An Escapade and an Engagement

by Annie Burrows

  It felt incredible, having his fully clothed body all along the length of her sensitized skin. The roughness of the material of what she was certain was the uniform in which he had served created such delicious friction.

  She raised her leg, rubbing her foot along the supple leather of his boots, feeling the material of his breeches abrading the soft skin of her inner thigh.

  He pushed her onto her back, reared up and pulled off his jacket.

  ‘Buttons,’ he muttered. ‘Don’t want to hurt you.’

  And then he was back, kissing her with a feverishness that was even more glorious than anything that had gone before. For even in her inexperience she could tell his passion was raging almost beyond his control. The satisfying proof of that came when he fumbled open his breeches, pushing material out of the way, and nudged her legs apart.

  And then suddenly he froze.

  ‘I should not be doing this,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Lady Jayne, can you ever forgive me?’

  When he made to roll off her she let out an indignant squeal and locked her hands behind his neck. ‘I shall never forgive you if you stop now—and that is a promise!’

  ‘It is wrong,’ he insisted, though she noted with satisfaction that he wasn’t trying all that hard to pull away from her. ‘I did not come here for this.’ He groaned. His whole body was shaking. ‘I must not force myself on you like this….’

  ‘You think you are forcing me?’

  ‘Yes.’ He lay down and pressed his face into the crook of her neck. ‘You have to marry me, Jayne. I want you so much…too much,’ he murmured.

  His breath was hot on her ear. And the weight of him on top of her, with her legs spread like that, made it hard to concentrate on his words. She could only feel.

  ‘Richard, please stop talking and just take me.’

  ‘You are still that wild little creature your grandfather described this morning,’ he said softly as she butted her hips up against his pelvis with a little whimper. ‘You think right now that this is what you want because you are being ruled by your senses. But in the morning, when you think about it…’

  ‘I shall be glad that you made me yours completely,’ she declared. ‘I shall ride back to Darvill Park in the carriage, hugging the knowledge that you saw something in me that made you climb up to my room and behave completely disgracefully, for once.’

  And with that she spread her legs wider and hooked her ankles round the backs of his knees. The slight shift in position brought his member to the exact spot where she needed to feel it.

  ‘Oh, God,’ he groaned. ‘I cannot fight you any more.’

  He reached between her legs. Stroked along the slick folds of skin with his fingers. Then repeated the action with his rigid length. Sliding repeatedly towards the place where she felt an aching need to have him. The need increased as he continued to tease her until she was writhing beneath him, clawing at his back and panting, ‘For God’s sake, Richard, now. Now!’

  And at last he pushed up, and in, and he was there, seated deep within her. Exactly where she needed him.

  For a few glorious moments they both went wild. He plunged and she bucked. She clung and he grasped. He suckled on her neck. She sank her teeth into his shoulder. She flung her head back to cry out her ecstasy. He buried his face in her hair to groan out his, his fingers kneading into her buttocks so hard she knew she would still feel the imprint in her flesh the next day.

  ‘You are mine now,’ he panted. ‘You will have to marry me.’

  ‘And you will have to marry me.’ She sighed with utter bliss. ‘You are too much the gentleman to abandon a woman you have so thoroughly ravished.’

  He winced. ‘A real gentleman would never have done what I just did.’

  ‘I don’t think I will ever have much use for a real gentleman.’ She sighed, running her hands up his shirt, which was stuck to his back with sweat. And then she giggled. ‘I cannot believe you climbed up here and made love to me without so much as taking your boots off!’

  In the silvered light that shimmered across her bed she saw a look of anguish flit across his face before he said, ‘I wanted to show you who I really am. I came to you in my uniform because deep down I’m just a soldier, Jayne, not a lord. But I never intended to rob you of your innocence. I…I only meant to take you out for a moonlit picnic at The Workings. So I made a grappling hook to fix into the ridge tiles, and brought a rope ladder for you to climb down so you wouldn’t graze your knees like last time. To demonstrate that if you need to climb out of a window for a little adventure I will be right there with you, making it better than anything you could have on your own. But the minute I saw you standing there bathed in moonlight,’ he said huskily, ‘I just couldn’t resist you.’

  He shook his head ruefully and rolled to one side, holding her tight, as though he was determined not to let her go even though they were no longer conjoined.

  ‘No, it was before that. When you nibbled on your lower lip.’ He sighed, tracing it with his thumb. ‘That always has the effect of making me almost forget my own name. Though that’s no excuse. I should have stuck to my plans tonight, our last night together for weeks, when it was so important that I bared my soul to you. Instead of which I was still…trying to protect myself.’

  He shut his eyes, as though he was ashamed to meet her gaze.

  ‘I have been a soldier most of my life, and soldiers get battered about. My leg, especially, is not a pretty sight,’ he said sombrely. ‘But then nor is a great deal of the rest of me. I made love to you with most of my clothes on because I didn’t want you to see my scars. For you are so breathtakingly lovely. A vision.’ He opened his eyes and tangled his fingers into her tousled curls. ‘Far too beautiful to have to be tied to a wreck of a man like me.’

  ‘Oh, Richard,’ she said, ‘what you look like has nothing to do with how I feel about you.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ he said swiftly. ‘You are very far from being vain or shallow, like most of your sex. But, even so, I am not quite what you wanted from a husband, am I?’

  Before she could refute this allegation he had propped himself up on one elbow and was looking down into her face with such an earnest expression that she did not have the heart to argue with him. Whatever it was he was about to say was coming from some deep place in his heart, and she knew she needed to let him say it.

  ‘Jayne, I love you. I love you so much that I won’t ever try to repress any aspect of your nature. That is why I climbed up here tonight. I wanted to persuade you that we are made for each other. To tell you that I adore you exactly as you are. To show you that I don’t want to tame you, like your grandfather has tried to do. Well,’ he said ruefully, ‘that is only half the tale. To be completely truthful I wanted to climb up after you through your bedroom window that first night we met.’

  ‘You love me?’ she gasped. ‘You have wanted me since that night?’

  ‘Yes. Even though I knew you were in love with Harry. I even started plotting ways to get rid of him. I grew so desperate. The only thing holding me back was knowing you would never forgive me….’

  ‘Oh, how I wish you’d told me. Richard, I never loved Harry. I tried to explain to you this afternoon that he was just a rebellion against my grandfather’s tyranny. I didn’t realize that myself until he kissed me and it was so disgusting. After that, all I could think of was how to get rid of him, too.’

  She checked at the look of astonishment on his face. And suddenly,
from feeling like some kind of goddess, she shrank back to being just a child on the verge of a scold again.

  ‘Does that make me a bad person?’

  ‘No. Quite the reverse. You told me earlier, remember, that his declaration of love gave him a hold over you? And you are such a warm-hearted person that I can understand exactly how hard it must have been for you to find a way to break it off with him without hurting him. Even though it was all lies. But, Jayne, I am not lying to you. I really do love you.’

  She looked at him doubtfully. ‘How can you? Milly only ran away yesterday…’

  ‘Ah, but I never loved Milly, either.’

  ‘What? Never?’

  ‘No. I admired her greatly for her courage and resourcefulness. I wanted to be sure she was going to be happy when we had to go our separate ways. But…’

  ‘But she said…’

  ‘I am sorry she misled you. But, Jayne, I had no idea you thought I was in love with her until you told me yesterday when we were out riding. I did try to explain, several times, but something always got in the way.’ His eyes dropped to her mouth as she took in a great, shuddering breath.

  ‘You didn’t love Milly at all?’

  ‘Not one bit.’

  ‘All this time,’ she said, ‘I have been doing my utmost to make things work out for the pair of you. Because I thought if I could not have your heart, the least I could do was ensure you could marry the woman you did love, and not one of those dreadfully accomplished women.’

  ‘Well, I am going to marry the woman I love, so… Wait a minute—that sounded as though… What you said… Do you…?’

  ‘Yes. I love you, Richard. I have been so miserable because I thought you could never love me.’

  ‘How could you think that?’ He closed his eyes and winced. ‘No, I know only too well exactly why you felt unworthy of love. Your wretched childhood. And then Harry’s lies on top of it all.’

  ‘Richard,’ she said in wonder. ‘I don’t think there is anyone in the whole world who would just understand me the way you do. And still…I…like me.’

  He smiled tenderly. ‘I more than like you. And the best of it is we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other even better.’

  ‘Then would you mind explaining why you thought I would ever want to climb out of a window again when I have all I need right here?’

  ‘Well, I didn’t know you loved me then.’

  ‘Your wretched childhood,’ she said, quick as a flash, and hugged him hard.

  ‘And as I’ve already said,’ he murmured, burying his face in her curls, ‘I couldn’t let you leave without telling you how desperately I do want to be your husband. The moonlight picnic was supposed to give me the chance to lay my heart bare before you went away.’ He pulled back abruptly. ‘It’s still there, laid out for us to enjoy. And there are two horses saddled and ready to go…’

  ‘Richard,’ she said tenderly, reaching up to stroke his scarred face, ‘I don’t really want to have to climb out of a window ever again.’

  ‘You don’t?’

  ‘No. I’ve already told you. I have all I need right here. Except…’

  ‘What? Tell me what you want. Anything, anything…’

  ‘For what I have in mind you need to stop talking, Major Cathcart.’

  She gave a sultry smile and settled back against the pillows.

  ‘And take off your shirt.’

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt of My Fair Concubine by Jeannie Lin!

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  Chapter One

  China, Tang Dynasty—AD 824

  Fei Long faced the last room at the end of the narrow hallway, unsheathed his sword and kicked the door open.

  A feminine shriek pierced the air along with the frantic shuffle of feet as he strode through the entrance. The boarding room was a small one set above the teahouse below. The inhabitants, a man and a woman, flung themselves into the corner with nowhere to hide.

  His gaze fixed on to the woman first. His sister’s hair was unbound and her eyes wide with fear. Pearl had their mother’s thoughtful features: the high forehead and the sharp angles that had softened since the last time he’d seen her. She was dressed only in pale linen underclothes. The man who was with her had enough daring to step in between them.

  Fei Long glanced once to the single wooden bed against one wall, the covers strewn wide, and his vision blurred with anger. He gripped the sword until his knuckles nearly cracked with the strain.

  ‘Bastard,’ he gritted out through his teeth.

  He knew this man he’d come to kill. This boy. At least Han had been a boy when Fei Long had last seen him. And Pearl had been a mere girl. Now she was a grown woman, staring at him as if he were a demon risen from the underworld.

  ‘Fei Long.’ Pearl’s fingers curled tight over her lover’s arm. ‘So now you’ve come.’

  The soft bitterness of the accusation cut through him. Pearl had begged for him to come back a year earlier when her marriage had first been arranged, but he’d dismissed her letters as childish ramblings. If he had listened, she might not have thrown herself into ruin and their father’s spirit wouldn’t be floating restlessly between heaven and earth.

  The young man stretched himself before Fei Long, though he failed to match him in stature. ‘Not in front of Pearl,’ he implored.

  Though he trembled, the boy fought to keep his voice steady as Pearl clung to him, hiding just behind his shoulder. At least the dog managed to summon some courage. If Han had cowered or begged for his life, he would already be dead.

  ‘Step away, Little Sister,’ Fei Long commanded.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Pearl.’

  ‘I’d rather die here with Han than go to Khitan.’

  She’d changed in the five years since he’d seen her. The Pearl he remembered had been obedient, sweet-tempered and pleasant in all things. Fei Long had ridden hard from Changan to this remote province, expecting to find the son of a dog who had stolen her away.

  Now that she stood before him with quiet defiance, he knew she hadn’t been seduced or deceived. Zheng Xie Han’s family lived within their ward in the capital city. Though lower in standing, the Zheng family had always maintained a good reputation. His sister had turned to Han because she’d had no one else.

  The tension drained out of Fei Long, stealing away his rage. His throat pulled tight as he forced out the next word. ‘Go.’

  The two of them stared at him in disbelief.

  ‘Go,’ he repeated roughly.

  Fei Long lowered his weapon and turned away while they dressed themselves. Shoving his sword back into its sheath, he faced the bare wall. He could hear the shuffle of movement behind him as the couple gathered their belongings.

  The bleakness of the last few weeks settled into his gut like a stone. When he’d left for his assignment to the north-western garrison, Fei Long had believed his home to be a harmonious place. Upon news of his father’s sudden death, he’
d returned to find his sister gone and debt collectors circling the front gates like vultures.

  His father’s presence had been an elaborate screen, hiding the decay beneath the lacquered surface of their lives. Fei Long now saw Pearl’s arranged marriage for what it was: a desperate ploy to restore the family honour—or rather to prolong the illusion of respectability.

  When he turned again, Pearl and Han stood watching him tentatively. Each of them had a pack slung around their shoulder. Off to face the horizon with all their belongings stowed in two small bags.

  Han bowed once. ‘Elder Brother.’

  The young man risked Fei Long’s temper to deliver the honorific. Fei Long couldn’t bring himself to return the bow. Pearl met his eyes as they started for the door. The heaviness of her expression struck him like a physical blow.

  This was the last time he would ever see his sister.

  Fei Long took his money pouch from his belt and held it out. The handful of coppers rattled inside. ‘Here.’

  Han didn’t look at him as he took it.

  ‘Thank you, Fei Long,’ Pearl whispered.

  They didn’t embrace. The two of them had been apart for so long that they wouldn’t have known how. Fei Long watched their backs as they retreated down the stairway; gone like everything else he had once known to be true.

  * * *

  ‘Jilted lover,’ the cook guessed.

  Yan Ling’s eyes grew wide. The stranger had stormed up the staircase only moments earlier with a sword strapped to his side and the glint of murder in his deep-set eyes. She’d leapt out of the path of his charge, just managing to hold on to her pot of tea without spilling a drop.

  She stood at the edge of the main room, head cocked to listen for sounds of mayhem upstairs. Her heart raced as she gripped the handle of the teapot. Such violence and scandal were unthinkable in their quiet town.