by Wendy Vella
“Hero, there is no need,” Max muttered. “Really, I have plenty of money and I spend most of it on myself.”
She had begun to walk away from him toward the bed but his words had her turning to face him and in a few steps she was before him again.
“There is every need, Lord Caruthers. What you did will make such a difference in the children’s lives.”
“As I have just stated I have plenty of money.”
“They went to bed warm tonight and were well fed and tomorrow they will wake to the joy of decorating a tree. They will soon be in new clothes and have curtains to ward off the cold.”
She placed a hand on his chest and Max could feel her touch through his entire body.
“You have shown them kindness that no other has before and those are the actions of a good man.”
“You love them very much, don't you, Hero?”
“Before them my life had no meaning. Now it serves a purpose.”
The honesty in her eyes humbled him.
“You did not have to help me tonight, my Lord. In fact, you could have turned me away and no one would have faulted you, yet you did not. You are a good man, Lord Caruthers.”
Her words should not have increased his shame, yet they did. “You’re the first person to ever call me that and I’m afraid it’s not true. Regarding the tradespeople, I merely threw money around, nothing more.”
“No, you did more than that, much more, and I'm sorry if my words led you to believe I thought—”
“Enough, Hero, do not make more of this than need be. Now I bid you goodnight. Should you need me again, I am at the end of the hall and to the left, two doors along. “
Before she could say another word, Max left the room and walked down the hall. After shutting his door, he removed his coat and boots, hurling them across the room for no other reason than it felt good. He then fell into the chair before the fire and stared into the flames.
Why was she the woman to make him feel dissatisfied with his life? What was it about her that had him questioning the way he had always lived? When faced with Hero's deeds, he’d realized he was shallow. She made him want to be a better man, a man she would be proud of.
Closing his eyes, he thought of the women who had thrown themselves at him and whom he had chosen to turn away—women of both wealth and beauty. No female had interested him until now, until Hero, with her drab clothes and fiery temperament. Hero, who would fight with what little means she had at her disposal for children that were not even of her blood or class. Max didn’t like to feel emotions. He was cold and composed. But it seemed she had opened something inside him that he seemed unable to close again.
Chapter Eleven
Hero walked around her room slowly. She should be exhausted not restless, and it was all Lord Caruthers’s fault. Something was off with him she was sure of it. He’d looked sad when she left the children’s room—sad and vulnerable—and Hero had known him only briefly, but did not believe he normally felt either of these emotions.
What had disturbed him? She needed to know or there would be no rest this night. Needed to know it was not her who had upset him.
Leaving the room, she walked to his. It wasn’t as if her reputation would be tarnished visiting a man like this. She had no reputation after all. Had given that up when she left her cousin’s house. Taking a deep breath, Hero tapped on the door.
“Enter.”
Turning the handle, she opened it and walked inside. The room was huge. Looking around the furniture she located him seated before the fire.
“Hero, is something wrong?”
She lifted one hand to stop him rising as she walked forward. “Nothing is wrong with me, my lord, but I fear there is much wrong with you.”
“Nothing is wrong I assure you, and you should not be in this room.”
“What troubles you, my lord?” she ignored his words.
“Nothing. I’m merely need of sleep.”
“No, there is more to this than tiredness, Lord Caruthers.” Hero halted beside his chair.
“We should not be having this conversation here, Hero. You are a lady and are alone in a man’s room. Therefore, I insist you leave.
She heard the desperation in his voice as his eyes flickered from her and then back to the fire.
“Did we do something, Lord Caruthers, the children I? Are you regretting helping us this day?”
“No! I know you believe me capable of such thoughts but I assure you that I have no regrets.”
Hero looked down at him and felt something stir deep inside her. She had known him briefly. Strong-willed, determined and yes, arrogant but seeing him vulnerable disturbed her. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she sank to her knees before him. Hero then placed her hands over his clenched fists.
“No, Hero, please. You must rise—”
“What has upset you, Lord Caruthers?”
“My name is Max,” he rasped, trying to look anywhere but at her. He could smell her scent, clean and fresh yet strangely alluring and he wanted her with a desperation that shocked him. The need to strip the clothes from her body and taste every inch of her soft skin made his muscles clench. He wanted to plunge his fingers into her hair and pull her close.
“Hero, leave my room.” Max heard the urgency in his voice and hoped she understood how close he was to the edge.
“Tell me what has disturbed you?”
Max wasn't a man to share his emotions but with her, he suddenly wanted to—needed to make her understand how he felt. “You disturb me, Hero. I’m humbled by your selflessness. You’ve given up everything to do what you believe is right, what you believe in, and I…I have never given up a thing.” His words trailed off as she placed one hand against his cheek. Her lovely eyes soft and understanding.
“Perhaps that was once true, but no longer. The man I have come to know is good, kind and giving.”
For several heartbeats Max almost believed her…almost.
“No, Hero. One day of good deeds does not change a lifetime of bad ones. I’m self-indulgent and have cared little for others my entire life.”
“I don’t believe you have spent your life undertaking bad deeds, Max, and I don’t believe the man who held that little boy and gave him comfort today is the man you describe.”
Her eyes held his for long seconds as her fingers began to explore his face, touching and stroking, each caress heating his body.
“I will never marry, Lord Caruthers. In fact, I will probably live out my days as a spinster with my children.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Max rasped. “You must leave now before it is too late. Dear God, don’t do that,” he whispered as she slowly stretched upward, every curve of her body grazing his as her hands wrapped around his neck.
“Make love to me, Max, please.”
Her soft words brushed his lips as she spoke.
“Hero, no, you don’t want this, really.” He reached to remove her hands from his neck.
“I have never wanted anything more.”
“This is wrong… we cannot,” his words fell away on a moan as she kissed his jaw.
“Please, Max.”
They were two simple words that broke his control. Sinking his fingers into her hair, he cupped her head and kissed her. Lips clashed as he took control, seeking and tasting. She opened on a gasp and he delved inside, his tongue stroking hers until she moaned and answered his need.
She should be terrified, running from the room in fear as he ravaged her mouth, his kisses hard and fierce, desire forcing reason from his head. Instead, she wrapped her hands around his shoulders and held him tight.
Desperate for more he urged her closer, pressing her soft curves to his chest.
“Are you sure, Hero, because soon I will not be able to stop?”
Her answer was to press closer to wrap her hands around his neck. “You humble me.” His words were hoarse as he began to kiss her neck. “You give so much, yet it is to me you give the grea
test gift of all—yourself.”
“I have desired no man before I met you.” With these words, she eased out of his arms and regained her feet. Max’s throat went dry as Hero reached for the buttons of her dress.
“I’ve never desired a woman as much as I do you, Hero.”
She gave him a smile, which suggested she did not believe his words.
“I speak the truth.”
“No lies, Max. Not tonight.”
Any thoughts fled as the bodice of her dress dipped and he was presented with a plain white shift that did nothing to contain the lush swells beneath. She eased her arms from the sleeves and then pushed the dress over her hips to the floor. Sweet Christ, he was painfully aroused looking at that worn undergarment. It sat mid-thigh and firelight showed him the length of her long legs and the sweet curves beneath. He rose as she lifted the shift over her head and stood before him gloriously naked except for her stockings. His hands shook with the need to touch her.
Her body was not soft like most of the ladies’ he’d known, but firm, the muscles beneath the creamy skin burnished from the fire’s glow making her look like a goddess—so tall and proud.
“You’re beautiful.” Max wanted to run his hands and mouth all over her. Trace the slight indent from her waist to her hips and bury his mouth in the thatch of curls between her thighs. Taking a deep breath he fought the need to take her. He had frightened her earlier today and would not do so again. Tonight he would show her the man she believed he could be.
Chapter Twelve
Hero drew a shaky breath as she looked at the fire burning in Max’s eyes. The courage that had helped remove her clothes was wavering.
“Don’t hide from me.” His voice was deep as he pushed the hair she had brought forward to hide her breasts, back over her shoulders. “I want all of you, Hero, every lush curve and sweet dip. I want to taste you and hear you call my name.”
Dear God, the thought of him placing his lips on her body made Hero shiver.
He lowered his head and kissed the slope of one breast and she could do nothing to halt the moan. His breath was warm on her skin and need bloomed inside her. Instinctively she arched toward him.
“Slowly, sweetheart. We have all night. Lie down in front of the fire, Hero, and trust me.”
She did as he asked. Lying on her back, she watched as he removed his clothes. His back was to her as he pulled off his shirt and she saw the width of his shoulders. He pushed the waistband of his breeches lower and then bent at the waist and Hero was presented with the beauty of his taut buttocks. And then he faced her.
“Don’t be afraid.”
She should be, yet he was so beautiful. His chest made up of slopes and plains muscles, tapering down of a hard abdomen. Beneath dark curls and his arousal. Hero wanted to run her hands over his body and learn every crest and dip.
He was kneeling beside her now, his hands moving slowly down her body, touching, caressing, until Hero was writhing beneath him, eager for more.
“You’ll have a bruise tomorrow,” Max said as he reached her side. “I’m sorry that man hurt you.”
“Sssh. It doesn’t hurt anymore, Max.”
She felt his lips on her side, kissing the area that she had damaged, and then he was once again looking at her. “Do you know what will happen between us, Hero?”
“Yes, Max.” Hero didn’t want to talk; she wanted more of the wonderful feelings he was creating inside her. Reaching for him, she ran one hand up his calf to his thigh, and higher until her fingers brushed his arousal. The breath hissed from his throat.
“Hero, dear God, your touch is both pain and pleasure.” Max lay down beside her.
Kissing her slowly he coaxed a response from her, each touch deeper and more intense until Hero was making sounds she had never uttered before. Max began to move down her body, kissing and caressing until something fierce was building inside her, a need that wanted fulfilment. When she felt his mouth on her stomach she reached for him.
“Max?”
“Trust me.” He grabbed her wrist and trapped it at her side with one hand. The other, he used to part her thighs.
“Dear Lord.” He was kissing her there, licking the damp folds and finding her secret places until she was whimpering. Her eyes closed as the need inside her hiked until suddenly she was consumed by waves of ecstasy, her body shuddering its release.
“Now, Hero. Your body is ready for me now.”
He was on top of her seconds later, his mouth on hers in a hot, seeking kiss that made the feelings rise again inside her. His thigh nudged her legs wider and then she felt the silken slide of his shaft as he began to push inside her.
“This may hurt, sweetheart.”
Their eyes met as he braced his body over hers. His jaw was clenched and she knew he was holding back, trying not to frighten or hurt her.
“I want this, Max.” Hero touched his cheek.
He took her mouth in a kiss as he eased through the barrier of her innocence, burying himself deep inside her.
“Hero?”
She took a deep, shaky breath. There was pain but also the wonderful feeling of being a part of Max and he, her. She felt her body adjust to him as the stinging eased.
“Hero, has the pain gone?”
“Yes.”
He gave her a deep, searching kiss before he began to withdraw from her body and then slowly thrust back inside.
“Oh, my,” she sighed as the wonderful sensations begin to build again. So much emotion, so much feeling, it was indescribable, and then suddenly she was there, scaling the summit with Max. Overwhelmed she held onto him, arching up to meet that final thrust.
Breathless, he fell beside her, one large hand settling on her stomach. Hero’s entire body went limp, even her eyelids felt too heavy to hold open.
“Hero,” his lips touched her cheek briefly. She had no words to reply.
She must have slept briefly, but when she woke it was to find Max lifting her into his arms.
“Sssh,” he pressed his lips to her forehead as she roused.
Hero rested against the warm chest beneath her cheek as Max carried her to his bed. Lowering her onto the mattress he then joined her, pulling the covers to her chin. A heavy arm draped over her waist.
“Sleep now, sweetheart.” His lips brushed her hair. Too tired to argue, she did as he asked.
Hero woke on her back with her legs and body pinned to the bed. Looking to the weak shaft of light through the curtains, she hoped it was still early. She had slept undisturbed for the first time in many months. No child had woken her, banging on the bedroom door.
Turning her head, she found Max’s face on the pillow beside her. Softened in sleep, he still slumbered deeply. Lifting the covers, she saw his large, naked leg was lying over hers, as was one arm.
Remembering what they had done last night, she felt a smile form on her face. She should be filled with maidenly horror, but wasn’t. Last night had been a revelation. She would never regret what she shared with this man, even though it would never happen again. Hero now knew what it was to experience passion.
Inching closer on the pillow, she inhaled one last deep breath of his wonderful scent, and then reluctantly, wiggled out of the bed.
Owen and Charlotte were early risers and Hero did not want them to come looking for her. The floor was cold and the room colder, as the fire had long since died. Quietly, she tiptoed around, gathering her clothes and pulling them on. She then left without a backward glance, closing the door softly behind her.
She found Owen and Charlotte awake in their room. The little girl was chattering like a bird. It seemed her spirits were fully restored this morning and even Owen appeared more relaxed. His face was calm and he allowed her to kiss him good morning. She envied them their resilience. She feared the night she had just spent with Max had etched itself into her soul, and soon her current euphoric state would dissipate, leaving her alone and lonely once more.
“You need to dress now, child
ren, so we can make our way back to Bratton House because the others will not want to start decorating our tree until we arrive.”
The lure of the tree was enough to get them moving and in minutes, they were making their way to the front door.
“You two stay here while I get Simon.”
“May I be of assistance, Miss Appleby?” Max’s butler appeared behind them.
“We have no further wish to inconvenience Lord Caruthers, sir, so I am going to collect my horse and take the children home.”
“If you will wait here, I will have your horse brought around for you, Miss Appleby.”
She didn’t want him to bring Simon round; she wanted to keep moving because the thought of seeing Max again made her giddy. She would blush horribly and stutter if she came face to face with him now. He would feel guilt and perhaps offer something foolish like marriage simply because, contrary to what he believed, he was a gentleman. No, leaving before he woke was best for both of them.
Ignoring the stab of pain in the region of her heart, Hero gathered the children together as she heard a noise outside the front door. Opening it, she saw a carriage with Simon tied behind.
“Lord Caruthers would not wish for you to travel home in these conditions on horseback with the children, Miss Appleby. Therefore, I had the carriage brought round.”
“Thank you.” Hero was not about to make a fuss as time was of the essence. Lifting Charlotte, she urged Owen from the house and soon they were inside the carriage and heading for Neathern.
The streets were quiet as the hour was still early and Hero felt herself calm as she put distance between herself and Max.
“I like him.”
“Who, Owen?” Hero looked out the window to see who the little boy was talking about.
“That Lord Caruthers. He’s nice. Do you fink we’ll see him again soon?”
Hero hoped not before she’d regained her composure.
“Lord Caruthers is a busy man, Owen, but I’m sure if he has time, he will call upon you.” Hero felt his eyes on the side of her face as she turned once again to look out the window.