Page 92 of The Lyon Returns
“Not tonight.”
He snorted and squeezed Gideon’s shoulder. “Goodnight, son. Bythe by, I approve.”
He did not have to ask what—or whom—his father referred to. Gwen had won over his father—and brother, by all appearances, without so much as trying.
He very much feared she’d left her mark on him, as well. The problem was, what was he going to do about it?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gideon gripped thecool, polished banister as he mounted the stairs en route to the third floor and his bedchamber. Hissharedbedchamber.
With each step, his insides clenched with heightened anticipation, like a watch spring turning, tighter and tighter, inching ever closer to the breaking point. Instead of staying away from Gwen in favor of imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol to numb his senses, he was venturing headlong into unchartered seas, fully alert and deeply aware he faced a potentially long night of torture, sequestering himself with the woman.
Potentially.
He untied his cravat with practiced tugs and left the silk to hang loose over his shoulders.
Gwen had returned to their suite over an hour ago. She was, in all likelihood, asleep. No reason she should remain awake. No point in her waiting up for him.
Today, making love to her, he’d experienced the nearest thing to ecstasy he had ever known. He’d told himself it would take only once for his obsession with the woman to fade. He’d been dead wrong.
He reached the landing and raked a hand through his hair before starting down the dimly lit corridor toward the guest suite where Gwen lay sleeping.
Gwen was the last sort of female he should dally with. She was not a hardened lady of theton,content to dabble with the likes of Gideon in search of sexual gratification and nothing more. She was incapable of such a shallow relationship precisely because she could not help but give of herself.
Yes, that was the thing eating Gideon.
Upon learning Gideon might be tried for treason, had she run? No. Instead, she’d vowed not to abandon him, thereby subjecting herself to scrutiny by the Duke and Duchess of Ashwood.
Damn it, Gwen deserved a man who would honor her and protect her—unlike her first husband. A man worthy of her who would give her his name, whom she would be proud to call husband.
Gideon was not that man, but he burned for her, nonetheless. He wrapped his hand around the cold brass knob and felt his insides fist into a hard knot.
He opened the door.
Cool, night air wafted out of the dimly lit chamber, making him realize just how stiflingly hot they kept the abbey. Evidently, Gwen had not called anyone to stoke the hearth. She’d be freezing by now.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The soft click resounded in the silent chamber. He held still and listened for any sounds indicating Gwen stirred. He heard nothing.
He glanced toward the bed where Gwen slept. She’d left one wall lamp burning low, but most of the large, double-chamber suite lay in shadow making it impossible to see past the posts and dark velvet bed hangings shielding the mattress.
Pulling off his boots with care, he set them aside and crept across the thick carpet. He did not want to wake her, but he needed to see her, to glimpse her face, unobserved.
He scooped the velvet aside, and froze. What the devil? She had not opted to take the bed?
Swift anger rose up in him, and he swung around, searching for her. There, visible in the light of the dying embers, she huddled with a pillow and blanket in an armchair before the hearth.
He stomped toward her, no longer caring if he woke her.
No surprise, he did.
She sniffed, murmuring something odd, likeHm. You don’t smell bad at all.Then, reaching her arms overhead, she stretched like a cat, uncurled her feet from beneath her nightclothes, and planted them on the stone tiles. She retracted them at once. “Cold,” she exclaimed. “Hello.”
He glared down at her. “Nice to know what you think of me.”
She blinked, her face soft with sleep. “I beg your pardon?”
“Did you think I’d attack you, if I found you on the bed? Or perhaps you find me so brutish, you would expect me to take the bed, while leaving you to make do with the floor.”
