Regency: Rakes & Reputations (Mills & Boon M&B)

by Gail Ranstrom

  He could feel her trying to deepen the contact of their hips, but her skirts would not allow it. He began to hitch them higher, to wrap those graceful limbs around his waist, but he caught himself. He had not lost that last shred of his decency.

  “No,” she gasped. “Find a place. Now, Jamie. Now.”

  He could not mistake her intent. She wanted to finish this, to make love fully rather than their usual interrupted attempts. “You cannot know …”

  “I want to, Jamie. I need to know.”

  He knew a public house very near. The proprietor would not ask questions this time of night. He draped the brown shawl over her head, took her hand and led her away from the deserted house and around a corner, but he balked. His sensibilities would not allow him to take Eugenia to a common public house. His flat was less than a mile away and he’d sent his valet on a fortnight holiday to have him out of the way should any attempts to murder him extend to his home. Now on the busier street, he flagged a coach, shouted his address and lifted Eugenia in, wondering if she would change her mind and if the moment of madness had passed.

  He need not have worried. The coach was scarcely in motion before she was in his arms again, kissing him with a fervent desperation. He’d never sensed such honest and overwhelming passion before.

  She fumbled with the buttons of his waistcoat, slipped her hands inside and awakened a rising anticipation in his too-responsive body. He needed her, craved her like no other. And he was well past embarrassment when the coach door opened and the driver gave him a wink.

  “Shilling, sixpence, sir.”

  Jamie tossed him a few coins without looking and was met with a pleased, “Obliged, sir.”

  Shielding her from the driver’s view, he escorted her up the steps to his rented flat, fumbled with the key and had her safely inside by the time the coach drew away.

  Her shawl fell to the foyer floor as she reached up to him again, her eyes already heavy-lidded in anticipation of another kiss. He complied, almost laughing as she pushed his jacket off his shoulders. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to his bedroom, knowing there was still a chance for her to change her mind. Pray for her sake that she did, because he could not.

  The room was darkened but for the glow of banked coals in the fireplace. He placed her on her feet beside the bedpost and went to open a window to the summer night, and by the time he turned back, Eugenia was fumbling with the fasteners at the front of her gown. He watched her for a moment, feeling his libido riot with good sense.

  She was not practiced in the art of undressing for a man, as his mistresses had been, but there was something very endearing in her innocent haste. Then she looked up from her task and her eyes met his. A blush spread across her cheeks even as her lips lifted at the corners in a shy smile.

  He went to her and held her shoulders. “Are you certain, Eugenia?”

  She nodded, a universe of promise in her eyes.

  He slid his hands down to cover hers and take their place. One lace at a time he undid her gown, revealing fine silk beneath the rough homespun. Like Eugenia herself, the deeper he went, the finer the fabric. By the time her gown slid to the floor and he sighed at her lack of a corset, he was burning with his need to feel her beneath him, fitting herself to him, closing around him.

  The sheer silk of her chemise and stockings taunted him, revealing, and yet not revealing her. He was uncertain how to continue without ripping the delicate fabric when she took matters into her own hands. Or, rather, took him into her own hands.

  She quickly slipped the knot of his cravat, discarded the length of cloth and unbuttoned the neck of his shirt. She’d forgotten his waistcoat and had to push it off his arms. He smiled at her eagerness. She was new territory for him. He’d never made love to an innocent girl before, and he wanted this to be memorable for her. With that thought came another.

  Leave Miss Eugenia alone. She deserves better.

  Charlie’s words sobered him. How could he do this to Eugenia? How could he take the incredible gift she offered and ask no more?

  “No, Eugenia. I cannot do this. It was a mistake. I am so sorry for—”

  She blinked and her eyes narrowed. “You cannot? Or will not?” She pushed him in anger and, unprepared, he staggered backward, landing against the wall. “Is it because you have already seen me naked and did not like it?”

  By all the saints! How could she ever think such a thing? She had haunted his nights ever since, but not with disgust—with longing and desire. “Eugenia, you will thank me when the passion clears. How could I take advantage—”

  She threw herself against him, and bunched the fabric of his shirt in her fists as she shook him. “You cannot stop now, Jamie. You cannot. You owe this much to me.”

  The violence of her passion, the raw emotion in her voice, reached him and he understood what she wanted, what she needed. Though he suspected he’d regret it the rest of his life, he surrendered his conscience.

  Lost. He was lost. All his lofty principles about leaving the ladies of the ton alone, of restricting his amorous activities to the demimonde, to women who had no power over him, went out that window on the late summer breeze.

  “Easy, Eugenia,” Jamie cooed.

  Caught up in her own need, she pulled his shirttails over his head and he lifted his arms to help her. She swayed slightly at the sight of his bare chest. She’d never seen this much of a man exposed before. Her breath hitched and she realized she’d stopped breathing for a moment.

  He steadied her and waited while she looked down at his remaining clothing. She skimmed her trembling fingers along the warm flesh above his breeches, seeking the button to the flap that covered him. Could she go so far as to…She slipped her fingers beneath the band but he stopped her and backed toward the bed to sit.

  Toe to heel, he wedged his boots off, dragging his stockings with them, then lifted her in his arms and placed her on his lap. He traced the line of her hip beneath the fluid silk and sighed. “I am afraid I will rip your underpinnings, Gina.”

  He’d called her Gina. Oh, he could leave her underpinnings in shreds for all she cared.

  With a little sigh, he pinched one corner of her chemise and eased it from under her to glide it up her sides and over her head. As she was exposed, she shivered and her nipples grew taut. She had thought it would be easier once she was undressed, as if the deed were almost done, but as Jamie dropped his gaze to her breasts she held her breath in fear. Oh, pray he did not think her inadequate. But his next move dispelled her worry.

  He nuzzled her neck, stopping to worship her scar with his kisses, and half turned to ease her back against pillows that smelled of his cologne and his uniquely masculine musk. Something tingled deep inside her and she was suddenly impatient to have this done with. Despite the vague memories, despite the ever-present fear, to know, once and for all…

  Leaving a trail of kisses in his wake, he lowered his head farther, drawing one firm areola into his mouth and teasing it with his tongue, nipping gently with his teeth. Oh! She had never felt anything half so delightful! She bent one knee to rest against him and he groaned deep in his throat.

  He stood quickly, but before she could form a protest, he had undone his breeches, dropped them to the floor and turned back to her. He was glorious. He was terrifying. Her heartbeat sped and she fought her rising anxiety.

  Jamie was beside her again, kissing her with a fierceness that took her breath away and left no doubt that he wanted her. At least for this moment. For this small space of time.

  She tangled her fingers through his hair, wishing she could hold him there forever. He was doing such wondrous things to her, such unspeakably pleasurable things, that she could not remain still. Again she raised her knee to glide along his bare hip, reveling in his heat and strength.

  He groaned and moved lower, taking one breast into his mouth, and nibbled, gently drawing forth an answering heat in her middle. She felt as if she were straining for something as yet unknown, bu
t she knew Jamie would reveal it to her in the fullness of time.

  He slid his hand lower, to the juncture of her legs, and her raised knee made her vulnerable to his touch. He began a seductive rhythmic stroking at the top of her cleft that had her lifting her hips to meet him.

  “Ah, that’s it, Gina. Open for me. Let me in.”

  His praise warmed her and she was ready when he moved his hand just a bit lower and entered her with one long finger. She stiffened at that foreign invasion and caught her breath, then expelled it slowly as the rhythmic stroking began again.

  Heavenly and naughty at the same time…. That could be said of more than Jamie’s kisses.

  “Like molten silk, Gina. So soft, so snug.”

  The pad of his thumb continued to stroke that sensitive little nub as he slipped one finger steadily in and out. Within moments she was arching to his hand, craving more, hungering to have him deeper inside her.

  Unthinkingly, she reached for him, for that part of him that was uniquely male, wanting to know how he felt, and if she could give him the pleasure he was giving her. As her hand closed around his shaft, he groaned and jerked as if she’d hurt him, but she knew she hadn’t by the deep sigh he gave her.

  “Yes, Gina. Yes. Touch me.”

  She smiled, delighted that she’d pleasured him. As she rose to his hand, she tightened her hand around him, following the rhythm he’d set, finding it so insanely sensual that she shuddered.

  Suddenly Jamie pulled away and moved down her body, stopping to explore her navel along the way, then dipping lower to where his hand had been. The first stroke of his tongue drew a shocked gasp from her, but then the sheer pleasure of it blanketed her in heat and had her incapable of thinking of anything but the next stroke of his tongue, and the next.

  His hands bit into her hips to raise her slightly and give him freer access, but the building tension inside her made it impossible for her to remain still for long. She thought she would die with the insistent need. Little frissons of delight burst at her center and raced along her nerve endings.

  “Jamie,” she keened.

  He rose between her thighs and the look on his face was raw and strained. “Steady, Gina. Do not fail me now.”

  Fail him? How could she ever fail him?

  The staff she had so recently held had changed. Swollen to an even greater size, it looked red and angry, as if it would burst. Fear, primal and vivid, gnawed at the back of her mind but she fought it, knowing now that he would not hurt her.

  Jamie lowered himself, hovering only slightly above her. The hard probe of his shaft at her entrance discomforted her and she had the first inkling of how different this would be than the welcome invasion of his strong fingers.

  She looked up at him and he nodded, as if reading her mind, then covered her mouth with his as he probed again, his tongue mimicking his shaft. She wanted to protest, tell him he would never fit, but she found her arms going around him, pulling him closer as she raised her knees and hips to meet him.

  And then he was inside her, thick and strong, but shallow still. He withdrew just a bit, then thrust again, going deeper, ever deeper with each thrust. Pleasure mingled with pain, and back to pleasure again until he had buried himself inside her, rocking against her and awakening that sleeping bud to full blossom. The strokes of his shaft coupled with the deepened contact sent her into a spiral of pleasure and need. She wanted more, and more and more.

  Her breathless moans shocked her and she marveled that they had come from her. But then, she’d never felt pleasure so powerful, so insistent, building to an explosive burst of rapture so intense that it racked her entire body.

  “Yes,” Jamie whispered, his breath hot in her ear. “God, yes. Come, Gina. Come with me.”

  Anywhere. Always. Forever.

  Jamie stood at the window and watched the first tinge of violet stain the horizon. He would need to waken Gina soon if he was to have her home before the house was stirring, but not a moment sooner. Gina needed rest.

  After they’d made love, she’d fallen asleep in his arms, her cheek and one hand resting on his chest and her leg crooked over his. He’d only been able to watch her, touch her—the curve of her cheek; her lips, dusky and swollen with his kisses; the violet shadows of sated fatigue beneath her eyes; the silken mass of gold and brown hair scattered across his pillow and the velvet warmth of her skin as he stroked her hip. She was the most glorious creature he’d ever known.

  And when she’d stirred an hour later, he’d kissed her and they’d made love again. Slower, sweeter, with all the wonder of first love and filled with all the power, all the ecstasy of their first time, but suffering none of the angst. More than anything, he wanted to believe that she had not been seduced by the moment, and that she desired him half as much as he desired her. But he was a man of the world, experienced in the art of seduction, and he knew that he’d caught her unaware and used her own passionate nature against her.

  He turned and went back to his bed to study her, to burn the vision of her there on his memory. He did not deceive himself that she had fallen helplessly in love with him or that they could ever build a future given what he represented to her. No, he had served a purpose. Gina had wanted to know what making love was like, wanted that answer, and he’d been only too eager to give it to her, and flattered that she’d chosen him. But he should never have given in to her pleas. Should have been strong enough to give her up and preserve her virtue. He had failed her, but he would not do so again.

  He reached out and touched her cheek, brushed a lock of silken hair out of her eyes. Leaning close, he kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear. “Arise, Eugenia. The night is done and the day awaits.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The afternoon was half gone by the time Gina was dressed and made her way downstairs in an agony of suspense. Had Jamie given her away when he’d brought her home before dawn? Or had he managed to escape unnoticed? She’d tried to make him leave her at the end of the street, but he insisted upon seeing her to the door with a promise to come later in the day, and there was no arguing with him.

  She found her mother and sister in the parlor, conversing in perfectly normal tones. She breathed a sigh of relief. If Mama knew where she had been last night, and what she’d done, she would be in shrill high dudgeon.

  Mama scarcely glanced up at her. “Good heavens, Eugenia! You look as if you have not slept in weeks! You really must stay in tonight and get some rest.”

  Bella came to her rescue. “Really, Mama, there will be time enough for rest when you have gone back to Belfast. Let Gina enjoy London while she can.”

  “Well! I do not need advice from you, Bella. Once you have children of your own, you will know how I feel.”

  Gina rolled her eyes and sighed. She was tired of her mother’s endless nagging—never mind that she was right. Gina actually did need sleep rather badly. She’d been barely coherent last night when Jamie had gotten her home. Exhaustion and satiation had mixed in a powerful brew, muddling her mind so that all she could think was that she never wanted to leave Jamie’s bed.

  “I shall take a nap if that will reassure you, Mama.”

  Her mother contrived to look satisfied. “Nap? You are scarcely up, girl. The day is most gone. I do not think a nap will serve you now, Eugenia. I would prefer that you cancel your evening plans and stay in. Those Thayer girls are far too…too …”

  “Too engaging? Interesting? Pleasant? Diverting?” Bella stood and went to the teapot to pour a cup for Gina. “Really, Mama. You complained when Gina had not yet made friends, and now you complain that she has. Give her a slack rein for the next few days, will you?”

  Bella brought her the cup as she sat on the sofa and gave her a sharp warning look, as if she suspected that Gina had been sneaking out at night. “Thank you,” she said in a soft tone, hoping Bella would realize it was for keeping silent and for supporting her as much as it was for the cup of tea.

  Her sister gave her a quick
nod that said she would be seeking Gina out later for some answers.

  “Well,” Mama sighed, leaning back against the cushions of her chair, “I really do not see why Gina should bother to go about in society. Three days hence, we shall be bound for Ireland. What point is there, really, in socializing now?”

  Three days? Gina sat up straighter, her mind in turmoil. She could not possibly be ready to leave in three days’ time. Mr. Henley, Jamie.

  Bella answered to cover Gina’s shock. “To make friends, Mama. To make connections that may serve her in the future. How pleasant it will be to correspond with Hortense and Harriett to have all the on dit.”

  “And what good will that do her, I ask? Once we are back to Ireland, Eugenia is unlikely to leave again. What earthly use will she have for friends in England?”

  “You should not map out Gina’s life, Mama. Many things could happen. She had gentlemen callers in Belfast before we left, who will likely be awaiting her return. Should they have connections in London …”

  “Pshaw! With both older and younger sisters married, Eugenia is quite upon the shelf. Who will have her now, even with the inducement of her not inconsiderable dowry?”

  Gina cleared her throat and smiled. “Have you forgotten that I am in the room, Mama?”

  “Oh, well.” Mama had the good grace to look a bit confused. “I was only stating the truth, my dear. You know I did not intend any insult.”

  Oddly, Gina believed her. “None taken, Mama.” Her mother never intended insult, but she had no idea how high-handed she was. She had planned Gina’s life to her own advantage and did not see any reason to consult Gina in regard to her preferences or to the details.

  Mama stood and waved one hand airily. “Eugenia, I hope you will not be needing Nancy. I have some shopping to do and wish her to attend me.”