by Erica Ridley
Their chance for a future together was as make-believe as the “holiday” they were packing for.
No matter how much he wished it were real.
Chapter 13
Gloria locked her freshly-packed trunk and hung up the key.
Making-believe with Christopher had simultaneously been a great diversion and bittersweet torture. She wished she could pack with him for every trip. That someday… one could even be real.
But the mere thought sent butterflies of panic beating inside her chest.
She yanked the blanket from atop her bed. Gloria could no longer stand to be in the same room as her unused trunk. “Come with me.”
He followed close behind as she led him into the observatory. “What are we doing?”
“Having a picnic.” She handed him the blanket and relocated the telescopes to a safe corner of the room.
Her heart sped. Their futures might be destined in opposite directions, but their paths had not yet diverged. For as long as he remained, she intended to follow their attraction wherever it might lead. She couldn’t keep him forever, but she would hold him close every moment they still had.
Starting with tonight.
When she bent to lift the wooden platform in the center, Christopher tossed the blanket aside and rushed to take the dais from her. “Where does this go?”
She motioned. “Lean it against the far wall.”
As he did so, she dragged a carpet to the center of the room below the skyward window and centered the soft blanket on top.
She gave him a lopsided smile. “I didn’t think far enough ahead to pack bread and cheese in a handkerchief…”
“Serviette,” he murmured with a little cough. “I found it very romantic.”
So had Gloria. She rummaged in a hidden corner. “But I do have this.”
She pulled out a large bottle of brandy and placed it in the middle of the blanket.
“All liquor, no food,” he said with a straight face. “I like how you picnic.”
She plopped down onto the blanket and motioned for him to join her. “This is the pudding’s brandy. There’s barely more than a swallow left for each of us, but I hope we can make do.”
“We’ll find a way,” he assured her, and settled beside her on the blanket.
She uncorked the bottle and inhaled the brandy’s sharp, sweet scent. “Shall we toast?”
“To anything you wish.” The corners of his mouth curved in amusement. “This is your picnic.”
“In that case…” She lifted the bottle up high as though it were an offering to the heavens. “To the stars!”
She took a healthy swig and then handed him the bottle.
“May they ever shine upon us.” He lifted the bottle high.
She nodded her approval.
He followed her lead with a shot of brandy, then swirled the empty bottle with a chuckle.
“You were right,” he said with a chuckle. “Just enough for two sips.”
“Just enough,” Gloria agreed. She took the bottle from him and set it aside, well out of harm’s way.
She placed her hands on either side of his chest and pushed him flat onto the blanket, then cuddled up beside him so that both their faces tilted up toward the stars shining high above them.
“You already know how I became interested in the heavens,” she said after a long moment of companionable silence. “Why did you?”
“Same reason,” he said. “Or the opposite. My parents.”
“Your father was a Royal Navy Captain?” she teased.
“My father was a flash-tempered Narcissus,” he said, his voice devoid of humor. “I learned to stare out the window at the stars as hard as I could, in order to pretend I couldn’t hear the shouting.”
Aghast, she slid her hand beneath his and interlaced their fingers. “He sounds dreadful.”
“He excelled at dreadful,” Christopher agreed. “When Mother left us, her absence destroyed me. But I couldn’t blame her for going. All I wanted was to escape, too.”
“And you’ve been escaping ever since,” Gloria said softly.
He swung his head toward hers with startled eyes. “I’m not escaping.”
She arched a brow. “Aren’t you?”
He shook his head. “I stopped running away a long time ago. I’m searching for something better. At first, I needed a place where I could go unnoticed. Later, I wanted to find a place I could belong.”
“And now?”
“Now I like exploring,” he said with a lift of his shoulder. “You may not have heard this, but it turns out, adventure is fun.” His voice turned wistful. “Seeing all the different ways to live one’s life helped me feel better about mine. I started making small changes. Picking up new ideas wherever I went.”
“Like French?” she asked
“More than French.” He seemed to think it over. “It’s not just language or food or customs. It’s an alternate way of viewing the world. Of treating each other. Of enjoying each day. I learned to be grateful for things I might never have considered before.” He paused. “Traveling doesn’t just make me a better person. It makes me… happy.”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “You deserve joy.”
He gave her hand an answering squeeze. “Everyone deserves joy.”
“I’m happy!” She turned her head toward him and let him see the truth in her eyes. “I’m happy every time I’m with you.”
She stuck out her face and pushed her lips into an exaggerated pucker as though trying to kiss him without bothering to actually move closer.
He gave a snort of laughter and bent his neck down far enough to kiss the tip of her nose. “You are the strangest woman I have ever met, but I like it.”
She sighed with pleasure. “You say the sweetest things.”
His voice was droll. “Finally, a woman who appreciates my finer talents.”
“Speaking of talents…” She pointed up through the window at the stars. “What do you see up there?”
“Is this a test?” he asked suspiciously.
She nodded. “It’s definitely a test.”
He squinted up toward the heavens. “Hydra?”
“Wrong.” She affected grave disappointment. “That’s clearly a lady’s hair ribbon.”
“Is that so?” He pointed at a different corner. “What do you see over there, Resident Lady Astronomer?”
“A harpsichord.” She moved his hand in the direction of Ursa Major. “And that set of stars over there look like… three French horns.”
He wrinkled his nose in obvious disagreement. “Hens.”
She jerked her eyes toward his. “What?”
He pointed up. “Not horns. I think they look more like chickens.”
“You see three French hens up there in the sky,” she repeated in disbelief. “You.”
He widened his eyes at her. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“What I see right now—” She let go of his hand and rolled atop him. “—is a man I like very much.”
He curved his hands about her hips. “What are you going to do about it?”
She answered by slanting her mouth over his.
Her heart pounded with pleasure. A thousand roses would not have been a greater gift than his three French hens.
Christopher was bending a rule, just for her. He wasn’t merely allowing her to be herself, no matter how silly that might be, but actively joining his imagination with hers.
She’d like to join a few more bits together.
He was temptation incarnate. Everything about him was something she shouldn’t have or couldn’t have, but wanted very much. She sank her fingers into his hair as she kissed him.
His lips were firm and generous, his tongue hot and demanding. She would relinquish anything he wanted if he would give her everything she needed. Her body yearned for him, from her banging heart to the rush of desire racing through her blood. She might lose him on the morrow, but she would not allow tonight to pass them by.
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nbsp; “Tell me about your travels,” she murmured between kisses. “Do all cultures require cravats?”
He murmured No without separating his mouth from hers.
She slid her fingers from his hair down to his neckcloth. In moments, she untied the knot. With a flourish, she tossed the soft square of white silk aside.
“Tourists,” she murmured. “Always with the neckcloths. Tell me about this very interesting coat of black superfine.” She ran her hands over his hard muscles. “Do men in all places hide their gorgeous arms in such things?”
“They do not,” he said between kisses. “Horrid custom.”
She wriggled her skirts up so that she could better straddle his thighs, then pulled him upright in order to divest him of his coat. When she’d dreamed of what it might be like to undress him, she hadn’t realized her fingers would fumble with each button because her hands trembled so. Or that removing each layer of clothing would feel like stripping away another shield from her heart.
When the well-tailored superfine and accompanying waistcoat joined the forgotten neckcloth outside the blanket, he moved to lay back down.
She stopped him.
“This linen shirt,” she said as she ran a fingertip along his shoulder. “It offends my sensibilities.”
“A thousand apologies, madam.” He removed the shirt in a single fluid movement.
Her breath caught. Having him to command was headier than any brandy. Seeing his naked flesh with her eyes, feeling his strong thighs trapped beneath hers, made her feel more powerful than any star in the sky. He wasn’t looking at his telescope. He was looking at her. Submitting to her every wish because his desire matched her own.
His hot gaze never wavered from hers. “How else may I be of service?”
She touched her fingers to his muscled chest and ran her hands over its hard contours. Her imagination had not come close to describing how fine this man would look half undressed. And the way he felt to the touch… Her core throbbed in anticipation of having all of him at once. But first, a few layers remained in their way.
“This wretched gown I am wearing,” she said with an exaggerated pout. “Some imbecile named Ackermann designed its closures so that they could only be opened by a maid.”
“I don’t see a maid anywhere,” he said gravely. “Shall I do my best to rescue you from this horrific prison of satin ribbons and figured muslin?”
She nodded. “I would be eternally grateful.”
“Turn around,” he commanded.
She complied at once, her pulse thrumming with excitement. She had not realized that following orders could be even more erotic than giving them. Her hands trembled as she lifted her skirts to straddle him completely. The sensitive spot between her legs felt at once shockingly exposed and yet too far away. She wanted more.
“Come closer.” His voice had gone thick.
She scooted back until her derrière pressed against the flat panes of his stomach. Her pulse skipped. She was now straddling the direct proof of his arousal. She tried to catch her breath. The knowledge that he wanted her as much as she wanted him only made her desire grow even stronger.
“Hurry,” she whispered.
“No,” came his arrogant reply.
Slowly, inch by inch, he slipped each scrap of ribbon through its eyelets. As he exposed each small morsel of flesh, he lowered his lips to her bare skin in a kiss.
Her skin shivered deliciously each time.
His mouth was hot and deliberate as lips traced a sensuous pattern down her spine. He was treating her as if they had all the time in the world to get to know each other’s bodies. As though she were a precious package meant to be savored. As if they were not just building toward a physical union, but creating a memory of pleasure so profound that it would last an entire lifetime. Each brush of his hand, each mind-drugging kiss, etched itself deeper onto her soul.
When at last the final eyelets had been exposed, he tossed the satin ribbon aside. He pushed her puffed sleeves and the straps of her loose shift down over her shoulders. Her arms were trapped at her sides and her bosom was a hairsbreadth from being fully exposed.
“Don’t stop,” she begged.
In answer, he slid her sleeves down over her elbows, releasing each trembling arm one by one.
“Now what?” she whispered. “Shall I turn back around?”
He pressed his lips to the base of her neck. “Not yet.”
As his mouth left a trail of kisses along the curve of her shoulders, his hands cupped her bosom and wreaked glorious torture on her sensitive breasts and nipples. She was not even facing him, and her body was utterly his to command. She expected to melt into his touch, but instead felt the delectable tension build higher and higher.
Her bent legs tightened about his thighs as her core rubbed against his thick shaft. The carnal pressure between her legs grew ever more demanding. It was a spot only he could touch. A yearning only he could fill. She could scarcely breathe from wanting him so much.
“I feel,” she gasped as the uncontrollable arousal expanded until she could think of nothing else but finding release with him. “I feel like we’re still wearing too many clothes.”
“I always feel that way around you,” came his answering growl just below her ear. “It will be my pleasure to address our problem.”
He lifted her hips from his thighs and pushed her skirts down to her knees.
She leaned back against him to kick the material away. She was almost completely naked. The chill air did nothing to cool the heat of her body or the racing of her pulse. She could not stand to be separate from him for much longer. Waiting was a sensual torture she was not sure she could bear.
“Not fair,” she said as she ran her hands down his breeches. “A gentleman never allows a lady to have the only undressed body in the room.”
Her rear facing him, she edged forward on her knees until she could reach his boots. She did not bother taking her time. She wanted him nude as quickly as possible.
“You’re still wearing your stockings,” he reminded her as he ran a finger across her garter. “Leave them on. I like it.”
A spike of arousal shot through her at the realization that her body was as powerful an aphrodisiac for him as his was for her. She could hear the catch in his breath as he enjoyed the curve of her derrière… and perhaps a glimpse even lower. She had never felt so exposed or so powerful.
She tossed his stockings away with his Hessians, then turned to face him. Her breath heaved in excitement and arousal. The moment was almost here. All that remained now were his breeches.
She reached for his fall.
He caught her wrist. “Be certain. Is this what you want?”
She did not pretend to misunderstand. Her bare bosom brushed against his muscular chest. She was more than certain. Desire raged within her. For his body, and for him. This was their one chance. “Don’t you want it, too?”
“I want all of you.” He lifted her and placed her beside him on her back, then positioned himself between her thighs.
“I want all of you, too.” She kissed along his jaw, letting him see her urgency. She wanted him to realize she’d never desired anything more in her life. He was what she’d been waiting for. She rubbed her bare hips against his breeches. “But I suspect we need to unbutton your trousers in order for you to let me have it.”
“I don’t mean one time,” he said as he reached between them to free his shaft. “I mean all the times.”
The resulting gap in his waistline caused his breeches to sink below his buttocks. She ran her hands over their muscular curves and pulled him closer. His shaft now nestled directly against her wet heat. Her breath caught.
He moved his head lower until his mouth reached her breasts.
“Are you listening?” he asked as he suckled her.
No. She was not listening. A rich, restless pressure was swirling within her.
Sensing her needs, he slid his hand between her legs and began to play.
His mouth rose from her nipple long enough for him to murmur, “I want you to be my partner in all things.”
She slid her hands into his hair. “I want you inside me.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I want to take that as a yes. But just in case my intent is unclear…” His hand paused its sensual magic. “I’m referring to you being my wife. Would you like me as your husband?”
Her heart skipped. She shoved her doubts away. They would deal with the future tomorrow. For now, they had tonight.
She wriggled against his hands to try and coax him to stroke her again. “Convince me.”
He moved his hand away from her legs altogether.
She nearly cried out from the loss. “No, I want—”
“I’ll show you what you can have.” He lowered his head between her legs and introduced her to the heavens.
She closed her eyes and gave herself over to pleasure as he illustrated talents with his mouth and tongue that she had never dreamed possible. Only when her legs stopped trembling did he raise back up and realign his body with hers.
He kissed the side of her mouth. “What do you say? Do you like what I have to offer?”
“Let me show you.” She wrapped her legs about him and arched her hips to nudge his shaft to her core.
He entered slowly, carefully, gently.
There was a brief moment of pain, and then only fullness and a growing yearning for more.
This was what she had been waiting for. The pleasure he built within her burned as bright as the streak of a comet, innumerable constellations filling the sky, an entire universe of heat and light and beauty. They were creating a new world together.
“Don’t hold back.” She met him rhythm for rhythm. “Take me with you.”
He grabbed her hips and covered her mouth with his.