Page 37 of Lady of Providence
“I know you do, love,” he said, smiling at her once more, the smile that had been proven to charm that coldest of theton. Elizabeth only stared back at him, her jaw set and her brow furrowed. He reached out to cup her cheek. “But can it wait?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, as though she was convincing herself as much as she was him. “It cannot wait any longer. I have been wanting to say this to you for some time, and I need you to listen and to understand. I wasn’t going to do this here, but it seems to me as though I have no other choice.”
She paused, taking a deep breath, and he used that moment to move in toward her, filling the space between them. He brought a finger up, placing it gently on her lips.
"Why do we not go somewhere quieter, where we are less likely to be happened upon?" he asked. "I would like to speak to you as well."
She looked as though she was going to protest, but instead, he was relieved when she nodded her head. Gabriel bent and picked up her gloves, but kept them in his own hand instead of returning them to her as he took her other hand in his and led her over to a bend in the path where a bench was hidden within a small alcove of the fence, covered by brush on one side and out of view of the house from the other side.
He helped her to sit before taking his own spot on the bench beside her.
"I know what you are going to say, Elizabeth," Gabriel said before she opened her mouth. "You are questioning what we are doing together, about whether or not you feel we should continue to see one another. That is it, is it not?"
"In fewer words than I would have used, but yes, I suppose it is," she said, her face in profile to him, backlit by the setting sun as she looked out over the elaborate gardens around them, the flowers beginning to bloom with the beautiful awakening of spring.
"I understand why you feel that way, truly I do," he said, cupping her face and turning her toward him. "I wronged you, Elizabeth. You did not deserve to be treated that way, and I was a young fool. I didn't realize how fortunate I was to even have an opportunity to be with you. I squandered all and for that, I apologize. But, Elizabeth..."
Gabriel paused for a moment, stunned at the fact that, for once, he lacked the words he required. How could he make her understand what he was feeling without his words sounding trite?
"Elizabeth, I am falling for you," he said, letting out a low chuckle at himself when he heard the words. He knew he sounded ridiculous, like a lovesick pup, but he didn't know what else to say to her but the truth. "I can no longer see myself with any other woman but you, and it's driving me mad keeping myself away from you."
She was turned toward him now, her violet eyes wide, and he knew he could lose himself within them for days. He could read the confusion there, in the way she desperately ran her eyes over his face, as though she was searching for proof of his words. She opened her mouth, but Gabriel found that he could not, at the moment, hear a refusal from her.
"You don't need to say anything right now," he said before she could get a word out. "Take some time and think on what I've said. I know you have much on your mind, and I do not wish to add to your burdens, but actually want to do what I can to take away from them."
"Burdens are to be expected," she said with the smallest of smiles. "Particularly when one is part of an enterprise such as a bank."
"You take on much, and you do not ask for help," Gabriel said, raising an eyebrow. "It is to be commended, true, but it can also become more than you can bear."
"And you, oh wise Duke, do you ask for help with your burdens?"
He laughed at that, knowing she had him there.
"I suppose not, although I have many good men in place to share the responsibility."
"But ultimately, it all rests on your shoulders, does it not?"
"It does."
"Then so this must on mine."
"Well, in that case, you know I am always here to help release the tension of them."
She looked down at the toes of her cream kid slippers at his mention of his intimate caress so many weeks ago within her office. It was the last time he had touched her in such a way, besides the odd brush of fingertips, and he longed to do so once more.
Risking the moment, he brought a hand to the back of her neck, gently massaging, stroking, loving the elegant lines of the length of it. Instead of recoiling, she leaned into him, welcoming his touch, for which he was grateful. He shifted slightly, lifting a leg to straddle the bench so that he was sitting behind her, and he pulled her back against him so that she could lean on him. While she wouldn't give him any of her responsibilities, perhaps he could ease some of the load she carried with a few moments of peacefulness.
His hands wandered from her neck to her shoulders, before running down over her cap sleeves to where her arms were bare, her gloves still lying on the bench beside them. He trailed his fingers over the softness of her skin, and he could feel the gooseflesh rise behind his touch. An unexplainable sense of pride filled him that he could cause such a reaction within her, and a sudden possessiveness enveloped him, as he wanted to ensure that he was the only one who would ever cause her to feel such a way.
Gabriel leaned down and brought his lips to her neck where his fingers had previously caressed. He trailed kisses from behind her ear, down her neck to where it met her collarbone; then he neared her shoulder, to where the sleeve of her dress began. He brought his arms around her, pulling her back against him, nearly groaning from the feeling of her lithe body as she pressed back against him, where he ached for her.
He knew that Elizabeth, for all of her refined elegance, had fiery passion buried deep within her, and he was determined to unleash it.
As his lips continued to explore her neck, Gabriel's hands roamed over her body. They began at her slim waist, ran down over the curve of her hips then back up again, where he cupped her ribs within the span of his hands. He slowly, cautiously, brought his fingers higher still, running them over the swell of her breasts, which strained against the fabric of her gown. The silk was sleek beneath his hands, and he cupped her soft mounds, which were the perfect size — while not overly large, he couldn't have asked for any that would be better than hers.
"Elizabeth," he murmured, and then he rose slightly, picking her up and turning her around so that she was now straddling his hips, the skirts of her gown spilling around their legs as she now tilted her head down to meet his lips while her cool fingers lightly brushed his jawline. He met her kiss hungrily, the desire for her that had been building for weeks now pouring through where their mouths met.
His tongue touched the seam of her lips and she opened to him, allowing him in. She was so warm, so sweet, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he explored her velvety softness, finding within her all that he had been looking for.
