility that this would come to nothing, and he would be left with no choice but to marry for a dowry.
Which was one thing he knew that Madeline most decidedly did not have.
“Did you hear them speak ofDonRafael?” he asked Madeline now as they mounted their horses and turned them toward Castleton, the four remaining horses following them.
“I heard his name a few times, but unfortunately my Spanish is not good enough for me to have understood anything else,” she said.
“I do wonder how he orchestrated this when he was in English custody,” Gideon murmured.
“He must have been released,” Madeline said. “It would be difficult to hold a Spanish nobleman, would it not?”
“It would,” he agreed. “I just thought that I would have been notified if that had happened.”
“Well, once we return to Castleton, hopefully, we can make sense of it all,” she said. “How was Cassandra?”
“Distraught that you had been taken. I didn’t tell her that the men thought that you were her for it would likely only make things worse.”
“Good idea,” she said with a smile, one that made him feel like he was the most profound man on earth, especially as he knew that her smiles were not readily given out. “I didn’t tell them the truth for I didn’t want them returning to take Cassandra instead.” She tilted her head. “Would you have given up the map for me?”
“If it had come to that, yes,” Gideon said truthfully. No treasure was worth anyone’s life. “But I didn’t want them returning to my land for any reason so I am glad it didn’t come to that.”
She nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face.
“What will you do once we return to Castleton?” he asked, feigning nonchalance, but the truth was, he was much more interested in her response than he would ever want her to know.
“I am not sure,” she said, crinkling her nose. “I suppose it depends how much longer Cassandra has need of me.”
“You are not concerned?”
“Concerned about what?”
“The danger,” he said. “After all that happened, I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to get as far away from Castleton – and from us – as you could.”
