His hands moved from her waist up to her breasts, teasing the hard peaks he could feel over her clothes.
“Gerald…” she whimpered into his touch.
“I have instructed the staff to leave the house empty for the day,” he murmured in her ear.
“That was very…” Arabella was struggling to contain a semblance of coherence, “very thoughtful.”
“Yes, I wanted to make sure you thoroughly examined every nook and cranny of the house.”
Arabella was shaking against him, her head leaning back on his chest, his hands still torturing her curves. She turned suddenly and found herself face-to-face with him.
She looked up into his eyes, and it was as if a spark hit powder. He lifted her by the thighs and placed her on a reading nook with the tall window overlooking the blue waves.
“Let us make this house our own, Arabella,” he said into her neck.
“When I am with you, every place is my home,” she sighed.
He stopped and looked up at her, deep into her eyes. Arabella smiled softly and said nothing, just looked at him with all her emotions open. She was telling the truth. Nothing mattered but just being with him.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” he caressed her hair.
“Allow me to think,” she teased. “Do you need a total tally or just the daily sum?”
“Fine, your grace,” his look got darker. “Tease your husband. I have my ways to make you pay for this insolence.”
A sweet shiver came over her body. His methods of payment were quite delicious indeed. She would love nothing more than to be indebted to him forever.
“Maybe I should open a tab, your grace,” Arabella said, mischief in her eyes.
“No,” he kissed her neck while his hands went for the hem of her skirts. “I demand payment in full. No credit for you.”
His hands went up her thighs and lifted her just enough to align himself with her core. And when they joined together, he looked at her deep in her eyes.
“I love you, Arabella.”
“I love you too.”
* * *
It had been weeks since they first arrived in Brighton. Arabella was looking at the sun reflecting on the sea. Every day that she looked upon that sea, it was as if she were seeing it for the first time.
She was sitting by their favorite spot in the whole house, which was none other than that reading nook where he had first told her he loved her, inside the house that was only for them, without the hurt that sometimes his ancestral house brought to him, the house filled with new, happy memories.
“So, are you ready for our little walk around the pier?” Gerald walked in, fully clothed.
She turned and looked at him as the sun filtered through, making his eyes look even greener.
“Arabella, how are you not ready?” Gerald complained. “Do you need help from Winnie?”
“Come sit here with me.”
Gerald stiffened when he heard the tone of her voice. He was right to be, she wasn’t even sure that she was recognizing her own voice.
“Are you feeling under the weather?” Gerald rushed to her side.
Arabella smiled because she knew exactly what was going through his mind. He had been hiding from happiness for so long because he thought he didn’t deserve it, and now he does not believe that he will get to keep all this. So no matter how happy he is, he is constantly worried, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“I would like to talk,” Arabella said, her voice trembling.
