by Wilde, Tanya
Damien watched Grey disappear before he turned his attention back to his task of climbing his way up the vines to the balcony.
Jo sat on her bed waiting for all the sounds in the house to fade into the darkness of the night—just as she was about to do. She still hadn’t thought much of where she would go. Belle seemed like the obvious choice. She wished she had another option, one where she did not put the lives around her in danger. Hence the reason she could never stay with Evelyn and Grey. To retire to the country remained a possibility but leaving now may cause suspicion to rise. No, she would go to Belle and together they would figure out what to do.
A sudden noise on the balcony compelled Jo to sit up straighter, her ears straining to hear. A thief? Or Cartwright’s men? She rose to her feet with caution, careful to remain silent while she glanced around the room for something to protect herself with. She snatched up a letter opener from her writing desk and tip toed to the balcony doors. She had an advantage over the intruder, but only for precious moments. She cursed the unlocked doors. But never had there been any cause to lock them. If she could just reach them before whoever it was entered she could alert her brother.
She reached for the lock at the same time the doors flew open, a gush of wind entering along with a man. Jo’s blood turned cold. She was spared no time before he snatched the letter opener from her hand, at once predicting her intentions before she even thought to react.
“Expecting someone else?”
Jo stared up at the dark face of Damien and blinked, certain he would disappear once she opened her eyes. When he still stood before her, Jo scowled. Why had he broken into her bedroom? His question, however, set off alarm bells. “Well, it would seem that way, wouldn’t it?”
“Cartwright, I suppose?”
His statement brought her up short. “You know? How did you find out?”
“I happened to pass by Derek Shaw’s residence and may have overheard your conversation with your good friend, James Shaw. You really should be more careful.”
He shut the balcony doors, the chill leaving the room with the shut of the door.
“Were you spying on me?”
He ignored her question and countered, “Is it true?”
His close proximity to her made it difficult to breathe and her voice sounded hoarse when she croaked, “Yes.”
“No explanation?”
“It matters little now. I planned to tell you everything anyway.”
“Why, what’s happened?”
Jo shivered at the concern in his voice. Then his eyes drifted to her traveling cloak before it flicked to her suitcase beside the bed. “What happened, Josephine? Why are you leaving?”
Was it her imagination or did he sound panicked? She glanced at the suitcase on the floor and heaved a heavy sigh. “Our mistakes were brought to our attention today. It’s only a matter of time before Cartwright figures it out, if he hasn’t already.”
“So you’re leaving.”
Her head snapped back. “No, of course not,” she motioned to the suitcase, “my brother and I had a fight and I refuse to stay under his roof any longer.”
“How does your brother feel about that?”
Jo shrugged. “He will be informed if we cannot come up with a plan to manage Cartwright.” She slumped down onto the bed, her head lowering to rest in her hands. “We had the perfect plan. How did it come to this?”
He sat down beside her and Jo almost leaned into his warmth. With a gentle touch he lifted her chin. His eyes held her spellbound. They seemed to speak volumes. Of what exactly, she could not be sure. Where was his fury? His disdain? In fact, she only saw concern.
“Tell me more about how Cartwright will learn the truth.”
“Apparently with an artist who can sketch faces by way of explanation.”
“Bloody hell.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Who participated in it with you, other than Shaw?”
Jo looked away, as if not looking at him would make it easier to admit, but he deserved to know the truth. “Well, Belle of course. Belle’s cousins—”
“You included those little witches?” Damien interrupted with disbelief.
Jo gave him a look, but nodded. “They were in charge of creating a distraction.”
“So they were the ones that set the building on fire?”
“Yes. Well, no. I mean that was an accident,” Jo hurried to say.
“Anyone else involved?”
“Only one.”
“I’m all agog.”
“Craven.”
Jo watched Damien’s cheeks redden and his face contort into rage. She stilled, waiting for his outburst, but it never came. Instead he struggled to rein in his temper, or at least Jo thought he did. Too late she recalled she desired one more kiss, which she would not receive in the wake of her blunder. How regretful she hadn’t kissed him when she’d realized it was he who stood in her room and not some burglar.
“Nothing happened,” Jo felt compelled to say.
“Why did you not ask me?”
Jo stood, nervous all of a sudden. “Can you really ask me that? You are so determined to stop me from getting into trouble.”
“With good cause,” Damien snapped.
“Perhaps, but this is what I choose to do with my life. I help people. It’s my purpose.”
He inhaled deeply and stared at her with wonder. “Damn it, you take the very heart of me. I envy you that trait.”
“You do?” Jo asked confused.
He looked away. “You have found your purpose and you refuse to let anyone get in your way or take it away from you. It’s an admirable trait. But you put your life in danger and as a gentleman it goes against my nature to allow such a thing.”
“Because a lady is not supposed to have any purpose beyond securing a suitable match and bearing children?”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “I did not mean to offend you, Josephine. I am only attempting to understand your reasoning.”
“What are you doing anyhow, breaking into my room in the dead of night?”
“First, tell me what does Craven say about this turn of events with Cartwright?” Damien asked.
“I do not know. James went to call on him but I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“What is your plan here, Jo?”
She smiled at his use of her nickname. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“You have a madman on your tail, you’re leaving the safety of your home, not to say the protection of your brother and you have me in your bedroom.”
Jo’s breath caught in her throat.
“I trust that Derek will come up with a plan.”
“Such trust. So you believe he will swoop in and save the day?”
“Hardly, but he never fails.”
“I have my doubts, however, if only you would trust me as much as you trust them…”
“Why aren’t you mad?” Jo asked, deciding she had enough of his confusing statements.
He seemed surprised at her question. “I am mad,” he began slowly. “But my anger is not directed at you. Saints know it should be, you bring out the worst in me and at the same time you lure out the best in me.”
Jo stared at him dumbly. Had her hardened rake, the Marquis of St. Aldwyn, truly just confessed something from his heart? Her smile softened and her heart roared. Hope bloomed. Damien, Jo suspected, was not as hardened as he would have the rest of the world believe.
“I am sorry that I lied to you,” she whispered on a breathless voice, “I never meant for Craven to be part of it, but he volunteered after he somehow learned of our activities.”
He leaned into her until his lips caressed her ear. “I do not enjoy seeing you with him.”
A shiver ran down her spine. “Don’t tell me you are jealous, Damien,” Jo teased. It seemed impossible.
Damien gave her a wicked smile. “Don’t be absurd, jealousy would imply that I care.”
Jo leaned in, i
nhaling his scent. “And you do not. Care, that is.”
“What about you, Josephine? Do you care?” His voice was but a hoarse whisper in her ear, his mouth softly sliding over her skin.
Heat pooled in her body at their proximity. “What do you want, Damien?”
“You know what I want. What do you want?”
Overcome with uncertainty, Jo backed away from his advances until she came up against the wall. Yes, she knew all too well where this would lead if she continued on this path. It was a heady feeling knowing how much the notorious Marquis of St. Aldwyn wanted her. She would never resist him, had desired him too long. The force of her desire shook her.
Golden eyes waited patiently for her answer. The expectation and vulnerability she saw there caused a groan of acceptance to escape her lips. Her surroundings faded until nothing else existed except Damien. This was their moment, one where she would allow herself to have him and pretend that he was hers until time stretched into infinity.
“You. I want you.”
Chapter 14
He closed the space between them in two strides and enveloped her in his arms, his eyes boring down on her.
“Are you certain?”
Jo stared at him, her lips parted and her breathing becoming rapid. Excitement lurked in his eyes, but she saw something else there too, something she recognized as her own.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I am certain.”
It was all the encouragement he needed, his lips came crashing down on hers in a brutal, desperate kiss. Jo clung to him as his lips molded over hers, his tongue coaxing her lips to part. Her body trembled against his as his tongue invaded her mouth, his grip on her waist tightening. As he deepened the kiss, Jo groaned when the hard ridge of his member pressed into her. A gasp escaped her at the sensation.
An urgency resided in their kiss that hadn’t been there before, as if their very lives depended on their bodies touching. Before long he eased away from her and Jo made a low sound in the back of her throat, reluctant to end the moment. No longer haunted by desire but by urgent need.
“Josephine.”
Jo’s knees almost gave way at the suggestive note in his voice. She stared dazed into his eyes, excited and wary at the same time.
“Damien.”
“I have never wanted anyone the way I want you,” he confessed in a ragged whisper.
“Why did you climb up my balcony?”
“I wanted the truth.”
Jo’s lips quirked. “You are not so different from me.”
He pulled her against his chest. “Is that so?”
“You could have called on me, yet you chose to risk injury to climb to my bedroom.”
His rich chuckle warmed her ears. “Perhaps that is why we are so drawn to one another.”
“You believe I am drawn to you?” There was a teasing note in her voice.
“Your silly denials aside, you’ve been chasing me since we met.”
“I have not!” Jo laughed. “Ladies do not chase gentlemen.”
She bit her lower lip, her eyes melting into his. She recognized the desire, the challenge there. Their playful banter was only a distraction. He waited for her to make her final decision. Triumph also glinted in his eyes, as if he had won some long-fought battle. Jo realized then that she would not have to explain anything to this man. He already knew what she had been desperately trying to hide from him all along. Her desire for him.
There would be no going back after tonight, no more innocent Josephine. She smiled, taking a step closer to Damien, bringing her body up against his. She heard his sharp intake of breath and her smile widened.
Fear had always held her back. Fear of losing her heart, but she feared it no longer. Whatever they shared, they shared it together.
She was tired of holding back when she wanted to let go. Now, as he stood and searched her face intently, as if he gazed into the deepest and darkest depths of her soul, she let go.
“Kiss me.”
His smile twisted into a predatory and wicked curl, his eyes glinting with wanton delight. This time when his lips met hers, it was a gentle caress, filled with delicious promise and sinful pleasure. Her senses came alive when he backed her against the wall, one arm closing around her petite waist, crushing her against him while his other hand ran down the length of her body. Still his lips remained gentle. He tasted of old spice and licorice. She let out a small murmur that was lost in his mouth when he deepened the kiss, a groan of his own escaping when she laid her hands on his chest, moving them upward until they were wrapped around his neck. The innocent gesture appeared to be his undoing and he picked her up and carried her to the bed, his lips never leaving hers.
“You are so damn beautiful,” he murmured against her skin, his teeth scraping the lobe of her ear.
Jo moaned.
“Is your brother here?
She opened her eyes to find him staring at her in question. “He’s asleep, I hope. Why?”
His hand moved over the length of her body to demonstrate. “I want to take my time. I want to kiss every inch of your body. I want to commit every feel of your touch, every moment of this night to memory, so that I may never forget your first time.”
Her breath quickened. Every word felt like a caress against her most sensitive parts.
He breathed her in and a groan escaped his lips. “How could one woman smell so delicious? Too many damn clothes,” he muttered against her lips. “We need to do something about that.”
“Damien?” Jo whispered, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Yes, my sweet?”
“If you are talking, your lips aren’t on me.”
“Demanding chit, are you?”
“Oh, yes.”
He leaned back and regarded her with amazement. “You truly are a magnificent creature. I’m going to undress you now.”
She wiggled against him in answer, her smile sinful. His voice had turned harsh with desire and Jo reveled in her feminine wiles. She had to control the urge to start ripping at his clothes like a madwoman. No doubt he would be shocked by her forwardness.
“Please Damien,” she pleaded. If it was his plan to make her expire of desire then he was succeeding. “I need you.”
A wicked smile lit up his face before he dipped his head and took her lips again. A slow gentle kiss, he meant to entice her, while his hands searched for the laces to undo her dress. Jo pulled back from him, her eyes dazed as she murmured softly, “You’re not going to get it done like that.”
“Damn it. Then I have no other choice.”
“I beg your pardon?” Jo asked and gasped when he ripped her dress open, from the bottom right through to the top.
“Bloody hell. Aren’t you supposed to wear a corset or something?” He stared at her naked body in awe, and Jo had to close her eyes in embarrassment.
“I was in a hurry and had no one to help me dress.”
“Lucky me,” he murmured before his lips came down on her breasts. The sensation caused Jo to gasp, her head falling back on the pillow as pleasure coursed through her blood. She curled her hands into his hair when he started to suck more insistently, certain she would die of pleasure.
His mouth lifted from her breast and Jo opened her eyes to find him staring down at her in wonder, yet all she managed to think about was why he still wore his clothes. She wanted to gaze upon the magnificent male body she knew hid behind all that material. “Are you not going to undress?”
“No, not yet,” Damien said and she pouted.
“Why not?”
“Damn it Jo, I wouldn’t hold out long and I want to savor every part of you first.”
“I want to touch you as well.”
She heard his breath hitch but still he said, “All in good time, my sweet.”
When his lips found hers again Jo kissed him back without reservation, her tongue colliding with his in a need that matched his own. He started to remove the remaining material from her body until she lay completely nak
ed, his hands stroking over her exposed flesh.
He slipped his fingers along her breasts in a feather light touch, moving lower, down the curve of her side until his nimble fingers ventured even lower, finding their treasure.
Jo let out a gasp when one of his fingers slipped into her, nearly bolting off the bed. He held her in place, deepening the kiss until she almost expired from elation, mindless with desire and completely forgetting about his clothed form.
“You’re so wet and ready,” he whispered before his mouth moved to her breasts once more. When his lips closed over her breast a small cry of pleasure escaped her.
She could scarcely breathe as pleasure overtook her body. His tongue provided so much pleasure with a simple yet exotic action. No wonder women fell from grace. Her hands fisted in his hair before they drifted to his back. He was still clothed, and that wouldn’t do. She started to push at the offending material, wanting to feel his skin beneath her touch. Determined to have him as naked as she, she started pushing more eagerly at his jacket until he chuckled.
“Such an eager little wench.”
He reared up before her, watching her as he undressed, but Josephine’s eyes remained fixed on his fingers as he unbuttoned his jacket, and then his shirt until his entire upper body was exposed to her view. She sucked in a breath at the sight of rippling muscle and perfectly formed anatomy. Her gaze followed his fingers to where they now were unbuttoning his breeches and Josephine waited in anticipation for him to bare himself to her.
“Oh my,” she murmured when he finally stood before her naked. Her eyes fixed on his manly parts in utter fascination. While she’d seen images of Greek sculptures, it somehow did not do the real male member justice. What fascinated her most was that it twitched seemingly for no reason.
“Are you quite done staring?” Damien choked out.
“Absolutely not.”
Damien groaned and Jo chuckled. “It’s just hard to imagine that such a curious thing could be the cause of so much destruction.”
He lowered himself over her and once again trailed kisses up her neck. “Oh believe me, sweet. It is the heavenly curves of the female body that causes all the destruction of this world.”