Page 75 of Cora
“When can we see her again?”
“When she is ready to come forward.”
“How do we know we can trust you?”
“You don’t.” He shrugged. Cora had the fleeting impulse to pick up the candlestick and throw it at him. Gideon, sensing her frustration, squeezed her hand.
“We agree to your bargain. If the Queen sees fit to accept my wife socially despite what happened at the concert, we would be honored to help spread the word that the countess is safe.”
Hawke accepted Gideon’s offer thoughtfully.
“You have my thanks.”
“Will you tell Tulip and the Flowers, or should I?”
“I’ll go.” A faint smile ghosted across his lips. “The Flowers will be relieved to know their patroness is safe. Her son, too.”
Cora felt queasy at the notion of using Honey to spread gossip. But if she had to make a choice to protect her family, then she would do it. She was just as ruthless as Gideon could be, in her way. One thing she would not do, however, was drop her friend publicly again. Honey deserved better than that.
“Come,” Gideon said, taking her by the hand. “We still have much to discuss.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
CORA
Outside, they found Titi cuddled inside the driver’s coat for warmth. Once they were on their way, the dog fell asleep in Gideon’s lap, snoring lightly. Cora stroked her ears.
Gideon broke the silence by saying, “You don’t have to drop your friendship with Countess Oreste.” He cleared his throat. “Victoria is difficult at times, but she knows better than to die on the hill of censuring someone she dislikes, no matter how intensely.”
“The countess has been kind to me, and to Eryx.”
“I understand. I will find a way to smooth things over with the Queen if maintaining that friendship is important to you.”
“It is,” Cora said quickly. “But I don’t want to cause problems for your relationship with her. I know now how intertwined the personal and the financial are. If you lose her trust, you will lose most of your major clients, too. I know I haven’t been the ideal Society wife you wanted me to become. What I did at the concert was dreadfully wicked. I lashed out at you publicly?—”
“The prospect of losing the bank is nowhere near as catastrophic as the prospect of losing you, Cora.” He held her gaze. “I can live without a connection to the crown. I can live with my parents’ anger and Reggie’s disappointment. My family’s fury would be nothing compared to the devastation I would feel if I lost you.”
His throat worked.
“I overheard what you said to your brother. Not about the child. About you filing for divorce.”
Cora fell silent.
“I understand why you might wish to do so. I know that I have earned that, should you wish to leave me.” He gave a shuddering sigh. “I have given you every reason to despise me.”
“Yet I don’t.” She slipped her hand into his. “Far from it. I love you, Gideon. I spoke in anger, and acted out of pain, and I am so very sorry. Tonight, you stood by me before the Queen. That means so much to me.” She brought her hand to his face. “Let me show you that all is forgiven.”
Gently, slowly, she brushed her lips over his. They parted with a needy gasp. He cupped the back of her head and shifted, pressing her back and covering her body with his as much as one could on a narrow carriage seat.
“I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that,” Gideon said. “My family was always torn between duty and the truth of our hearts. I don’t wish the same fate for us.”
He pinned her against his side. There was no way to make love comfortably, so Cora shoved him back, hiked up her skirts, and straddled his lap. Surprised, he sprawled against the squabs, looking every inch like an indolent aristocrat.
She unpinned her hat and dropped it on Titi’s sleeping form. “Don’t watch,” she told the dog. For once, she obeyed, emitting a contented snore.
Pins clattered to the floor as she removed them, letting her thick hair fall around her shoulders. Gideon’s hungry gaze followed her motions. His rigid cock pressed against her core. Cora would have liked to drop to her knees and take him out to pleasure him with her mouth, but that must wait for later. Right now, she wanted connection. Intimacy of a kind they had both been shying away from.
She shrugged out of her mantle, jacket, and shirt, dropping them in a pile on her pet. Titi burrowed into the clothing until only her tail was sticking out. Good. It felt wrong to do this with an audience, even if it was only a dog.
