Jane leaned up on tiptoes and kissed him. Gabriel closed his eyes a moment and, for the first time in his life, turned himself completely and fully over to another person.

Hesitantly, he clasped her at the waist and drew her closer. Then kissed her as he’d longed to since their first exchange in his library. Kissed her as he’d dreamed each night since then. Kissed her with who he was. He plundered her mouth with his over and over and their tongues danced in an age-old rhythm. Gabriel swept her into his arms and carried her over to the wide four-poster bed then gently laid her down. He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it aside. He tugged his cravat off and then his waistcoat followed suit. All the while, his gaze remained trained on Jane in her mauve satin gown. As he joined her on the bed, she came up on her knees. He touched his lips to the rapidly beating pulse at her neck and she tipped her head back on a shuddery sigh. Gabriel nipped and tasted the flesh, while he worked his fingers over the bothersome row of buttons down the back of her gown. A hungry desire to at last know her in every way made his fingers clumsy and he cursed.

Jane smiled and stroked her fingers along his jaw. “Always so in control,” she said softly.

Gabriel yanked at the row of buttons and tiny pearl pieces scattered about the bed and floor. “I have had no control since the moment you entered my life, Jane.” With that, he pulled at the fabric of her gown tucked beneath her knees and pulled her dress overhead, baring her to his eyes. Desire slammed into him so hard, it sucked the air from his lungs. “I love you, Jane Edgerton.”

*

In her life, she’d been Jane Munroe. Mrs. Jane Munroe. Miss Jane Munroe. But never before had she had a true name. Not until now. Now, she had one that bound her to a man in a way she’d sworn to never want, in ways that had posed a danger to her freedom and control.

Gabriel removed her chemise and revealed her naked frame to his gaze. Then, there was far greater danger in being the bitter, broken person she’d been all these years. A woman who could not forgive. A woman who could not forget. But this beautiful coming together with another person did not weaken her. It made her stronger. With that, a sense of peace filled her chest. It drove back the animosity that had consumed her all these years.

“You should hate me,” he whispered and placed a kiss at the corner of her lips. “I lied to you about your funds.”

Yes, but then life had taught her that sometimes in order to survive a person did what a person must. Gabriel placed a kiss at the opposite corner of her mouth. It did not make it right. It made it…life. “Do you want me to hate you?” she teased breathlessly as he moved his questing lips down her throat, to the swell of her breast.

He palmed the flesh and weighed them in his hands. A moan worked its way up her throat as he raised first her right breast to his mouth. “I have dreamed of doing this from the moment I kissed you.” His breath fanned her nipple and the flesh pebbled with the gentle stirring of air.

Jane bit down hard on her lip and held her breath in anticipation as he closed his lips about the turgid bud. An agonized groan ripped from her throat and her hands automatically came up to clasp his head to her chest. He sucked at the flesh until a wild yearning pooled between her thighs. Then he shifted his attention to her other breast. “Y-you are c-certain you’ve never d-done this before,” she cried out as he suckled her.

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“Quite certain.” He slid a hand between her legs and with his long fingers, stroked the thatch of golden curls that shielded her womanhood.

“You m-must think me a wanton,” she rasped and splayed her legs wide, encouraging him to continue his quest.

“I think you perfect,” he whispered and then slipped a finger inside her.

A keening moan echoed throughout the room as she tightened her legs reflexively about him. Then he slid another finger and she bucked in a desperate bid to be closer to him. He continued to work her, teasing the hot nub at her center until thought fled.

She cried out as he suddenly stopped. “Why—”

“I need to feel my skin upon yours,” he whispered. Gabriel quickly removed his shirt. All the while, his wife’s passion-glazed eyes took in his every movement. After he tugged free his boots and tossed them to the floor, he shucked off his breeches. Gabriel returned to Jane’s arms. As he lowered himself from above her, he took her mouth under his once more. Heat spiraled in her belly and spread like a slow conflagration of desire for this man.




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