The man beside her exhaled in a long, slow breath as his expression grew thoughtful. He was silent for a good five minutes and Gabrielle had convinced herself that he might not want to answer her question when he finally spoke. “Difficult.” His tone was clipped with tension. “Exhausting. Lonely.”
“You didn’t ever…spend time with your father?” She ventured carefully, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.
Sebastian smiled bitterly. “I was born while he was away in the military. He wasn’t present for the first three years of my life and he never caught up. I think, perhaps, like most men in positions of power, he believed child-rearing best left to women.”
Gabrielle made a face. “Well that’s…sexist as hell.”
“To say the least.” At her response, the earl’s expression softened somewhat. “But I suppose I turned out alright. In any event, I managed to garner
some
life experience outside of tea parties and balls.”
The young woman beside him looked more closely at the man she had spent the past four months with. To his staff and the media that constantly chased him, he always exuded a kind of quiet, controlled power. He was courteous when he needed to be, and firm when the situation called for it – at least when his mother wasn’t involved. However, when they were alone, she’d caught him on more than one occasion staring at her swelling belly with an utterly lost expression. “Sebastian, you went to a private school right? And a private university? You went everywhere with your parents and...did what they expected of you.”
He nodded curtly, his expression growing somewhat distant again. “I did.”
“Then how did you get out? What gave you the independence you have now?”
To her surprise, the question had a fond smile rising to his lips. “I actually spent seven years in the armed forces. Mother was livid when I signed up to be deployed – she had pulled all of her strings to get me a padded officer’s position in Northern London. But I wanted excitement and adventure – so I took the first tour I could and didn’t look back.”
Gabby’s eyes widened. Though she knew very well that the man had a rock-hard physique, she never would have guessed that he would have done something as dangerous as been deployed with the British Armed forces.
Her awe only grew when he began to describe to her the missions he’d been on in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. The man had had bombs dropped on him, been shot at, and fought more than a few insurgents hand to hand – and he had apparently come out without a scratch! Beyond that calm, poised demeanor he was apparently hiding a trained killer – and she found that the notion tantalized her more than she was willing to admit.
More intriguing still was the light in the man’s eyes when he spoke of his experiences. It was clear that being out in the wilderness of the desert had made him feel alive than any garden party ever could. It was the only period in his life, Gabby realized, when he’d been truly free of the expectations society, his mother, and the media burdened him with – and he had thrived.
She knew that Amir had served with him while he’d been deployed – but for the life of her she had never understood how such an obviously hardened bad-ass could pledge his loyalty to an apparently pampered earl. From what she’d heard from the staff, the man had retired from an illustrious military career to become head of Sebastian’s security, and now she knew why. His respect for the man came not from his money, but from the experience of serving beside him in combat.
“Though I enjoyed my time abroad, seven years was quite enough. Mother was raising hell and I knew I had tested her long enough, so I returned. Thankfully, Amir is around to keep me from growing completely soft on tea cakes and gold ducats.”
He was obviously very close with the man. It helped Gabby to know that if she had Tristan, Sebastian, too, had someone to keep him from going insane beneath the weight of his position. Of course, she hadn’t seen Tristan in ages – another attempt to appease Sebastian’s insane mother – but she would hardly press the issue now.
Sebastian was opening up to her in a way he hadn’t before – and she knew she’d be an idiot to look a gift horse in the mouth. “So…” She ventured, gazing up at him as she tried to imagine him in a crisp uniform. “You’ve shot a gun. You’ve fought people. You know knives and grenades and all that stuff? Marching through the desert with one hundred fifty pound packs under the blazing sun?”
Sebastian’s mouth quirked in amusement at the question. “Interesting way to put it, but yes. Honestly, compared to hauling a fully loaded supply bag through the desert, tossing you around like a rag doll is nothing.”
Gabby immediately flushed deeply. The man was, of course, referring to the way he manipulated her body when they were together in bed.
Every night since the one he’d followed her up to the studio, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to keep her hands off him. Her resolve had utterly crumbled. One touch and she was like putty in his hands – quite literally. Part of her blamed the pregnancy hormones. Once the stage where she felt ridiculously nauseous every fucking morning had passed, her sex drive had kicked into some sort of ninth gear.
Sebastian could cast her a look askance in his study, and she’d be chomping at the bit to have him. It could be the way he chewed his veal at dinner or watching him dress in the morning. Hell, watching the man brush his teeth had become an inexplicable erotic experience. And so, she’d given up on remaining stolidly abstinent during the course of her pregnancy.
How could she? She wanted Sebastian more than just about anything at this point – except perhaps pickles and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
But that was another issue entirely.
“Hey, where are we going?” Eager to change the subject before she wet her panties through, she looked up to find them in the midst of a neighborhood she didn’t recognize in the slightest. “Are we even close to the manor?”
Not that that was saying much. All of London was still pretty overwhelming.
“We actually have some business to attend to today.” Before Sebastian had even finished his statement, Gabby was groaning in exasperation.
“Sebastian, you know I never want to go anywhere after a Doctor’s appointment. My fingers are itching to get to my canvases! I swear, if you try to parade me into some tea room right now I will throw a goddamn fit.”
Instead of annoying him, her childish antics seemed only to amuse him. He cast her an indulgent smile as he took the next left. “I think you’ll quite enjoy today’s errand.”
Gabrielle only glared at him, silence falling between them for a good ten minutes before Sebastian pulled into what appeared to be an immense shopping district. Brand name stores lined the streets and the place exuded the glitz and glamour of Fifth Avenue – swarming with twice the number of people. Gabrielle opened her mouth to protest. Though she’d accepted the clothing Sebastian had procured for their public appearances, she was still stolid on her refusal to spend his money frivolously. She had never been that kind of girl.
However, a quick rap on her window distracted her before she could speak a word. The young woman turned to see Phillip’s pale face beyond the glass. The man had grown a beard and cut his hair short, but he still wore the same coke-bottle glasses and dazed look she’d come to know.
“Phillip!” She shrieked in excitement before almost tumbling out of the car and into his arms. “Oh My God, Phillip!”
“Well, let’s just forget all about me, why don’t we?” With a sound of pure delight, she turned to launch herself into Tristan’s embrace. She was shocked to see that the man had shorn his signature braid to rock a shorter, shoulder-skimming style not unlike Sebastian’s. As always, he was the pinnacle of fashion in a pinstriped vest, slacks, a navy button up and gleaming loafers. “Careful there, darling. We wouldn't want to hurt the little one.” As she drew back, Tristan patted her stomach with a fond smile.
“Jesus Christ, it’s been forever!” She couldn’t keep from grinning as she looked from one man to the other. She didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to see their faces.
“A month and a half, something like that.” Tristan chucked her chin affectionately. “Glad to see you’re looking so well, sweetheart. Pregnancy seems to be suiting you.”
“Ugh, it’s awful,” She only half-lied, “I’m sore all the time, my hormones are raging constantly and I’m gaining weight like no one’s business.”
“Well, I can understand how the pain and weight gain might be pretty awful, but I can’t help but think that some of those hormones must be quite rewarding with Mr. Sebastian Delicious III at hand.” Tristan’s suggestive wink had her blushing to the roots of her hair as she whirled to see if Sebastian had heard the declaration.
He had.
He was leaning against the car, watching the scene with no small amount of amusement. Gabrielle tried not to drool over the picture he made, clad in deep brown slacks and a steel colored sweater with a white button up beneath. She knew that beneath those clothes lay a body that could rival Michelangelo’s David and the mere thought was enough to make her knees weak.
When Sebastian met her gaze, it was almost as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and his eyes smoldered in answering desire.
“Please, darlings, tone it down a bit.” Tristan’s voice cut into the moment as he looked on, his expression utterly scandalized. “We’re in a public place!”
“How…how did you guys know we were going to be here?” Gabby changed the subject quickly, toying with her hair to hide her embarrassment.
“His highness asked us to meet you.” Tristan smirked, nodding in Sebastian’s direction. “He mentioned you might need a break and have absolutely no fashionable maternity wear for the next two trimesters. Appalling.”
Surprised, Gabby looked to her “husband” in incredulity. He had called Tristan? The man who had, as diplomatically as he possibly could, informed her shortly after his mother’s arrival that he couldn’t be seen with the man or risk the Duchess’ backlash? “You…you called Tristan?”
Sebastian shrugged sheepishly. “He’s followed you all the way here and you’ve barely seen one another. Besides, he does come in handy. I certainly can’t get you to buy clothes.”
She allowed the snide comment to pass in her confusion. “But what about…the Duchess?”
The earl merely curved his lips upward in a secretive smile. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. We’re halfway across town and we’ll be discreet.”
For a moment, Gabrielle stared at him, overcome with an emotion she couldn’t quite explain. Sebastian was risking his mother’s wrath to do something that made her happy. He was stepping outside of all the protocol and pressure to let her live a little.
And thanks to the pressures of British high society, she realized exactly the scope of the sacrifice he was making. “Thank you.” She said the words before she lost the gall, her expression soft as she took in the man before her.
She was beginning to discover she didn’t know Sebastian anywhere near as well as she’d thought.
“Of course.” The man fixed her with his clear blue gaze, and in that moment, something twisted inside Gabrielle that had her flushing as she looked away quickly.
Clearing his throat, Tristan once more intruded on their moment. “Apologies, you two, but we don’t have much time and there are a hell of a lot of clothes to buy. And have you even started to buy for the baby?”
“Nothing I’ve seen for myself.” Gabby scowled. “The Duchess has ordered a shit ton from shops I’ve never heard of. She won’t even let me see the catalogues.”
“Well, fuck her.” Tristan replied primly, linking his arm with the young woman’s as he winked down at her. “No offense meant.” He shot the statement in Sebastian’s direction and the earl merely smirked.
“None taken.”
“We’ll get things for you and the little squirt.” Tristan began steering her in the direction of a cluster of shops across the street. “Come on, Phillip.”
As the man’s husband and Sebastian trailed behind them, Gabby eyed the designer at her side with no small amount of suspicion. “Whose money are we using to buy all this stuff?”
“Darling,
please
.” Tristan’s tone was long suffering. “What does it matter? It’s there to spend and I haven’t come halfway across London to spend the only time I might see you arguing over trivialities. Suck it up.” He bent to pat her stomach with a fond smile. “It’s for the baby. Think of it that way.”
Well, when he put it that way…the baby did need clothes – something that didn’t look like 1890’s pinafore at least. She was sure the Duchess had chosen something awful and dated. If she had any say in things, her son or daughter was going to be stylish. Luckily enough for her, her best friend was the foremost authority on the subject.
“Sebastian, dear, do try to keep up.” Grinning, Tristan steered her towards a shop that reeked of three hundred dollar perfume. “We’ve got a busy evening ahead of us.”
**
“She doesn’t seem to protest nearly so much when she gets into it.”
Sebastian was seated on a couch next to Tristan, both of them sipping from cups of tea with copious amounts of milk and sugar. Phillip had been employed to help the numerous sales women to bring their mountains of selections over to Gabrielle to try on. While she’d been hesitant at first, the longer the shopping excursion went on, the more the young woman began to accept her lot and actually started to enjoy herself.