Page 71 of In Search of a Husband
“That’s it, now. I’m goin’ to spend soon,” he whispered, his voice rough. “I want to feel ye shake around me before I do. Go on, Kate, go on and chase your pleasure.”
She rocked against him, pulling at his shoulders until he thrust into her harder. Kate leaned forward and pressed her face against his chest, tasting the salt of his skin before the familiar thrill slowly flooded her core and then suddenly exploded throughout her limbs.
“No one can hear us,” he said. “Let me hear you.”
She trembled around him, struggling to catch her breath as she came back into her body before he groaned and pulled out, spending over her stomach.
They both remained still except for their shoulders, which rose up and down rapidly as they struggled to control their breathing. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered after what they just shared.
Kate grinned at him, then started to giggle, and clamped a hand over her mouth.
“No,” he said, bending down to lightly kiss her cheek, nose, and forehead. “Dinna ye dare look away now. It’s only the start.”
She pressed her cheek against his and sighed. “Help clean me up, then fetch the custards.”
Gabriel grazed her earlobe with his teeth before dropping one more kiss on her forehead. “Anything ye wish, Kate.”
Kate yawned and stretched,her body deliciously sore. She sat across Gabriel’s lap, looking over ledgers and eating apple custard, her long bare legs dangling across the velvet sofa in his room.
It felt intimate and familiar, like her favorite dress that was worn and fit well. Comfortable.
“Never kent ye to be so quiet before,” he said, drawing circles over the tops of her knees.
Did he wish to know her?
Not the Katherine Bancroft who was raised to become a peer’s wife. And not the one with a tarnished, shameful reputation. The Katherine she was before leaving London, left alone for far too long to contemplate a lone mistake.
Kate hardly knew who she was. How did she expect Gabriel to ever love her if she didn’t allow him a piece of her heart?
She was a person made of facets, each side placating to an audience. At least, that is what it had felt like for so long.
The perfect daughter. The beautiful debutante. The ruined wallflower. And then the disowned daughter.
Each a role.
Each one dictating how she showed up in life. But what if she was tired of playing those roles?
She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of him. The room smelled of apples and cream and sex.
And she had slept with Gabriel.
What did that make her to him?
Was she a mistress? They were certainly friends… but friends did not share one another’s beds.
“Ye’re thinking,” he chuckled.
She loved the warm rumble in his chest when he spoke. And how she fit against him.
“Maybe too much.” She chuckled, scoping the last bite of her dessert out of the ramekin, and relishing the creamy custard melting against her tongue. “Well, see here.” Kate reached out and pointed to a line in the ledger. “These sums don’t add up.”
“I’ve noticed that as well.”
“There’s an account with recorded deposits, but I can’t locate the bank anywhere. I’ve searched all the papers at the inn, and Elsie helped me search the office here.”
“That’s odd. Keep looking, I guess.”
Kate moved to slide off his lap, but Gabriel held on, gripping her thigh. “Let’s stay here for a moment, lass.” He rested his head back against the sofa and closed his eyes on a sigh.
