Wicked Deception (11 page)

“
They like to beat upon us,
Cat,” her younger brother told her. “We don’t like staying
here.”

“
Where are these beggars
now?” she demanded and Cullen spoke up with a toothless
grin.

“
Playing cards in our room,
no doubt. They refuse to go to the schoolroom.”

She gravitated out of the room to find
the three orphans Gabriel had taken in. She stood at the door
listening.

“
Ye cheated!” A boy’s voice
raged within. “I saw ye slip the card outta yer sleeve, Winston!
Drop the blunt or I’ll flatten ye!”

“
I dinna cheat! I won all
fair an’ square! Ye dare accuse me of cheatin’ an’ I’ll bust yer
eye out!” the boy named Winston railed. Catherine heard a scuffle
ensue inside the room and instantly opened the door.

She was horrified to see the three boys
inside grappling on the floor where they were playing cards,
smoking Gabriel’s expensive cigars, and drinking what appeared to
be ale. Oh no, they wouldn’t! Not on her watch!

“
Just what is going on in
here?” she asked imperiously, her green eyes taking in the orphan’s
guilty expressions as they saw they were caught. “Put out the
cigars! The ale goes with me. I suggest you get yourselves to the
schoolroom immediately before I seek out Lord Iverleigh to inform
him how you show your gratitude for his kindness,” she said with
her hands upon her hips. She watched them scramble to do all she
asked, grumbling they were caught, and eyeing her balefully. Not
one of them could be more than ten. She was horrified they were
mixing with her son and brothers.

What in God’s name had Gabriel been
thinking taking such unruly boys? She glared as she snatched up the
three pints. She had an excuse to linger to speak to him now,
trying not to dwell upon her using this discovery just to see him.
She bit her lip and dismissed her worries. She had every right to
question this. She’d not seen him since he left their home in such
an obvious rage and refused to admit she longed for his
company.

Catherine went through the room the
three boys shared with her brothers. A fair amount of contraband
was confiscated. She dumped it all into a waste basket. Her lips
were tight with displeasure. A pulse danced in her neck and
betrayed her true intentions when Gabriel arrived home.

~ ~ ~

Gabriel’s expression was dark after his
meeting with Chumley. The dwarf was an absolute genius with
forgeries. Nicholas insisted on not implicating Rudd with the new
list Chumley made. They argued over it. If not for Chumley leaping
on top of his desk between the two, they would have picked up where
they left off in his study last year.

Higgins was there to greet him taking
his hat, coat, and gloves. He was filled with a pang of hunger when
he smelled the glorious smells wafting to his nostrils from the
kitchens and grinned. His cook was at it again. He was about to go
to the kitchens to find the source of the intoxicating smells when
he spied Catherine standing at the door of his study.

Fully recovered from having her child,
she looked very perturbed and hauntingly beautiful in the sapphire
silk day dress. He tried hard to not notice how desirable she
looked. He was wary as he approached, the study being the last
place he wanted to go with her. It showed.

“
I would like a word if I
may, Gabriel?” she asked in a sharp voice that was clearly not
happy. He reluctantly joined her, holding out his hand as he
gestured for her to enter. She sat at his desk
bristling.

He sighed tiredly as he filled a brandy
glass and took a seat before her, trying not to think about his
desire for her as he faced her. The need for her burned within him,
his eyes lingering at her fuller breasts straining in the gown. His
response annoyed him and marked his words.

“
What is it now, Catherine?
All this sniping of yours is giving me a headache,” he complained
as he rubbed his forehead. He was still sore from his argument with
Nicholas and their boxing match at the saloon where they sparred
earlier. They pretended they were the best of friends once more and
seen together at various locations about town. It was bound to
cause a buzz in Rudd’s ear.

“
I found your three street
urchins smoking, drinking, and playing cards in their room. I went
to find out why they were not in the schoolroom with the boys. Do
you think it healthy they fraternize with my brothers and our son?”
she asked coolly. “It appears your new pets are not housebroke, my
lord.”

Gabriel glared at her, despising her
chastising tone and her obvious displeasure her siblings were
mixing with his new wards. His dark eyes grew black as he
considered her words. He wanted to rile her now. It annoyed him she
still had such a hold upon him. Just looking at her made him
remember the last time they argued in his study. He was repulsed to
feel himself grow aroused by it.

“
My, aren’t we the snob
these days, Lady Catherine,” he remarked nastily, noting the way
she stiffened at his biting words. “I will certainly speak to
Winston, Billy, and Oliver about their vices directly and deal with
them. Do not question me again on what I deem fit for my son or my
wards. You have no say in it. They reside with me. If you want to
see them at all; I suggest you cease to plague me with your
opinions.”

“
I have every right to
question who you bring into this house and expose my child too, and
my family,” she snapped harshly, her green eyes glowing as she
smacked her hand upon his desk. “It would appear you have let in
many strays here, Lord Iverleigh. I will be taking the children
with me when I leave. You have no right to treat me unkindly
because I point out that you have obviously been distracted from
noticing what goes on around you, enough to merit my
concern.”

“
I can only assume by your
ruffled feathers you use this concern only to get me alone,” he
noted in a taunting voice, seeing her flush and enjoying seeing her
composure slip, if only for a moment. She glared at him and stood
up. “It pleases me to know how much you’ve missed me, Catherine.
Don’t bother denying it. I can see how much you wanted to see me.
You don’t need excuses, my dear.”

“
Oh shut up! That is
ridiculous!” she raged, seeing the light of challenge in his dark
eyes.

“
Is it?” he taunted and
stood, stalking her with a definitely predatory intent.

She made to leave. He blocked the door,
forcing her to back away into the room. He reached out and jerked
her to his hard chest, looking down at her with desire in his eyes
before his mouth swooped down to take her lips. At the first touch
of their lips, he moaned and deepened the kiss, his arms holding
her captive against the door they backed up to.

~ ~ ~

Catherine went limp the moment his
mouth touched hers, heat and incredible passion gnawing at her
belly. She strained against his chest to get closer, her arms
winding around his neck. He turned and forced her higher against
the door of the study, never breaking the passionate
kiss.

A myriad of sensations made her realize
the dreams were nothing like the reality of being in Gabriel’s
arms. His tongue stroked hers slowly making her gasp as sharp stabs
of undeniable pleasure stole through her. She felt drugged, heavy,
her blood molten as he eased up her skirts. The feel of his hand
cupping her heated mound made her moan and arch closer.

Gabriel didn’t hesitate as he ripped
her drawers off and jerked her up and undid his breeches. He yanked
her legs up around his hips. His dark eyes met hers as he thrust
hungrily inside her then, making her cry out before his mouth
covered hers. He pumped long and hard within her while he held her
against the door, driving deep, making her claw at the wood panel
and met each thrust with wild abandon.

They slid to the floor, clothes flying
in their desire to be closer. Gabriel could no longer fight his
need for her. She sobbed incoherently as he kissed her flesh. He
was touching her and making her writhe under every dizzying
sensation with devastating intensity. When he rolled her under him
on the Persian rug, her legs wrapped around his hips, urging him to
make her his once more.

He held himself above her, his face
filled with dazed satisfaction as they rocked upon the floor in
earnest, her hands digging into his buttocks, eyes wide with
unmistakable desire.

“
Oh God, I want you so,” he
murmured as he burrowed his face in her hair, thrusting deep inside
of her. “Hold me tight, my love, and never leave me
again.”

Catherine whimpered as he drove deeper,
biting his shoulder to keep from crying out in ecstasy. The
rightness of this moment made her want to weep with dismay as her
body met his with unabashed delight.

“
I love you, Catherine,” he
whispered hoarsely as he brought her to such maddening heights she
wept, her face pressed into his neck, her nails gouging into his
back.

She didn’t want to hear him as his body
bore hers into the rug again, her cries stifled by his hungry
kisses. Gabriel took his time, lavishing her body with such tender,
passionate attention she was stunned to feel the answer in her own
body.

His hands and lips adored every inch of
her. When he rose above her once more, she became the aggressor,
her hips moving hungrily under his, her moans cut off by his fierce
kiss. At last he brought her to a shuddering end, holding her to
his sweaty chest until they tumbled apart breathing
raggedly.

Catherine sat up, unable to meet his
gentle expression. His hand stroked her back as she drew her knees
to her chest and stared at her pile of clothing strewn about the
room. She felt disgust to know she had betrayed Nicholas and felt
so little remorse over it. The way Gabriel made her feel was too
wonderful to not give into.

“
We did nothing wrong here,
Catherine,” he told her as he sat up and grabbed her chin, forcing
her to look at him. “We belong together. You might have forgotten
that once, but the last hour brought it all back. Don’t tell me you
don’t love me. I can see it in your eyes.”

“
I love my husband too, or
have you forgotten him already, Gabriel?” she replied bitterly and
jumped up to find her dress, refusing to look at him. “What we have
done here is wrong! How can I face him now?”

Gabriel made a disgusted noise, wanting
to toss his knowledge of Nicholas’s bastard at her but refrained.
His friend was no saint. He found signs that Nicholas was
unfaithful while she was in Ireland. A lady left behind her silk
drawers in his friend’s bed. They were not his wife’s. Catherine
would never be caught dead in such a decadent bit of scant
underwear.

“
What happened here was
meant to be,” he insisted as he got up and helped her by tying up
the back of her dress and buttoning it. “Admit it to yourself,
Catherine.”

She knew she couldn’t lie to him. Her
green eyes filled with remorse and avoided his glorious nudity, now
bared to her gaze. “I’m married. We can’t do this again. See that
Giles is sent to me tomorrow. I dare not give into this
again.”

Gabriel looked furious. “You would
pretend this never happened? Oh, but my dear, I have no wish to
forget at all. You won’t avoid me now, Catherine.”

“
Stop it,” she begged as his
hands turned her. She couldn’t bear to look upon him, knowing they
had sinned greatly by giving into their feelings. “Don’t press me
for more. I won’t allow this to happen again.”

Gabriel glared down at her. “The fact
it happened at all tells me you feel as I do, Catherine. You want
us both. Admit it and we will deal with this.”

Catherine wouldn’t and was furious at
his words. She jerked away from him and went to a mirror over the
bureau to repair her damaged coif. He dressed behind her, his
expression furious.

“
I won’t come here again,
Gabriel,” she told him when she turned from the mirror, tears in
her gaze. “I can’t have you both. It doesn’t work that way. I won’t
insult us all by continuing with this.”

“
You love me,” he insisted
and glared at her as he buttoned his shirt. “Deny it! I want to
hear you say you don’t feel it too.”

Catherine couldn’t force the words from
her tongue. She stared at him in dismay. It was true. She loved
him. Even now her heart fluttered as those dark eyes met hers,
demanding an answer. “We can’t do this!”

He raised an eyebrow. “It appears we
already have. I love you, Catherine. I would have you back under
any circumstances, even if I must share you with
Nicholas.”

She gasped in dismay and he smiled
grimly. “You can’t be serious?”

“
Does that surprise you, my
love?” he asked bitterly as he yanked on his cravat. “What I would
do to have you under any terms? I have no pride left! I love you
too much!”

“
You have to let me go,
Gabriel,” she begged. “We can’t do this to ourselves. I won’t
betray my husband again.”

“
Liar!” he taunted harshly,
his handsome face filled with mockery. “You will come to me again,
Catherine. I’ll not throw it in your face when you do. This is what
you have wanted since your return. You want me as I do you. It has
nothing to do with what you have with Nicholas and we both know
it.”