‘Gabriel.’
He placed coaxing kisses along her mouth. If he could only get her to kiss him back, he was certain he could easily convince her to let him enter her again. When her lips parted to accept his kisses, he hardened in anticipation. She was heaven and sin wrapped all in one. Mornings such as this came flooding back to him. ‘I love being inside you when we are both half-asleep.’
The loud crash startled them both and they swung their heads to the doorway in unison.
Colette stood frozen, the remains of Olivia’s chocolate and a broken cup at her feet. Gabriel let out a low curse and jerked the sheet up to his waist. This day was not starting out as he planned.
‘I...I...knocked but...I saw his lordship leave and thought you’d be needing my assistance getting dressed.’
‘I will ring for you shortly, Colette,’ Olivia murmured while covering her eyes. ‘You may tend to the mess later.’
The maid dashed from the room and thankfully closed the door behind her.
Gabriel sighed and dropped onto his back. Hopefully the remainder of his day would not hold any more unexpected interruptions.
* * *
When Gabriel entered his breakfast room at the unusually early hour to the smells of chocolate, coffee, eggs, ham, warm bread and strawberry jam, he found it hard not to smile. Olivia had shooed him from her room without one more taste of her tempting lips. If he was not able to make love to her this morning, at least he would eat well. He went directly to the sideboard, filled his plate with his favourite morning fare, then took his seat at the head of the table between his wife and son.
As Bennett poured him coffee, Gabriel could have sworn he heard the man humming. ‘Can I get you anything else, sir?’ he asked with an unusually cheerful lilt to his voice.
‘No, that will be all, Bennett.’ Gabriel scanned the freshly ironed copy of The Times. Thankfully there still was no mention of the assassination attempt. The fewer people who know about it, the safer Prinny would be.
‘This just came for you, madam,’ Bennett said, handing Olivia a missive sealed with red wax.
Who would send his wife a note so early in the day? Was that common as well? How was it that he knew the exact time Prinny rose each morning, but he did not know the most mundane things about his own house? Gabriel surreptitiously looked at the handwriting and tried to identify the imprint on the seal. Without tilting his head to the side, he would not be able to distinguish the mark.
‘You do eat a lot of food in the morning, Papa.’
Olivia placed the note down and pursed her lips. His opportunity was lost.
‘Nicholas, it is not polite to comment on what other people place on their plates,’ she corrected him.
Their son turned to her in amazement. ‘But do you see his plate?’
Olivia picked up her cup of chocolate. ‘I see it. Grown men have rather large appetites.’ Her fine dark eyes met Gabriel’s over the gold rim of her blue Sèvres cup and she took a slow sip.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was being flirtatious. The very idea of it made him smile.
‘Lord Andrew is here to see you, sir,’ Bennett announced from the doorway. His previous cheerful demeanour seemed to have got lost on his way to escorting Andrew to the breakfast room. Apparently, this morning, when he wanted his family all to himself the outside world seemed determined to disrupt their private moments.
It was just after seven o’clock. Gabriel hoped the urgent news that brought his brother to his doorstep would be good.
‘I realise I am calling early, but—’ Andrew froze in the doorway and his wide-eyed gaze travelled from Gabriel to Olivia and finally to Nicholas.
‘Uncle Andrew,’ Nicholas screamed. Jumping out of his chair, he hurled himself at his uncle. Andrew easily caught him and spun Nicholas around so that the boy rested around his neck like a scarf.
There was no indication from Andrew’s demeanour the direction this visit would take. From the playful attention Andrew was paying to Nicholas, it was impossible to tell the urgency of his call.
‘Is everything all right, Andrew?’ Olivia asked with concern.
He stopped trying to drop Nicholas to the floor. ‘Yes. Forgive me for the early hour.’ His gaze darted to Gabriel and back to Olivia. ‘I found I could not sleep and I know that Gabriel is an early riser. I thought a good ride through the park would clear the cobwebs from my head.’
Patience was a virtue. As much as he wanted to ask the reason for Andrew’s visit, Gabriel would bide his time so as not to draw undue attention from Olivia. ‘Would you care for breakfast, or have you eaten already?’
‘I would never refuse to dine at your table.’ Andrew dropped his nephew into the seat Nicholas had vacated and strolled to the sideboard as if the domestic scene was commonplace and he was in no hurry to speak with Gabriel.
While Gabriel watched Andrew sit next to Nicholas with a plate full of food and accept coffee from Bennett, he fought the urge to lean past his son and swat his brother on the head. He had offered food to Andrew to appear polite. The arse wasn’t supposed to accept it.
Andrew was halfway through eating an enormous serving of ham and eggs when he finally noticed Nicholas, watching him with an open-mouthed stare. The acknowledgement pulled Nicholas out of his stupor, and he studied his bowl of porridge.
‘Mama, may I have eggs and ham instead of porridge?’
Olivia shifted a glance between Andrew and their son. ‘If you’d like.’ She signalled for a footman to bring another plate to Nicholas and opened the note that had been taunting Gabriel since it arrived. Her brow wrinkled as she scanned the paper.
‘Have you received distressing news?’ Gabriel asked.
The footman re-entered the room with a plate for Nicholas as she turned to Gabriel. ‘It’s a note from—’
‘Papa never eats breakfast with us, Uncle Andrew, but since he slept in Mama’s bed last night we asked him.’
The plate slipped out of the footman’s hand, landing on the table with a thud as Gabriel choked on his coffee and Olivia turned crimson.
Andrew leaned closer to Nicholas and arched a brow. ‘You don’t say,’ he said through a devilish grin.
Nicholas opened his mouth to continue when Olivia quickly chimed in.
‘Your bruises have not improved. Perhaps now you will agree to take some healing salve home with you.’ Bless his wife’s polite diversionary tactics.
Andrew shot Gabriel a meaningful look and removed his hand from her inspection. ‘It is nothing.’
‘Papa has a scar. Mama and I saw it this morning since he wasn’t wearing a nightshirt.’
Andrew was quite familiar with that scar. It was thanks to his brother’s quick actions that Gabriel’s body hadn’t received another wound—a fatal one. Still, he needed to speak with his son about the importance of keeping certain aspects of their family life a secret. The sooner he learned that lesson, the better.
Meanwhile Andrew seemed to be thoroughly enjoying Nicholas’s loquaciousness and propped his head in his hand. ‘It seemed rather cool last night to be sleeping without a nightshirt.’
‘I said the same thing,’ Nicholas said in astonishment as his stomach rumbled loudly. Excusing himself, he hopped off his chair to fill his plate at the sideboard. It seemed discussing his parents’ private activities was not as interesting as selecting the perfect slice of ham. Thank heavens for small miracles.
Andrew went back to eating his breakfast and Olivia returned to that mysterious note.
‘I hope the news