"Maybe I should go," she said shakily.
"Maybe I should be the one to go," he murmured.
Neither moved for what seemed an eternity. Then, as though by silent mutual consent, they moved slowly into each other's arms and fell gently backward to the ground.
He did not kiss her just then, wanting to feast upon her lovely face. With a fingertip, he tenderly traced her forehead and brow, then her nose, and on to her cheeks and jawline, finally moving along the perfect bow of her mouth. His thumb rubbed across the fullness of her lower lip as their gazes burned into each other, locked with unspoken promise of wonder yet to come.
He pressed her mouth open. Back and forth he licked, deliciously, hungrily, the tip of his tongue to hers, ultimately closing his mouth over hers in a deep, stirring kiss that seemed to go on forever.
Raven returned the kiss with fervor. She closed her eyes and cast all thoughts of right or wrong from her mind. She could deny neither him nor herself any longer. Beyond all doubt, she knew she wanted him.
She wanted this....
Moving his mouth to her neck, he delighted in the taste of her flesh as his hands began to roam over her as though with a will of their own. He felt a groan deep inside. It had been a long time since he'd had a woman. Too long. Lust was a screaming demon inside him, demanding to be fed, but despite how desperately he longed to quench the hunger for her that had been tearing at him for so very long, he would not be rushed. He wanted to savor every delectable moment.
His breath was hot, ragged, against her ear. "I want to see you naked again, Raven, only this time when I look at you, I want to know you're really mine, that you aren't just torturing me."
"I was torturing myself then too," she confessed shamelessly. "But no more."
She sat up and tried to unfasten her gown but he had to help her with it, and with the corset, and then she stripped away the rest of her clothing until she was completely exposed to him.
His gaze swept across the beauty of her, even more stunning than he remembered. Closing one hand over a soft breast, he felt her shudder. With thumb and forefinger, he plucked at her nipple, already a tight little bud. He flicked it with his tongue, watching her as he did so, and saw how she gave a little gasp of pleasure. He then opened his mouth wide to take as much of her as he could, sucking so eagerly, so hard, that she felt the muscles in her belly contract and roll with deep-seated ecstasy. Her hands laced across the back of his head to hold him in position, for she never wanted him to stop.
As he continued to devour her breasts in turn, he explored the rest of her: the incredibly tiny waist, her flat stomach, the swell of her hips. Reaching her upper thighs, he moved between, and a cry of abandonment broke in Raven's throat as his probing fingers darted downward to touch and gently enter the lips of her love. They closed over him, and he dared not linger for he could feel her quivering and wanted to prolong that ultimate shudder of delight.
He pulled away from her only long enough to strip off his own clothing, then rolled to his back, taking her with him so that she lay on top of him. Cupping her buttocks, he spread them ever so slightly to slip his hardness between her legs. He began to rub to and fro, and she could not help moaning with sweet torment to feel the friction of him against the nuclei of her sex. She began to meet his undulations, and soon he could stand no more.
The world surrounding danced with magical shadows, and mystical moonbeams glistened down on their naked, sweat-slicked bodies as he gently rolled her over and then rose above her. Positioning himself between her legs, he spread them and bent her knees up to her chest.
Her eyes upon him were dazed with wonder, and she held out her arms, beckoning him yet closer.
He lowered his head and kissed her again as he slid his hand down her eagerly waiting body to guide himself into her. He was trembling with anticipation but knew, if it were her first time, that it might cause some pain. He dared to ask, and when she confirmed that it was, he promised, "I'll be as gentle as I can."
"No," she surprised him by saying. "Take me as you will. I'm not afraid."
And he did so, driving into the fiery heart of her, urged on by the feel of her nails raking down his back as she met his every thrust.
As much as she wanted him, as frenzied the state he had brought her to, Raven was agonized in her desire to want the splendor to last forever. Perhaps, she wildly imagined, they could, by the fusing of their bodies, actually become a part of each other for all time. Words of love, promises of a future together, were not important. Not now. There would be time for tenderness later. The spell would be broken by any attempt to grasp reality; only the moment could be caught, held, bringing him unto her, into her, for the ultimate blending and melding of their spirits.
All her senses were poised like an arrow drawn back in the bow, ready to be propelled mightily toward the target. She felt as though she were being sucked into him, for each time he entered her, he seemed to drive himself farther and farther inside.
Steve could feel her pressing against him as pleasure flowed like the mighty river below them. Her head began to whip from side to side as she felt herself taking all he had to give. He thrust harder, and she clung to him, sobbing, fearing he would let her go. She never, ever, wanted him to leave her. She was sinking, drowning, dying and did not care. All that mattered or ever would matter was the sensation of him, diving deeper inside her... until he became her, and she him, and the two were one, pouring into each other as one entity, one soul.
And in that crystallized moment of fulfillment, both of them knew their world would never again be the same....
Afterward, for a long time, they lay side by side on their backs staring up at the sky, neither speaking for fear of breaking the spell between them.
Finally, reluctantly, Raven said, "Maybe we should go. Someone might come."
"At this hour of the night? I think not. Besides"—he squeezed her hand, which he had been holding tightly—"I don't want you to go. I'm afraid when you do I'll wake up and find this was all just a dream, that it didn't really happen."
"I'm glad it did," she confessed with candor. "But we can't let anyone know." She shuddered to think of Lisbeth's finding out. She would think her a whore and tell everyone, and that would never do, not if she wanted the respect of the overseers and everyone else.
"No one will know. We'll be careful. You can slip out of the house after everyone is asleep and come to my room. Nobody is ever around the stables after dark." He rolled on his side and propped on an elbow so he could look at her once more in the moonlight. "You don't know how much I've thought about you since that night. If Elijah hadn't come, I swear I would have carried you up that ladder no matter how you fought me."
She smiled. "I seem to remember I wasn't fighting at all. I wondered if you even thought about it. You never seemed to when I was around."
"Neither did you," he pointed out, and she had to agree. "Besides, it's been rough these past weeks. I knew I'd miss Ned, but I never realized how much till he died."
"And I didn't know how deeply I had come to care for him. He was everything you tried to tell me he was, and I thank God I had time to find that out."
"So am I. And I'm also glad you decided to stay"—he leaned to kiss the tip of her nose and grin—"for lots of reasons."
She snuggled against him, reveling in his warmth, his closeness, and wondered how many nights she had dreamed of being with him this way.
He held her for a moment, then felt pressed to say, "I couldn't help overhearing Julius say he'd asked you to marry him. I guess I don't have to tell you his motive."
"So he'd get everything right away as my husband? No, I didn't have to think very long about that either. But I'm hoping I can talk to him and smooth things over. I don't want him for an enemy."
"I'll be surprised if you ever have him for a friend. What about Lisbeth?"
She didn't want to go into all the details of how Lisbeth was constantly belittling her for so many things, like not bei
ng able to arrange flowers properly and forgetting the right silverware to use. Raven tried to please but was embarrassed to admit she never seemed able to, so she said glumly, "I probably should have taken their offer."
"What offer?" he asked sharply. When she told him, he shook his head in disgust. "I might have known they'd think of something like that. Ned figured they would but didn't know how to get around it and just hoped you'd turn them down."
"But I shouldn't have."
"Don't say that. From what I hear, you're doing a fine job. Lisbeth and Julius will grow up one day and accept things as they are. Lisbeth will get married and move away, and Julius will settle down in Mobile."
She laughed softly. "I don't imagine I have to worry about his wanting to marry me after tonight."
"No. But from the way I saw the men flocking around you at the reception, I don't imagine you'll have a shortage of proposals."
"All wanting to marry me so they can take over Halcyon, no doubt."
They were both still naked, and he began to run the flat of his hand down her breasts, across her belly, and back up again. "Not necessarily," he murmured. "I would think they'd have a few other things in mind."
"Such as?" she teased. Her fingers were beginning a dance of their own, twining in the soft mat of hair on his chest.
"Such as this." He turned to claim her mouth again, his hand moving between her legs.
She pressed against him, ready, eager to let the magic happen again.
He raised his lips ever so slightly. "Midnight will be our special hour. Tomorrow night. Every night. Come to me. I can't promise you anything except that while we're together I'll do everything I can to give you pleasure. We have to protect your virtue. You'll be dealing with businessmen: lawyers, bankers. It wouldn't do for it to be known that you're sleeping with your horse trainer"—he flashed a grin in the moonlight—"so it will be our secret."
"And no more trips to Mobile to visit the wharves?" she asked lightly, not sure she had the right but wanting to feel she was the only woman in his life for the present, at least.
Steve easily grasped her meaning. He knew how women were. Even when it was understood a future together was not in the offing, they did not like to share a man. Whores, of course, didn't care about anything except being paid, but he'd never had many of those anyway. Because even though he dared not give his heart, he did enjoy the closeness of a relationship.
Feeling as he did, it was easy for him to assure her that he wanted no other and confided, "I haven't wanted anyone since I met you."
"Oh, don't tease me." She managed to speak above the joyous roaring within her at the thought it might be true. "I saw you from the hotel window that night in Mobile, walking toward the waterfront. The maid said that's why the men went down there—for women."
"Well, there are other reasons. Gambling. Drinking."
He wasn't about to tell her he had intended to bed another but had been unable. That might reveal she had more of a hold on his heart than he'd ever felt for any woman. He had to get over that and think solely of pleasure, nothing beyond. What was between them was good. What awaited them in the future might be even better, as they learned to please each other in countless ways. That was the way it had to be, because he knew that was the way Raven wanted it. He was not about to make a fool of himself by letting her think he sometimes wondered if there could be more.
"Enough talk." He nibbled at her ear, his fingers dropping between her thighs to bring her to fever pitch. "It ought to be midnight right about now, and that's our time, so let the magic begin, sweetheart..."
He began to take her to soar among the stars once more.
And Raven knew, beyond all doubt, that she enjoyed the flight all the more... because she loved him.
Chapter 21
Lisbeth was so upset she had scarcely slept a wink all night. At the first light of dawn, she was up and padding quietly down the hall to see how Julius was feeling.
She was surprised to find his door ajar. She pushed it open and stepped into his parlor, only to be even more bewildered by the sight of all the trunks and valises standing about. Just then Harold came out of the bedroom, carrying a stack of neatly folded shirts. "What is going on here?" she demanded, aghast. "Where is Julius, and why are you packing his things?"
"Because I'm moving out, that's why." Julius breezed into the room. "And keep your voice down. We've got guests, remember? I'm trying to get out of here before they wake up." He turned to Harold. "What you don't have packed you can bring to me later. I'm leaving right away." He was pulling on his coat.
Lisbeth was flabbergasted. "You're moving out? I don't understand. You can't do this."
"Oh, can't I? Just watch me." He winced with pain as he struggled into a sleeve. "You should see my wounds. I'm covered with bruises, and Harold was pulling thorns out of my backside for three hours. If I ever do come back, I swear I'll have those damned rosebushes ripped out by the roots. The thorns are sharp as a knife."
"But you still haven't told me why you're leaving. Where will you go?"
"To Mobile. To do what my dearly departed stepfather stipulated that I must do if I don't want to live like a pauper the rest of my life: work at the shipyards. There are some rooms over the main office that Ned used when he stayed overnight. I'll move in there." He grimaced at the thought of such spartan accommodations, but it was the best he could do for the time being.
Lisbeth dropped to a sofa, her head swimming. "But why now? And what am I going to tell everybody?"
His teeth ground together to think of the humiliation he had suffered, in addition to the agony. "How can you even ask? Isn't it obvious? I refuse to be around our half-breed stepsister any longer. As for what to tell people, they already know: She went on the warpath and tried to kill me."
"What did you do to her on the terrace, Julius?"
"What do you mean?"
"You did something to make her mad. I know she's uncivilized, but frankly I find it hard to believe she would just go completely crazy and throw you in the rose garden." There, she thought. She had voiced her growing suspicions, and it was not because she was taking up for Raven. She just knew how odious her brother could be.
He towered over her, hands on his hips, eyes flashing his disgust. "Oh, so now it's all my fault."
"I didn't say that. I just asked what started it. We both know you'd had too much to drink. Did you do something ungentlemanly?"
"No I just asked her to marry me."
Lisbeth gasped. "And she threw you in the rosebushes? Because you proposed to her?"
"Exactly. It made her mad, because she said she knew the only reason I wanted to marry her was to get my hands on Halcyon, and she swore that would never happen and said if it was the last thing she ever did she'd get rid of both of us. Then she went berserk and picked me up as if I were no more than a puppy, swung me round and round over her head till I was dizzy, and threw me. It was terrifying. You were right: she is a savage. I don't intend to let her get her hands on me again, you can be sure of that. And she can have Halcyon too. I'm not willing to get myself killed over it."
"But... but what am I going to do?" Lisbeth's hand fluttered to her throat. She felt sick.
"Well, since my plan didn't work, see if you can come up with something better. I give up."
"But what about today? You're supposed to lead the hunt. And then there's the barbecue this evening. You're dumping everything in my lap. It's not fair."
Julius took his hat that Harold was holding out to him. "Well, that's too bad, but it can't be helped. Get Steve to lead the hunt. As for my absence, just say I'm too sore from the—shall we say—fall that I suffered last night."
"Please don't leave me like this," she begged.
"Oh, wake up, Lisbeth," he said irritably. "It's time you realized nothing is going to make her leave now. Can you blame her? She's lived like an animal her whole life and now she's richer than her wildest dreams. So it's over. Ned got what he wanted. Now I'm goi
ng to get busy and work my tail off so I can get my inheritance one day, and if you're smart you'll corner Barley today and get him to propose to you so you can get out of here and take your dowry with you. Now good-bye," he said, with a tip of his hat, "and good luck."
He walked out.
Lisbeth stared furiously after him, but not for long. She raced back to her room and rang for Mariah, who appeared a few moments later, out of breath and worried as to why her mistress would summon her so early. She, of course, had been up for hours to see that the kitchen workers got the mammoth breakfast prepared for the houseful of guests.
Lisbeth was getting dressed and barked an order. "Send someone to the stable to find Steve and tell him he's to meet me on the east veranda as quick as he can get there. Hurry. Tell him it's important; there's not a moment to spare."
Mariah did not know what to think. She had just seen Julius leaving, and now Lisbeth seemed to be on the verge of hysterics. "Lord, child, what's going on around here?"
"Please, there's no time. Just do as I ask. And if any of the guests inquire about Julius, tell them he's not feeling well and is spending the day in bed."
Mariah was even more baffled, because she knew that wasn't so, but she didn't argue and went to do as she was told.
Finally dressed, Lisbeth hurried to meet Steve, expecting him to be waiting. Instead, she found Joshua standing apologetically on the lawn to explain that Steve had been gone since dawn.
"Gone? Where?" Dear Lord, don't let him have taken off for Mobile, she prayed. Surely he wouldn't, not with all that was going on.
"To be with Selena."
She lifted a brow. "What for?"
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