Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Undeterred, she waded farther. Soon she was submerged to her waist. When Gabe joined her, his ballocks retreated so swiftly, he could have sworn they’d taken up lodgings in his rib cage.
He held her firmly by the wrist. This time, he would brook no argument. “Not another step.”
She pointed. “He’s just on the other side. I can see him. You needn’t go with me. If I cross the stream—”
“Are you mad?”
“It isn’t that deep. My head will stay above water.”
“That leaves more than enough of your body to contract pneumonia, consumption, and the grippe.”
“Maybe I’m willing to take that risk.”
“Well, I’m not.” He slid one arm about her waist, tucked the other beneath her knees, and hauled her out of the water, into his arms. Like a damned mermaid. A sparkling, golden-haired, ruby-lipped mermaid. “I can’t lose you.”
I can’t lose you, he said.
I can’t feel my elbows, Penny thought.
She couldn’t help but give a long, swooning sigh.
This man was so dangerous. He had a habit of blurting out these growly, possessive statements, punctuated by intense gazes and capped by displays of sheer virility.
And then he had a habit of immediately ruining them.
“If something happens to you, my—”
“I know, I know.” She wriggled out of his arms. “Your property value will decrease. Goodness. We can’t have that.”
“Don’t complain. If I didn’t have a financial interest in your life, you’d be packed off to Cumberland by now.”
With that, Penny couldn’t argue. “I won’t cross the river. But I’m not giving up.”
She tromped along in the knee-deep water, calling for Hubert.
Gabriel tromped along behind her. “For God’s sake, let the beast have his freedom. He’s a red-blooded . . . whatever a male otter’s called.”
“Boars. The males are boars.”
“He’ll build his own little house . . .”
“It’s called a holt.”
“. . . find a Mrs. Hubert . . .”
“Otters are polygynous. The boars mate with multiple sows.”
“So he’ll find multiple Mrs. Huberts. Even better. I never thought I’d envy an otter, but here I am.”
She heaved a long-suffering sigh.
“Before long, he’ll have sired a whole crop of otterlings.”
“Pups.” She wheeled to face him. “They’re pups. Stop pretending you know what an otter wants. You don’t know the slightest thing about them.”
“I know that he’s doing what he was born to do. And that you are being selfish.”
“Selfish?”
“That animal is not your possession. He doesn’t exist for your amusement. He has needs, instincts. Urges.”
The way he said that word, in that deep, earthy growl, had chills rippling over her skin.
She swallowed hard. “Urges?”
“Yes. Urges.” He sauntered toward her—as much as a man could saunter in knee-deep water. “But what could a lady like you know about those?”
“Oh, I understand urges. Right now, I have the powerful urge to do this.”
She shoved him hard in the chest, hoping to send him flailing backward into the river.
He didn’t budge. Not a teeter. Not a totter.
Not even a blink.
Penny would not surrender. She took a step in reverse and then tried again, adding the weight of her body to the effort.
This time, he was ready for her. He caught her wrists in his hands, stopping her before she could even make contact.
“Now, now, Your Ladyship. This is most unbecoming behavior.”
“I know that.” She clenched her hands into fists. “You are so maddening. You have a way of provoking me, unlike anyone I’ve ever known. It’s as though I become a different person when I’m around you, and I’m not certain I like her.”
He pulled her to him. “I like her.”
Penny expected he would shortly ruin that statement.
I like her—smoldering pause—potential to increase the return on my property investment.
Not this time.
Instead, he lowered his head until his mouth brushed hers.
Teased her lips apart, until his tongue brushed hers.
And then they tumbled together against the riverbank, and his everything brushed hers.
Gabe didn’t want to want her. But he did. God above, he did. Even though it made no sense. Even though everything in him was against it.
“I shouldn’t be doing this.”
She pushed against his chest, making just enough distance between them to meet his eyes. “We’re both doing this.”
He kissed her deeply, exploring her sweetness with his tongue and pressing her body against the riverbank. Springy green grasses crushed under her back, making a bed against the cool damp of the earth. Her skirts tangled around his boots and held him in a tight embrace. And her body . . . Her curves yielded beneath him, welcoming all his hard edges and giving them a place to rest.
Her fingers teased through his hair, sending a shiver of joy down his spine.
She threw her arms around his neck and clung tight. “Gabriel.”
Sweet heaven.
No, no. More like bloody hell.
He knew what this little dalliance on the riverbank could cost him, not only in shillings, but in pride. He knew what it could cost her, too. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to stop.