across the painting. The moment I spotted it, Jules grabbed the artwork, took it downstairs and tossed it into the fire. Apparently, they’d burned them all, but that one had been forgotten.”
“As they deserved to be burned.”
I took my lower lip between my teeth. There was one more secret I hadn’t admitted to anyone. Perhaps I’d hoped if I ignored it, the fear would go away. But it hadn’t. It had been festering all week. “Gabe? Remember when I told you about the dowager who had taken me in that year ago? The woman who had offered me a position in her home? The dowager who had wanted Izzy for some disturbing reason?”
He hesitated for a moment. Perhaps he already sensed what I was going to say. “I do.”
“It was her, Gabe. That painting was of her.”
I felt him stiffen, his body grow tense, but he didn’t say a word.
“At the Landcaster Ball, I believe she recognized me, although she didn’t do anything until a year later. I swore she recognized my scar, knew it, and knew who I was when she offered to make me her maid. I…I haven’t told anyone.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her. Now sleep.”
But sleep alluded me, as his words kept whispering through my head over and over again, “I’ll take care of her.”
What did he mean?
****
Gabriel
I would kill the woman.
While Ginny rested peacefully against me, flittering in and out of sleep, I was making plans. Horrible, evil plans of the many ways I would kill the dowager. Plans I didn’t dare repeat to anyone, for fear they’d place me in Bedlam.
The fire crackled in the fireplace, while the chill breeze battered the windows. Ginny’s hand curled against my chest. She stretched like a kitten, then drew her fingers down through the crisp hair on my chest…lower…lower. Resting next to her was both pain and pleasure.
I didn’t want to think about being intimate with her. There were plans to be made. People to destroy. Secrets to reveal. But when she touched me, it was difficult to think of anything other than sliding into her tight sheath. Christ, it had been a long time since I’d had her. Too long.
“Ginny,” I said softly. “I’ve done horrible things in my life.”
“We all have, Gabe,” she murmured drowsily.
I hesitated. She didn’t understand, but then, how could she? Ginny was strength, kindness, intelligence. She was perfection. “If I wasn’t titled, would it upset you overly?”
She lifted up on her elbows, a frown puckering her lips. “Of course not. I’d prefer if you weren’t, to be honest.”
Hell, she meant it. Her dark hair shimmered in waves around her pretty face. I reached up, sliding my fingers through her hair. It was a miracle that day she’d taken the job at the Landcaster estate. A miracle I could thank God for every day for the rest of my life. But wouldn’t be content until she was truly mine and we were married.
“Ginny, I don’t care that you don’t have a dowry. I think it antiquated anyway.”
She looked confused.
“What I’m saying is that my finances are in order. I’m not rich, yet, but I can take care of us.”
She nodded. “I know you can.”
My chest warmed. “Sleep. We’ll return home tomorrow and make plans.”
“No, I can’t.” she whispered defiantly. “I want…I want…”
I stacked my hands behind my head. “What?”
Her face flushed pink. “I want to explore your body the way you’ve explored mine.”
My heart stopped beating. Slowly, I lowered my arms. Hell, had I misunderstood her? Gooseflesh tip-toed over my skin, as blood rushed to my cock. Surely, she could feel the brush of my erection against her outer thigh. She didn’t shy away. In fact, she nestled even closer.
“Can I?”
“Of course you can.” My voice came out raspy, desperate. I didn’t even care that I sounded weak. “Hell, Ginny, you don’t have to ask that, ever.”
She pushed up on her elbows, her hair falling down like a curtain. Her gaze was pinned to my chest, as if she’d never seen anything so fascinating. Slowly, she drew her hands over my torso, spreading her fingers through the crisp hair, then following that hair down…down. I bit back my groan. My erection pressed eagerly to the blankets.
She lowered, then slowly, ever so slowly, she drew her tongue across my nipple. A hiss of breath escaped my lips. She was going to kill me, but I would die happy.