Simply Forbidden (20 page)

“Actually, Christian and I found out exactly what she did and where she lived and came to find her.” She smiled. “She was not terribly pleased to see us at first, and we didn’t exactly make it easy for her, hence my appalling reputation.”

“I can see that.”

“You can?”

“All too well. When I escaped from school and went into the army, I tried every vice available to me. I’m not quite sure how I survived the first year.”

“You can imagine how it was for me then, coming from seventeen years in a convent-run school to my mother’s pleasure house. She tried to keep Christian and me away from everything, but we constantly defied her. I think I was trying to shock her, but she and Father appeared to be quite unmoved by anything I did, so eventually I stopped.”

She smiled at him and he smiled back, aware that he understood her better than he had understood any other woman, and that she understood him, too. A fact that was not only refreshing but quite outside his experience.

“When we reclaim Swanfield House, you may redecorate as much as you want.”

“That will be interesting. I’ve never decorated anything bigger than a bonnet before.” She frowned. “I’ll probably need some help.”

“Yet another reason why you should reconcile yourself with your mother as soon as possible.”

She smiled at him, her hazel eyes alight. “Wretch.”

“Hoyden.”

“Bully.”

“Nag.”

She raised her chin at him. “Nag?”

He shrugged. “All women nag.” She opened her mouth to say something else and he leaned over and kissed her. “Shall we go and visit my solicitor to give him the good news about my intended occupation of Swanfield House?”

“Why not?”

“And then perhaps we could go back home and retire to bed. You are probably tired after all these outings.”

Her smile this time was full of rich sensual promise. She faked a yawn and covered her mouth. “I believe I am a little tired after all.”

“T
he first thing I want you to do, Keyes, is take down that damn portrait and burn it.”

“Burn it, sir?”

Lisette followed Gabriel into the entrance hall of Swanfield House and stared up at the massive portrait of a bewigged gentleman who bore a startling resemblance to her husband. She deduced from Gabriel’s disgusted expression that it was the previous Earl of Swanfield in his youth and could quite understand his need to be rid of it.

Keyes sighed. “It will probably leave a lot of marks on the paneling when we take it down, sir.”

“I don’t care. Just do it.”

Lisette followed Gabriel as he mounted the wide staircase and headed down the hallway, leaving all the doors open in his wake. It was just over a week since the Grangers had departed. He stopped near the end of the passageway and walked into one of the rooms.

“In here, Lisette.”

She followed him into a large bedchamber complete with a huge oak four-poster bed draped in shades of blue and gold.

“I understand from the plans Mr. Brecon gave me that this is the Countess’s suite of rooms.” He strode toward a set of double doors and flung them open. “There is a dressing room between us.” He looked back over his shoulder at her. “If you plan to start redecorating, you might want to start here.”

Lisette stared doubtfully at the heavy oak furniture and the thick velvet drapes that obscured most of the long windows and kept out the light. “Are you sure you don’t mind if I change it?”

“It’s your room. You can do what you damn well like to it.” He grasped one of the posts of the bed and tried to move it. “I assume this bed was built in here, but if you want another one, just ask Keyes to take care of it.”

“But it might be a family heirloom.”

Gabriel’s mouth settled into a firm obstinate line. “I don’t care if Queen Elizabeth slept in here. If you don’t want it, you don’t have to have it.”

“That is very generous of you.” Lisette studied the other pieces of furniture. “It is a little heavy for my taste.”

“Then do what you want with it.” He walked back toward the double doors into the dressing room. “I’m thinking about getting a bath put in here.”

Lisette let him talk as she contemplated the coat of arms of the Swanfield family that was embroidered onto almost everything possible in the room, its ancient Latin motto
Fidelitas
mocked the most recent residents of the house, but epitomized her husband. He would never have betrayed any secrets to the French or the allies. That was one thing she was certain of.

Deep in thought, she went back down the stairs and headed toward the kitchens, where Keyes had assembled the female staff for her to meet and approve. Her mother and father were very well connected with the Royal Court and Parliament.
Perhaps with their help, the matter about Gabriel’s supposed treachery could be properly investigated and he would finally be vindicated.

But then she’d have to make her peace with her parents and she was still avoiding them two weeks after her wedding…. Lisette walked into the kitchen and became aware of more than a dozen apprehensive faces staring back at her. She nodded at Keyes and smiled.

“Good morning, everyone, I’m Lady Swanfield. Would you like to introduce yourselves to me?”

Later that night she glanced over at the huge bed and shivered. She’d replaced all the linen with her own and taken down as many of the heavy velvet curtains as she and the staff could manage, but the room still felt oppressive. She glanced at the dressing room doors, but they were firmly closed. She hadn’t seen Gabriel since dinnertime, when he had disappeared with Keyes into the wine cellar. After meeting all the staff and confirming their appointments, she was exhausted. She’d never considered how much work managing a big house and staff might be, and she didn’t have to do anything but make the most basic of decisions.

With a sigh, she rose to her feet and headed for bed. She suddenly felt unsure of herself and her abilities. Perhaps her parents were right to be concerned about her choices. She’d never planned to marry at such a young age, had in truth thought she’d never marry after her encounter with Lord Nash. Publicly losing one’s virginity had a way of narrowing a woman’s choices.

She shook her head. No, she would not allow herself to think like that anymore. If Gabriel was willing to change his life and take on his responsibilities, the least she could do was support him. There was much to do on the morrow, and, despite Gabriel’s absence, she might as well get some sleep.

* * * 

“It’s a beautiful room, sir. Perfect for a man of your rank and standing,” Keyes said as he folded Gabriel’s clothes over his arm.

“I hate it.” Gabriel said irritably. “In fact I’m thinking about getting out my old camp bed and sleeping in the dressing room.”

“But what’s wrong with it, sir?”

“It reeks of my uncle and my father.”

Keyes gave a loud sniff. “I can’t smell anything but old leather, Bay Rum, and pipe smoke.”

“Exactly.” Gabriel glared at the monstrosity of the bed, which was complete with a crowned gilded swan, wings spread as if ready to take off into the night. “I think I’ll have nightmares.”

“I’ve changed the sheets and the eiderdown to your own ones and replaced all the pillows. There’s not much else I can do tonight. I’ve already spoken to an old acquaintance of mine who is managing the bankruptcy sale for one of his clients. I believe I’ll be able to pick up some almost-new furnishings from him until you can choose something for yourself.”

“I understand that.” Gabriel turned to face his valet. “And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me today. You have been magnificent.”

“Thank you, sir.” Keyes saluted, his face flushed with pride. “I’ve enjoyed seeing you claim your rightful place, sir.”

Gabriel’s smile died as Keyes left him alone in the horror of the earl’s bedroom. He glanced at the clock and saw it was past twelve. Had Lisette gone to sleep in her new quarters or was she as unsettled as he was? He hadn’t thought the matter through properly. If he’d had any sense he would’ve had the place gutted and refurnished to their specifications before they’d moved in.

As the day had passed by, a strange sense of duty had weighed
on him as he discovered the portraits of his ancestors, their possessions, their treasures—a heritage that had been denied him until now. He had a noble name and Lisette deserved an orderly, secure life. He would do his best to provide her with one.

At the thought of Lisette, his cock thickened and he wondered anew if she was sleeping. He shrugged on his dressing gown and slipped through the dressing room, paused at her door and saw no light, but kept going anyway. She was sleeping on the very edge of the enormous bed, curled up rather more like a lap dog than the lady of the house. He leaned over her and stroked her hair.

“Gabriel?”

“Who else?”

She wrapped a hand around his neck. “Come to bed.”

Somehow it was easier to obey her than to resist. Her room smelled of stale perfume and old dog rather than old earl. He could just about tolerate that. She murmured his name again as he slid into the bed beside her and drew her into his arms. She nestled against him, her cheek coming to rest on his chest as if she had always been there.

His cock hardened even more and he rocked his hips against her. In this bed, and in this house, he was the master; he could ask her for anything he wanted. He drew her hand down over his stomach and clasped it around his shaft. “Touch me … please.”

She grasped his cock and he began to move his hand, bringing hers with him, adding to his urgency and arousal.

“Where have you been?”

He tried to word a reply, his thoughts too firmly interested in what was happening to his cock to use his brain. “I was in my bedchamber.”

“Alone?”

“No, with Keyes.”

“You have to sleep in your own bedchamber now?”

“It’s common among the aristocracy, I believe,” he managed to murmur. “It allows a married couple some privacy.”

“Oh.”

Her hand went still under his and he stopped moving as well, aware of a pulse in his cock thudding almost as loudly as the one in his heart. He released his grip on her hand, offering her the opportunity to move away from him, but she remained where she was, her fingers lightly stroking him now as if she was pondering something.

He swallowed hard. “Will you stop that?”

“Touching you?”

“No, thinking too much.”

She squeezed his cock so hard he gasped. “It just seems strange to me, to want to sleep apart.” She pushed the covers down and reared over him, her long hair sweeping across his stomach like a curtain of silk. “My parents always sleep together when they can.”

He remained on his back where she had pushed him; his stiff cock trapped within her grip, and waited to see what she would do next. She bent her head and licked his crown.

“Turn around,” he whispered. “Straddle me so that I can get my tongue inside you while you suck me.”

“If you don’t sleep together, how would you know when the other person wanted you like this?”

He stared helplessly up at her. “I don’t know, but please, don’t let that stop you from sucking me.”

He sensed rather than saw her frown and decided it was time to take action. He sat up and rolled her underneath him, spreading her legs wide with his. He eased the first inch of his wet cock inside her, aware that she wasn’t yet ready for him, but more than happy to tease and torment her until she could take him deep.

“I understand from my friends that when a gentleman visits his lady wife in her bed, he first makes an appointment with her, probably to make sure he doesn’t bump into her lover.” He gripped his shaft at the base and rubbed the head of his cock up and down her sex, spreading his pre-cum over her, paying special attention to the tight bundle of nerves that formed her clit.

“If the lady is agreeable to his visit, he waits until she is in bed with all the candles snuffed out, because God forbid he might actually see her naked, and then he joins her.” He angled his cock back inside her and felt her give way to his hardness until he was three inches deep. Then he withdrew again and continued to rub himself against her now swollen bud, until she started to lift her hips into each slow, slick caress.

“Then he folds up her nightgown, lowers himself between her legs, and shoves his cock deep.” He suited his actions to his words and she gasped his name. He held still over her until she stopped shuddering and relaxed again. “He fucks her hard until he comes, making sure that he is as quick as he can be, because no lady wants a man reveling in such an unpleasant business, does she? And then he climbs off her, bids her good night, and returns to his own bed.”

She pulled his hair and he fought a gasp. “And what about his wife? How does she gain her pleasure?”

He stared down at her indignant face. “With her hand or with her lover, I suppose.”

“I don’t like the sound of that at all, Gabriel.” She lifted her hips off the mattress and he settled even deeper inside her. “I don’t want to be the sort of woman who is used solely to provide an heir.”

He kissed her mouth, kissed her again until she was kissing him back, and began to move slowly over her, each stroke long and even and deep. She sighed into his mouth and her hands moved over his skin, delighting him with her touch and soon
urging him on, as her fingers became small sharp claws digging into his back, making him take them both over the edge into pleasure.

He lay heavily on top of her, his head on the pillow beside hers, his arms wrapped around her.

“I like you sleeping in my bed, Gabriel.”

He sighed. “I like it, too. I sleep better when you are with me.”

“Really?” She nuzzled his neck. “That is good to know.”

“I thought I might disturb you with my nightmares, but when I’m with you, they seem to disappear.”

She kissed his ear. “Then why bother to go back to your own lonely bed? Stay here with me tonight. Stay with me every night.”

He groaned and rolled onto his side, bringing her with him. “I don’t believe I have the energy to move anywhere at this moment, so I think you’ll have to put up with me, at least for tonight.”

“I think I might go and see my father tomorrow.”

He opened his eyes to study her face and found her steady gaze fixed on his. “Good.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Yes.” He closed his eyes again and heaved a sigh.

“I don’t expect you to come with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I’m more than willing to….”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “I know, but as I caused this problem, I think I’m the one who needs to resolve it, don’t you? I’m tired of everyone thinking they have to protect me from everything.”

Gabriel ignored his twinge of guilt about his plans to provide her with everything a society wife desired. “Absolutely.” He kissed her finger. “I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see you.”

“I hope so.” Lisette leaned into him and buried her face in his shoulder. “I’ve missed them.”

Gabriel stroked her hair and listened as her breathing slowed and she fell asleep. He didn’t miss his family at all; felt nothing except delight that he had finally evicted them from his house and soon from his estates. Was he unnatural or had life taught him much harsher lessons than it had Lisette? Sometimes he found her insistence that she bore no grudge against her parents for the circumstances of her birth and upbringing somewhat unbelievable. Not that he doubted that she loved them, but underlying her words he sensed a desperate need for security and normality that resonated with him.

He contemplated his meeting with William at his solicitor’s on the morrow and hoped yet again for a successful outcome. Perhaps being deprived of his London “home” would finally bring his uncle to his senses and make him realize that Gabriel was no longer a child to be manipulated and ignored.

He smiled into the darkness. There was nothing else his uncle could do to him now. He’d tried to destroy him and hadn’t succeeded. Gabriel was still alive and ready to set matters right. He had a wife now, a wife who needed a respectable home to live in and a family name to be proud of. He knew what Lisette needed better than she did herself, and he would make damn sure that she got it.