Oh! He cannot do this. He cannot possibly be serious. A public display of discipline? I’ll never survive it. Nor the scandal.

“Gabriel. You cannot.”

His fingers tightened even more. His lips brushed hers again, and just before his brutal mouth claimed hers, he murmured, “Your punishment, Celia. And mine as well.”

CHAPTER 15

Gabriel released Celia. His bottom lip stung where she’d nipped him in desperation.

He grinned. “Do you think that will dissuade me from what must happen?”

Celia’s eyes were wide. She was shocked by her own actions, but then the chocolate depths of her gaze darkened with a hint of steel.

It only made Gabriel more determined to see her bend to his will.

“I won’t allow you to do this in front of others,” she snapped.

Gabriel’s eyebrow cocked. “In private then?”

Celia stomped her foot. “Deuce it, but you are maddening.”

“We’ll call it a courting ritual, if you like. Start an interesting trend. Prospective beaus turn prospective wives over their knees to test compatibility.” Gabriel considered her, rubbing a thumb over his wounded lower lip thoughtfully as though such a scenario were a true possibility. “As for our own situation, it’s evident we are a match. You enjoy such activities. And I most certainly relish them.”

A noise that sounded like outraged frustration issued from Celia’s throat. That defiant chin of hers tilted higher.

“We are not courting, Mister Rose. And you’ve made your stance on marriage perfectly clear.”

Sebastian’s words rose in Gabriel’s mind at that moment. His friend’s annoying, unwanted advice that he find a wife and settle into his own home.

It pricked at Gabriel. The impossible idea that he might possess his own family. His own happiness. His own contentment.

His own life.

It was becoming more tempting by the second to heed Sebastian’s words. And to consider fulfilling it with this woman despite the obstacles between them.

“Perhaps I’ve reconsidered,” he stated nonchalantly.

Celia’s eyes flared. “Have you now? I wish you luck in your search for a wife.”

She struggled in freeing herself from his grasp, but Gabriel would not let her go so easily. His arm slid around her waist, his mouth dipping closer to hers. “Did you not suggest we undergo an engagement of sorts to better explore this attraction between us?”

Her back stiffened. “I did. And you refused. It’s too late to avail yourself of the offer now. I’ve rescinded it.”

“Have you now?” Gabriel mocked, eyes narrowed while drawing her firmly against him. Her hands balled into fists, two ineffective weapons resting lightly on the wide plane of his chest.

God’s blood. Her stubbornness made him ache all the more. How he wished to tame this woman. Make her beg for him. Hear her screams of pleasure and moans of satisfaction.

Before he could say more, the library door swung open. Lady Caroline’s head appeared in the opening, her eyes wide at seeing the close embrace between Gabriel and Celia.