Page 84 of A Fearless Heart
Gabe looked away, an odd expression on his face. “You acted differently than the typical lady.”
Cady warmed at the memory of him appearing, promising to become her tutor in bravery. How could she ever have guessed that the rough stranger would turn into such an ally? And not just an ally, an instructor in pleasures she’d never dreamed existed before she met him.
She leaned toward him. “Do you know something, Mr Courtenay?”
“Yes?” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“After dinner, I think you should leave.”
“Oh.”
The disappointment on his face was hidden quickly, but Cady saw it. And it made her want to laugh. “I want you to leave, Gabe, so anyone keeping an eye on the house will see you leave. And then, I want you to come back. I trust you know how to do that with no one noticing?”
His expression changed to veiled excitement. “I can definitely do that.”
She pressed a key into his palm, whispering, “It unlocks the glass doors to the library. Please use it tonight. I’ll be waiting in my bedroom. Top of the stairs, to the left. Midnight?”
“And here I thought I was being sent away.” He leaned forward and kissed her once, a kiss that promised so much more. “Midnight.”
* * * *
Later, up in her bedroom, Cady was nervous, but it was the thrumming, excited sort of nervous that she associated with Gabe particularly. She kept glancing at her clock, which seemed to slow as the hands approached midnight. Clad in a filmy, ethereal excuse for a nightgown, she perched on the edge of the bed, uncertain what to do.
There was the softest scratching at the door to warn her, and then Gabe slipped inside, turning the key in the lock the moment he had the door closed.
“If I’d known you had such an interesting wardrobe, I’d have arrived sooner,” he said, taking in her outfit with an almost hungry expression.
“A year or so ago, I’d ordered a few items from a London modiste,” she explained. “I didn’t quite understand what I was ordering at the time, but I’m glad they turned out to be useful at last.”
“If by ‘useful’ you mean ‘able to drive a man to distraction,’ then this one is doing a fine job.” He shucked off his jacket, let it fall to the floor, and then took a seat in the large, comfortable chair by the fireplace.
He beckoned her to where he sat, and Cady walked to him, feeling a little like a marionette, with invisible strings tied to her hands and feet…and him in control of all of them.
“Not the bed?” she asked hesitantly.
“Not the bed.” He was clearly enjoying her confusion, keeping her off balance but intensely curious.
“Sit,” he commanded.
“The chair appears to be already occupied,” she joked.
Gabe reached out, his hands level with her bottom. He roughly gathered up her thin gown until her bare thighs were exposed, and then pulled her forward until she was straddled over his lap. But unlike in the glasshouse, she was now facing him, and she could look directly into his eyes.
He smiled lazily. “Well, now that we’re here, what do you want me to do?”
“Kiss me,” she said instantly.
He did, though he took his time. He kept one hand very firmly on her bottom, holding her in place. The other drifted up her body then began to stroke the bare skin on the back of her neck. Cady gave a little sigh as he leaned forward and brushed his mouth against hers.
He laughed, but it sounded more like a groan. “Cady, you have no idea how much I want you. If it were up to me, I’d have you naked in my bed, possibly chained so you couldn’t get away. Not that you’d want to get away, because you’d be begging for me the moment I stepped inside. You’d tell me all the ways you want me to take you and I would be very happy to oblige.”
“You’ve had some time to think about this,” Cady noted breathlessly.
“It keeps me up nights,” he confessed. “But fantasy is one thing, reality is another. And while I want nothing more than to bed you, it would not be very kind to compromise you and possibly risk a child when you’ve been quite clear that you have no desire to marry.”
Ah, that was why he’d chosen the chair. He wanted to have this out with her. It was really very sweet of him.
Cady took a breath. “Gabe, do you realize that I know how to synthesize several different medicines that will ensure that an unexpected pregnancy will never be a problem?”
