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“I don’t need you to return it,” Gabriel told her. “I love you unconditionally. I know it has only been weeks that we have known each other, but I know that I love you. I love everything about you, and I tried to hold back, but I couldn’t. I only want to make you happy.”

Eleanor felt the tears slip from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Then she felt the duke wipe them away with his thumb.

“Everything feels so constricted and close together while simultaneously feeling drawn out and apart,” Eleanor admitted. “I have wanted to tell you the very same thing. I wanted to tell you that I loved you, but I didn’t dare because I didn’t think it would ever be returned and that I would end up like my mother in a loveless marriage.”

“And I worried that I would put too much pressure on you by telling you I loved you when I didn’t believe you loved me back. What fools we have been. We must⁠—”

“Please!” Eleanor begged. “Please stop talking and kiss me. I can’t bear it any longer.”

“There she is,” Gabriel said. “I spent all morning looking for the woman I married; the argumentative woman who has been the only real person to stand up to me, and⁠—”

“Oh, stop!” Eleanor shouted.

She grabbed the duke by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer, making the first move this time with the kiss. Their lips locked, and this kiss was different. They were both in love with each other, and when they kissed, it was far deeper than any that had come before.

The passion surged as Gabriel took over. He grabbed Eleanor by the waist with one arm, and lifted her off her feet as they continued to kiss. He moved her around the room until her back was pressed to the wall and his body to hers. Eleanor wrapped her legs around him.

Her lips were parted by his invading tongue, sending a shiver running through her body. She fought back with her tongue, wrestling with his, just as they wrestled with words.

Eleanor let the duke guide her. She was a boat on the ocean again, allowing herself to be carried by the underlying current.

She wrapped her arms around her husband, clinging to him tightly. He was also her anchor and lighthouse, the wind in her sails.

She enjoyed the taste of him, the cologne in her nostrils, the muscles down his back, and the sound of his heavy breathing. Eleanor moaned as they kissed.

It was the first kiss that didn’t feel forbidden. There was the kiss in the church, but that was part of the ritual—something to show the gathered crowd how in love they were. They were in love with each other during the kiss, but neither had known how the other truly felt.

The kiss they enjoyed now was rooted in love, and it was even more exciting than the forbidden kisses. Eleanor could barely explain it. It felt as if her body was slipping into a perfectly warmed bath, but instead of water, there was warm honey in the tub.

Then she couldn’t help a giggle.

The duke pulled back a little with a wide smile across his lips. He looked different after the kiss. In reality, it was likely because of the talk with Nathaniel and his declaration in front of Eleanor and her family.

“I don’t know why I’m laughing,” Eleanor admitted. “I have so much emotion built up inside of me that I need to let some of it out. I’m just so happy.”

“I like it,” Gabriel told her. “It’s nice to see you like this after this morning.”

Eleanor looked him over, from his eyes to his upper body. It felt as if she were seeing him for the first time. His eyes were deeper, but also brighter. He’d always had an intensity, and he still did, but it felt as if it were her intensity, and that his eyes shone only for her.

Gabriel had one arm still around her waist and one under her rear, holding her up against the wall. Eleanor moved her fingers over the back of his shirt, taking her time to feel the curves of his muscles below. Everything had happened so quickly that she needed to slow it all down.

Now that they were ready to spend the rest of their lives together, she wanted to enjoy every moment of it.

“This morning,” Eleanor repeated, letting out a short sigh. “I don’t know if I was being foolish or petulant or something else. It was all rooted in disappointment. After the wedding yesterday—which I still can’t believe was only yesterday—and then the reception, I was worried about what would come next, and when it didn’t come, I was disappointed by that.”

“I promise you that when it comes, you won’t be disappointed,” Gabriel informed her with a smile.

“I know,” Eleanor managed, her heart skipping a beat.

She wasn’t concerned at all about how he would make her feel, but she was still worried about pleasuring him.

“I knew then that I was in love with you,” Eleanor continued. “And I was sure that you didn’t feel the same way. When you suggested that we spend the night apart in different bedrooms, I felt rejected by you. It reinforced to me that you had only married me out of duty, and I feared that I was to face my worst nightmare in our life together. I am only thankful that it was so short-lived.”

Gabriel smiled sweetly at her. He pressed his body into hers, removing his arm from behind her, pinning her with his warmth, and he brought his free hand to her face, running his thumb across her lips.

“I didn’t want to pressure you with everything that was happening yesterday, and had happened over the past few weeks,” Gabriel explained. “It was only out of care for you, and we don’t need to do anything until you are ready for it.”

Eleanor took a deep breath. “I’m nervous, but I’m ready to be with you, Gabriel. I—” Eleanor giggled.