“God, I love you,” he whispered.
“I’m glad. That will make everything so much better.”
To prove her point, she began to move. At first they were rolling, grinding thrusts. Their eyes were locked, their bodies pressed together, they were one. Her pleasure built fast, her edgy body wanting release, and when he cupped her backside, urging her to move faster, the pleasure burst inside of her. She let out a low cry that he captured with his mouth, and rode out the waves, jerking against him as her body surrendered.
Her movements seemed to inspire him, for he lifted against her, driving harder, and let out his own grunt of pleasure before he spilled his seed deep within her.
She collapsed down on him, cuddled in his arms, their panting breaths slowing together.
“So much better inside of you,” he said. “I didn’t think that was possible.”
She smiled. “So much better now that we’ve admitted we love each other.”
He nodded, his chin brushing the top of her head gently. “Yes, I agree.”
She looked up at him. “And it will only be better going forward. As we share our lives, our connection will grow.”
He grinned. Actually grinned, and her heart leapt at that broad, open expression she had so rarely seen. It was hers, just hers, and she knew it.
“I can’t wait,” he said before he dropped his lips back to hers. “I can’t wait for it all.”
Epilogue
They called it the wedding of the year, which was a funny thing considering it happened in February, still early in the year. Oh, there was scandal associated to it, but no one had expected anything different. A Woodley marrying a no one? Who wouldn’t talk?
And yet, as Juliet looked across the room at her mother-in-law and her father, dressed in their wedding clothes, saying their thank-yous to the guests, she didn’t think either one of them gave a damn. They loved each other. It was clear by the way her father took Susanna’s hand, the way she looked up at him with nothing but utter joy.
Gabriel slipped up beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist gently. “Hello, wife,” he murmured in her ear.
She smiled as she leaned against him. They were still basking in the glow of their own wedding, held just a few weeks prior. In fact this was the first time they’d come out in Society since. They had been too busy in Gabriel’s townhouse, locked in their chamber, practicing being married and planning for a future together.
A future they had agreed would be split between Idleridge, where Juliet would continue to work as a healer for the people there and London where Serafina’s praise of her had already lined up a large group of people asking for her skills here. Her mind spun with that truth and the fact that Gabriel wanted her to continue. He said he understood that her work fed her soul.
But of course he would.
“They look so happy,” Juliet breathed.
“I’m happy for them.” He was quiet a moment, watching the pair. “Do you know my mother told me that they would only marry if we did?”
“What?” Juliet asked, looking up at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Apparently she and your father declared their love for each other quite quickly once he arrived here with you, but they both knew that you and I cared for each other. They decided that they would only be together if you and I worked out our differences, so as to not make it difficult for us.”
“They would have sacrificed a love forty years in the making for the love of their children,” Juliet breathed.
“But now they don’t have to. All the brides and all the grooms are very happy, indeed.”
“Excuse me, my lord,” Vernon said, coming up beside them. “There is a message for you.”
He held out a folded sheet and Gabriel took it. He looked at his name, scrawled along with the address on the neatly folded paper, and then he blanched.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Claire,” he whispered. “She hasn’t written to me in so long.”
“Come,” Juliet said as she took his arm and led him from the boisterously loud room and to a quieter parlor. She shut the door and leaned against it as he slowly broke the seal and unfolded the pages.
He read the words to himself, his cheeks darkening as he did. Then he handed it out to her wordlessly, not even hesitating in sharing the personal letter.
“Read it out loud,” he said, his voice flat as he paced to the window.
Juliet cleared her throat and did as he asked.
“‘Dearest Gabriel, I’m sorry I did not write sooner to congratulate you on your wedding. I know you will be happy and that makes me so very happy for you. But I write to you because seeking me out nearly killed you, and you must stop. Please know I am working this out for myself. I promise you, I am trying to get home. Claire’.”
“She or Aston still has a conduit here in London,” he muttered. “Even though Howe is gone.”
Juliet pursed her lips. Yes, the awful Howe and his men did seem to be gone. There had been no further threat against their family since the attack. Of course, Gabriel hadn’t really been looking for Claire, what with the holidays, their engagement and now two weddings to celebrate.
“Well, what will we do, Gabriel?” she asked. “Try to find this conduit?”
He turned to look at her, his gaze brushing over her from head to toe. “No,” he said slowly. “We will do just what she says. Wait for her.”
Her eyes went wide. “Truly?”
He nodded. “And pray she can do what she says.”
“Gabriel,” she said softly as she crossed to him, putting her arms around him and holding him close. He let her, as he always let her now, relaxing into the comfort she gave.
“I cannot chase the ghost of what my sister once was forever,” he said. “If she wants or needs my help, she knows where I am. And she’ll find me.”
“When she does,” Juliet said as she slipped a hand to his cheek and stoked there. “We will be ready.”
He took her arm. “Come, let us go celebrate the wedding of our parents. Shall we?”
She smiled as he led her out, her happiness a bubble that would protect them both against anything yet to come. She knew it would. Because it was perfect.
Look for the next chapter in The Wicked Woodleys series with Ruined, where you can finally learn Claire’s story! Coming March 2016.
Excerpt of Ruined
The Wicked Woodleys Book 4
“What are you doing here, Claire?” he asked, his tone no nonsense, not seductive in the least, even though he must know she could feel his arousal.
She swallowed hard, trying to rein in her reactions. Reactions that were certainly caused by shock that she had been caught rather than anything else. She thought of her reasons for coming here and somehow found some focus. Her body and mind calmed a little.
“Don’t you care that my knife is at your throat, War?” she asked.
He shrugged one shoulder slightly. “It makes you feel better to have it there. Safer. So I let it stay.”
Her eyes narrowed. If that wasn’t the most arrogant thing she’d ever heard. He let her knife stay? As if he could strip it from her. She would cut him first.
Well, maybe she wouldn’t. After all, she needed him. But he didn’t know that yet.
“Let me up,” she ordered, her tone sharp.
He arched a brow. “No.”
“No?” she repeated in shock. “What the hell do you mean no?”
“You’ll run, Claire,” he said softly.
She flinched at the quiet accusation. The very truthful one. She had been running for a long time. Since a horrible night over two years before when her world had been destroyed by a discovery that took her breath away.
“No, I won’t.”
He shook his head. “You always run, sweet.”
She turned her face at the endearment, both dismissive and erotic in the way it fell from his lips. “I c
ame here, War,” she reminded him. “I came to you. I won’t run.”
He seemed to ponder that for a moment, then he grasped her wrist, twisted her knife away in one smooth motion and rolled off of her. He was on his feet before she could even react and the sheet fell away.
He was naked. Gloriously, beautifully naked and she forgot in that second just how angry she was at him for taking her weapon, for putting her in a vulnerable position. She just stared up at him, her mouth slightly open, her heart pounding with excitement and fear and desire all mixed together.
He was splendid. Just as she had pictured him being for so very long. Hard work with Edward’s horses had toned the man into a well-muscled god. He had muscles in places she’d never seen on another man. And then there was that cock she had felt pressed to her belly when he pinned her down.
Still erect, it curled against his belly in a masculine display of power and desire. She longed to get to her knees and wrap her fingers around him, to measure what appeared to be significant girth and length with her hand and then her tongue.
He frowned as he offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. He turned away, letting her see the well-formed curve of his backside before he grabbed a pair of trousers from the back of a chair near his bed and tugged them on. He fastened the front before he turned back to stare at her.
She blinked, the spell broken now that he wasn’t on display. She moved her gaze to his face. That face. Beautifully formed and yet scruffy with a beard. His hair tangled by the bed as it fell around his cheeks in pure defiance of the current fashion.
His brown eyes were so bright. They had always seen everything. Too much.
She shook her head. “It’s good to see you, War. You don’t even know.”
He pressed his lips together and folded his arms across his gorgeous bare chest. The muscles tightened and she stared openly, once again tormented by that beautiful body. When she was a girl, she’d stolen many a glance as he worked on the horses that belonged to her eldest brother, but back then she had no idea what to do with him.
Now she knew exactly what she would do.
It was incredibly distracting.
Other Books by Jess Michaels
The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden (Book 1)
Deceived (Book 2)
The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke (Book 1)
The Scoundrel’s Lover (Book 2)
The Widow Wager (Book 3)
No Gentleman for Georgina (Book 4)
A Marquis for Mary (Book 5)
The Notorious Flynns Bundle (Books 1-5)
The Ladies Book of Pleasures
A Matter of Sin
A Moment of Passion
A Measure of Deceit
The Pleasure Wars Series
Taken By the Duke
Pleasuring The Lady
Beauty and the Earl
Beautiful Distraction
Mistress Matchmaker Series
An Introduction to Pleasure
For Desire Alone
Her Perfect Match
Jess Michaels raffles a FREE Kindle or Amazon gift certificate EVERY month to members of her newsletter, so sign up on her website:
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About the Author
Jess Michaels writes erotic historical romance from her home in Tucson, AZ with her husband and one adorable kitty cat. She has written over 50 books, enjoys long walks in the desert and once wrestled a bear over a piece of pie. One of these things is a lie.
www.AuthorJessMichaels.com
PO Box 814, Cortaro, AZ 85652-0814
Email: [email protected]
Twitter www.twitter.com/JessMichaelsbks
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Jess Michaels raffles a FREE Kindle or Amazon gift certificate EVERY month to members of her newsletter, so sign up on her website:
http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/join-the-jess-michaels-newsletter/
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