It took a half hour to be certain there were no lurking dangers, then another half hour to bathe in the local stream before he was filling two pails with water and using a third to gather apples from a nearby orchard.
The raindrops were just beginning to fall when he stepped back into the barn. He kicked the door closed behind him, blocking out the damp as well as the distant rumble of thunder, leaving the barn shrouded in hay-scented shadows.
Not that he minded the barren surroundings, he realized with a start of surprise.
Odd for a man who had spent his entire life pampered by luxury.
Perhaps it was the knowledge that for the first time since becoming the earl there was no secretary badgering him with reports from his various estates. Or awaiting correspondence from his Man of Business. Or the endless bills that arrived each morning. Not to mention his responsibilities to his position in the House of Lords. There were no servants hovering just out of sight. No mother with her constant complaints and no brother with his selfish demands.#p#分页标题#e#
He was utterly alone with Talia.
And that was nothing less than paradise.
Kneeling at Talia’s side, Gabriel put the ladle he had cleaned into one of the buckets of water and set out the apples on his handkerchief. Not the finest breakfast, but it would serve for now.
He turned his head as Talia stirred, a smile curving his lips as she instinctively reached for him. She stiffened when she found nothing but empty boards, her eyes snapping open. “Gabriel?”
“I am here, little shrew,” he murmured in soothing tones. “And I come bearing gifts.”
With a blink, she struggled to a seated position, her eyes widening at the sight of apples.
“Where did you get them?”
“The apples came from the nearby orchard and the water from the stream just beyond the cottage.”
She turned her head, allowing her gaze to slide over his disheveled appearance. He smiled wryly, knowing precisely what she was seeing. His hair was still wet from the stream and finger-combed to curl against his forehead. His jaw was unshaven and his thin linen shirt hung open at the neck to reveal a shocking amount of his chest.
No doubt he possessed all the elegance of a pirate, but he did not miss the manner in which her eyes darkened and breath quickened.
An answering surge of awareness thundered through him with shocking speed. Lord. How had this delicate gypsy managed to ensnare him with such ease? Certainly no other female had ever consumed him to the point where he thought he might go mad if he did not have her. Now.
Obviously sensing the prickles of heat in the air, Talia nervously cleared her throat.
“Did you fall in?”
His laughter rumbled through the air as he shifted to settle behind her, his fingers nimbly dealing with the tiny ivory buttons.
“I thought we could both use a good scrub, although I assumed you would prefer privacy for your bath.”
He heard her sharply drawn breath as her bodice was pulled relentlessly downward.
“Gabriel, what are you doing?”
“Assisting my wife with her morning ablutions.” Bending his head, Gabriel planted hungry kisses down the side of her neck. “It is the duty of a devoted husband, is it not?”
“Certainly not. It is the duty of the husband to stand guard at the door and make certain—”
Her words were lost in a low moan of pleasure as he unlaced her corset and tossed it aside to cup her breasts through the sheer fabric of her chemise.
“Do you enjoy that?” he whispered, brushing his thumbs over the tight peaks of her nipples. “Perhaps you would prefer this?” He plucked the ribbons holding up her undergarment and pushed it aside to cup the satin weight of her breasts in his hands.
She fell back against his chest, her entire body shivering in reaction to his bold caresses.
“Gabriel, we are in a barn,” she started to protest.
His tongue tasted the pulse that beat at a frantic pace at the base of her throat before he trailed a line of kisses down her shoulder.
“Yes, I know.”
“In full daylight.”
With a subtle motion he stroked his hands down her body, removing the female clothing that stood in his path.
“So it is.”
Her lips parted on a small gasp as he turned her to the side and laid her back on the hay, clearly becoming aware for the first time that she was completely naked.
“With heaven knows how many French soldiers searching for us,” she rasped.
Gabriel wrenched off his boots before yanking his shirt over his head and tossing it aside.
“But it has started to rain,” he informed her, ridding himself of his breeches before he stretched out next to her, his fingers threading through the glorious satin of her hair. “It would be foolish to risk the rising streams or becoming stuck in the mud.”#p#分页标题#e#