She shot out of the chair, her arms lifting helplessly. “Why would I not, Gabriel?” she shouted. “You leave the manor every night, racing on horseback as though you cannot escape fast enough, so what else am I supposed to think?”
Before he could answer, she continued, letting the hurt seep into her voice.
“Stonehelm Hall is not decorated like one would expect, given your tastes and fondness for dark colors, which makes me wonder if it’s just a way to make it appealing to the ladies you used to see before I moved in. You have secret rooms, and you do not speak of your past, so tell mewhat else am I supposed to think?”
“You do not need to think,” he hissed. “You can ask me anything, Sibyl. I will always answer honestly.”
“But you do not always answer!” she shot back. “That is the problem. Your answers may be honest, but they are not always present. You evade questions well, Gabriel.”
“Sibyl—”
“No,” she snapped. “No, you will let me speak, because my mind has been in turmoil for too long, and I cannot keep wondering who you are yet craving you like a woman on the verge of insanity!”
“Sibyl—”
But she did not listen. She continued, venting out her frustration. “How can you do this to me? You took me in to protect me, and yet you keep me at arm’s length. Truly, what elseam I to think, Gabriel? You hide, and hide, but the farther you are, the more afraid I am of you. Of why you must hide.”
“Sibyl, if you would justlisten,” he said, raising his voice slightly. “I told you that I box, and we did not really discuss it.Thatis what I do most nights. I escape to a tiny, run-down tavern where titles do not matter, and I box. I fight, because if I don’t, then I, too, will be driven to the brink of insanity because ofyou.”
“I…” Sibyl trailed off, frowning. “Because of me?”
“Because it is not something a duke should do,” he said through clenched teeth. “I am aware of how barbaric it is, how improper. Heavens, my father would turn in his grave if he knew his son became a fighter by night, reveling in punches and bruised knuckles. I did not tell you because I did not want to scare you. For if you know that, you know that I am capable of violence. You already do not trust me.”
“I want to know you,” she whispered, her eyes meeting his.
Her anger was banking, replaced by both confusion and relief. She could hear the sincerity in his voice.
There were no mistresses, only a boxing ring where he could lose himself? And because of her?
“I do not care how you think I will view those things. I just want to know who the man I married is. I do not want to fear you because of these mysteries.”
Gabriel frowned and stepped closer to her. He paused, as if waiting for her to step back, but she held her ground.
He looked distractingly handsome, although slightly ruffled by their dance and argument.
“Sibyl, no man in his right mind would be unfaithful to you,” he murmured, echoing the words from the night they had visited the gaming hell.
Her breath caught, suddenly at a loss for words.
“I box because of what I feel for you,” he continued, moving ever-closer. “I box because I cannot control the desire to kiss you every moment I see you. I box because I look for you in my waking moments, and you are never there, always avoiding me. I do not blame you, butheavens,Sibyl, all I want to do right now is kiss you.”
Rendered silent, Sibyl could only nod. She wanted him to kiss her. She couldn’t think of anything else, even if she had been so angry with him.
Gabriel stepped closer now, forcing her to sit back in the chair, and he followed, looming above her. He gazed down at her intently, and she thought there was not enough air to fill her lungs.
Then, his mouth was on hers, the kiss searing yet brief.
Sibyl had scarcely reached up to pull him closer when he drew back. She thought she had whimpered, or maybe she had not.
She blushed deeply, regardless.
“Tell me to stop,” Gabriel murmured, his voice rough.
Sibyl shook her head.
If she had the breath, then she would tell him she would never dream of such a thing. Not when she had needed his attention for so long.
Gabriel kissed her again. It was a long, languid thing. A kiss that showed attentiveness, that made her arch into him.
