Page 81 of Gabriela and His Grace

His brow dropped low. “If I didn’t, would you do so anyway?”

“Por supuesto. The new Duchess of Whitfield is a mexicana, and I fully intend to use my title to do some good.” Gabby snorted. “Surely you don’t believe I would let you tell me what to do.”

“It would be a fruitless, frustrating effort, and we both know I’m much too lazy for all that.” Sebastian tapped the tip of her nose. He wouldn’t dream of clipping Ella’s wings…but he hoped to give her plenty of reasons to consider him home. “But I will ask that you have a care with your safety. I would hate for—”

“I will be careful,” she whispered. Her eyes abruptly filled with tears. “Thank you, Sebastian.”

He kissed away a tear. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just know it’s important for you to find your place, and I want to make that search easier.”

“Thank you.” Gabriela expelled a shuddering breath. “It’s been a trying few weeks, and I’ve been out of sorts.”

“Understandable.” Sebastian brushed a loose curl from her cheek. “The gossip was…difficult.”

“Difficult?” Gabriela chuckled. “I think you’re being generous, cariño. It was atrocious. Everyone seemed determined to remind me of our past interactions. I already remember all the reasons why I thought you were a scoundrel, and certainly didn’t need anyone to remind me of them.”

Sebastian sniffed. “Darling, I thought we agreed that I wasn’t a scoundrel so much as unfailingly charming.”

“¿Qué?” Gabriela’s eyes went wide as she stared up at him, mirth and fire melding in their hazel depths. “Unfailingly charming? Surely you mean unfailingly egotistical?”

Pulling back, Sebastian scowled. “You wound me, Ella. And on the very first day of our marriage.”

She snorted. “You’ll recover, I’m sure.”

Stroking a thumb across her bottom lip, Sebastian pitched his voice low. “And will you help me recover?”

A flush swept up Gabriela’s throat, and her tongue peeked out to lick her bottom lip. “I suppose I have to since I’m your wife.”

“Damn right you are,” he snarled before he crashed his mouth down on hers.

It felt as if stars had been born and died in the time since Sebastian had last tasted Gabriela. Since he’d felt her under his hands. Until that moment, he didn’t realize how much he’d missed her. Not just the satisfaction he experienced having her in his arms, but the simple joy of being the sole focus of her attention. The blazing warmth of her smiles. The jolt of lightning that was her laugh.

Biting back a moan, Sebastian looped his arm around her back and hauled her onto his lap, cursing against her lips when her skirts amassed between them.

“Shhh,” Gabriela murmured, pressing a quick kiss to his mouth before standing. She fidgeted with her underskirts, eventually stepping free of her crinolette and petticoat. With a saucy grin, Gabriela straddled his lap, and he sucked in a breath to discover the only things separating them were her drawers and his trousers. But Sebastian could swear he felt the heat of her core through the garments.

“It’s been torture to have you so close yet be unable to touch you,” he rasped. Reaching under her dress, he slipped his fingers through the slit in her drawers and hissed when he found her hot and wet. “Is this for me?”

Gabriela mewled softly. “I’ve missed your touch, too.”

Sebastian clicked his tongue. “We can’t have that. You shouldn’t want for anything.” Holding her gaze, he stroked the crown of her sex before he slipped two fingers inside her and ground the heel of his hand against her pubic bone. A long moan slipped past her lips as she tipped her head back, presenting the column of her throat to him. Accepting the invitation, Sebastian leaned forward and laved her skin.

“Sebastian,” Gabriela gasped, her hips undulating to match the rhythm of his fingers, “I was told to be firm with you.”

Sebastian’s fingers slowed. When Gabriela whimpered, he resumed his ministrations. “I’m not a stubborn stallion, darling. Why would you need to be firm with me?”

His wife leaned forward to rest her forehead on his shoulder, her hips beginning to stutter in their movements. “Lady Vale and Lady Montrose cautioned me that a man of your reputation would grow bored having only one woman in his bed. They said I needed to either accept that you would have mistresses or ensure a mistress was superfluous.”

“That you can even use the word superfluous while chasing an orgasm is astonishing,” Sebastian said around a chuckle.

“Y-you married a clever woman.” Gabriela clutched his shoulder as she swiveled her hips, and Sebastian’s mouth went dry.

“I did indeed, Ella. And as such, I don’t see how I could ever grow bored with you. It’s impossible.” He punctuated his point by affixing his mouth to her pulse point and sucking.

Warmth gushed around his fingers, and Sebastian groaned.

Gabriela snarled in the back of her throat. “It had better remain impossible.”

Oh. Sebastian pulled back, a diverted grin twisting his lips. “Is that right? Will you punish me if I do otherwise?”