“I’ll hang a dressing gown on the hook outside the door,” he said. “Take as long as you like.”
Once he’d gone, Penny slid her arms free of her frock, untied her corset and petticoats, and unbuttoned her chemise. She pushed the layers of fabric down over her hips, shedding them all at once, like a skin. The tile was cold beneath her bare feet, but when she lowered herself into the deep tub, the heat enveloped her.
Heaven.
The bathwater wrapped around her like a hug. One that embraced every part of her equally. A hand, a knee, a breast, an earlobe—the water didn’t distinguish between them. She submerged herself to the crown of her head and let the warmth flow over and around her.
The water had gone almost cold before she could bring herself to leave the bath. After drying herself with soft towels, she slipped into the comically enormous dressing gown he’d left her. She could have fit in one sleeve. The embroidered silk hem trailed behind her as she walked to the bed.
She must have fallen asleep the moment her head touched the pillow, because when Penny next opened her eyes, the windows revealed full darkness outside, and there was a toasty fire glowing in the fireplace. Across the room, Gabriel sat at an escritoire, poring over papers by the light of a single candle sconce.
When she rolled over and stretched, he lifted his head. “If it isn’t Goldilocks. I hope this means the bed was just right.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I’m glad you were able to sleep, that’s all.”
“So am I. Thank you.” She came back to herself with a start. “Bixby. George. Marigold. Ang—”
“I’ve seen to them,” he assured her. “All of them.”
“Really? But how did you know what to do?”
He sifted through his stack of papers and withdrew a thick envelope that looked familiar. “A few weeks past, someone was good enough to write out instructions in ridiculous detail.”
She smiled and hugged her knees to her chest.
At her feet, a fold of the bed linens wriggled. A wet black nose appeared, followed by a whiskered snout.
“Bixby!” She reached for the dog and pulled him into her arms for cuddles and kisses. The pup was beside himself, turning in circles and licking her everywhere he could reach. “Oh, darling. Look at you. How did you end up here?”
Gabriel crossed the room to stand at the bedside. “I knew you needed an animal in your bed. And I didn’t think it should be me tonight.”
“There’s room for another.”
He joined her on the bed. Bixby nosed his hand, and he ruffled the dog’s fur. They’d made friends, apparently.
Penny’s heart swelled. “You,” she said, “are the best man in the world.”
He chuckled. “That is most definitely not the case.”
“But it is.” She smoothed the terrier’s brown coat. “The night I found Bixby in the back alley, he was quivering and underfed, dragging his hind legs behind him. They’d been crushed by a cartwheel, or perhaps a horse’s hoof. The veterinary surgeon came. He amputated the unsalvageable bits and set what remained with splints, but he gave him poor odds to survive the night. Don’t name him, he warned me. It will only be harder when he dies.”
She smiled and spoke to the pup in her arms. “But his warning was too late, wasn’t it? You were already Bixby, and we both knew you had the heart and determination to survive. Two years later, and you’re chasing squirrels across the green like the terror you were born to be.”
She lifted her head to Gabriel. “This is the best dog in the world. And I don’t need to meet any other dogs to feel sure of it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you just compare me to a dog?”
“I know, I’m not certain you deserve the compliment, either.” She set Bixby down at her side. “I don’t need to dance—or flirt, or walk, or go driving—with any other men to know you’re the best of them all.”
“I just hope that everything we shared was …” His fingers combed through her hair. “I mean, what happened in the alley was rather—”
“Extraordinary.” She slid closer, taking one of his hands in both of hers. “What happened in the alley was nothing short of exhilarating. I mean, the part where you tried to leave me forever was quite poorly done, but up until that … ? Immensely satisfying.”
He released a deep breath. “I’m glad of it.”
“I’m glad of it, too. I know most girls spend their youths dreaming of the thrill of a first kiss, the passion in a first touch …” With the pad of her thumb, she drew small, lazy shapes in the palm of his hand. “I never expected to have those firsts myself. To be honest, I doubted I’d want them. And then I met you, and everything was different. I thought it was lust at first sight. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And not in a romantic, Prince Charming way. In a naked way.”
He laughed a little.
“It was so unnerving.”
“I can only imagine.”
“But wonderful. Looking back, I don’t think it was lust at first sight. It was trust at first sight. I felt safe with you. All those firsts that I believed had been stolen from me … With you, I got them all back. I took them back, on my own terms. I only wish I could go back and help recover all the firsts you missed, too.”
“I’ve had some firsts of my own. First time being sneezed on by a Highland steer. First time playing midwife to a goat. First sham sandwich. That was a last, as well.”
She poked him in the ribs. “You are terrible, and I love you.”
He reached for her, cradling her cheek in his hand. “Hearing those words was a first.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But it won’t be a last.”
And because she knew he wouldn’t take the lead tonight, she leaned forward to kiss him.
Her kiss was sweet and searching. Gabe wasn’t certain how to respond. He didn’t want to refuse her, but he’d be damned if he’d press her one touch further than she wished to proceed. So he let her take the lead, making himself open to everything she wanted to give—even when she kissed and caressed his body with a tenderness so foreign to him, he wasn’t certain he could have borne it for anything less than love of her.
She hiked the hem of his shirt and shrugged out of the dressing gown he’d given her. They peeled away all the layers until they were both fully naked, and from there it was the simple, beautiful inevitability of joining. Clasping, holding, moving together in an unhurried rhythm that nonetheless quickly brought them to the brink. Her fingernails bit into his shoulders as she shivered and cried out with release. As he raced toward his own climax, she held him close, forbidding him to leave her embrace. He surrendered to the temptation, spending inside her with a primal, possessive joy.
Afterward,
