Gabriel stroked her cheek. “You wondered what?”
“What is Rosie to you? Will you be a part of her life?”
“Like a father?”
The question stunned them both.
Gabriel cleared his throat, and Sibyl looked away.
“Is it selfish to say yes?” she mumbled.
Gabriel cupped her cheeks, bringing her gaze back to him. “It is not,” he whispered. “And I… I feel a lot for Rosie. You said the other day that she is just my stepdaughter, but I do not see her that way. I see her… I see her as a tiny, beautiful thing that I have come to care for.”
He did not saylike a daughter,not yet, but a part of him wondered if that would become true.
“Then will you tell me how involved you wish to be?”
Gabriel laughed softly. “I will see Rosie through everything. Every mishap at dinner when she is a toddler and throws porridge at me in a tantrum. Every school day where she does not want to finish her assignments. Every—” He cut himself off, finding courage in Sibyl’s hopeful face.
She wants this.
“Every suitor that I will have to ward off when she debuts, for if she looks anything like you when she is older, suitors shall be lined up all the way to the gate.”
Sibyl laughed through tears that welled unexpectedly. Gabriel caught one on his fingertip and brought it to his mouth, tasting it. Sibyl’s eyes darkened.
“For so long I have been alone,” she told him. “And now… now I am not.”
“You are most definitely not. And for as long as you will tolerate me, my Duchess, my Sibyl, you will never, ever be alone.”
“Gabriel?”
“Yes?”
“I am ready.”
Gabriel didn’t understand at first, but then it dawned on him, and he shifted, gazing at her. “You are certain?”
Sibyl’s hand found his, falling to his lap. “Take me to your bed.”
Chapter Nineteen
When Gabriel took her to his chambers, Sibyl was more than ready.
If anything, she had been ready for days,weeks,needing him, craving him. Every time she had felt his erection against her or claimed he would take care of himself later,she was ready.
And finally, she felt safe.
“Tell me,” Gabriel murmured as he guided her down onto his bedsheets. “Tell me how ready you are.”
“I am safe,” she told him. “I feel safer, morewanted,than I ever had.”
“Heavens, Sibyl.” He gave a throaty laugh. “You cannot say that and expect me to keep my wits about me.”
“What if I do not want you to keep your wits about you?” she challenged, because she was so ready. She was so damned ready.
“Sibyl—”
“Do not second-guess me,” she said gently. “Just… take me at my word. I amready,and I want you. I want you so much that…”
