A Warriner to Seduce Her

by Virginia Heath

  ‘As a child I found it exhausting and terrifying, and I have no doubt those early impressions have stuck with me as I’ve grown. On that day, as she had on so many others before, my mother told me she was going to throw herself in the river and sent me to fetch him, but because I wasn’t keen on facing my father’s wrath I dawdled,and because of that she died.

  ‘I’m not asking for your pity. I know I don’t deserve it. My brothers tell me it was her choice to do what she did. That she was a selfish woman who never cared for any of us, me least of all because I was so much like my father. Another pretty liar with little else of substance behind him. But even so, that event has left deep scars. That dreadful day, their relationship, it left its mark on me and shaped the man I became.

  ‘I never wanted to live with all that angst and drama ever again. It’s too painful. Too destructive. I like life to be simple and uncomplicated. I’m not good with guilt or anger or introspection and I certainly never wanted to become my father, although I also know, deep down, that I do not possess any of his worst traits. I would never be intentionally cruel and I’m not violent or unable to discern right from wrong. But I am selfish. I’ve selfishly protected my heart. I’ve lived my life ensuring that none of that messy emotional nonsense ever touched me. Aside from my brothers, I’ve kept everyone else at arm’s length. Purposefully so. But then I met you and all those necessary defences dissolved and that terrifies me.

  ‘I didn’t want to get involved, yet I did regardless. I didn’t want to show you my true colours, but you saw them anyway and the very last thing I ever wanted to do was fall in love, because I knew I couldn’t bear the heartbreak if it went wrong and I was right. I’m dying inside, Fliss, because I love you so much and you quite rightly hate me. But know that, despite you loathing me, I will fight till my dying breath to keep you safe. If you cannot bring yourself to trust me with anything else, please trust me to do that, Fliss. I can’t face living in a world that you are not in.’

  Fliss wanted to believe him. Desperately. But with a solid oak door between them she couldn’t see if he was telling the truth. She pulled open the door and sought his eyes. They were blue. So blue they were almost black. His tell-tale pupils were large and awash with tears as she stared into them. One solitary drop fell off his lashes and slowly ran down his cheek. She saw his pain because it mirrored hers exactly. His misery was real and visceral. But alongside that raw, undisguised emotion swirling in his irises Fliss also saw something else. Something as irrefutable as it was unexpected. Something her heart yearned for and which her sensible head couldn’t overrule. Something she’d wanted all her life. Waited for. Would never settle for anything less than. This man—this loyal, incorrigible, flawed man—absolutely adored her. Those beautiful blue eyes of his couldn’t lie to her.

  It was her feet that closed the short distance between them. Her hands that reached out to cup his face. Her lips which brushed his first. But it was both of them who lost themselves in the honest beauty of the moment before burning, biological need took over.

  * * *

  The second her mouth had touched his, Jake was on fire. His wary heart was bursting with joy that she wanted him and might well have forgiven him; his battered body yearned to join with her. That first kiss had ignited it all—love, desire, longing—and that first kiss was yet to end. What had started gently had simmered as they didn’t break apart. Together they had stumbled back into her bedchamber, failing to pause when Jake had kicked the door closed, and tumbled breathless on to the bed. He had shrugged out of his jacket, then set about pulling all the pins from her hair while she clumsily undid the buttons on his waistcoat, before tugging the tail of his shirt roughly from his breeches.

  Now, with all her hair gloriously loose he rolled her on top of him so he could fumble with the laces at the back of her dress. As the fabric loosened he smoothed it off her shoulders with his palms, revelling in the warm, silky texture of the skin of her bare arms. He wanted to look at what he was touching, but that meant prising his hungry lips from hers and like a starving man at a banquet he couldn’t. So he let his hands see instead, running them greedily down her ribcage, then back up again to cup her breasts while Fliss reached behind and attempted to undo the ribbons of her corset.

  She giggled into his mouth and collapsed against him, her breasts squashed wonderfully in his hands. ‘It’s knotted. Take it off.’ An invitation he didn’t need to hear twice.

  Jake shuffled into a sitting position and tackled the mess, but she was right, the ribbons were hopelessly tangled and his hands lacked the finesse or the patience to solve the puzzle. In desperation he groped for the knife in his boot and in one swift motion sliced through the ribbons to the delight of them both and tossed the offending garment to the floor.

  Knelt on the bed in just her chemise, golden hair tousled and smiling, she was a picture. Her gaze never left his fingers as he reached out one hand and slowly tugged the bow on the low bodice. He teased them both by gently tugging the fabric lower, enjoying the way it resisted and strained across her nipples. He let his thumb slip beneath the lace to graze one and had the satisfaction of hearing her sigh at the brief touch. Another tug and the flimsy fabric pooled at her waist and he drank in the sight of her bared before him. Every inch of her was perfect, as he had known she would be. Flawless peachy skin, saucily jutting breasts tipped with dusky pink tips, undulating curves which nipped in at the waist and flared out at the hips. All better than his wildest imaginings or his fevered dreams.

  Reverently he bent his head to kiss her again, gentler this time because she deserved better than the rushed and hasty loving he had so far subjected her to. He trailed soft kisses down her throat and over the swells of her breasts, pausing long enough to worship each nipple. The throaty, staccato moans told him she thoroughly enjoyed that, so he lingered longer until those lovely breasts were rising and falling rapidly in time to her erratic breathing. As he nibbled the underside of one he let his fingers wander lower until they rested in the golden curls at the apex of her thighs. She stilled as they wandered lower, but she allowed him to nudge her legs open and gave a lovely whimper of pleasure as he caressed her, but when Jake sat back to look she clamped them shut again and hastily covered them with her chemise. ‘What are you doing?’

  The prim, missish reaction amused him after her obvious enjoyment thus far. ‘I’m fundamentally a nosy fellow, as you know, and I need to see you, Fliss. All of you.’

  ‘Why do you get to see all of me before I get to see all of you?’

  ‘Because you are so beautiful I fear I won’t be able to control myself if we are both naked just yet and I want to see to your pleasure first. Try to trust me, my love. It’ll be worth it. I promise.’

  He sensed her trepidation as she forced herself to relax, a rosy blush of embarrassment pinkening her cheeks and her neck as she allowed him to slide away the last bit of clothing, but the trust in her eyes humbled him and exulted him at the same time. This time when he caressed her, she was tense, but he soon eased that away and she let her legs fall wantonly open as her breathing became more laboured and her hands gripped the sheet beneath her.

  Jake knew exactly how to ease her frustration. He also knew enough about the female body to know that the more he built the anticipation, the sweeter her release would be. When he sensed she was close, he lazily smoothed his hand back up her body and went right back to kissing her. As he’d hoped, it was not enough. Her hips bucked and she arched beneath him, but he wouldn’t be swayed. His talented mouth and hands remained resolutely above her waist until she was writhing beneath him.

  It was Fliss who lost patience first, shamelessly sliding her hands under his shirt and raking her nails over his chest and back, making earthy noises which almost sent him over the edge. ‘I want you naked, Jake.’ Her green eyes were stormy with desire and her mouth was swollen from his kisses. Jake had never seen anything so erotic in his life. Impatie
ntly he sat up and tugged off his shirt and he had to watch her lounging gloriously naked while his suddenly urgent and clumsy fingers dispensed with his boots and the buttons on his falls, but at her insistence he let her remove his breeches and she tortured him by duplicating the slow, sensuous disrobing he had subjected her to. Except this time, the fabric resisted and strained over his insistent, needy bulge. A bulge she was thoroughly exploring over the blasted fabric with the flat palm of her hand.

  She grinned when Jake growled, drawing out the moment before slipping her hand inside and touching him properly. The inquisitive first explorations soon turned bold as she watched how she affected him. It was ecstasy. It was agony. But he endured it stoically by biting down on his lip and clenching his fists as she exposed him inch by inch.

  ‘Is this your revenge?’

  ‘I think you deserve a little punishment.’

  ‘Haven’t I suffered enough?’

  Fliss pushed the fabric to the floor, her eyes fixed on the impressive sight of him in all his glory, and flicked him a wicked, passion-charged gaze. ‘Oh, I think you need to suffer some more.’ She had no real idea what she was doing and let her instincts guide her. Jake’s magnificent body was an enigma which she burned to explore. Fortunately, that exploration was proving to be scandalously exciting for both of them. Brazenly she let her hands wander where they wanted—the broad expanse of his shoulders, the taut stomach, strong back, the delightfully compact and rounded bottom. Then her mouth, teeth and tongue followed and she learned that his hard, muscled body was as sensitive as her soft one. He shivered when her tongue traced his nipple and followed the dark dusting of hair as it arrowed down his abdomen. In fascination she traced the length and girth of his hardness, smiling as his jaw tightened or when he occasionally hissed out a strangled breath.

  Every moan and sigh was accompanied by his heated gaze; deep blue eyes bright with mischief and love. To begin with Jake lay there passive, but soon he paid her back in kind. Every touch of hers which tormented him was parried with a more thrilling intimacy from him, shocking yet unbearably pleasurable intrusions that made her grateful he had been a rake, yet none giving her the elusive fulfilment her newly awakened body seemed to crave.

  Only when she was positively vibrating with need and he was breathing heavily did he position himself on top of her, staring straight into her eyes. His hardness cradled against her body. Her body wanting it inside her. That want, the significance of what they were about to do, made her suddenly nervous. She was the novice. He knew what he was doing. What if she didn’t compare with the women before or meet his expectations?

  ‘You’re my first lover, Jake. Be patient with me.’

  He brushed his nose against hers tenderly. ‘And you’ll be my last lover. That is just as significant. In fact, I fear it’s you who needs to be patient with me.’ Her mocking smile was met with pure seriousness. Jake laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand to rest snugly between them on his chest, holding it firmly in place. ‘Do you feel that?’ Beneath her palm his heart drummed steadily.

  ‘I can feel your heart...’

  ‘No, love, it’s not my heart any more. It’s yours. It always will be. Please be gentle with it because it bruises easily. And be patient with me, Fliss. Falling in love is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. I’m ill prepared for the adventure. So ill prepared I’m bound to make mistakes. I don’t want tonight to be one of them. I’ve shared my body more often than I should have. I can’t change that, but I’ve never made love to a woman before, nor wanted to. Making love involves the heart and the body, and up until recently my poor heart was happily encased in cotton wool and robustly barricaded from the world. But as much as it scares me, as much as I fear all those messy and complicated emotions and responsibilities which walk alongside love, I know everything will be all right as long as you are beside me, too. This will be my first time and I don’t want to make a hash of it.’

  He kissed her softly and that part of him nudged at her entrance, while he nuzzled her neck. ‘This is a huge responsibility. I need to show you how much I love you. How much I will always love you.’ He gently eased inside, pausing to allow her to adjust to the intrusion. ‘I need to make tonight truly special for you. I need to make sure you never look at another man some time in the future and wonder what if?’ His expression became fierce and Fliss could feel the tension in his whole body as he held himself in check. There was a look of intense concentration on his handsome face as he came up against the barrier of her maidenhead. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, but know that I must to make you mine.’ She sucked in a breath as he pushed passed it quickly and stilled as he kissed away the pain—only then did he fill her completely. ‘I need you to believe that you are the one. My one and only. For always and for ever.’

  As he began to move, the alien feeling of this new intimacy began to fade, replaced instead by a sense of complete rightness. Biology and fate. Two unpredictable factors which had made their love inevitable. She loved him so much, wanted him so much, it consumed her. Fliss happily succumbed to the building desire only Jake kindled. Each stroke reverberated down her nerve endings, heating them, heating her and her wary heart. Every kiss fanned the flames. Every touch set her ablaze. With building need, she matched him thrust for thrust, revelling in the solid weight of him around her, shamelessly touching every part of him she could reach with her hands and clenching her internal muscles around the wonderful part of him she couldn’t. All the while their eyes were locked. Now words were unnecessary because there were no words to convey how immersed in each other they were. Two bodies in perfect unison; two hearts beating in time with the other.

  As the passion built, Fliss surrendered herself to every new sensation whole-heartedly, glorying in the effect their lovemaking was having on him, too. His eyes were so dark. His body so ardent. She had never felt so beautiful or alive. Special. So utterly adored and cherished. She remembered murmuring his name. Telling him she loved him, then the universe exploded in shimmering blue light as bright as his eyes and they dived into the sublime abyss together.

  Chapter Nineteen

  In the garden at Markham Manor

  It had been a peculiar week. Idyllic, yet trying. A time of latent fear and of pure joy, noisy family camaraderie, quiet introspection and passionate intimacy. Jake was a creative and resourceful lover who had initiated her completely into the pleasures of the flesh. During the day, just as he had less than an hour ago, he found ways for them to steal a few minutes of privacy and utilised those scant minutes so fully and thoroughly her body tingled from the experience.

  One minute she had been walking purposefully towards the Great Hall the Warriners used as a drawing room and the next she had been outrageously braced against the door inside the linen closet, her skirts around her waist, but her spectacles resolutely on her nose, because that was where Jake liked them when the mood struck, while he had his wicked way with her. Not that Fliss minded one bit. All those naughty wayward tendencies which she had always struggled to suppress happily came to the fore with him and she always rejoiced in the frantic, breathless waylaying.

  Late at night, when the house slept, the dynamic between them shifted. He would creep to her room and make slow, tender love to her and then she would drift off to sleep, feeling safe in his arms. In between times, they spent a great deal of time in one another’s company, often with the others, but the Warriners and her incorrigible aunts were at great pains to leave them alone together frequently. It seemed everyone was equally keen to see them paired off, actively encouraging their deepening romance, and neither Jake nor Fliss made any attempt to slow things down. There was an inevitability to it all. Serendipity. As if they were destined to be together, so why bother fighting the mysterious forces which pulled them together?

  Here, in his home, Fliss felt she was coming to truly know the real Jake. Of course he was charming, that characteristic was e
tched into his bones, and he shamelessly flirted with each of his brothers’ wives and all of the female servants in his good-natured way, but she saw it for what it was and was not the least bit perturbed by it. She owned his heart. Lock, stock and barrel. His eyes told her so every single second they spent together.

  But she also saw the other facets of his character which he hid behind his silver tongue. The enviable and unbreakable bond he had with his three brothers and their respective wives. The thoughtful man who took care to spend equal time with all his nieces and nephews in case he appeared to have a favourite. He really was a man who listened and paid attention, and not just to Fliss. He followed every thread of conversation around the dinner table, remembered the tiny idiosyncrasies and details about people, whether that be Letty’s latest embroidery project or the current state of little Jonathan’s butterfly collection, and while he remembered all this, as well as the names of all of the servants’ children as he frequently asked about them, he still tirelessly patrolled the grounds with Leatham and the Invisibles and kept a close eye on her security at all times. That attention to detail was beyond reassuring at a time when her nerves were often strung as taut as a bow.

  It helped that Markham Manor was indeed a fortress as he had promised. Three-quarters of the sprawling parkland was surrounded by an enormous stone wall which appeared strong enough to withstand the force of a battering ram. Beyond it, several dense miles of Sherwood Forest cloaked the perimeter. Only one long lane led to the tall, forbidding locked gates. The remaining quarter used nature for protection. The River Idle provided the house with a wide barrier between them and the outside world, and in the dead of winter after all the rain the underlying current was apparently ferocious. The small but deadly battalion of the King’s Elite closely monitored the vulnerable areas along the river bank, as well as the wall. While the sight of men wielding pistols constantly gave Fliss the shivers, she was supremely grateful they were there. Their presence allowed her to function relatively normally, or as normally as a displaced schoolmistress from a convent could be in the crammed house of her lover, waiting for evil to strike.