in her body seemed drawn tight. Gerard fell to his elbows, clasping her shoulders, then thrust once more. His hips bucked, his back heaved, and she felt the hot pulse of his climax inside her.
Kate dragged her arms over his shoulders. His breath was rapid and hot against her shoulder, and his weight pressed her flat. She opened her eyes and gazed up at the pure blue summer sky, and smiled. “I have you,” she whispered, brushing the damp hair away from his temple. “Now you’re mine. Forever.”
His lips touched her jaw. “Forever.”
Chapter 28
They walked back to the house some time later, when Gerard finally said Charlie would never forgive him otherwise. He put his jacket over her shoulders and took her hand in his, possessively threading his fingers between hers. Kate looked down at their interlocked fingers and felt something lurch inside her. Her fingers were small and pale between his, but somehow they fit together perfectly. Still trying to shake all the leaves and twigs out of his hair, Gerard caught sight of her face and stopped. “What’s wrong?”
She smiled and lowered her gaze. “Nothing.”
He caught hold of her chin, rubbing his thumb across her lower lip. “Nothing at all?”
“No.” Not when he was near, touching her, looking at her with those sharp blue eyes that would forever remind her of the sky on this day. “Except . . .” Her lips trembled as she took him in. “Except everyone will know . . .”
He grinned. The sleeve of his jacket was snagged and dirty from his trip through the hedge. A small leaf was still caught in the rumpled waves of his hair. But it was the stains on the knees of his trousers that looked most incriminating to her eyes, thick dark smudges with traces of green, as if the wearer had ground them into the field vigorously and repeatedly.
“Everyone will know what?” he asked, when she just shook her head in mute agony, trying not to burst out laughing. “That I was overcome with passion for my wife and seduced her under the approving gaze of God? Or that I had to destroy the landscaping to swear my love to her?”
“I don’t mind if everyone knows of the second,” she said with a blush. “Although I suspect some will guess at the first.”
He just laughed. As they strolled back to the house, hand in hand, he told her about the notebooks, the postal clerk, and Charlie’s arrival. Kate exclaimed with excitement that he’d found something and had a trail to follow, but grew quiet as the implications of that became clear. By the time they reached the graveled path that led past the garden back into the morning room, much of the joy bubbling inside her had fallen flat.
“Will you have to leave Bath again, to search for this Mr. Scott?” she finally blurted out.
He took his time answering. “I don’t think he’ll be in Bath, no.”
Oh dear. She thought of Lieutenant Carter, champing at the bit to return to his regiment, and how at ease Gerard was in his own scarlet coat. She had closed her mind to the inevitable question of what would happen when Gerard went back to the army, but now it loomed larger in her mind. And if he would be off searching for the blackmailer until then . . . She sighed quietly, trying not to be selfish and keep him from his search. It just seemed very hard to say good-bye to him so soon, especially at this blissful moment.
“I don’t know where Mr. Scott might be,” he went on. “I expect Charlie will have a devil of a time finding him, though.”
She darted a cautious glance at him. “Your brother will be staying to help in the hunt, then?”
“He’s not staying with us,” said Gerard. “But he is going to find our man. On the very, very long trip to Cobham, it struck me rather forcefully that I’m not at liberty to run around the country chasing villains, as I once was.”
Kate kept her eyes trained on the ground, knowing if she looked at him again, she’d lose her composure. “I would never stop you from your pursuit.”
“And that’s why I can’t go.” He turned her around to face him. “My brothers thought I was mad to come on this unicorn hunt. Charlie thought it was a waste of time, and Edward feared I’d do something rash, like shoot the man and get myself arrested for murder.