Tender Fury Read Free Page B

consistency of warm honey.
    “You see the wisdom of my words, do you not, cherie? ”
    This time Lily’s voice held a quality Gabby had never heard before. “ Oui, Gilbert, mon amour, oui! ” she moaned as her rising passion took over. “You are right, as always. I agree to whatever you say, only don’t stop what you are doing.”
    “Never, cherie . But for your passion, I would have tired of you long ago.”
    Once again Lily’s cries of pleasure filled Gabby’s ears as she pressed her hands over them to blot out intimate sounds that caused her heart to beat wildly in her breast. She had been embarrassed to be privy to her mother’s submission to the dictates of her body. Silently Gabby vowed never to allow any man to bend her to his will by controlling her senses.
    Gabby tried hard to shake off the disturbing thoughts that the scene of the night before had aroused in her as she changed from the despised wedding dress whose prim lines could not hide the supple body beneath to another equally unbecoming traveling dress of brown velvet. She had just finished fastening the long row of buttons down the front of the dress when her mother appeared, arriving somewhat breathless and more than a little flustered.
    “You are a lucky girl, Gabby,” Lily gushed as she smoothed her honey-colored locks into place. “Your husband can be such a charming rogue when he wants to be.” Her bright blue eyes grew hazy as she regarded her daughter with envy. “And extremely handsome in a devilish way. He could prove to be a resourceful and vigorous lover. I just encountered him coming out of your father’s study and he asked me to speak to you.”
    “Speak to me, Maman?”
    “About your wifely duties.”
    “Just what are those duties?” Gabby asked, wrinkling her nose.
    “Did the nuns teach you nothing?” Lily exclaimed in exasperation.
    “I know little of what occurs between men and women,” Gabby admitted shyly.
    “How can an innocent like you hope to please a virile man like Philippe St. Cyr? I wouldn’t be surprised if half the women on Martinique were clamoring for his attention,” Lily said, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality. “It’s fortunate he wants you only for the purpose of producing his heirs, for I doubt he will derive much pleasure from your childish body.”
    Gabby eyed her mother with distaste. The number of Philippe’s conquests were of no consequence to her. But what if she proved barren? Would he then cast her aside? she wondered. She would put no foul act past him.
    “Maman,” Gabby said, slowly thinking out her next words, “I suppose I am somewhat of an innocent, but I have a right to know just what Monsieur St. Cry expects of me in the marriage bed. The nuns were completely silent on the subject and there is no one else to ask but you.”
    Lily stared thoughtfully into her daughter’s lovely face. Privately she thought herself a more fitting match for her virile son-in-law than her pale, inexperienced daughter who was likely to swoon at his first intimate touch. She shook her head to rid herself of the image of Philippe’s powerful, nude body in full arousal. “Your duty is clear, Gabby,” Lily finally said. “Your husband undoubtedly possesses vast experience as well as vast appetites, and will expect nothing but complete submission from you. He knows you are a virgin so will no doubt expect you only to accommodate him. If he wants more than that, he will teach you.”
    “Accommodate!” The word tasted like gall in Gabby’s mouth, and told her little. “How must I accommodate him, Maman?” she asked, desperation making her bold.
    Lily regarded her daughter as she would a backward child, then shrugged her dainty shoulders in disgust. “Philippe will do exactly as he pleases and you will do exactly what he tells you,” Lily announced obliquely. “But for your own good, do not fight him, let him have his way with you. He is not a man to be put off.”
    “You mean