“Oh my dear sweet Lord, I’m fucking exhausted.”
He jerked upright as the woman at the forefront of his thoughts entered the room. Though she often complained of the waddle her full belly had awarded her, Sebastian couldn’t help but feel that pregnancy had bestowed upon her some inherent grace. At any rate, she dealt with the baby’s weight far better than she dealt with heels.
The woman wore a paint splattered t-shirt and leggings, her hair falling in a braid straight down her back. Both palms rested against the base of her spine as she made her way across the room. Sebastian immediately rose to help her to the bed, her immense stomach brushing against his side.
A groan of pleasure escaped her as she collapsed to the mattress, her eyes sliding closed. A faint smile spread across her face. “I finished it.”
Sebastian settled on the edge of the bed next to her, his heart light as he returned the gesture. “Did you? I can’t wait to see it.”
“I’m not sure what I want to call it yet. I think this baby is leeching my brain cells.”
Sebastian chuckled in amusement. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”
Her gray eyes opened as she stared up at him in mock irritation. “How would you know? Last time I checked, I was the pregnant one.”
“Well, you still seem very mentally capable to me.” Leaning down, he pressed his lips briefly to hers. When he attempted to pull away, her hand reached up to slide through his hair and she drew him down again for a far more lingering gesture. The slide of her tongue against his had Sebastian instantly straining the front of his slacks and he groaned, lowly. Breaking away, he took a steadying breath. “Perhaps we shouldn’t, Gabby. You’re so far along-”
“Don’t be a prude.” She teased softly, her smile absolutely wicked. “The doctor said it’s fine. Rising into a sitting position, she reached for the buttons on his shirt. “You wouldn’t want to deny a pregnant woman what she needs, would you?”
Sebastian watched his shirt part beneath her slender fingers before she pushed it from his shoulders to expose his bare chest. When her fingers ghosted over his nipples, he shuddered in sensation. “I…I know what the Doctor said.” He wanted her badly enough to ravage her on the spot, but part of him feared being
too
rough with her. The woman did like to be manhandled and he didn’t want to run the risk of hurting her or the child. “I just want to be careful.”
“We are being careful.” Gabrielle’s hot mouth pressed hot kisses against his neck, just under his ear, and his stomach muscles clenched reflexively. “Extremely careful.
So
...careful…” Now her hands were slipping into his trousers to cup the straining heat of him and a choked breath escaped him.
“
Gabrielle
…”
“Shhh. Let me take care of you, Sebastian. Like you take care of us.” Rising to her feet, Gabrielle eased him down onto his back before stripping him of his pants and loafers. When he was laid completely bare on the bed before her, she gazed down at him for several long moments before licking her lips indulgently. “You are a
ridiculously
gorgeous man, do you know that?”
“Now I do.” He returned faintly, watching with rapt attention as she stripped her shirt over her head to reveal the swollen hill of her belly and the ample v of her cleavage in a dark, lacy bra. Gabby slid her leggings down to her knees before kicking them off, and her panties and brassiere quickly followed suit, leaving her gloriously naked.
She was utter perfection – a ripe goddess of fertility personified. She ran her hands leisurely down the length of his body and Sebastian’s erection leapt against his stomach. When Gabby observed his reaction, she laughed softly. “You can’t play coy with me, Sebastian. This fabulous body gives you away.” His mouth dried as she knelt at the edge of the bed, nudging his legs apart as she took hold of his erection.
At the first stroke of her fingers over the weeping flesh, he groaned, grasping handfuls of the coverlet beneath him as she tortured him. His thighs and abdomen tightened in anticipation at the feel of her heated breath against the tip of his cock and Sebastian raised his head to watch her.
Gabby had absolutely no reserve when it came to pleasuring him with her mouth. She sucked him in immediately to the root and he inhaled sharply through his nose, resisting the urge to buck his hips into the clenching wetness of her mouth. One of her hands crept downward to cup and massage his bullocks as she began to pop her head up and down, stimulating him leisurely – mind-blowingly.
“
Gabby
.” He gaped her name raggedly, utterly transfixed by the sight of his member disappearing down her throat. “
Bloody hell
, Gabby…”
She hummed in pleasure, the sound reverberating through him so he shuddered, finally raising himself quickly to a sitting position to take her braid in a firm grip and draw her glorious mouth from him. “Christ, woman. You’re out to kill me.”
“Not to kill you.” Gabby gasped as he drew her braid taut a moment before releasing it. “Just to get you a little riled up.” She raised one knee onto the bed, and then the other, straddling him so he was forced backwards once more, onto his forearms.
Gabby reached down to position his throbbing erection at her drenched entrance. It took so little to arouse her these days - of times he was tempted to see exactly how little. The thought, however, was driven from his mind as she sank down on him, taking the length of him completely inside her until her full belly rested against his own.
Groaning, Sebastian immediately grasped her hips, his own pressing up instinctively into the tightness of her.
“God…
Sebastian
…” Gabrielle’s head fell back as she undulated her hips against him. “
So
good.” She began to move, raising and lowering her hips so he rubbed deliciously against her inner walls. Her hands found his broad shoulders, curling into them for purchase as she rode him.
A low epithet escaped him through clenched teeth as he urged her on with his grip at her hips, relishing the way her eager muscles devoured him. This was
his
woman… his artistic goddess and the mother of his child. Leaning forward, he took the tip of her breast between his lips to suckle gently so Gabby cried out atop him.
He was rewarded with a few drops of saccharine sweet liquid against his tongue and groaned, envying his son or daughter their decadent fare. Gabby’s hands suddenly cupped his face, drawing it upward so that her mouth could fuse against his.
Sebastian held her tightly against him, his hips bucking against hers as their pace increased. Faster – deeper until she was murmuring his name in a mindless litany and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer. Burying his face in her shoulder, he came with a hoarse shout, his entire body tightening as he spilled himself within her.
Gabrielle moaned, long and low, her body shuddering powerfully as his orgasm triggered her own. Her clenching femininity milked him of the last vestiges of his climax until he sagged against her, taking deep, calming breaths.
After a long, peaceful moment, Sebastian turned slightly on the bed, maneuvering himself so that he could lie Gabby on her back against the pillows. When he slid from her, a soft sound of satisfaction ensued as her eyes closed. If she had been painting all day, he could only imagine how exhausted she must truly be. The baby would be taking most of her strength now, preparing for the day it would eventually make its way into the world beyond.
Sebastian smoothed sweat-dampened hairs from Gabby’s brow, tucking the sheets around her as she drifted into slumber. Almost immediately, she turned onto her side – the most comfortable position for her with the baby in the last stages of development. Gazing down at her, he felt a warmth suffuse him as he imagined what it would be like to give her a second child, and a third. The entire manor would be full of little artist doppelgangers with dirty mouths.
The thought made him smile.
“Gabby.”
“Mmm?” His low summons only garnered the faintest of murmurs from the only slightly conscious woman.
“Have you ever thought of having more children?”
The young woman shrugged ever so slightly before her face went lax and he knew he had lost her to sleep. Sliding beneath the blanket next to her, Sebastian pressed his bare body flush against hers, his hand splayed protectively over the child she carried. “Gabby.” This time, only her soft, even breathing answered him. Sebastian laid a soft kiss against her neck. “I love you, darling Gabrielle. And I am never letting you go.”
Several days later, Sebastian stared at the letter that had arrived from Raithwithe, his expression wary.
He hadn’t taken a single one of his mother’s calls since he had sent her away, and so, of course, she had resorted to letter writing. He’d been tempted to throw the envelope into the rubbish bin the moment he’d laid eyes on it, but in the end, he had given into his curiosity and opened the bloody thing.
Now, he stared down at a message he had read twice, frowning.
Dearest Sebastian,
I know that you will hardly be inclined to take my letters, but if this message does happen to reach you, I wish it to convey my sincerest apologies.
In the past few months, I have had a wealth of time in which to think on my actions. I now see that the way I treated both your wife and my grandchild was deplorable. While I thought I acted only with the best of intentions, I realize now that your child can only be your own. If you do not wish my help in planning the child’s rearing, I will respect your decision humbly and refrain from any further interference.
In these months without you, I have come to realize how much you truly mean to me. While I know your upbringing must have seemed cold and contrived in your youth, I acted as I did only to ensure the best and brightest future for you. However, if clinging to those principles means losing you as my son, I can no longer cleave to them. Please forgive an only woman set in her ways. While I know Gabrielle’s time must be drawing near, I cordially invite you to the manor in Raithwithe, where I intend to throw a party in honor of my future grandchild. I hope we can begin to mend the bond between us and right any wrongs I have done.
Ever Your Loving Mother,
Duchess Amelia Hunter of Raithwithe
Marquess of Evansford
He didn’t know what to think.
While he and his mother had had rows before, there had never been one this significant and he had never made such a drastic move as to cut her from his life – even for a little while. While he knew the woman could be conniving and manipulative, perhaps it was possible that their time apart had sobered her somewhat.
He didn’t expect that she had become a poster mother overnight, but perhaps now he could speak rationally to her about the future he wanted for his child; as well impress upon her that Gabrielle, in no uncertain terms, was to be paid the respect due to a countess and as the mother of his son or daughter.
He mused over the dilemma all afternoon before finally deciding that it couldn’t hurt to go. Raithswithe was only three hours outside of London by train, and if things didn’t go well, he could be back to Gabrielle within twenty four hours.
Of course, explaining himself to the woman he loved was no easy task.
“Do you
really
think she’s changed?” Gabrielle eyed him skeptically over the breakfast table, popping a strawberry drenched with cream into her mouth. “I don’t mean to offend you, Sebastian, but the woman is a stone cold bitch. Even if she hasn’t seen you in a few months, what are the odds that’s she’s really so eager to make nice all of a sudden?”
“I very highly doubt she’s made a complete transformation.” He tried not to be distracted when Gabrielle’s tongue darted out to lick the cream from the corner of her mouth. “But she might very well have made
some
kind of breakthrough, small as it may be.”
“That’s not going to make me like her.” Gabby professed, scowling. “It would take a hell of a lot more than that to get me in the same
room
as the woman.”
Sighing, Sebastian reached across the table to take her hand in his own, his gaze pleading with her to understand. “It’s only for two or three days, darling. And if things don’t go as planned I’ll scurry right back, I swear it. I know the two of you have never seen eye to eye,” perhaps the understatement of the century, he knew, “But she is my mother. If she’s going to
try
to be pleasant, I owe it to the baby, at least, to try and mend things. You have to admit…” He smiled playfully, “It would be quite something for our child to be the playmate of the crown prince, if they wished.”
For a moment, Gabrielle gazed at him with indecisive eyes before she sighed, rising slowly from her chair to round the table to his side. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her close, resting his head on her bosom. “
Two
days. And you’ll come
straight
back.”
Relief flooded Sebastian. “Straight back. Well in time to watch you curse Dr. Bletchley seven ways to Sunday in the throes of your labor pains.”
Gabrielle scowled down at him, trying to hide her smile. “You’re not funny.”