The Lady Forfeits Read online

  ‘I am much relieved to hear it.’ He had finished unfastening the buttons at the back of her gown and now allowed that garment to slide down the slenderness of her arms before dropping it softly to the floor to pool silkily at her slippered feet, leaving her clothed only in her short shift and a pair of white stockings held in place by pretty white garters decorated with tiny pink rosebuds.

  Gabriel’s breath caught in his throat as he looked down at her, the fullness of her breasts visible beneath the thin material of her shift, the tips of those breasts already aroused and pouting as they pressed invitingly against it, a darker vee of golden curls also visible between her silky thighs.

  His gaze glowed hotly as it moved back up to her face. ‘So much has happened since coming into this household, I have discovered that it is only your beauty and honesty which seems real to me.’

  Diana felt a wealth of emotion growing, swelling, inside her chest. Gabriel had stated clearly at the time of their betrothal that he did not love her and that he never would, but to have won the regard and the respect of a man as jaded as he was, was a pearl beyond price.

  The joy of that lit her eyes as she reached up to begin unfastening the buttons of his waistcoat. ‘In that case, allow me to act as your valet again, my lord…’

  There was no slow and agonisingly pleasurable removal of his clothes this time, as he aided her in their removal before throwing them on to the carpeted floor beside the bed.

  Diana smiled in satisfaction as the small brown birthmark was revealed only several inches above his knee after he had sat down on the bed to remove his boots and then peel off his pantaloons. ‘Most respectable, my lord.’

  Gabriel grimaced. ‘That woman is a vindictive witch—’

  He was silenced from further comment as Diana placed her fingertips lightly across his lips. She gave a gentle shake of her head. ‘She has no place here with us now.’

  ‘No.’ He was completely unconcerned by his nakedness as he stood up before reaching to remove the pins from Diana’s hair.

  Gabriel drew in a sharp breath as those tresses were finally released to fall, as he had once imagined they might, in a warmth of reddish-gold curls that reached down to the tender curve of her waist, several of those delicate curls framing the creamy warmth of her flushed cheeks and brow.

  His hands shook slightly as he raised them to cradle each side of her face before gazing deeply into her eyes. ‘You are beauty incarnate, Diana. A veritable goddess come to earth.’

  Diana felt almost overwhelmed by their intimacy, the nakedness of his body more perfect, more wonderfully masculine than she could ever have imagined; the muscled hardness of his shoulders and chest was beautifully, gloriously sculptured in the glow of candlelight, and tapered down to the flatness of his stomach and leanly muscled thighs. Those drawings in the book of the Greek gods in her father’s library, which Diana had once looked at so admiringly, had not prepared her for the physical evidence of the arousal of a flesh-and-blood man—but then, in all fairness to those Greek gods, none of them had been drawn fully and magnificently aroused!

  Diana was unable to stop staring at Gabriel’s arousal, steel encased in velvet. What would it be like, she wondered, to kneel down in front of him and place her lips about that—?

  She stopped, stunned at herself and her fantasies. She had no idea where they had even come from! Except she knew it was something that she felt compelled to do; she was sure he would enjoy it as much, if not more, than she would…

  ‘Your turn will come later, little goddess.’ Gabriel reached out to grasp her arms before she could sink to her knees in front of him, having seen the direction of her hungry graze. Experienced as he was, perhaps even jaded from the women he had bedded this past eight years, if she so much as touched his aching and throbbing shaft with her mouth at this moment, then he would lose all control. And he wanted to please her first.

  ‘I wish to give you pleasure, Diana.’ He slipped one thin strap from her shoulder, then the other, allowing her shift to fall softly down about her hips revealing the deliciously full, naked thrust of her breasts. ‘Ah, my familiar friend.’ He ran the tip of his finger across the tiny mole now visible just slightly above her left nipple.

  She trembled from the pleasure of that single caress, her legs beginning to shake almost uncontrollably as he lowered his head to run the tip of his tongue across that mole before he moved lower, his tongue now a moist rasp across the aching crest of her breast, the nipple standing erect even as his lips parted, his breath hot against her skin before he took that rosy tip fully into the heat of his mouth.

  Pleasure coursed from her breast down to between her thighs. She reached out to grasp on to the flexing muscles of his shoulders as she felt her core burning as he drew harder on her nipple even as his other hand cupped its twin and the soft pad of his thumb moved across its tip with the same delectable rhythm.

  Diana was so lost in wonder, in pleasure, that she barely noticed as he discarded her shift altogether, only becoming aware that he had done so as he moved his hand to caress a path from her breast, over the slight curve of her stomach, before cupping her lower, the press of his palm sending quivers of pleasure coursing through her even as his fingers began a skilful caress of her moist and sensitive opening.

  She gasped, her hands moving up and allowing her own fingers to become entangled in the dark thickness of Gabriel’s hair as ecstasy unlike anything she had ever known before claimed and rocked her in a crescendo of ever-increasing waves.

  She groaned achingly at her release before collapsing weakly against him.

  He released her breast slowly before raising his head to see that Diana had not just collapsed but truly fainted, her lashes resting long and silkily upon her flushed and creamy cheeks, her breathing soft and shallow.

  Gabriel frowned with concern even as he swung her up into his arms and carried her towards the bed. He had, he realised, made love with women too numerous to count, but none of them had ever fainted away after climaxing. Had he hurt her? Perhaps she was too delicate, too ladylike to enjoy such pleasures? That had to be it! What a fool he was!

  ‘Gabriel?’

  His gaze sharpened on her face, his expression softening in relief as he saw that she was looking up at him with dreamy satisfaction rather than horrified accusation.

  She frowned slightly at his continued silence, one of her hands lifting to cradle the side of his sharply etched jaw. ‘I had no idea that lovemaking would be so—so gloriously overwhelming.’

  ‘Neither did I,’ he assured her huskily as he knelt on the bed to lay her gently down upon the bedcovers.

  ‘But you are a man of experience,’ she said wonderingly.

  ‘I would rather not talk about that now, my dear,’ he said uncomfortably. He realised the women he had bedded in the past had all ceased to matter, been forgotten, had faded into insignificance after holding Diana in his arms and making love with her. Why that should be he had no idea.

  ‘I believe it is now my turn to—explore,’ she said shyly.

  Gabriel’s heart leapt in his chest at Diana’s reminder that he had brought a halt to her caresses earlier. ‘Perhaps we have explored enough for one night,’ he said gently, recalling how overwhelmed she has just been. This was, after all, her first experience of lovemaking.

  ‘Oh, no, Gabriel.’ Diana sat up, the long length of her golden hair falling silkily about her shoulders, the naked pout of her breasts peeping through those curls, the nipples as full and ripe as the berries they resembled.

  His breath caught in his throat at the sight of those juicy orbs, his shaft aching as he imagined feasting on them once again. ‘Diana—’

  ‘You will lie still, please,’ she instructed as she moved up on to her knees to push him down on to the pillows, appearing not at all abashed that she wore only her stockings and garters as she knelt between his parted legs.

  ‘Lie still,’ she said—and how in the blazes was he supposed to do that when she firs
t bent to place a soft kiss against that damned birthmark before straightening to run her tiny hands the length of his thighs? His head fell back on to the pillows as he finally felt the warmth of her lips closing about his hard and throbbing arousal and her hair fell about her like a golden curtain before spilling softly down on to his thighs.

  Diana was encouraged in her caresses by Gabriel’s throaty groans and the hot leaping of his arousal as she took him deeper into the heat of her mouth. She had never tasted anything so succulently addictive in her life before.

  ‘Diana!’ Gabriel sounded short of breath, his voice a low and fervent appeal.

  She raised her head to look at him, concerned to see an agonised expression on his face. ‘Am I hurting you?’

  ‘Dear God, no, not at all! It is too much pleasure, Diana. Much more of it and I shall disgrace myself completely,’ he explained even as he reached down for her.

  She evaded his grasp, emboldened by his admission. ‘How so? You must tell me, Gabriel, else how will I ever learn how I am to please you?’ she pleaded.

  He looked rueful. ‘If you please me any more than you already have, then I shall lose control and spill myself like some callow youth.’

  ‘Ah.’ She nodded in understanding, even as her avid gaze returned to the long, hard shaft she still cradled in her hand. There was a tiny bead of moisture on its glistening tip and she bent slightly and licked it with the slow rasp of her tongue before once again taking him fully into her mouth.

  ‘Diana…’ His hands were clenched at his sides, his body completely taut.

  Only minutes ago he had introduced her to undreamt-of pleasure, one she now wished to give back to him.

  ‘Dear God!’ Gabriel’s groans became a litany as—almost against his will, it seemed—his hips began to rise and fall in a distinctive rhythm. Previously innocent of such intimacy, she nevertheless knew the exact moment that he lost all control and became utterly consumed in his own ecstasy.

  Minutes passed; all Gabriel could hear was the sound of his own ragged breathing as he lay completely boneless, sprawled back upon the bedcovers, one of his hands still lightly entangled in the gold of Diana’s curls as they cascaded across him in wild disarray, her breath a warm caress against his thighs.

  Somehow he had found heaven in a place he had come to think of as hell. Somehow this woman had lifted him out of the dark and taken him into a golden paradise. It was as if—

  A knock sounded softly on the bedchamber door to halt his wandering thoughts, followed by an enquiring whisper. ‘Miss? Miss, you told me I should call you if—well, if I should need you?’

  ‘What the—?’ Gabriel was too satiated, too physically replete, to do more than turn and frown in the direction of the locked door.

  Diana’s response was much more immediate as she sat up quickly to push back the wildness of her hair from her face before running across the room to pull on and belt her robe. ‘Dear Lord, how could I have allowed myself to forget?’ she muttered wildly.

  ‘Diana?’ Gabriel eyed her sharply as the fog of his physical repletion began to abate.

  She shook her head. ‘I meant to go immediately after dinner—oh, I should not have allowed myself to become so distracted!’ she told herself crossly as she hurried to unlock the door and open it just enough so that she could talk with the person outside in the hallway, but whoever it was could not see inside the bedchamber to where Gabriel still lay naked upon the bed.

  He sat up, a dark and heavy scowl on his brow as he watched her at the doorway. He had just been transported to some hitherto-unknown plateau of pleasure and she had just referred to their intimacy as being a distraction from some more important purpose!

  She had no experience with which to compare their lovemaking, of course, and could have no idea how rare and beautiful it had been. But he was fully aware of it.

  She was utterly incapable of artifice. She was the most honest and forthright young woman he had—

  ‘We must both dress immediately.’ Diana appeared flustered as, her conversation concluded, she closed and relocked the door, not sparing him so much as a glance as she hurried across the room to fling open the wardrobe doors and began searching through the array of gowns that hung there. She halted as she turned back into the room, blue woollen gown in hand, and found that he had not moved. ‘Did you not hear me, Gabriel?’ She frowned her impatience with his inactivity as she removed her robe and replaced it with her shift. ‘You must dress. We cannot dally here a moment longer.’ She stepped lithely into her gown.

  Gabriel looked taken aback at her increasing agitation. What on earth was going on? ‘I have no intention of dressing or going anywhere until I know exactly where it is I am going and why,’ he said with some annoyance.

  Of course he had no idea where they were going or why, Diana admonished herself as she finished pulling on her gown. How could he possibly know when she had found no opportunity—had been too lost to the wonder of what had just happened—to tell him what actions she had put into play earlier this evening?

  It was far from an ideal end to the ecstasy of their earlier intimacy, but no doubt Gabriel would thank her once he knew what she had done.

  ‘My maid has been sitting with your mother for several hours now, with instructions to come for me should she receive any visitors,’ she started to explain hurriedly.

  ‘Your maid has been sitting with my mother?’ he repeated slowly.

  Diana nodded. ‘Do you recall that I left the dining table earlier in search of a handkerchief?’

  ‘Yes.’ Of course he remembered that, and a damned long time she had taken about it too. Over ten minutes of absolute silence between himself and Jennifer, as they glared their glittering dislike at each other, knowing that if he said one word to the witch then an avalanche of them would follow, all of them unpleasant. She had seemed to know that too and for once in her life had remained silent.

  ‘I had no real need of a handkerchief.’ Diana smiled triumphantly. ‘It was merely a ruse to allow me the time in which to arrange for my maid to go to your mother’s rooms.’

  Gabriel raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought you had agreed with Jennifer that there was no need for your maid to sit with my mother?’

  ‘I only gave the appearance of agreeing,’ Diana corrected, moving to stand in front of the mirror on the dressing table in order to study her reflection as she pinned her hair neatly into place.

  ‘Did you?’ he asked, thoroughly confused.

  She turned to eye him impatiently. ‘Really, Gabriel, I am sure I am making myself perfectly clear. I lied when I appeared to take Mrs Prescott’s word for it that your mother didn’t need my maid’s company.’

  Gabriel became very still. ‘I was led to believe you were incapable of lying.’

  ‘The very reason it is easier to be believed when one is left with no other choice but to do so!’

  Gabriel stared across at her wordlessly. He had just been mentally praising Diana for her honesty, for her utter lack of artifice, and all the time she was as skilful at deception as the next woman.

  No doubt she had a good reason for it, he told himself. She had good reason for most things she did. Even so, it was unsettling to realise she was as capable of lying as anyone else. ‘Would you care to tell me why it was you felt the need to lie on this occasion?’

  ‘Surely that is obvious?’ she said incredulously.

  ‘Not completely, no,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Explain, if you please.’ He stood up and began to gather up his clothes.

  Diana blinked. She was not sure how she was supposed to even think, let alone explain, when Gabriel stood before her in all his naked glory! Their lovemaking had been a revelation to her. A wonder. A joy beyond imagining. And just looking at the magnificence of his unclothed body was enough to bring the warmth back into her cheeks. And other places too. Private, intimate places of her body that he now knew more intimately than she did herself.

  Gabriel had been beautiful in his a
rousal, and he was no less so now, the candlelight giving his flesh a golden hue as it caressed the hard planes of his body and revealed that thatch of black hair surrounding his now-softened shaft. Even in repose it was far more impressive than those sketches of the Greek gods in that book—

  ‘Diana!’

  She gave a slightly dazed shake of her head, closing her eyes briefly before lifting her gaze to concentrate Gabriel’s scowling face rather than the magnificence of his body; she might perhaps be able to concentrate on the matter in hand if she did not look at all that male beauty! ‘Could you dress whilst I explain?’

  ‘Willingly, if it is going to speed up the proceedings,’ he said. He turned his back on her to sort through the clothes he had amassed on the bed.

  Even his sculptured back was beautiful, Diana acknowledged achingly, longing to reach out and touch those wide and muscled shoulders, which tapered down to a narrow waist, to fondle his nicely curved buttocks—

  ‘You do not appear to be explaining anything as yet, Diana,’ Gabriel reminded her impatiently, his back still towards her as he pulled his shirt on over his head and instantly covered at least part of his nakedness.

  But still not enough for her to focus on coherent thought, the intimacy of the situation rendering her temporarily speechless.

  ‘I swear I will come over there and shake you if you do not begin this explanation in the next ten seconds!’

  Diana gave a guilty start as she heard the savagery in Gabriel’s tone. It was understandable—she needed to pull herself together. ‘When I left the dining room earlier in search of a handkerchief, I first visited your mother’s rooms—I wished to satisfy my curiosity before taking any further action,’ she explained as he stared at her incredulously.

  ‘And did you? Satisfy your curiosity!’ he rasped as Diana looked at him blankly.

  ‘Your mother was still sleeping,’ she said.