"I do." He refused to lie, especially about this. "But Sarah, you know this can never be between us. You asked me to seduce you and I have. You asked me to make love to you while your brother was away and I have done that as well. You knew as well as I that when Frost returned, this would end." Rayne would keep her forever if he could, but that was not possible and they both knew it. He was simply the only one admitting the truth. Sarah was not prone to flights of fancy, but in this, she was indulging in a fantasy. It would not do anyone the least bit of good. Especially her.
Sarah shook her head defiantly. "I love you, you fool. Does that mean nothing to you?" He could see the sadness in her eyes and he wanted to reach out and wipe away the hint of tears he saw shimmering there. But he did not. Because if he touched her, he would bed her. Then, in the morning, she would be gone before he awoke, forced to leave so they would not be discovered. She would choose her family over him, and he could not blame her.
"It means the world to me," he confessed, "but it changes nothing."
She gave a low growl in response. "Idiot. It should."
"No. This should." And he kissed her. Rayne hadn't mean to, at least not really. Instead, he had meant to send her back to the ball, the one he had planned with her in mind and not Lavinia. Because in the end, whether she wanted to or not, Sarah would walk away from him. Even if she didn't want to, Frost would force her to do so. No matter what he said about allowing her to marry where she liked.
Sarah wound her arms around Rayne's neck and clung to him when he would have pushed her away after the briefest of kisses. She demanded things of him with her mouth, her tongue darting out to lick at his lips. She was bold, his Sarah, and it was yet another reason why he loved her.
"We should not," he mumbled against her lips but his mind was quickly losing the battle with his body. He ached for this woman. He couldn't help it.
"Yes. We should. We most certainly should." Sarah was breathless now and she felt so soft and delectable in his arms. The spicy scents of Persia rose around them, likely because she had knocked over one of the glass jars he had brought back with him. The fragile jars had been stacked in a corner near the side where she had entered the summerhouse. Given her voluminous skirts, she likely hadn't even been aware she'd done so.
Rayne could smell cardamom mixing with cayenne, coriander and cinnamon. The scents whisked him back to the old Persian marketplace where he had purchased many of these furnishing. And how he had imagined Sarah in this very space so many times, naked and wet for his pleasure.
Finally, he had his fantasy in his arms. Sarah wanton and desiring him. Rayne was only a mere man. There was only so much torment he could stand. Now, with Sarah's soft body pressing into his, he felt as if he had reached his limit. It was madness, but it could not be stopped, either.
"This is all for you," Rayne ground out as he gently pulled Sarah to the floor, the plushness of the carpet and the softness of the pillows scattered about making an inviting nest for the two of them. Coupled with the hot breeze blowing through the summerhouse, he could almost imagine that he was back in Persia itself. "It has always been for you and you alone. Each time I bought something, sent it here for Frost to keep, I did it for you. So that you could see something of the same lands that I did. So that I could share a part of my life with you, even though I knew it was wrong."
"I never even knew this was here," Sarah gasped as Rayne kissed his favorite spot at the base of her throat. "You should have said something earlier."
He licked the long column of her throat before biting down gently on her ear and then nuzzling the spot. "I asked Frost to tell you. I am not surprised that he didn't. Looking back, I think he has long suspected that I care for you more than is proper."
"You could have told me," Sarah challenged him as she began tugging at his cravat to expose his warm skin. Oh, how she loved his body. "If you had cared, that is."
Rayne pounced on her then, rolling her and pinning her beneath him as his eyes glittered in the darkness. His hard, heavy body pressed down into her softer one, and she whimpered, though not from fear but from longing. She wiggled her hips and it was all he could do to stop himself from taking her right then and there. "I care. I care so damn much, Sarah, that I all but ache with it. Never believe otherwise."
"Then show me," she challenged as she arched up into him, his hands still holding her wrists hostage above her head. "You say the words, Brook, but I need proof. Any man can spout nonsense, but it is only the true man who backs them up with actions." Her eyes glittered in the candlelight. "So I ask you again to show me."
"With pleasure."
Rayne's first kiss was full of heat and longing and passion. It was hard and demanding and everything that he was on the surface. It lasted for what seemed like a lifetime, at least to Sarah. His second kiss, however, was purely Brook. It was sweet and tender and yet still passionate and full of promise.
They kissed and kissed until Sarah wasn't certain of anything but the feel of his body against hers and the heat of him surrounding her. She tasted his lips and his skin, her hands busy exploring the hard contours of his body, relishing the brush of his coarse hair beneath her fingertips. She wasn't certain when or how they undressed each other but soon, they were lying naked in each other's arms.
This was right. This was good. This was how they were meant to be together. She simply needed for him to stop acting the fool and accept what they both knew to be true. They were meant for each other, her family and Society be damned.
Because he was the only man who had ever made her feel this way. The only man who had ever set her blood on fire with just a single look. One touch. One glance.
Rayne's skin was bronzed by the soft candlelight, his muscles smooth and hard beneath her touch. She ran her fingers through his hair, delighting in the silken feel. It was longer now, more like it had been in their youth, curling at the ends and so soft that it was almost as soft as the silks that decorated the summerhouse. She traced her fingertips over the hard muscles of his chest, following the trail of crisp hair downward so that she could take him in hand and stroke him. She loved feeling him like this, the hard length of him pulsing in her hand, so eager for her touch - eager to be inside of her. She wanted to tease and pleasure him the same way he did to her, and she knew from experience that he was extremely responsive.
"Sarah," Rayne ground out as she pleasured him, her hands stroking him and fanning the desire he always felt when she was near. "If you continue to do this, everything will be over too soon."
"We have all night," she replied as she kissed his chest as she made her way down his body so that she could take him in her mouth as he had taught her. This was oh so naughty and something she had never thought to do with a man, but Rayne had shown her how pleasurable it could be for both of them. Especially since he would most likely reciprocate when she was finished. Sarah found that she liked that experience as well, even though it was among the more shocking things that he had suggested to her so far. Yet the act brought her such pleasure that it could not possibly be wrong - at least not between two people who cared for each other.
Still, if her enjoyment made her a wanton hussy then so be it. She did not care.
Rayne's blood raced thought his veins at Sarah's demanding touch. So soft and gentle that at times he thought he was only imagining her hands on his body, and at other times, so masterful that one would never guess she had been an innocent less than a fortnight ago. He thanked all that was good that she was a quick learner. She also clearly did not know what she did to him. She simply could not. If she did, she would not be so bold or so amenable to the pleasure he gave her. And yet she was. She was magic. She was perfect. She was...Sarah. And he would not change her for the world.
Finally after what seemed like hours of intimate caresses but was likely only minutes, Rayne felt as if he had been pushed to his limits. He needed to possess Sarah. All of her. He desired her that much.
With a growl of delight and need, Rayne shifted quic
kly so that she was now beneath him and he could pleasure her in the same manner, pinning her in place as she squirmed and laughed. She tried to wriggle away, but he held her fast, his hands digging into her hips, holding her in place as he pleasured her. She tasted sweet, like the finest of summer nectars, and he knew there would never be another like her.
For Rayne loved Sarah will all of his heart and even though he could not say the words, he would show her how deep his feelings for her ran through his actions. This was their last night. Tomorrow, when the sun rose, Frost, Lavinia and the entire Tillsbury household would intrude upon the world they had built for themselves. He would be forced to leave. But not before he proved to Sarah how much he loved her in the only way he knew how.
"Rayne! Please!" Sarah cried out her pleasure as she felt the first wave of release begin to grow inside of her. Tonight they were so powerful that they threatened to overwhelm her. "I need you!"
"Then you shall have me." He slid up her body, kissing a path as he went, his tongue dancing across her skin, teasing her in new ways, discovering more ways to delight her senses. Finally, he settled himself between her legs and with one quick thrust, he was seated deeply within her, eliciting sighs of pleasure from them both. Then he began to move, suckling at her breasts as he did so, taking her to new heights of pleasure and passion that she hadn't known were even possible to reach. Then again, he hadn't know either.
It was only with her - with Sarah - that he found this sweet perfection, and it drove him on as he thrust harder and faster until she was bucking wildly beneath him and digging her fingernails into his back. This was perfection. This was love. And for Rayne, it all but destroyed his world at the same time it built him up again.
He reached his peak quicker than he had anticipated, the desire that had been building up inside of him over the past few days almost too much to contain. He needed Sarah the same way he needed air to breath. She was essential to him and now, sheathed tightly in her feminine heat, he felt his desire spiral until it was almost out of control, something hot and wild and beyond anything he had ever known or would know again. Then, before he could stop himself, he shattered, spilling himself inside of her at the same time Sarah found her own release, her body quaking and bucking beneath his as she clutched him tightly.
Together, they were spent. To Rayne, it seemed only right, for they were perfect together.
For a long moment, they both simply lay there in the nest of pillows until their breathing slowed. His first inclination was to doze off, but he fought to stay awake. He would not miss a moment of his time with Sarah, for there were so few minutes left. Each one was precious to him.
"I love you, Rayne," Sarah whispered as she kissed his shoulder and traced the line of his chest with her fingertips. "Do not ever doubt that. Ever."
"I won't." Rayne couldn't bring himself to tell her that despite her promises of love this was the end of their time together, so he simply allowed her to believe what she liked. She would learn soon enough. He would not spoil their last night together with harsh realities.
He knew she was waiting for him to say the words as well, but he could not. It wasn't that he didn't feel the same. He did. He simply didn't want to hurt her any more than was necessary. She would hurt enough when she found him gone in the morning.
For now that she was here with him, he had no intention of letting her go until he was completely finished with her and the first light of dawn streaked the summer sky.
"Sarah..." he began as he rolled over to face her, but he fell silent when she put a finger to his lips.
"No." Sarah shook her head, her hair now flying loose from the elaborate hairstyle Colleen had created earlier. She looked thoroughly tumbled and utterly delectable. "Whatever you are going to say, I do not wish to hear it. The only thing I want from you is this night. And the promise that you will come with me tomorrow to face my brother. Together we can change his mind. I know it in my very soul. This is not over, Rayne."
It was on the very tip of Rayne's tongue to say no. He should say no. After all, he could not give Sarah the promise she so longed for. There was no way Frost would change his mind. It would be futile to even try. An edict issued so long ago was not so easily changed, especially not for a man as set in his ways as Frost typically was.
Instead, Rayne nodded, a movement so brief that had Sarah not been looking directly at him, she would have missed it. "I will do what I can." It wasn't a promise precisely, so there was nothing to break. It was also all he could manage at that moment.
"And now?" For Sarah was not about to be denied when she desired something.
"Now we must rest." He kissed the top of her head. "Or at least I must rest. But soon, cara, I will be ready to take you again. I promise you that."
She giggled. Sarah was decidedly not a giggler. In fact, Rayne didn't think he had ever heard her make such a sound before. And yet it suited her in this moment as she lay scattered among the silk pillows, looking every inch an exotic princess from a foreign land, the strand of diamonds around her neck catching the candlelight so they shimmered with frozen fire.
He imagined her clad in brightly colored silks and gold and jewels. Had he been free to wed her, Rayne would have transported this entire room as it was to Fieldown. Or perhaps to Oakwood. There, they could play out this fantasy every night if they wished. Or, if she preferred Ancient Rome, he would give her that, too. He would gift her with whatever she desired so long as she continued to look at him as if he, Lord Brook Bexley, was her entire world.
"I shall hold you to that promise," she teased as she reached up to stroke his bare back, luxuriating in the freedom to touch and caress his warm skin. "In fact, I shall demand that you satisfy me repeatedly before the sun comes up."
"With pleasure, my lady," Rayne purred as he pulled Sarah close, his cock already beginning to rise again. "With pleasure."
Chapter Twenty
The sun was not even above the horizon as Sarah raced back toward the house in her unlaced gown, desperate to find Rayne and praying he had not already left Hallowby. She had awoken alone, tangled in the Persian sheets and her skin still smelling of him. They had made love throughout the night, each time they coupled even better and more inventive than the last.
After he had thoroughly pleasured her in their nest of pillows, they had moved to some sort of lounge chair. It was a peculiar piece of furniture but it was perfect for them to come together intimately. In fact, Rayne had taught her so many things on that particular lounge that Sarah wasn't even certain she could look at a fainting couch again and view it in the same manner she always had.
As dawn approached, they had finally moved to the bed. A monstrously huge affair made of dark and elaborately carved wood, it had been hidden in the very back of the summerhouse, well out of sight. And yet when Rayne had yanked off the large cloth covering it and Sarah had seen the look of heated desire in his eyes, she knew that it had been crafted for them and them alone.
He had taken her repeatedly in that bed, making love to her over and over as the dawn neared, whispering sweet words in her ear. He had never said that he loved her, but Sarah had known the truth just the same. He hadn't needed to say it. And when she had finally drifted off to sleep wrapped in Rayne's tight embrace, she had believed that her future might finally be one of a happy marriage, family and children. With Rayne.
Then she had awoken alone and reality had quickly settled in. He was gone. He had never meant to stay beyond that night. Even as he was possessing her body so completely the night before, he had been lying to her the entire time. He never had any intention of fighting for her. He had always planned to leave her in the end. He had never meant to confront Frost.
Sarah had believed she and Rayne were in agreement, that they would face her brother together and ask for his blessing. At least that was what she had thought his words the night before had meant. If he had said them at all. Strangely, she could no longer recall if he had actually agreed with her plan to ap
proach her brother. Perhaps she just assumed he had, and she had been so caught up in the moment that she hadn't been paying enough attention to know the difference.
By the time Sarah reached the house, she was well out of breath and uncertain where to look for him, but a dimly glowing candle in her brother's study indicated that at least one other person besides the servants was awake.
As she skidded to a stop outside the wide open door, Sarah did her best to compose herself. It would not do to look as though she was a desperate woman, even though that was precisely what she was. She smoothed the worst of the wrinkles out of her dress and squared her shoulders, prepared to do battle for the man she loved. Except that she looked as if she had been thoroughly tumbled, so she doubted that would help her cause.
Still, she had to try. Frost was her brother. He loved her. And for all she knew, Rayne was in there with him right now asking for her hand in marriage.
Only when she stepped inside the room, she did not find Rayne, but rather Frost instead. He was seated in his large, comfortable chair, a drink on the desk in front of him and his head in his hands. He looked rumpled and weary and not at all like a man who had just attended his wedding ball.
"Frost." Sarah knew very well he was aware of her presence for he had stiffened a bit when she walked in the door. Even though she had done her best to be as quiet as possible.
"Sarah." Frost's voice was calm but there was an undercurrent of something else there as well. "Were you looking for someone else? Other than me, that is?"
"I...ah..." What could she say? That she was looking for her lover? That would not go over well, she was certain.
Slowly, Frost rose to his feet as if he was in his sixth decade and not his third. "He is gone, Sarah. I am sorry. He left a few hours ago." He held up his hand to forestall her next question. "He did not say where he was headed and I did not pry. It was not my place."
Bringing her chin up, Sarah swallowed hard, refusing to back down. So that was how it was to be then? How Rayne thought it should be? Well not if she had anything to say about the issue. However there was still the little matter of her brother and his opinion on the subject to deal with. After all, he had been quite clear on the "no friends" part of his marriage edict.
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