Bride for a Night(174)

He lowered his head to nip at her lower lip. “That is not what I desire to hear.”

“Then perhaps you wish me to tell you of Mr. Price’s mule…”

“You know exactly the words I long to hear, my dear,” he growled. “Do not torture me.”

His tone was teasing, but there was nothing amusing about the agonizing knot of uncertainty in the pit of his stomach. It did not matter how often he assured himself that Talia would never have gone to such efforts to rescue him in France if she did not care for him. Or how readily she responded to his touch.

He was as uncertain as a young lad, desperately longing for her affection even as he feared it might be withheld.

“Very well.” Framing his face in her hands, she met his gaze with a slow, breathtaking smile. “I love you, Gabriel. With all my heart.”

His heart slammed against his ribs. “You are certain?”

She lifted onto her tiptoes, lightly brushing a kiss over his mouth.

“I was fascinated by you from the moment I first caught sight of you across the ballroom,” she admitted. “You were so astonishingly handsome.”

Joy bubbled through him as he offered a smug smile. “Yes, well, I cannot argue.”

She snorted. “Of course, you were also aloof, and cold and so impossibly arrogant that I was relieved you never glanced in my direction. You were terrifying.”

“No, not terrifying,” he murmured. “It was the only means I knew to keep others at a distance.”

“Well, it was certainly effective,” she ruefully assured him. “I assumed that you were destined to be a mere fantasy I could only admire from a distance. And then you arrived in my private chambers demanding that we be wed.”

“Please.” With a groan he pressed his forehead against hers, dreading the memory of how he had injured her. “I cannot bear to speak of that day.”

Her fingers tenderly caressed his cheek. “I was hurt by your cutting manner, and even more by your insistence that I leave London. But in some ways the opportunity to be away from my father’s constant criticism, and even your intimidating presence, allowed me to discover a strength that I never dreamed that I possessed.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “You are the strongest, most courageous woman I have ever known.”

“And then Jacques kidnapped me…”

“The bastard.”

She chuckled at his low growl. “And you charged to the rescue.”

He lifted his head with a wry grimace. “That was my intent, but in the end you had to rescue me. Twice.”

Her fingers trailed down his jaw, her eyes soft with devotion that warmed Gabriel to the tips of his toes.

“You risked your life for me, and I knew that even if you could never return my feelings, that I would love you for all eternity.”

The words seared through him with overwhelming force. Driven by a need to show his emotions in a far more tangible method, he scooped her off her feet. He moaned at the feel of her warm body cradled against his chest, her skirts spilling over his arm and her unruly curls tickling his chin.

He had barely managed to take a step toward the door, however, when she touched her fingers to his cheek to capture his attention.

“A moment.”

He tilted back his head to glance toward the heavens. “Lord, no.”

“I have one last question.”

“You are deliberately attempting to punish me,” he muttered.

“Why did you not just admit why you wished me to remain at Carrick Park?” she demanded. “You made me believe that you were embarrassed to have me as your wife.”