Free The Christmas Treasure by Mallory Kane

down at the gown, which draped seductively over her breasts, then turned the handle and opened the door.  
    At first, all she could see in the dimness of the room was the lamp on Gabriel's desk. She stood with her hand on the doorknob for a moment as her eyes adjusted, then she saw his lean, powerful figure at the windows. He had a brandy snifter in one hand.  
    "Gabriel?" she said softly.  
    "Yes?" he answered without turning. "What is it, Lorilla?"  
    She didn't answer. His back seemed to stiffen as the silence in the room grew longer. Oh, he was a stubborn man.  
    After a moment, when she saw that he was not going to yield, Lorilla closed the office door behind her and walked toward him. She could hear the faint rustle of the satin against her skin, and she knew Gabriel heard it too, because his head inclined, as if he were listening.  
    Reaching his side, she touched his arm. His muscles tensed under her touch.  
    He turned. "What is it--" he stopped.  
    Lorilla swallowed her fear, and stood motionless as Gabriel's gaze raked her.  
    "What are you doing in here?" he asked tightly.  
    "Looking for you. You haven't slept in your room for weeks."  
    "I didn't want to disturb you." He looked her in the eyes for the first time, and Lorilla saw something dark burning in his gaze.  
    "What do you plan to do with me then, if you're not going to 'disturb' me?" she asked, smiling at him.  
    He turned away from her and went behind his desk.  
    She stared at him. He really was retreating behind the safety of his desk, just like young Jeremy. The realization gave Lorilla a sense of power, of strength, she'd never before felt. She did something to Gabriel that she suspected not many people did. She made him uncomfortable.  
    With an understanding steeped in ancient memory, Lorilla began to feel the power of her womanhood. With it came a confidence that she had never before known. Josepha had known. Josepha had understood what Lorilla could do, if she only would. She sent a silent prayer heavenward that Josepha was not wrong about the man she had raised from a boy.  
    "Gabriel?"  
    "Look, Lorilla. You don't know what you're doing. Why don't you go to bed? We can talk in the morning."  
    "About what? About sending me away? You don't plan to send me away, do you?" she challenged.  
    Gabriel looked uncomfortable. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "You are my wife, duly married before a priest. I would be a beast to set you aside."  
    "So, then. What do you plan to do with me, Senor Beast?" Lorilla walked over to the desk and leaned over, her palms flat on the leather desktop. Her position gave Gabriel a view of her unfettered breasts. Inwardly she cringed, but with a great effort she managed not to turn bright red in embarrassment.  
    He cursed under his breath and pushed his chair back. He towered over her, arching his brow in that intimidating glower. "Go to bed, Lorilla."  
    "I asked you a question, Gabriel. If you are not going to send me away, what will you do with me? Do you plan to keep me a virgin for life? Erect statues to my maidenhood? Call worshipers from around the globe?"  
    "Don't be absurd."  
    "Absurd? I am here. I am willing. But where are you?"  
    "Don't do this," he said gruffly. He rubbed his hand over his face. "You don't--"  
    She came around the desk and stood in front of him, so close she could feel his heat. "But I do. I do know a little."  Biting her lip, she put her hands on his chest, feeling the soft cotton of his shirt.  
    Sliding her hands up, she touched his bare skin at the open shirtfront. "Because of you, I remember being very warm and very excited. I remember you kissing me."  
    The heady mixture of silky skin and iron-like muscle pulsing with life under her hands made her breath catch.  
    "Rilla, be careful," he whispered hoarsely.  
    "I'm tired of being careful, Gabriel. I'm tired of pretending that I am a wife. Please, either make me your wife or send me away."