He was becoming addicted to the thought of taking them.

Celia kissed him back with a moan of sweet surrender, falling into him and letting him arrange her as he desired. Her sex pressed against his own. Heat built like an inferno as their tongues clashed and mated and sought the hidden pieces of each other’s souls.

The absence of the coach’s rocking motion alerted Gabriel that they’d stopped. With a growl of frustration, he swung Celia off his lap. She landed in a flurry of skirts beside him with flushed cheeks and reddened lips. She also had the pink imprint of his fingers against the creamy skin of her throat.

She stared at him in a daze. “Why did you stop?”

Gabriel straightened his coat and then twitched her skirts into place. “We’ve stopped to water the horses and to eat the noon meal if you like. The drivers require rest as well.”

“Oh,” Celia said, her cheeks blushing even redder than before. “I didn’t realize…”

Gabriel captured her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and bringing them to his mouth to press a soft kiss upon her bare knuckles. “It is understandable, pet. It’s easy getting lost in our kisses. I look forward to the moment I do not have to stop.”

CHAPTER 27

After pulling into a small copse of trees and eating their lunch, Gabriel aided Celia back into the coach and they continued on their way. The sun had already sunk below the horizon when the vehicle rattled into the courtyard of the inn where they would stay the night.

“Stay close to me, Celia,” Gabriel instructed as he helped her step down from the coach. “While reputable and the proprietor is an honest man, ruffians are always a possibility at places such as these.”

As inns went, The Gilded Rooster was better than most. The sheets were clean, the food plain but wholesome, and the innkeeper and his employees were attentive to their guests. Gabriel considered this establishment to be one the safer places he’d stayed, but that assessment came before the acquisition of a beautiful, wealthy wife who needed protection from vagabonds and thieves.

With a possessive hand on her elbow, he escorted Celia to the crowded main dining room and selected a table near the fireplace. His size and warning glare discouraged many a man’s interest in their arrival.

A pretty, dark-haired barmaid placed a mug of ale in front of Gabriel, her face wide with a smile. “I thought it would be a few months before you came back this way. It’s good to see I was wrong.”

Celia’s head tilted in question, her gaze darting from the girl to Gabriel.

“Hello, Tessa,” Gabriel replied quietly, nodding toward Celia. “A glass of sherry for the lady, if you please.”

Tessa glanced toward Celia as if noticing her for the first time. “We do not have sherry. Water, perhaps?”

“Wine, then,” Gabriel answered for Celia. He watched her during the entire exchange with Tessa. He had a fair idea of what his wife was thinking when it came to his involvement with the barmaid. And while he had slept with the girl many months ago, he had no intention of doing it again. Marriage for him meant fidelity. He would not break his vows for any reason.