The Earl of Heartbreak

by Bethany M. Sefchick

  Sarah reached up and pressed a finger to his lips. "That some day is now." Then she kissed him with all of the passion she had stored up over the years, praying that he felt the same.

  He did. For almost immediately Rayne was upon her, his hard body pressing hers down into the softness of the lounge. She could feel the hard length of him against her hip and she wiggled a bit, but he stilled her with his hands. With his mouth on her breast, he caressed her stomach and hips with both of his hands. He stroked his thumbs over her inner thighs making her tremble.

  Sarah arched up, craving more, and when Rayne moved lower to dip a finger inside of her, she whimpered with need. She was so hot and so wet, and she ached with a desire she could not name but needed with all that she was.

  "So wet for me," he whispered, "and I have not even made you come yet."

  In response, Sarah reached between them and grasped his cock. "Please." She was all but begging now. "Please, Brook. Later we can do all of these magnificent things you speak about, but for now, I just want you. I need this. I need you."

  Rayne thrust his hips hard against hers. He couldn't help himself. Her words had set him ablaze. "This will hurt, sweetheart. Even if I made you as ready as possible, it would still hurt."

  Reaching between them, he stroked her again. Perhaps she was ready after all. He had vowed he would not do this. He had vowed he would not ruin her completely. However now when they were together like this, naked skin to naked skin, he found that all of his good intentions were gone. He had to possess her. Anything less was unthinkable.

  "I don't care. I can endure anything. Just make me yours. I have wanted this for so long. I cannot remember a time when I didn't." Sarah knew she was begging but she didn't care. All she wanted was Rayne inside of her. She was tired of waiting. Even the most perfect seduction had to reach a conclusion.

  "I will be as gentle as possible." Then he was there, the blunt tip of him pressing at her entrance and instinctively Sarah spread her legs wide to welcome him into her body.

  The first press of him into her tight sheath hurt - rather a lot actually. She would not deny that. But he also felt so incredibly wonderful that she sighed with pleasure. With each small thrust of his hips, he drove in farther until she felt him pause. Then he thrust again and he was through her maidenhead. Yes, there was pain, but it was more pleasurable than not.

  Sarah wanted to ask if there was more, but before she could, Rayne started to thrust, slowly at first and then harder until he was making her buck beneath him to meet his body's demands with her own. She felt herself start to spin out of control, a delightful pressure building inside of her like a wave. With each thrust, Rayne took her higher, closer to that invisible peak she couldn't see but knew existed just the same.

  He clenched around her, his jaw hard. She knew he was close, but she was not there yet. And she so desperately wanted to be. This would be her only first time with a man. Since it was with Rayne, she wanted it to be perfect.

  When he reached between them to stroke her nub of pleasure, she screamed, her body immediately tensing. With each stroke, she bucked hard against his hand as he continued to thrust. Then, she felt her world shatter and split apart into a thousand shards of light. She heard Rayne groan and drive into her one last time, spilling his hot seed deep inside of her as she rode the final waves of her passion, her body still quivering beneath his.

  As Sarah looked up into Rayne's fire lit eyes, she knew he had been right to wait the other night. For she was changed. Deeply. Irrevocably. And she was incredibly happy about it. Even though she knew she probably shouldn't be.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rayne knew he should be ashamed of himself. But he wasn't. He couldn't be. He had finally bedded Sarah and fulfilled one of his life-long fantasies. Actually several of them at once, for they had made love many times throughout the night. In oh so many different ways. It still wasn't nearly enough however. He doubted that his time with her would ever be.

  Each time he reached for her, Sarah had been eager to learn whatever he wished to teach her. In fact, she had been so skilled at sucking his cock that just thinking about it now made him as hard as a randy schoolboy again. Which was not a good thing since he was supposed to meet with Lord Lansdale in mere moments to discuss drainage issues for the small stream that formed part of the border between Hallowby Grange and Montclef.

  Again, Rayne knew it was not his place to act on Frost's behalf, but if the drainage issues were not solved soon, the crops would all rot well before harvest time, as the ancient Roman aqueducts that Hallowby had relied upon for so long were crumbling there as well. He didn't think his friend would want to be responsible for the other man's failed crops. Or the misfortune of his own tenants when there was not enough food to eat. Especially since a letter from Frost that morning had indicated that he and Lavinia would be arriving a day or two later than they had first anticipated. Which still gave no clear indication as to when they might arrive at Hallowby. And when Rayne might be forced to give up Sarah.

  For now that he had possessed her once, he could not wait to do so again. Common sense be damned.

  He was still thinking about her when Lansdale rode up on a magnificent black stallion to the location where Rayne was already waiting. They were a contrast to be certain, the golden man and the midnight horse, but they seemed to fit together somehow and once more, Rayne was struck by a stab of jealousy. Would Sarah eventually wed Lansdale? The man was not one of Frost's friends, so he would likely be an acceptable suitor. Not like Rayne.

  "Welcome," Rayne called out with a cheery greeting, trying to force his mind back to the matter at hand. "I must compliment you on owning such a magnificent animal."

  Lansdale dismounted with ease and for a moment, Rayne was jealous once again. Though this time not over Sarah. He was jealous because Lansdale was something that Rayne would never be - athletic. Rayne kept himself in shape certainly, but nothing like this man before him. Rayne was also on the thin side, more scholarly in appearance than anything else. Then again, he was a scholar. He had never pretended to be otherwise. He was also far from perfect and Lansdale? Well, the marquess was clearly a cut above just about every other man of Rayne's acquaintance in both appearance, grace, and...well, everything. It was sickening really. If only the man weren't so damnably nice!

  The only strike against the new marquess was the fact that he had been raised in America, and he could hardly be faulted for that little matter. His father had been a bastard. Everyone knew it to be fact. Daniel Weston's banishment across the Atlantic with his mother and sister was not his fault, and he would likely be forgiven that transgression in an instant. Especially once the matchmaking mamas of the ton discovered just how obscenely wealthy the man was.

  "Thor here has been with me for a long time." The marquess patted the stallion's neck. "Not easy to get him here from Baltimore, I can assure you, but he was well worth the trouble."

  "I can see why." Rayne gave the animal one more admiring glance before turning back to where Mercury was tethered to a tree lazily munching on grass. His horse was no middling thing, but he was not Thor. "Anyway, I am thankful you agreed to meet with me this morning."

  Lansdale looked around and noticed the still-soggy ground, even though it had not rained once since Rayne had arrived at Hallowby. "Yes. This is troubling. I had no idea the area suffered from poor drainage."

  Leading the marquess along a small line of shrubs, Rayne pointed to some ancient stonework now hidden in the trees. "It didn't always. Though Hallowby is not mine as you know, I have been friends with Frost since we were in leading strings. This is where I first explored Roman ruins and ignited my passion for archeology." He gestured to a crack in the stonework. "That is also why I know that this stonework is cracking and no longer providing sufficient drainage in the surrounding fields. Nor is it transferring the drained water to Hallowby's far eastern fields as it was designed to do, either."

  "As I said at dinner the other night, I a
dmire you for your knowledge. I spent time at both Cambridge and Yale back in America, though neither one suited me. I confess that I am not much for my studies and never have been." Lansdale bent to inspect the crack. "You say these cracks are the problem?"

  Rayne nodded. "Partly. While I am far from a land steward, I was out on Mercury here the other morning and noticed the soggy ground. Given that it has not rained here in some time, I thought it odd. That same afternoon, I noticed that the fields normally fed by this drainage were so dry that they were very nearly brown. Since I am also intimately familiar with Roman engineering and this area in particular, I investigated." He shrugged. "It is not my place to make changes to Hallowby, you understand, but Lady Sarah has that authority in her brother's stead. She doesn't wish to see her tenant's crops ruined. Or yours. That is why I am here."

  "Thank you." Lansdale rose from where he had been inspecting the cracks. "That is exceedingly fair of you."

  "As I said, Frost will be your neighbor here for quite some time. It would not do to get off on the wrong foot if I can do anything to prevent it." Not to mention that if this man did end up eventually marrying Sarah, Rayne wouldn't want her future security harmed because of a lack of funds due to poor crops. That, unfortunately, was his motivation more than anything else. For Sarah, he would do anything. Even something that bordered on actual labor.

  The marquess nodded again. "Still, thank you." He gave Rayne a considering look. "I assume that Lady Sarah thanks you as well."

  So. They were back to this. Rayne had suspected they would come around to the topic eventually, for Sarah was the single tie that bound them together. "She does."

  "I meant to ask. How does her chaperone, Lady Bea I believe her name is, fair these days?" Lansdale was likely merely being polite but Rayne didn't want to reveal any more than was absolutely necessary. They skirted close enough to ruin as it was. Especially since Harry had yet to locate the blasted woman.

  "Not well, I am afraid." Rayne lied through his teeth like the rogue he was. "She was ill when she arrived, as I am certain you remember from the other night. Unfortunately, her health has not improved much. The local physicians have been called, but we are waiting for the arrival of Dr. Hastings from London. The man is a medical genius and has saved many of my friends." That part wasn't actually a lie, as the man had been sent an invitation to Frost and Lavinia's wedding ball. He just simply wasn't expected until the end of the following week with the rest of the guests.

  And Hastings had saved the lives of more than one of Rayne's good friends. Candlewood's sister Julia, now the Duchess of Radcliffe, among them. So no, not really a lie. Just also not really the truth either.

  Seeming to accept Rayne's tale, Lansdale nodded in understanding. "I am sorry to hear that. Please give her my best and my well wishes for a speedy recovery. At least she is in residence. There is that. I am afraid that I don't know much about English proprieties, but I suspect that an unwed young woman like Lady Sarah should not be alone with an unwed gentleman like yourself."

  "True enough." Rayne was growing uncomfortable with this line of conversation. "However I am an old friend of the Tillsbury family and am viewed more like a brother than anything else."

  "Even though you are in love with Lady Sarah." Lansdale wasn't trying to be prying or spiteful. At least Rayne didn't think so. The man was simply exceedingly direct, far more than Rayne was accustomed to dealing with.

  Nodding, Rayne bit his lip. "Even though I care for Lady Sarah greatly, yes." He would not say love, for what he felt for Sarah was not love. He was certain of that much. "Lord Lansdale, you must understand. My relationship with Lady Sarah is a complicated one."

  For some reason, Rayne felt the need to unburden himself. Perhaps this man, who knew nothing of their collective past, was the correct choice to listen. "I have known both Frost and Sarah since we were all in leading strings. I have been a part of their family, tangentially at least, for just as long. Over the years, Frost has trusted me with Lady Sarah's well-being on numerous occasions, including times when Society would otherwise frown upon our companionship and deem it unseemly. Most recently a month or so ago when there was a kidnapping plot afoot, and we all feared that the man might come after Sarah if he was denied the woman he truly sought. However, Frost has also made it clear that Lady Sarah does not have to wed anyone if she does not wish to, but if she does, he would not allow one of his friends to wed her for we are thought to be a wild and libertine lot."

  "Even you?" Lansdale was a bit incredulous. "A scholar?"

  Rayne shrugged. "I am not always a scholar. Sometimes I am, in fact, a bit of a libertine. And a rogue. I have kept mistresses. I have dallied with opera dancers. In fact, I am somewhat legendary for my numerous brief associations with women." He gave a low bow. "They do not refer to me in the gossip rags as the Earl of Heartbreak for no good reason. So no, out of all of his friends, Frost might trust me the most with Lady Sarah's safety, but he would trust me the least to make her a good husband."

  The marquess seemed to consider that for a moment. "Perhaps you dally with other women because you have long known you cannot have the one woman you desire the most."

  "Perhaps." The same thought had occurred to Rayne once or twice as well. He also tended to dismiss the thought as quickly as it came to him - which was far more often than made him comfortable.

  "You are not the womanizer you pretend to be." Lansdale studied him thoughtfully. "While there are many parts to you, at your heart, you are a scholar, and I think you know why it is you do what you do. Particularly where women are concerned"

  Rayne did not wish to be having this conversation. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to confide in Lansdale. It was not something he did. Ever. In general, he kept his own council. However after last night, his brain was feeling more than a little muddled.

  "I have made poor choices in the past," Rayne finally said. "But I always did what I thought was best." Usually so that he would not behave inappropriately towards Sarah. So perhaps the marquess was correct after all.

  Nodding, Lansdale moved back towards his mount. "As you like." He paused before putting his foot in the stirrup to lift himself onto the animal's back. "However, remember what I said the other night. If Lady Sarah wishes to choose a different path, one that places her at my side, I would be amenable to that. No matter how many secrets, as you term them, she has in her past. If you cannot or will not offer her the life she deserves here with her family surrounding her, know that I will."

  In one smooth move, Lansdale mounted his horse and suddenly, Rayne felt very small. "Also, I should mention that I had a visit the other day from a Baron Hodge?" The marquess raised an eyebrow. "He mentioned your, ah, betrothal to Lady Sarah. I played along, of course, for whatever is between you and the lady is not my secret to tell. I am assuming it was a lie told by one of you to keep the odious man a away from her?"

  "It was." Rayne wasn't about to deny it. "The man has plagued her for years and when he burst into Hallowby uninvited and started demanding that she wed him immediately, I was the only person about to stop him and put him in his place. It was purely for Lady Sarah's safety."

  Lansdale shook his head. "Back in America we do not have these sorts of machinations, or if we do, I was never a part of them. Still, know that I kept your secret and will continue to do so. However, I will warn you that the man still intends to have her to wife, even if that is by trickery and coercion. Again, if you cannot protect Lady Sarah with the gift of your name and title, know that I can and that I will. I would hate to see someone as full of life as her be chained to a man like Hodge. He would destroy here in short order, I fear."

  Lansdale swung his horse around, pausing one final time. "And as for the drainage issues? Do with them what you will. They are on Hallowby land and I defer to you, a man with far more knowledge of the subject than I. When Lord Chillton returns, he and I will speak then, but until that time, I trust you to do what is best for all concerned."

&n
bsp; Then the marquess was gone, a golden rider on a midnight horse disappearing into the still rising sun that made the wildflower-dotted meadow sparkle with light and life. Just as Sarah did.

  With a sigh, Rayne leaned up against a tree and remembered the marquess' parting words. They held more than one meaning, he was certain.

  I trust you to do what is best for all concerned.

  The best thing for all concerned would be for Rayne to leave Hallowby right now. To brave the halls of Fieldown and finally pick one of the young ladies to take as his bride. That would remove the temptation to bed Sarah again. To spill himself inside of her as he had done last night without thought of the consequences. It would leave her free to choose a life with Lansdale as a pampered and protected marchioness if that was what she wished. Or to become a spinster, though he truly didn't think that was what she desired from life. Sarah wished for a husband and family of her own. He had known her long enough to realize that she didn't want to be sent to the north to rusticate for the remainder of her days. She craved more than that from her life. Yet it was also the choice she faced if they continued on as they were. Unless she was free to choose the marquess. Unless she wanted to choose the marquess.

  Sarah said she cared for Rayne and had for years, but did she? Or had she merely been infatuated with him for so long that she knew nothing different? Was the same true of him?

  Sarah trusted him certainly. She had bared her back to him the previous evening and he knew that was no small thing. That single action had taken complete courage and trust on her part. A trust built over a lifetime. A trust unlike anything she shared with another living soul, save for her brother. That was something that Lansdale could not give her no matter how hard he tried. Or likely no matter how long he knew her, even if that meant the rest of their lives. For the other man would never meet the previous viscount, would never see up close the cruelty he could exhibit to those he purported to love. So Sarah might come to trust Lansdale implicitly, but it would never be the same sort of trust she shared with Rayne. It was simply not possible.