by Cat Schield
“Who would have done this?” Stewart asked, refocusing Gabriel on the real trouble spot.
“Whoever it was wanted to create trouble between Olivia and me.” Gabriel sat back and steepled his fingers.
“Someone could have entered her suite and left it for her. Staff is coming and going all the time.”
“That means someone in the palace is playing a dangerous game.” Gabriel poked at the box with a pen. “Time to give Christian a call. This sort of intrigue is right up his alley.”
Seven
Finding Gabriel gone when she awoke didn’t surprise Olivia. A quick glance at the clock told her it was past eight. He had probably been up for hours. She eased into a sitting position, taking inventory of every strained and aching part of her. Nothing a hot shower wouldn’t cure.
When she stepped from the bathroom a short time later, she discovered a visitor. Gabriel sat beside a table laden with an array of breakfast offerings. With his long legs stretched out in front of him and his hands clasped around a steaming cup of coffee, he hadn’t yet noticed her.
Olivia leaned her shoulder against the door frame and let her gaze drift over his strong features and muscular torso clad in a tailored midnight-blue suit, white shirt and shimmering burgundy silk tie. For the moment his powerful energy was banked. But Gabriel in a contemplative state was no less arresting than him fully engaged.
Some small sound, probably a dreamy sigh, alerted him to her presence. He straightened and came toward her, his movement fluid, and before she knew it, he’d wrapped her in a snug embrace and given her the lusty morning kiss she’d been hoping for when she’d first awakened.
Desire stirred at the firm press of his mouth against her. He tasted of coffee and raspberries. Olivia dipped her tongue in for a second taste, murmuring approval.
“Good morning,” he said, breaking the kiss, but not ceasing the slow advance of his hands up her spine. “I’m sorry I left without doing that earlier.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?” She snuggled her cheek against his chest, savoring the unsteady pace of his heart and the hoarse timbre of his voice.
“Because I would have wanted to pick up where we left off last night,” he retorted, his voice soft and deep. “And the palace would have been fully awake by the time I left your room.”
That wrenched a laugh out of her. “You don’t think everyone knows what happened last night?” Her cheeks heated despite herself. She’d always known there would be no privacy for her in the palace, but facing his parents and siblings when she knew they’d be apprised of what had happened between them last night would take a little getting used to.
“Perhaps, but I’d prefer to at least give the appearance of propriety until we’re married.” Gabriel gave her a wry smile that enhanced the devilry in his eyes. “Are you hungry?”
Her hands snaked around his waist, to tug his crisp white shirt from his pants. “Starving.”
With a deep, rumbling laugh he caught her wrists. “I meant for breakfast. We missed dinner last night.”
She waited until he’d dusted a kiss across her knuckles before answering. “I’d quite forgotten about dinner.”
His eyes glowed with fierce delight as he drew her toward the table and poured a cup of coffee. “I didn’t know what you liked for breakfast so I ordered some of everything.”
“Usually I have an egg-white omelet with mushrooms and spinach, but today I think I want pancakes with lots of syrup.”
To her astonishment, Gabriel served her himself. Olivia found it quite difficult to concentrate on her delicious breakfast while he watched her through eyes that danced with fondness and desire.
“Aren’t you eating?” she asked.
“I had something an hour ago.” He glanced at his watch. “The girls are going for their first ride this morning. I thought we should go watch. I already checked with your secretary and she said you’re available until ten.”
Considering his busy schedule, Olivia was delighted that he’d made time for such an important event. “They’ll be thrilled. I took them to the stables yesterday afternoon. They loved the ponies. I predict they’ll be enthusiastic equestrians.”
“I have something for you.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket and set it on the table between them.
Olivia eyed the black velvet case on the crisp white linen and shook her head. “I don’t want it.” The memory of yesterday’s gift had made her more blunt than polite.
Gabriel didn’t look at all surprised or insulted by her refusal. “You don’t know that until you open it.”
More of his mistress’s leftovers? Olivia heaved a sigh. “You really don’t need to give me anything.”
“I need to explain about the bracelet.”
She did not want to hear about the wretched thing ever again. “There’s nothing to explain. It was beautiful. It was rude of me not to accept something you put so much thought into.”
Gabriel leaned back in his chair, his expression a mask. But his eyes glittered like sunlight on water. “I’m not certain whether to be appalled or delighted that you are such a skillful diplomat.”
She kept her lashes down and her lips relaxed. All her life she’d been watched for any sign of reaction or weakness. She’d mastered her facial muscles well before her fourteenth birthday. And she’d needed to. Her stepmother had enjoyed poking her with emotional sticks. Any reaction was sure to displease Lord Darcy, who wanted nothing more than for his two girls to get on. He was fond of reminding the women that he loved them both. And wished with all his heart that they would get along.
“You are marrying me because of my diplomacy and public image.”
“In part.” Gabriel turned over her hand and set the box on her palm. “I’m also marrying you because of your impeccable breeding and the fact that ever since the day I met you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
Stunned by his admission, she stared at Gabriel’s gift, knowing no expensive bauble could compare to the gift of knowing he was smitten with her. “That’s lovely of you to say.”
“Now back to the bracelet. Do you know where it came from?”
His question confused her. “From you.”
He shook his head. “This is what I selected for you.”
“Then where did the bracelet come from?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
Relief swept through her. “Then you didn’t give me Marissa’s bracelet.”
“No.” He gave her a stern look. “And I’m a little bothered by the fact that you think I’d be so cruel.”
Olivia opened her mouth but had no ready response. Since dancing with him at the Independence Day gala she’d become foolish and irrational where he was concerned. With her hormones overstimulated and her emotions swinging from one extreme to the other, she shouldn’t be surprised her brain was producing nothing but gibberish.
“Someone in the palace with access to my room played a cruel joke on me.”
“Whoever it is, I don’t think they are playing. This is a very serious breach in security. One that I will address.” The determination in his voice matched the steel in his expression. After a second his gaze softened. “Please open my gift.”
Olivia did as she was told.
Unlike the previous evening’s trendy, emerald bracelet, this necklace was exactly something she would have chosen for herself. Olivia touched her fingertip to the large teardrop-shaped aquamarine, set into a frame of diamond-lined branches and suspended from a chain of faceted aquamarine beads and diamond-encrusted platinum balls. Gabriel had picked out the perfect, unique gift.
“The necklace belonged to my great-aunt Ginnie. Her husband gave it to her as an engagement present. I believe it came from his mother who received it as her engagement present.”
“I love it.” And she did. More than any million-dollar diamond necklace he could have found in the treasury. It represented tradition and love. And it demonstrated a sentimental side she would never have guessed Gabriel possessed. Feeling bold, she picked up the necklace and sat down on her fiancé’s lap. “Can you help me put it on?”
She lifted her hair off her neck and held still while his knuckles brushed her nape. The casual touch sent shivers spiraling along her nerve endings. As the drop settled against her skin, she turned and planted a sweet kiss on Gabriel’s cheek.
“Is that the best you can do?” he questioned, laughter in his voice.
Veiling her eyes with her lashes, she peered at him. “If I do much better we run the risk of not leaving this room in time to take Bethany and Karina for their first ride.”
His response was to capture her lips in a sizzling kiss. Olivia sagged against him, surrendering to the firestorm of desire that had not burned out even after last night’s lovemaking. She groaned beneath his lips as his hand found her breast, thumb coaxing her nipple to a hard point.
With a low growl, he broke off the kiss. “Perhaps you were right to be cautious.” And with that, he stood with her in his arms and carried her to the bed.
* * *
In the end, they were in time to watch the twins circle the ring on the docile, well-mannered ponies, each led by an attentive groom. Although both were equally delighted by the ride, their individual personalities shone through. Bethany chattered incessantly as she rode, her every thought voiced. Karina was more circumspect and her seat was more natural. Of the two, Gabriel suspected she’d be the better rider.
Soon the twins’ first riding lesson was done, leaving Gabriel free to turn his thoughts to the woman beside him and all that had transpired in the past twelve hours.
Since discovering last night how swiftly Olivia became aroused, he’d taken full advantage of her ardent responses and made love to her with fierce passion. Already his lust for her was dangerously close to uncontrollable. Telling himself making love to Olivia was a novelty that would soon wear off wasn’t cooling his ardor one bit. Even now, as he watched her smile as her gaze followed the twins, he felt heat rise in his blood.
It shocked him to realize that he’d happily forgo the rest of his appointments to spend the time alone with Olivia in her suite. This was how he’d been with Marissa. Preoccupied. Distracted. Obsessed.
Then again, it was early in their relationship. The time of exploration when all things were fascinating and new. Their lust would eventually burn itself out and they could settle into companionable monotony. But even as he entertained this possibility his instincts rejected it. More than his blood hummed when she was near. This was a feeling he’d never known before. Besides being beautiful, Olivia was intelligent and caring. He’d been right the first time he’d pronounced her perfect. But he’d underestimated how deep that flawlessness went.
“Gabriel?” Olivia said, returning him to the here and now. “I was just explaining to Bethany and Karina that we can’t have dinner with them tonight.”
“Because we are...” He had no idea what was scheduled that evening. How was that possible? He usually knew his itinerary backward and forward.
“Going to the ballet,” Olivia prompted.
“That’s it.” He smiled at her.
“But perhaps we could visit before we leave to read you one quick bedtime story.”
“That we can do.”
The twins’ chorus of happiness sent a bird winging off through the trees from a few feet away.
“I think it’s time to head back to the palace,” Olivia said, shaking her head as the girls began to protest. “Your father has work to do.”
Gabriel was impressed how well she managed the toddlers. The twins were darling but rambunctious. Marissa had done a fine job of blending discipline with love for they seemed to take direction well and had none of the fits of temper he had grown accustomed to with their mother. Despite losing Marissa recently, they were adjusting nicely to life in the palace. Of course, they had each other, something he could relate to with two brothers of his own. Sometimes it had seemed as if it was him, Nic and Christian against the world when in truth it was probably more reasonable to say it had been the three of them against their parents.
After leaving the twins in the hands of two young maids, Gabriel walked Olivia to her meeting with the wedding planner and bussed her cheek in a chaste kiss goodbye. He had fifteen minutes before his first meeting of the day and went in search of Christian.
His brother was nowhere near the palace. Christian had an office in the city that he usually preferred to work out of, claiming fewer distractions. Gabriel suspected he liked working without the king’s or queen’s “subtle” influence. With two brothers ahead of him for the throne, Christian had always enjoyed a lot of freedom. So had Nic. The middle brother didn’t even live in Sherdana. He’d gotten his education in the States and resided in California while he pursued his dream of privatizing space travel.
Gabriel envied them both.
And he wouldn’t trade places with, either. He’d been born to rule and had never wished to do anything else. But being king came with a price. He belonged to the people of Sherdana and owed it to them to do what was best for the country, even at the expense of his own desires. Breaking off his relationship with Marissa was only one of many sacrifices he’d made for Sherdana, but it had been his hardest and most painful.
It was why he was marrying a woman he admired instead of one he loved. And yet, hadn’t last night and this morning proved that life with Olivia at his side would be the furthest thing from hardship?
Grinning, Gabriel headed into his father’s office where the energy minister had come for a briefing.
* * *
Olivia yawned behind her hand as she surveyed Noelle’s drawings for the twins’ dresses for the wedding. It was almost midnight. She’d just returned from another event, this one raising money for an arts program for underprivileged children.
She wasn’t insensible to the irony that what she intended to pay for these two dresses could probably fund the program for a year.
Behind her the door to her suite opened and closed. Her skin prickled in anticipation as muted footsteps advanced toward her. The faint scent of Gabriel’s aftershave tickled her nose a second before his hands soothed along her shoulders.
“Waiting up for me?”
Gabriel placed a kiss on her neck, his lips sliding into a particularly sensitive spot that made her tremble.
Was it possible that less than a week ago their every private encounter had been stilted and awkward? Now she spent her days as a tightly wound spring of sexual anticipation and her nights in Gabriel’s arms soaring toward the stars.
“Of course,” she answered, setting aside the sketches and getting to her feet. She’d already dressed for bed in her favorite silk pajamas. They covered her from neck to toe. Not exactly seductive, but Gabriel never seemed to care.
“I’m leaving early in the morning,” he explained, pulling her into his arms and dropping a sweet kiss on her lips. “And I will be gone for four days. I wanted a private moment with you before I left.”
Four long days. And nights. She’d gotten accustomed to cuddling against his side, her cheek on his bare chest, his heartbeat lulling her to sleep.
She adored his intensity—making love with Gabriel was like being consumed by the sun—but these moments of stillness had their own rewards.
“Just a moment?” She tipped her head to grant him better access to her neck and ran her nails along his nape the way he liked.
“Did I mention I’m leaving very early in the morning?” Tender mockery filled his voice. He nudged his hips into her, letting her feel his erection. She smiled, no less turned on despite wanting to do nothing more than stretch out on h
er mattress and sleep for twelve hours.
“Of course,” she murmured. “I just thought that perhaps you could give me a few minutes to say goodbye properly.”
“Just a few minutes?”
Olivia’s bones turned to water as he drew his tongue along her lower lip, tasting, but not taking. With his hands warm and strong on her lower back, she leaned into his powerful chest and savored the tantalizing slide of his mouth against hers.
“Take as many as you need.”
She’d grown accustomed to sharing her bed with him and hated the thought of sleeping alone these next four nights. Every morning, after he woke her with kisses and made love to her in the soft light before day, she fell back to sleep wondering if once they were married, once she became pregnant, if he would share her bed every night. She already knew that a suite of rooms was being prepared for them in the family wing. They would each have their own space. Their own beds after the wedding. That wasn’t what she wanted.
Olivia wasn’t surprised when Gabriel swept her off her feet and carried her to the bed. The chemistry between them had skyrocketed in the days since they’d first made love. With their clothes scattered across the mattress, Olivia clutched at Gabriel as he brought her to orgasm twice before sliding into her. Being filled by him was a pleasure all its own and Olivia wrapped her thighs around his hips and held him close while he thrust into her.
He stayed for several hours, his large hands moving with such gentleness up and down her spine. Snuggled against his chest, with their legs intertwined, Olivia let herself drift. When she awoke several hours later, Gabriel was gone and she was already lonely.
Exhausted, but restless, Olivia left the bed and slipped into a robe. Her suite faced the gardens behind the palace so she had no hope of catching a final glimpse of Gabriel, but she opened the French door that led to the terrace and wandered across to the railing. At night the garden was lit up like a magical fairy tale, but dawn was approaching and the garden had gone dark. A cool breeze carried the scent of roses to her. Olivia leaned her arms on the cool stone. Vivid in her thoughts was the night Gabriel had found her out here and demonstrated that resisting him was a pointless exercise.
