Chapter 13
1057 Words
Cecilia
I didn’t know how I got home. I didn’t remember leaving Gabriel, I didn’t remember if either of us said anything or if we had kissed once more before we parted. All I knew was that I was home now, and that all I could feel was his lips on mine and his hands on my body.
I didn’t know why I had kissed him, it had felt like the right thing to do. But when I did, the last thing I expected was to feel like I had found a bursting need inside of me. Leon didn’t kiss like Gabriel, Leon didn’t look at me, touch me or caress me like Gabriel. Leon was cold and calculated. And Gabriel was warm, gentle but firm. He was strong and hard against me and it thrilled me to know that I had an effect on him. I wanted him to take me, to throw me on the couch in the tea room and do things to me I had never imagined of. I needed him to feed the fire in me, a fire he had awakened.
I laid in bed thinking of what he could have done to me and what he could be doing. Gabriel had always been so gentle and patient with me. He had taken care of me and been such a great friend. And underneath the warm brown eyes, chiseled jaw and angel-like hair, he was full of raw masculine energy. And I had gotten a taste of it tonight and needed more. I needed it more than I needed anything else.
I didn’t care about Leon or my marriage.
I started to laugh at myself.
“Oh Cecilia, you’ve lost your mind,” I said to myself. “You’re really thinking about having an affair with Gabriel. Gabriel Dupont. A Duke, a friend and my husband’s friend no less.”
I knew I was in the wrong, and infidelity was a sin, but I couldn’t stop myself. I hated Leon and he hated me. He didn’t satisfy me in bed and he didn’t want to, he only got what he wanted and then tossed me to the side. But with Gabriel it was different. I needed him, and he needed me too. We both wanted one another and I couldn’t see why anything should stop us.
***
“Who do you want this delivered to my lady?” Sophie asked as I handed her a letter. Her usual neat golden hair was a bit messy and her cheeks were flushed. She looked down at her feet and fidgeted.
“Is everything alright Sophie?” I asked her. I reached out to touch her shoulder and she looked up, her eyes wide and full of an emotion I didn’t understand.
She nodded quickly. “Of course. Who would you like this delivered to my lady?”
I smiled, feeling both nervous and excited. “To Gabriel, the Duke of Dupont please.”
Sophie nodded and began to walk away before she stopped at the door.
“Is it an emergency? I can have it sent to him with our fastest messenger.”
I grinned. “Yes please do. And please, be discreet. Leon doesn’t need to know.”
Gabriel
“A letter for you, Your Grace.” William said.
I was just returning from a ride when he was waiting for me at the front of the house.
“It is addressed to you from the Lady Cecilia.” He said bowing.
My body froze and I felt my heart quicken. Cecilia?
When I didn’t reach for the letter William eyed me curiously. “Is everything alright Your Grace?”
I nodded and took the letter from him. “Yes, thank you William. Will you please make sure Fran is taken care of? I believe she needs to be groomed.”
William nodded and took my horse from the reins and walked away. As he did, I took in deep breaths and sat on the large steps at the front of my house. Why would Cecilia be writing to me? What could she possibly have to say? Would she be telling me to never speak to her again? That she was embarrassed by her actions or that she had told Leon?
My hands trembled a bit as I opened the letter and in Cecilia’s neat but flickery handwriting read:
Gabriel,
I would appreciate it if we’d met in two days time. I think there are some things we need to talk about. We need to discuss what happens next, please.
Yours ,
Cecilia
My eyes lingered on the last two words.
Yours, Cecilia.
I knew it was a formal and kind way of ending a letter, she had always ended her letters this way to me but now it felt different. It felt different because I had gotten a taste and a glimpse of what it felt like to have her almost be mine. To have her in my arms, kiss her, look into her eyes as she navigated her needs was overwhelming in the best way. She could have been mine- she wanted to be mine. But I didn’t only want her physically, I wanted her completely. In a way I knew I couldn’t have her. So who knows why, but I went back to my office and wrote back.
The entire time, I felt a part of me yelling “No! Tell her to stay away! She’s married to your friend, stop!”
But that voice didn’t matter, not one bit as the other part of me relished in the memory of her. Her bright green eyes, soft chocolate hair and full pink lips. I desired her in every way- I desired to make love to her at any given moment, feel her body sweaty against mine as we both pleasured and felt eachother, but I also desired hearing her soft breaths at night as she slept next to me, and seeing her eat breakfast in the sunlight along caring for her whenever she’s sick. I wanted everything with her. And I knew, deep down I knew, that I couldn’t have that with her. But that didn’t stop me from writing:
Cecilia,
I look forward to seeing you. You’re right, there is much to discuss about what happens next.
Yours,
Gabriel
- Writer
