by Jo Goodman
No aid from that quarter. "Gareth? Perhaps if you explain there is no need for a show of strength, that I will accompany him quite willingly..."
Gareth pretended to consider. "No, I don't like interference in my affairs, I shan't do it to Salem."
"Darlene?"
"I stand by my husband."
Leah's exaggerated sigh said clearly what the young girl thought of her brother's tactics. "Rae?" she asked hopefully.
"No."
"Charity? Robert?"
"There was that comment about the hedgehog, dear," Charity explained. "I hardly think it would be fair to deny Jerusalem his revenge."
"I saved you earlier," Robert reminded her, smiling proudly as his son advanced.
People parted for her while she backed away, but none moved to block Salem's path. On the contrary, she discovered they were very eager to call out suggestions on how to capture her. The entire affair was becoming quite bawdy and brought a flush to her cheeks. When she felt her spine press against the newell post at the base of the staircase she admitted defeat. Rather than hold her hands up in surrender she held them out. It was clear to all present how much the little Tory loved her rebel.
Salem lifted her as her arms went easily around his neck. Her silken gown felt incredibly soft against his hands; she seemed to weigh nothing. "Try not to appear too pleased with yourself," he whispered in her ear. "It isn't seemly."
In response she buried her face shyly in the curve of his neck. To the guests' delight, Salem began mounting the stairs.
Chapter 10
Salem set Ashley on her feet as soon as he entered their suite of rooms. He chuckled when she remained clinging to him like a limpet.
"Don't you want to explore?" He glanced about him. Someone had placed a vase of fresh flowers on the three-legged stand by his bed. The ivory drapes had thoughtfully been drawn against the rainy night sky, and candles on the mantelpiece and escritoire flickered their soft light on the cream walls of the bedchamber. At the foot of the four-poster lay a gauzy silk gown for Ashley and Salem's linen nightshirt. Raindrops lashed a peculiar rhythm against the window panes and muted the sounds of the lively party below.
"No, I don't want to explore." Ashley stared up at him, a question in her darkening eyes. "That is to say, I do not want to explore our rooms. Would you think me very brazen if I said what I would like to do?" Her fingers trailed across the sensitive skin at the back of his neck.
"I doubt there is a brazen bone in your body."
"Then if I said I would like to feel you close to me, without benefit of clothes or bundling blanket, you would not think it shocking?"
Salem thought it very shocking, but had not the least objection. "Is this the same finely curved wench who fought me so fiercely at Linfield?"
"The very same. Perhaps this will jog your memory." Ashley nipped his neck with her teeth.
"It seems I do recall those small pearls doing grievous injury to my shoulder." His arms fell comfortably around her waist and pulled her closer in an affectionate embrace. Over the top of Ashley's ebony hair his eyes fell on the nightgown laid out for her. "Would you like some minutes alone to ready yourself for bed? Perhaps you have need of a maid?" Even before he finished speaking he felt Ashley stiffen slightly in his arms. She was more apprehensive about joining him in bed than she had led him to believe.
Ashley shook her head. "I'd rather not bother anyone, if it's all the same. I thought you might help me with my gown." She looked very uncertain of herself. "I imagine I've run out of bluff," she said a trifle sadly. "The truth is, I'm feeling terribly nervous about this."
"Then you're not alone, sweet."
"I daresay we should have retired to the pantry. There was nothing at all intimidating about making love among casks of flour and sugar."
"Tildy was intimidating enough for me, thank you." He stroked her back gently. "I think we can manage this thing easily if we don't feel as if we're forcing it. Does that sound as though it will work?"
Ashley nodded. "How do we go about it?"
"Tell me what you really want at this moment."
"I want you to go on holding me. Your arms are the sweetest security I've ever known."
"Then I shall hold you, but I want to be sitting down."
Ashley thought Salem would take her to the bed. Instead he led her to the window and opened the drapes. The droplets of rain that clung to the glass scattered the candlelight behind them and reflected their own figures in a misty blur. Salem sat on the padded windowseat, one leg stretched along its length while the other angled toward the floor. He pulled Ashley toward him so that she sat in the space bounded by his thighs. With no encouragement from him she curled like a kitten against his chest. Salem kept one arm around her waist and the other free to explore the delicate contours of his wife's form.
"Better?" he asked when she seemed comfortably settled.
"Mmm. Infinitely. I suspect I'm not thinking clearly again. It makes no sense that I should be nervous being with you."
"It makes perfect sense. There are certain expectations of one's wedding night." He hesitated. "And I have not always treated you kindly."
"That is not true, or at least I have forgotten those occasions. I wish that you would do the same." Of its own accord her small hand drifted to his satin-covered thigh. Without conscious thought her fingers traced and retraced a path along his leg.
"I have," he said huskily. Indeed, he thought, at her touch he had forgotten all else. His jaw rested lightly at the crest of her head, and the strong perfume of roses suddenly assailed him. Belatedly he realized he had crushed one of the buds threaded through her hair. His sure fingers began plucking out the tiny flowers and he tossed them forward so they fell on Ashley's lap, mingling with the embroidered patterns in her dress. When she laughed at his foolishness he pressed his smile into a particularly tender spot behind her ear.
"It took Meg a long time to arrange my hair," she said. She could not manage to sound genuinely distressed, not when his lips were nuzzling the curve of her ear.
"And she did splendidly. I'll compliment her when I see her."
"Congratulate her. Shannon proposed."
"When?"
"Today. Just after you left my room. Meg seemed to think it was the excitement of our wedding that brought it on."
"Hmm. Shannon will probably lay the thing at my feet." His tongue flicked her ear. "I doubt that I shall ever get enough of the taste of you. I have a craving right now for a bit of your neck." Ashley's laugh was cut short by a sweet moan as he satisfied himself on the tender line of her throat. Her head fell easily to one side to allow him access. The exquisite nibbles didn't stop at her neck. His hungry lips moved to her shoulder. "I think you would taste better without the lacy garnish."
When he put it so reasonably Ashley could hardly refuse to help him undo the satin ribbon bow and pink rosebuds at her breasts. The shawl was slipped off and fell in a whisper to the hardwood floor. Unrestricted by Ashley's clothing, Salem's tongue traced a line from her nape to the gently rounded end of her shoulder. She shivered.
"Are you cold?"
"Rogue. You know I am not."
"Then you wouldn't mind if I undid a few of the buttons at your back?"
"I suspect I would breathe easier if you did."
Ashley could not see that Salem's hands trembled ever so slightly as he began to unfasten the cloth-covered buttons. She helped him ease the tight sleeves and bodice downward so that after a minimal struggle the top of the gown was at her waist. "Salem, I think we should close the drapes now. I would rather none of the departing guests could see us from the window." She stood, and while Salem fiddled with the drapes Ashley tugged at her dress. When he turned to face her she was standing in a snow drift of material clad in nothing but her thin chemise. "If you would come over here and kiss me, I don't think I would be nervous at all."
"Happily, sweet. One of us should be calm." He took the few steps necessary to reach her and lifted her
out of the pile of hastily discarded clothes. Her slippers dropped silently as he carried her to the bed. He laid her down on the coverlet, and his hands tangled in her hair the moment before his lips touched hers.
Ashley felt something soar inside her when she realized his hunger matched her own. She opened her mouth and willingly allowed him entry. The rough edge of his tongue swept across her lips and teeth and battled her own with movements that foreshadowed his desire. The erotic dance of his tongue was matched by the small, telling thrusts of his hips as he pressed against her thighs. Ashley found herself shifting with an urgency foreign to her to accommodate his hard body.
Her fingers tugged at Salem's cravat and tried to insinuate themselves beneath the material of his shirt. Her efforts were frustrated by his tight-fitting jacket. "This is a most unsatisfactory arrangement," she said breathlessly against his mouth. "I want to touch you."
Salem lifted his head enough so that he could see his wife's face. Clearly Ashley was no longer frightened. "And I want you to touch me." His eyes glittered darkly as he shrugged out of his jacket. When his hands went to his shirt Ashley's soft command stilled his movements.
"Let me." Sitting up, she tugged the hem of his shirt from his breeches. She made slow work of removing the garment, her slender fingers stroking his skin everywhere. By the time the shirt was tossed to one side Salem knew himself to be on fire. When her mouth settled on one of his hard nipples and teased it with the tip of her tongue, he decided he was not long for this world if he did not take Ashley to task.
He growled low in her ear as he began fussing with the laces of her chemise. "If you do not desist, Mrs. McClellan, you shall put a stop to my loving before I get started."
Ashley lifted her head, nodded blankly, and sat very still while he stripped off her undergarments. When her breasts were bared they swelled and quivered, just as if he had touched them. In fact, his hands were nowhere near her skin. Only his eyes had settled on the firm thrust of her breasts. His gaze lifted and locked on the slumberous eyes opposite him. The lowered sweep of her lashes was deceiving, for Salem knew Ashley was trembling with awareness of his every move.
He kicked off his shoes and watched her blink jerkily as each one thudded to the floor. While his hands unfastened the buttons of his breeches she was as still as a cornered deer. Only when he was naked did she make an involuntary movement toward him. At the last moment she pulled back sharply, but even so, Salem's flesh rippled as if she had touched him.
"You're beautiful," she said, her voice husky with an odd reverence. Her eyes widened when she saw his complexion grow ruddy beneath his tan. "Why, I've embarrassed you."
"I'll recover. No one has ever said I was—beautiful." He gave a short laugh. "I suppose I could even get used to it."
"You shall have to, because I intend to tell you. Often. You are beautiful. Smooth and golden. So tight. And hard." Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized the implication of what she had said. She flushed wildly. "I didn't mean—that is I was referring to your—"
Salem's shout of laughter sent her reeling backward. Or was it his hands on her shoulders? She realized she wasn't thinking clearly anymore. The tiny kisses he placed over her soft downy cheeks and on her closed lids effectively silenced her and put an end to proper thought.
"I know what you meant, sweet witch, and I love you for it. I do love you."
She tingled under the spell of his words, the caress of his warm breath against her skin. She savored the taste of his lips on hers and moaned softly when his mouth moved lower and captured the swollen crest of her breast. His tongue flicked across her nipple, first one, then the other, until she gasped at the tender tugging.
"I burn when you do that," she whispered. He lifted his head but her hands directed him back. "And when you stop, I ache." She felt his pleasure in the smile he buried between her breasts and the adoring kiss he placed on the puckered scar that had marked her since birth.
The tips of her fingers ruffled his thick hair, slid down over his neck, and drifted lovingly across his shoulders. Experimentally she ran her hand along his spine, pressing the vertebrae and sending a shiver that ran through him and into her. When she reached the taut flesh of his buttocks her legs parted as he nestled against her thighs.
"Does it frighten you, that I want you so much?" he asked lowly, making her feel the fullness of his need.
She shook her head. "No, only that I want you so badly."
He saw that she was ready, felt the warm moist heat of her, and thought he could not have held back at that moment had she been otherwise. "Help me, Ashley. I have no wish to hurt you."
"You couldn't." Her thighs parted further at his urging, and her hand slipped from around his back to guide him to her. It was her thrust, rather than his, that finally united them. Salem hesitated before he moved, but Ashley's sleepy, satisfied smile beckoned him, and he began a slow tempting rhythm that she matched measure for full measure. He glided and stroked, filling her, filling himself. She tightened around him from the inside out. While the velvet warmth of her sheltered him, her legs and arms held him in the softest embrace he had ever known.
Gradually his movements became more heated, but still she clung, sharing his need as she shared his love. The tips of her fingers sought purchase in the muscles of his back, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out as the pleasure began to rise fiercely within her. In the end there was no containing it, for she felt him give a hard thrust and watched the tension in his face reach a level of sharpness she had never seen before. It drained away, leaving his features very still with a kind of wonder. Then it was her turn.
The pleasure that she felt held her motionless beneath him. She thought if she moved even the tiniest fraction her soul would be scattered to the four winds. Something in her eyes spoke of her fear and he erased it with his voice.
"I love you. I won't let you go." Then his hand slipped between their bodies as he began to withdraw from her, and when she thought the pleasure had begun to even out, he touched her just so. The gentle pressure of his hand was all the assault her heightened senses could bear. She tried to hide her face from him so he could not see how vulnerable she was to him, but he would not let her. "I want to see," he said. "You're beautiful."
When the tension dissolved from her body she felt as if she would never move again. Lazily, with leaden arms, she curled against him. She nearly purred.
"Don't you think we should slip under the covers?" Salem asked, nudging her. He glanced at the foot of the bed where their nightclothes lay in a much abused heap. He doubted they would see any use.
"No. You'll keep me warm."
"I amend my opinion of you. I do believe you are rather brazen."
"I am trying."
Seeing that she wasn't likely to cooperate, Salem reached for the edge of the coverlet and simply pulled it over them.
"Aren't you going to snuff the candles?" she asked.
"No, I want to watch you sleep."
Although her eyes were closed her eyebrows flew up in disbelief. "It sounds like a singularly boring activity."
"A peaceful one."
His solemn tone gave her pause. She opened her eyes. "I never thought anyone would love me as much as you do. Or as well. I have to pinch myself and wonder if anything such as this can last."
"It can. There's permanence in what we feel for each other."
"I will have to learn," she said earnestly. "Learn not to be afraid."
Salem hugged her. Without asking he knew what she feared. "He will not hurt us here. I give you my word. I will not allow it."
She said nothing, but he felt her relax and in a little while she was asleep. For a long time he simply studied her placid features then he snuffed the candles and joined her.
* * *
"And I tell you, I will not allow it!"
Nigel Lynne was enraged, his eyes nearly black with anger. His fingers pressed tightly against Davinia's white shoulders, leaving red welts when he pushed he
r away.
"You've bruised me, Nigel." Davinia pouted. A vague sort of interest in her eyes said she was not particularly upset by the rough treatment. Her efforts to examine her shoulders pulled the sheet that covered her breasts a bit lower.
Far from being intrigued by her display, Nigel was repelled at Davinia's flagrant attempts to seduce him while he was so angry. "Cover yourself. I am hardly of a mind to be tempted." He shrugged into his satin dressing gown and yanked the belt about his waist. "If you wanted a toss you should have held your tongue."
Davinia agreed silently. She admitted she had not used good judgment to mention the details of her husband's most recent letter. "It is all very well for you to say you shan't allow it, Nigel, but I fail to understand what you can do to make a difference. The chit's been wed these past four months. It was a mere stroke of luck that Charles happened to hear McClellan had married. The Colony is in revolt, for heaven's sake. You can't expect him to spend his time worrying about your ward."
"Then I shall hire someone who can spend their time in exactly that manner. I will have Ashley returned to me." He poured himself a large measure of whiskey and tossed it back in his throat.
"I cannot fathom this obsession you have with the girl."
"She has tried to make a fool of me. No one does that."
"I rather thought she made a fool of Bosworth. After all, he was her intended."
"But she was in my care and in my control. And she shall be again. I am going to have her marriage annulled."
Davinia's eyes narrowed as she studied Nigel. She could not remember hearing such angry passion in his voice. "Why do you want to do that? By all accounts the McClellans have some wealth. Perhaps there is something in it for you. I should think you are better off with Ashley safely wedded."
"You know nothing about it." His knuckles whitened on the glass he held in the second before he sent it crashing against the hearth. Flames spit and hissed, and Davinia jerked in reaction to his violence. "Salem McClellan has no right to be married to her. Do you hear? He has no right!"