rather ridiculous. ‘You burned my chemise,’ she stated simply.
‘You made me ruin one of my favourite waistcoats and I have a neckcloth lying on the floor.’
‘What will the servants think?’ she teased.
He trailed a finger down her neck to the swell of her breasts and then the valley between. ‘I’d venture to think the maids will be shocked to finds buttons and pins scattered around this rug come morning.’
She really had beautiful breasts. Just as he began circling the tip of one with his finger, it hardened to a delicious bud. He would never grow tired of eliciting a reaction from her.
‘We should go upstairs,’ she suggested. ‘The staff will be up and about soon, and I would not want them finding us like this.’
She was just too tempting. He lowered his mouth and ran his tongue around her nipple. ‘Like what?’
She pushed his shoulder playfully. ‘Do stop, Gabriel, unless you can finish what you are attempting to start.’
He placed his hand over his heart. ‘You wound me, madam.’
‘Your sense of self-worth is quite large. You can easily withstand the small wounds I can inflict.’
But could he? And why did Gabriel get the sense that the wounds she could inflict on him were worse than those given by anyone else?
He helped her to stand. ‘The rain has stopped.’ Then he glanced down. ‘I am still wearing my shoes and stockings.’
‘It appears so. At least you will have an easier time dressing. What will I do without my chemise?’
‘Here.’ He picked up his shirt and lowered it over her body. The hem came down to her knees.
‘I am not even remotely respectable in this.’
He looked up from buttoning his trousers. She was right. If anything she looked wanton—like a woman who knew how to coax a man into her bed and keep him there for days. Her breasts were visible through the linen of his shirt, and he instinctively licked his lips.
‘See.’
‘It’s late. No one will see you. However if you truly are that concerned how you look...’ He took his waistcoat with the missing buttons and helped her into it. Then he picked up his cravat and draped it loosely around her neck a few times. ‘That’s better.’
She eyed him sideways. ‘Somehow I do not believe I would be admitted to Almack’s dressed like this.’
‘Dressed like that, it would be best if I never saw you anywhere near Almack’s—or anywhere else for that matter.’ Thoughts of her in Manning’s studio flooded his brain and he unclenched his fist.
‘Never fear, I can assure you this will be the last time I will be wearing your clothes.’
The statement, uttered so casually, left him disconcerted. Focusing his attention on his wife’s bottom as she bent down to retrieve her slippers and gown, Gabriel ran his hand up the inside of her thigh, making her jump.
‘Are you trying to seduce me, Gabriel? At your age, I would think you would not have the stamina.’
‘I think we should find out.’
When he grabbed for her as she ran to the door, her laughter filled the room. He cursed his stupidity for not locking the door earlier when he invited her inside.
He was about to throw her over his shoulder to take her up to his bedchamber and prove to her that he had the stamina of a young buck, when he noticed she stood frozen in the open doorway. Stepping behind her, he looked over her head and saw a flustered Bennett with one of the upstairs maids. The young girl’s eyes were wide as she looked at Olivia and they opened wider when she spotted Gabriel’s bare chest.
Quickly he pushed Olivia behind him and motioned for them to enter the room as if nothing unusual had occurred. Turning slowly while keeping Olivia behind him, he backed her out into the darkened hall and closed the door.
‘I wonder if Bennett will ever recover?’ she mused.
‘He has been exposed to our scandalous ways in the past.’
‘Yes, but I do not recall him ever finding us in such a state.’
‘Colette appears to have recovered nicely from her shock. The last time I saw her, she bobbed her curtsy to me with only a slight blush.’
‘Well, she did see a rather different side of you.’
Gabriel shifted uncomfortably, recalling how much of his backside his wife’s maid saw.
‘What time do you suppose it is?’ she asked.
From the window at the end of the hall, faint rays of light were casting bluish squares onto the floor. ‘Four?’
‘No, that cannot be possible.’
‘You did arrive home rather late. It must be four. Bennett watches over the cleaning of my study every morning at four.’
Olivia stopped ahead of him on the stairs. ‘Why?’
He gently prodded her to keep walking. ‘Why what?’
‘Why does Bennett oversee the maid?’
‘There are times I leave my papers about. He makes certain they are left undisturbed.’
‘But why not Mrs Mitchell? She is our housekeeper. I would think she would oversee the cleaning of your study.’
Why did she have to be so astute? ‘Because Bennett has been seeing to the study of the Duke of Winterbourne ever since I can remember. It is simply his domain.’
When they reached her bedchamber there was a distinct hesitation before she looked up at him. ‘Will you be coming inside?’
He reached around her and opened the door. As much as he wanted to, Gabriel knew he could not sleep for long. He had much to do. If he left her bed two hours from now, he might disturb her sleep. Or worse yet, sleeping next to Olivia might cause him to oversleep. He shook his head and kissed her cheek. ‘I will only disturb you when I rise.’
Was that disappointment he saw cross her face? In the dim light it was difficult to tell.
‘Very well, but I will be awake before seven for my portrait session.’
Muscles that had been wonderfully relaxed suddenly tightened up. He was just about to ask her why she was torturing him, when she placed a finger to his lips.
‘I assure you. No one will know I sat for it when it is exhibited. There is even the slight chance Mr West will not agree to include it.’
One could only hope.
They entered her room and he closed the door behind them. ‘Does Colette know she is to tell no one of your association with the painting?’
‘Of course.’
He should forbid her from continuing to sit for the artist, but it was clearly something that brought her joy. How could he cause her any more sorrow?
He tasted her lips one last time before pulling away and striding to the door to his bedchamber. As he placed his hand on the cool metal of the handle, he had the strongest urge to have one last look at her. She had not moved from where he had left her. ‘I may allow for these sittings, Livy, but I do not have to like it.’
* * *
When the door closed, Olivia’s slippers and clothes fell from her hands. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to erase the memory of him standing near her bed without his shirt. His scent was on the shirt he’d placed on her, and she rubbed her arms over the soft linen. Instead of tearing it off, she decided it would be comfortable to sleep in.
She lit one of the candles flanking the mirror on her dressing table and peered at her reflection. She looked like a woman who’d spent