Page 86 of Gabriela and His Grace

So shouldn’t that be enough?

An hour later, Gabby rose from a fitful nap and padded downstairs, clutching the note that had been left on her side table. It was from Sebastian, inviting her to tour the progress of the east wing renovations with him. Reading her husband’s neat penmanship had been a balm, and she approached his study door with a smile on her face. That was until male voices met her ears. One was Sebastian, but she didn’t recognize the second. Unsure if she should knock, she glanced inside the room to find her husband in conversation with a younger man with deep red hair.

“David has trouble attending. He’s distracted by—”

“I hope not by James,” Sebastian interjected, pushing his spectacles up his nose.

The red-haired man shook his head. “No. James follows rules to a fault—”

“Ella,” Sebastian called, his gaze colliding with hers before it darted to the man across the desk from him. “Let us continue this discussion another time.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” the man said, jumping to his feet. His dark eyes met Gabby’s for only a passing moment. “Excuse me, Your Grace.”

Gabby watched him leave, her curiosity sparking. “Who was that?”

“That’s Simon,” Sebastian said succinctly. He stood and slipped his hands into his pockets. “Did you get my note?”

She blinked at the change of subject, but she held up the slip of paper. “I did. I’d be happy to accompany you. And…” She paused, glancing down at the floor. “Thank you for inviting me.”

The room was silent for a tense moment, but when Gabby looked up, Sebastian was staring at her with a soft look in his blue eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to invite you to more things.”

“So am I,” she murmured, turning toward the door. “Shall I meet you in the foyer in thirty minutes?”

He nodded. “I look forward to it, Ella.”

Gabby chewed on her cheek as she considered what to say. The urge to ask him directly if he was keeping something from her sat on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. Hadn’t Sebastian just greeted her warmly, as if he was happy to see her? Perhaps she was imagining slights where none existed. Ay, marriage had addled her brain, and she chuckled as she made to leave.

“What’s so funny?” Sebastian called, pulling her up short.

She looked over her shoulder and reached for an answer. “It’s just that as much as I love that name, it also makes me laugh because Ella makes me think of ella, and ella in Spanish is she.”

His mouth twisted into a smirk, even as he reached for his pen. “It’s apropos, then, seeing as how you’re the only she who’s ever been important to me.”

Like a spark against dry kindling, heat roared through Gabby’s blood, and before she knew what she was about, she flipped the lock on the door and prowled toward the desk. Sebastian looked up as she approached, his brow furrowed. Holding his gaze, she shoved his chairback, ignoring the surprised noise he made. Without a word, she dropped to her knees and reached for the placard of his trousers.

“D-darling,” Sebastian stammered, his hands curling around the armrests. His chest labored with his excited breaths. “What are you doing?”

“¡Cállate!” she ordered, humming in the back of her throat when she pulled his quickly hardening cock free. Gabby had never considered that this part of a man could be beautiful, but it felt beautiful in her hands. It made her feel beautiful and seeing the look of awe dawn across her husband’s expression, Gabby felt powerful. And she very much wanted to remind Sebastian of that power.

Staring into his eyes, she leaned forward and circled the rim of his blunt head with her tongue.

A long, low hiss slipped from Sebastian’s lips, and he clenched his eyes closed.

“Mírame,” Gabby demanded, pausing her ministrations until he met her gaze again. Once his blue eyes were locked with hers, she slowly covered the tip with her lips and sucked, squeezing his flesh with her opposite hand.

If moans and curses were currency, Gabby would be richer than Montezuma, for soon her husband was thrusting into the steady movements of her hand, his cock nudging the back of her throat as saliva dripped down her chin and over her fingers. Reaching for his hand, Gabby placed it on the back of her head, smiling around his length when he cursed loudly and held her a second longer as his cock thrust into her mouth.

“I remember seeing you outside the door that night,” Sebastian purred, stroking her jaw. “We’d only just met, and yet it was you I imagined taking me in your mouth.”

Gabby would have gasped if she were able to. So Sebastian had known she’d seen his scandalous assignation the night they met, and thus why she had come to dislike him. Well, she certainly didn’t dislike him now, and seeing her handsome, arrogant duke so undone was a powerful aphrodisiac. Gabby frantically pulled up her skirts so she could slip her fingers in her drawers and caress where she was wet and wanting. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the heady combination of sensations.

Her muffled moan must have snared Sebastian’s attention, because he focused on where her hand disappeared beneath her skirts, and his expression darkened. Weaving his fingers through her hair, Sebastian gently pulled until his cock slipped from her lips, and he wiped the wetness from her chin with his thumb.

“Stand up and turn around,” he bit out, pointing to the desk.

Panting, Gabby obeyed, ignoring how her legs trembled. Placing her palms on the desktop, she peered back at him. Sebastian had dropped his trousers, and he stood behind her with his ruddy flesh in hand, his gaze a stormy sea. Without a word, he grabbed the bulk of her skirts and hefted them to her waist, before he grasped one of her knees and perched it on the desktop. Although her skirts hindered her view, Gabby imagined how she must appear spread before him.

Before she could ask him to touch her, Sebastian dragged a knuckle through her cleft, and Gabby dropped her head forward as she mewled.