Page 96 of The Lyon Returns
She lifted her head, laid one hand, palm down, on his chest to rest her chin atop it. He wondered if she noticed the heavy thump of his heart, the way, even now, it raced, just looking at her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t natural—for him, at any rate.
Her dimple winked into view as she grinned up at him. “Both times were lovely, but it seems the more practice I get, the more practice I want.” She waggled her fair brows at him suggestively, then sobered, lowering her eyes.
She finger doodled on his bare chest. “I never knew the act of making love could be so beautiful. That it could make you feel so…” She shivered with mock zeal. “I thought it must always be rather uncomfortable.”
Gideon snorted. “If you’re trying to tell me your husband was more well-endowed than I, madam, kindly keep the information to yourself.”
“Ah…no. You are quite a bit larger, in point of fact.”
He saw no reason to staunch his satisfied grin. “In that case, do go on.”
She was quiet for so long, he thought she may have fallen asleep. Then her softly spoken words broke the silence. “This morning, you asked me why I married my husband, and I didn’t answer you.”
“Gwen, there’s no need—”
“I want to. It seems I want to tell you all my secrets.” She laid hercheek against his chest.
Everything in him clenched with…not lust—though, if his half-engorged cock was anything to go by, it would not take him long to be ready for a second round of lovemaking. It was tenderness, he supposed, as unwelcome as it was poignant. It bloody hurt. And yet, there was no place on this earth he’d rather be than right here, right now, with Gwen.
His wife.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gwen was gladof the darkness surrounding them, glad of the permeating quiet, as if the entire household was abed, save them.
“I had just turned nineteen, and Reggie said he wanted to see me—alone. I assumed he meant to propose. I’m not sure why I thought so, the timing, I suppose? Well past when I thought he’d have broached the subject.
“Broach it he did. He told me he could not marry me.”
With her cheek, and half her torso, lying across Gideon’s chest, she could not miss the sudden tensing of his muscles. He said nothing, however, just continued to scoop up locks of her hair and let them fall.
“I was shocked and incredibly angry. He’d waited to tell me, after so many years? Everything I thought my future would hold, vanished in one fell swoop.”
“I can certainly understand your feelings,” he said.
“His mother came looking for me the following day when I was at chapel. It was Monday, and every Monday I assisted the sisters preparing food for the needy villagers. She said Reggie had told her of our row and she suggested I go to him to work things out. She seemedquite sure I could, shushing me when I tried to explain we had not fought.
“She told me I’d find him in the field, near the old game warden’s cottage, practicing with his fencing instructor. She urged me not to go alone—for propriety’s sake, and suggested I take one of the sisters with me.” Anger washed through her as the old doubt resurfaced. Had Lady Barnes knowingly sent Gwen into an untenable situation with one aim in mind?
“What happened?”
His big hand settled on the small of her back, warm and gentle.
“I found him there, just as she said. Luckily the nun, to give us a moment of privacy, did not enter the cottage with me.” She paused, then blurted, “I found Reggie in a state ofdishabille.”
“He was with another woman?”
She shook her head.
“Blood of the Saints,” he muttered. “But he was with someone?”
She nodded. “Leon, the fencing master. Everything happened so fast. I saw Reggie. I saw Leon. They saw me. The door opened, and the sister popped her head in as Leon ducked. Fearing she might have seen him, or would see him if she got a notion to search, I fixed a bright smile on my face and told the nun to congratulate us on our engagement.”
“Thereby saving dear Reggie from becoming a social outcast at best, and imprisoned as a sodomite at worst,” he said.
A tear she had not noticed forming dripped from her eye to roll down his chest. “She took in Reggie, his bare midriff, his rumpled hair, and, I’ll never know, but I think she saw Leon’s shirt, as well. Perhaps the two swords laid atop the table? But she gamely accepted my word, and we were married not long after.
“I did love him, always, but my feelings changed after that, after I understood it could only ever be friendship between us.”
