He turned back to find her looking at him, wide-eyed and sad. With his heart breaking, he pushed through the door and sat beside her. Long, dark ringlets of hair fell around her face. She’d changed into her simple gray travel dress, cloak, and bonnet. Gray. The color that had come to define his sad, lovely kitten’s life.
Emme stared down at her gloved hands. “If you’ve come to persuade me to stay, it won’t work.”
Yes! Yes, you must stay in London, be near enough for me to flirt with you at high tea and make you jealous from across a crowded ballroom.
He rubbed at an imaginary spot on the knee of his evening suit pants. “I’ve just come to keep you company and to see you safely installed into a private car on the train. It was me or your brother, and he didn’t seem likely to be good company after reading your note.”
“Then I should thank you for saving me from his foul mood.”
“No, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t thank me for anything.” Daniel leaned against the back of the bench and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how to formulate the truth for her without engendering her disdain. He hadn’t been able to come up with it on the mad carriage ride to the station, and no flash of brilliance came to him now. “It’s all my fault. I asked Swimmer to make his intentions—or lack thereof—clear to your father.”
“I see.” She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “I suppose I knew it was you, although I thought it might have been the duke’s attempt to save himself.”
“I truly am sorry. I ruined your plan. You confided in me, and I violated your trust.”
“Edward told me from the start it wouldn’t work, that Father would never take the bait. He was probably right.” Her hand fluttered over his, ever so briefly. “But thank you for saying that. No man has ever apologized for overstepping his bounds with me before.”
An image of Emme entangled with some other man, a stranger bearing some resemblance to himself, crossed his mind. He closed his eyes and willed it away while wondering if that same image haunted her, and if that was what she meant.
“Oh, here comes the train now.” She rose to her feet.
“We don’t have to hurry. It will take some time to unload passengers and luggage before they even think of boarding for your trip.”
She smoothed down her skirt. “Yes, I suppose, but perhaps we should make our way to the platform.”
Daniel stood and picked up the small valise that sat on the bench beside her. “I’ve never seen a lady travel so lightly.”
“There’s a trunk with the porter, but I won’t need much. It’s a simple life at Aunt Juliana’s country house.”
He held out his arm to her and she took it. “And I suppose Mrs. Billings and Mrs. Carter are all set in their new lives, so your absence won’t affect their plight.”
She hesitated. “No, there’s still much to do. But Tessa has promised to check on them when she can.”
“Hm. It’s a pity, though. Lady Tessa is so busy. She and James work dawn to dusk on their scholarship projects.”
“Yes, they do. But Luci has promised to help, as well.”
“Ah, then Lady Lucinda has devised a sneaky way to avoid her father’s watchful eye?”
They’d only made it past their bench when Emme stepped away from Daniel and leaned her hand on the back of it. “Oh, yes, that is a problem, isn’t it?”
She furrowed her brow and chewed her lip, giving the appearance of having a deep dialogue with herself. Daniel prayed for the voice that agreed with him to win. With a deep breath, she straightened her back, looking far too resolved for his liking.
“I shall send a telegraph to Lady Abigail tomorrow, asking that while I’m away, she continue the work with Mrs. Billings and Mrs. Carter.” She took Daniel’s arm again.
They took a few more steps.
“And your mother won’t miss you too terribly, after seeing you for less than two weeks?”
Tessa stopped walking and frowned. “My mother will miss me, and I’ll miss her. I assume she and Aunt Juliana will come to join me soon.”
“From a conversation at the duke’s dinner party, I was under the impression she’d gone through quite an ordeal to get here by coach and was not looking forward to traveling any time soon.”
Emme leaned her hip against the side of another bench. “Yes, and she stubbornly refuses to take the train. She’s almost as bad as Aunt Juliana when it comes to trusting new things.” She shook her head and threw back her shoulders. “It will be a bit dull and perhaps lonely, but I have plans to make and treatises to write, so I’ll fill the days until they come to see me, or I return to town to join the Spinsters’ Club.”
She took his arm and they moved forward another few feet before she stopped. “But what of Edward?”
“What of your brother, my lady?”
“I’m leaving him in a terrible position, aren’t I?”
Daniel took a slow breath before speaking so as not to appear over-anxious. “He’ll be the one who will have to explain your flight to the countryside to your parents.”
She sat down heavily on the bench closest to the door. “And then try to keep the peace between them. They’ll each blame the other, as they always do when I cause a stir.”
Daniel widened his eyes, then worked to present a composed visage. Could it be that, on top of everything else, she blamed herself for her parents’ rift? He would have to discuss it with Meriden. Clearly, there were things happening in that family that were deeply troubling their daughter, yet none of them seemed to care one whit about it.
He sank onto the bench in front of her. “And so?”
“And so, I must stay.” She sighed and drooped like a flower that had lost the sun’s light.
Seeing her distress, he kept his own happiness in check. “My coach is just outside. I’ll have my man see to your trunk.”
“Oh, dear. Look at the time.” He followed her gaze to a clock on the train platform. “I can’t return home at this late hour, especially with you!”
Daniel couldn’t deny the sense in that. “Perhaps in a hired coach. My man and I will follow right behind you.”
She shook her head. “That won’t be much better.”
“The Alcotts, then.” Daniel breathed a sigh of relief to have it resolved so quickly and easily.
She shook her head again. “You said yourself, they work from dawn ‘til dusk. Even society events are little more to them than opportunities to meet with benefactors. Tessa was exhausted when they left here. If I show up on their doorstep, she’ll get out of bed and make a fuss. No, I’ll have to stay in a hotel.”
An image of scoundrels like her ex-fiancé sniffing around outside her hotel room made Daniel jump to his feet.
“Nonsense.” He forced his voice back to calm. “You know how gossip travels in this town. Word will get out and your father will hear about it.”
“Yes, you’re right. Of course, you’re right. It’s settled then.” She rose slowly to her feet. “I’m getting on that train after all.”
Daniel knew what he must say but shouldn’t. The solution was simple but dangerous, even if all went according to plan. But the only alternative was Emme leaving town for weeks, or possibly months.
“You’ll stay with me.” He held up his hand before she could protest. “I have a large house and a small staff of loyal, tight-lipped servants. You’ll have your own room where you can bar the door.” That made her smile, and just the sight of it made his heart lighter. “We’ll rise before dawn and I’ll take you to the Alcotts, after they’ve had their full night’s sleep, and they can see you home.”
She picked at the back of one of her gloves, mulling over the idea, opening her mouth and then closing it a few times, until she shrugged. “It appears it’s the best plan we have, which illustrates how dreadfully limited our options are.”
He picked up her valise and held out his arm once more. “My lady, our chariot awaits us.” Let us pray hellfire does not await us as well.
&
nbsp; But then Emme laid her hand on his arm, and all was right with the world.
Chapter 14
“This is terribly wrong, I just know it,” Emme said aloud to herself as she paced the length of the lovely bedroom, decorated in pink and gold, that Daniel’s servants had set up for her.
Daniel.
She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even lie down long enough to try, knowing he was so near and the house was so private and no one would ever know of anything that happened here under cover of night.
The household staff, small as it was, had scurried about to provide her with every comfort, including a light meal, a maid to undo her hair, and a silk nightgown and robe that appeared to be brand new, although that didn’t make sense. Then they’d disappeared and the entire house had gone silent more than half an hour ago.
She thought of her own house at this hour. So often, it was still full of life, with one if not all three of the ladies taking tea, Emme reading while her mother and aunt chatted over needlepoint, servants bustling about as her father and brother arrived home from a session at the House of Lords or a dinner at their club.
Daniel had his own duties to tend to, but when meetings ended or balls drew to a close or dinner and drinks with his friends were over, he came here. To this quiet house. Alone.
It didn’t need to be that way, even if it took him months to find a bride. A man in his position, with wealth and a soon-to-be-restored title, those intense blue eyes and thick, dark mane of hair...he could take a lover. Any woman seeking to be a mistress, and even some who had no business doing any such thing, would have him.
Emme stopped pacing and stared down at the pale pink silk robe covering a cream-colored chemise with tiny pink roses embroidered on it. Sweet. Demure. Not the seductive garb of a mistress.
At least, not before tonight.
She untied the robe and let it hang loose around her while she ran her hands over the curves of her body, imagining Daniel’s hands exploring her. She ran one hand through her unbound hair, but it was his hand she felt caressing scalp, her neck, her shoulder. With a groan, she dropped the robe to the floor, shook out her hair, and threw back her shoulders.
Slowly, carefully, silently, she left her room and moved down the hallway, the floor and rugs alternately cold and smooth, then warm and plush under her feet. She stopped outside his door, the entryway to his private sanctum, the place where he would one day bring a wife. But not now. Not yet. For tonight, he could still be hers.
She laid her palm flat on the door and listened, catching what might have been movement on the other side of it. She knocked lightly, and the door opened almost immediately, as though he’d sensed her coming and had been waiting there for her to arrive. His dark hair was tousled, his blue eyes bright, his naked chest and belly taut and lightly haired, his feet bare. He wore silk pajama pants that clung to his narrow hips. Surely the devil himself had never looked so tempting.
“Emme.” Her name fell from his lips like a prayer. He blinked slowly, languorously, eyes full of lust, not sleep. “What do you—”
She pressed her palm against his chest and backed him into the room.
“Need.” His final word was a statement, not a question.
She pushed the door closed behind her and leaned against it, watching him as his weighted gaze perused every inch of her body, arousing her as if with his touch.
They stared at each other, their breathing heavy, perfectly synchronized, laden with expectation. He didn’t move a muscle. Just waited. Heat radiated off his body and made the blood sing in her veins. She leaned forward, straining on her tiptoes to get close to his ear.
“Daniel, I find myself in desperate need of your kiss.”
* * *
She couldn’t have uttered a more seductive phrase. Daniel tried to hold his ground, but she advanced on him and he stepped back in rhythm with her forward progress, in a dance that was ironically familiar, stopping only when she’d backed him against the mahogany footboard of his bed.
From the second he’d heard the soft squeak of a floorboard, he’d known she was coming to him. He hadn’t considered for a second barring her entrance or sending her away. He hadn’t had time to put on anything appropriate, and now the silk trousers he wore couldn’t hide what her touch did to him. And her attire. The thin, white shift, despite its color and embellishment with tiny pink roses, was anything but innocent as it clung to her curves and revealed the outline of her taut nipples. It was even more sensuous than he’d imagined when he’d bought it for her at their last port in France on their voyage home, in hopes that she’d eventually wear it on their wedding night.
He closed his eyes and focused on calming breaths that weren’t up to the task. “Emme, you shouldn’t—”
She pressed her finger to his lips and he opened his eyes. “Don’t say that word: shouldn’t.” She walked around him to the edge of his bed and ran her fingers over the thick crimson duvet turned back to reveal white cotton sheets.
He risked a step, one small step, toward her. He longed to touch her upturned face, to stroke her soft shoulder, to make her breath hitch in her throat. He stopped himself. “Emme, we can’t.”
She traced her fingertips over the sheets. “A lady shouldn’t. A lady can’t. I’ll add ‘a lady doesn’t’, to save you having to say it. Do you know how many times a lady hears those words by the time she reaches the age of twenty-two? If I had to wager, I’d say at least one of those three words has appeared in most of the sentences spoken to me in my lifetime.”
He stood frozen, cut to the quick by the sadness in her voice and his powerlessness to ease her pain.
She sat on the edge of his bed and locked her gaze on his. “A lady shouldn’t want a man the way I want you, but I do. A lady can’t have a man the way I want you, but I intend to. A lady doesn’t beg for a man’s affections, but I will. If that’s what it takes, Daniel, I will beg you.”
He stood in front of her and cupped her face to turn it up to him. “I love you, Emmeline Radcliffe. I’ll never make you beg me for anything.”
She slipped off the bed and stood in the circle of his arms. “A request then. Make love to me, Daniel. Tonight. And other nights. Again and again, until you’ve had your fill of me. I love you, too. Let me love you.”
She loved him.
The thing he’d once hoped, had sometimes suspected, had always needed, had at last come true.
Five years ago, as he’d stood on the deck of a ship and watched the shores of his homeland recede, he’d told himself he could have a new and better life, he could breathe deeply of the salty sea air, and he could be free. But it had never improved. He hadn’t drawn a deep breath until she’d said those three words to him.
A month ago, when he’d met her again, when he’d glimpsed the depth of her loss and pain, he’d wanted to return her to the carefree girl he’d left behind. Now he saw the folly in such thinking. The woman in front of him was so much more, not in spite of the life she’d lived without him, but because of it. He no longer wanted to change her. He just wanted her. He loved her.
At last, he was home and truly free. She loved him! And now she meant to give herself to him, and he meant to have her. To have and to hold, and to love until death.
“Emme, kitten, I love you.” He said it again and again, between kisses. First gentle kisses, then firmer ones, then passionate explorations of lips and tongues. He said it because he had to make her hear it, and because he needed to hear her say it back to him.
And she did say it, over and over again as he stripped the filmy garment from her body, as he laid her back on the soft, cool sheets of his bed, as he traced his tongue over inch after silky, lavender-scented inch of her bare skin.
When he lingered over her tantalizing breasts, she murmured. When he traced his way down her flat belly, she whispered. When he ran his tongue up her inner thigh, she sucked in her breath and her words turned to soft gasps. Her exaltations grew louder as he slid his tongue over her musky wetnes
s and slid two fingers inside her, stroking her, coaxing her.
He’d promised her he’d never make her beg, and yet she did now, wordlessly. She grabbed the sheets, then his shoulders. She ran her fingers through his hair while she writhed and arched beneath the ministrations of his fingers and tongue, until her hips arched higher, her fingers gripped tighter, her whole body clenched, and her gasps turned into a long, low moan. Daniel didn’t stop tasting and touching her until a final shudder rippled through her body and she relaxed with a contented sigh.
He traced his way back up her body with soft kisses and nibbled the base of her neck. She was sated, but he was still afire. He would let her rest for a few minutes, then would tease and tempt her into shared pleasure. He cupped her cheek and kissed her lips. When she opened her eyes, she looked anything but tired. She leaned forward and nipped his lower lip with her teeth, then ran her tongue over the spot as she ran her hand down his chest and untied his silk pajamas.
“Emme.”
It was his turn to sigh and moan under her touch, but he couldn’t allow it to be one-sided for long. He ran his hands down the length of her body, all curves and silky skin and long loose hair tickling his now-naked body. He slipped his hand between her thighs and she opened to his stroking fingers immediately. She rubbed him and tightened her grip on him in a way that would make it all end too soon.
He pulled slightly away from her. “Slower, kitten, if you want me capable of consummating our love.”
She nodded. “Now.” Her voice was low and thick with desire, and as much as he wanted them to explore and tease each other more, he knew he couldn’t last much longer.
He nodded. “Now.” He kissed her and pressed her back into the pillows.
“You’ll take care,” she whispered.
“Of course.” It took a few more seconds for her meaning to penetrate his lust-addled brain. “Yes, of course,” he repeated.
Begrudgingly, he slid off the bed and opened the drawer of his bedside table. He pulled out a small package, unwrapped it, and fastened the ghastly-looking thing onto himself. The French letter was far from attractive, but it would keep her safe from pregnancy until she was ready to bear him a child. Perhaps in months, perhaps not for years, but there was plenty of time for an heir. For tonight, for as long as she needed, he would give her pure pleasure and extract no cost.
One Kiss From Ruin: Harrow’s Finest Five Book 1 Page 16