Caversham's Bride (The Caversham Chronicles - Book One)
Page 12
She opened the door and cautiously looked both ways down the hallway. Seeing no one, she stepped out, intending to knock on the door to Ren’s room. He’d said it was just across the hall. But, when she lifted her hand to knock, she heard the sound of raised voices and stopped. Her ears burned when she realized the occupants were discussing her.
“Ye think it’ll be that easy, eh?” She heard the gruff voice of the old seaman, Angus. It sounded as though he was berating one of the occupants of the room. “Because of the speed at which ye married, people will talk, ye know.” Pressing against the wall outside the cracked-open door to his room, Lia listened to their conversation.
“Aside from Hakim and Ismael, you three are the only ones who know the truth of it all,” Ren said. “If anyone learns anything other than I met and married the daughter of an Italian gentleman, it will have to come from one of you.”
“Have ye thought about if it’s even legal? She may be a breast-beating Catholic.”
“She is, but I can convince her to convert.”
Lia wanted to stomp into the room and knock some sense into his archaic little brain. She’d already told him she would not convert. Did he not understand her? Didn’t he know she meant what she said?
She wondered at the relationship he had with these men who spoke with him so openly about his personal life. There was more mumbled dialog, she couldn’t make out what was said, then she heard Ren’s reply. “I’m keeping her. That’s all there is to it.” To her ears, Ren sounded frustrated, tired of defending his decision. “You know of my urgent need for an heir. As I see it, she needs a place to go, and I need a broodmare. It works just fine in my mind.”
A broodmare? How could he say such a thing? And to men she did not know! It didn’t matter that she’d made the agreement with him, he didn’t have to spread this around to his friends. To do so meant he had no respect for her and for what she would give up to leave her home and remain with him.
“You should leave her here,” Captain Cully said, “in her own country. Ye know it’s the right thing to do! Help the lass get her inheritance back, and she could have a nice enough life here....”
“We made a bargain,” Ren cut in. “Her brother for my heir, which she likely already carries. After she bears me the requisite heir and spare, and they’re safely tucked away, I’ll do what all fine, upstanding gents do, set her aside and take a mistress. If she wants to go back to Italy with her brother at that point, then I’ll send her back.”
Lia’s face burned with humiliation that she was being talked about in such a crude manner. So, he thought to marry her in name only, and remain married until she provided him a son, then set her aside? The man needed to learn she would never give up her child, agreement or no agreement.
“And, for propriety’s sake, there will be no mention of the events of the past weeks. As soon as I have contrived a believable tale to explain our meeting and marriage, I’ll let you know so our stories don’t differ. It is imperative that there are no questions of my heir’s legitimacy.”
“He’s got a point there,” said Angus.
“Yeah,” replied another voice. Captain Flynn?
Another moment of silence, then Captain Cully said, “I’ll never say a word of this. No one’s likely te believe it!”
Lia had heard enough. She quietly stepped back into her room. Once the door was locked, she allowed her tears to fall, though she wasn’t quite sure why she was crying. Yes, she agreed to the arrangement, but she’d hoped that one day she might come to mean something more to the Englishman.
Oh, who was she fooling? She was no better than a broodmare. She’d sold her body for the life of her brother and would gladly do so again. But not if she knew he’d take her children after he was done with her and set her aside.
As it stood, she was sure of two things. Ren really did want to marry her, and he really did want her to bear two sons for him; “...the requisite heir and spare,” is what he told the three men across the hall.
She knew love was something that grew with time, but she had hoped it might be something he’d welcome. However, it didn’t appear that way now. He only needed her body to produce his legal heirs.
The tears continued to fall silently down her face. He didn’t care for her beyond her keeping up her end of the bargain. If he took her sons and sent her away, she might never be allowed to see them. Then she had frightful thought. If her own aunt tried to have her killed, why wouldn’t a stranger if he wanted to be rid of her?
Images of her mother flashed through her mind. Her kind and gentle mother, who loved her children beyond imagination. A woman who did anything for their happiness. She always wanted to be like her if she were one day blessed with children.
The Englishman was using her, and she had allowed him. Worst of all, she had enjoyed his lovemaking. She had even begun to care for him. And that had been a big mistake.
She must leave. While leaving him was easy.
Taking a chair, she sat at the table and lowered her head to rest on her crossed arms. She had to think, had to formulate a plan to escape him. Her mother still had family in Rome. Surely they would welcome her and her brother.
But what about Luchino? She worried how his health would fare were she to subject him to the long trip. Travel through Italy by land would take far too long, and cost more money than she could get her hands on. A voyage by boat would be quicker and less expensive. But how was she to come up with the money? She had no access to anything of value to sell.
Then a thought struck her. Find a ship headed for Cittavecchia and stow away on board. It would not be easy, but it could be done. She’d heard many stories of children stowing away. If it was easy enough for a child, surely it was easier for an intelligent, grown woman.
Suddenly Lia remembered what her father had always said, “If you want it enough, you will find a way.” There was nothing she wanted more than her freedom.
A knock on the door brought her out of her contemplations. She opened it to find the young maid had come to take the trays, and to see if Lia needed anything else.
At the sight of the maid, her plan began to fall into place.
Later that afternoon, Lia again sat at the window, this time watching the sun sink into the horizon. The clothes the maid had brought for her and Luchino were safely tucked away under the mattress, and she recalled the last words she said to the girl.
“Per vita mia,” she’d said, “you cannot say a thing about what you have done for me.” She took the girl’s hands in hers and kissed them. “I have no way to repay your kindness, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The girl smiled then departed, leaving Lia to work out the details of her escape.
A soft knock stirred her from her thoughts and she rose to open the door. Ren entered, but left two women in the hallway. Lia placed her finger on her lips to signal that her brother slept, and he motioned for her to come with him.
Once in the hallway, she shied away from his direct gaze, knowing what she did, and that she didn’t plan to stay with him. He smiled softly, revealing his fine, even white teeth, and the indentation in his right cheek. He looked freshly bathed and shaved. His black hair was still damp and clung to his head, a curl wrapping around an ear.
“I have brought a seamstress for you,” Ren said. “You will need more clothes, and she is here to begin taking measurements.”
Lia could not hold his gaze long because of her guilt over the planned escape later that night. Besides, she now knew how he really felt about her.
A gray-haired woman came forward, her hair twisted tightly into a bun at her nape. The no-nonsense hairstyle and her spartan black dress led her to believe this was the seamstress. The other woman was younger. Lia assumed she was the assistant. The older woman asked her to stand.
“Her coloring is good,” the woman said after walking around her slowly. “She should be able to wear many fashionable colors and styles.” She called her assistant forward.
“Your Grace?” Lia stopped him as he was about to leave. He turned to her again and this time she held his gaze. “I was wondering if we could have an outfit or two for Luchino,” she lied, knowing they would be gone before the clothing was delivered. “We left without his things and all he has are his sleep clothes.”
“I’ll have something sent from the ship.”
“Thank you.” Lia lowered her eyes.
After Ren left, the women took her measurements, and made their notes. Once they too had gone, Lia relaxed again until Luchino woke up.
She had decided to say nothing to him yet, as he might slip and reveal their secret at dinner with Ren. She would tell her brother as he changed into the clothes hidden under the bed.
Before long their dinner trays arrived and soon after Ren strode in carrying clothing for Luchino. Lia pretended nothing was amiss, and as she placed their cups on the table, her brother changed into his new clothing. Ren looked at her with a steely silver gaze. She was sure those eyes could read her soul, and knew of her intent to flee into the night.
“What is wrong, Lia?” Ren asked.
“Nothing. It’s just...”
“Lia, look, they fit!” Luchino clutched the waistband to keep the knickers from falling to the ground about his bare feet. Ren and Lia laughed at the sight.
“I’ll have to see if we can find you some rope to tie around you to hold those up. We can’t have your breeches falling in public, now can we?” Ren turned to Lia, “There’s much you and I need to discuss. Perhaps after dinner Cully and Flynn can keep watch over the boy, and we can be alone.”
Lia nodded and sat in her chair to eat. His idea of discussion always ended up with them naked on the bed. Not that she didn’t enjoy his skilled lovemaking, because she did. It’s just they usually didn’t get to the intended discussion.
After a delicious dinner, Cully and Flynn arrived bearing a deck of cards to keep the boy amused and assured Lia that her brother would be fine in their care. Ren then took the bottle of wine, and led her across to his room where he locked the door. Setting the bottle on the table, he reached for her and wrapped his arms about her lightly and rested his hands on her backside. It felt good holding her this way. It had been too long. At least since yesterday afternoon, and now as he stared into her eyes, he felt the familiar stirring in his loins. How was he ever going to return to his normal routine? Thoughts of bedding this woman filled his brain. At his age he shouldn’t be behaving as a great rutting beast of eighteen. He had to get this out of his system before he returned home, or else he’d be thought a hen-pecked fool, and he’d never be able to show his face at Jackson’s again.
Her silken brown hair fell loose about her shoulders and cascaded down her back in a tumble of waves. His fingers toyed with the ends that reached past her waist, and his lips ached to taste hers. So he’d be a fool for a few more days because this felt right.
She pulled away from him and took a few steps out from his reach. “You wished to discuss something with me?”
“Not particularly.” He stepped toward her, closing the distance between them.
“But during dinner you said...”
“I know what I said, Lia. Would you have me tell you, in front of your brother, that I desired your body?”
Her green eyes momentarily widened in shock, and her mouth parted in a wide O. Ren watched, fascinated with the tip of her tongue, as it darted out to moisten her lips. He kissed her, backing her toward his bed, and turned them before falling backward onto the mattress. Lia lay on him laughing. Holding her head, he brought her mouth down to his, and his tongue coaxed her open so he could plunder her depths. Tasting the sweet wine she’d just had with their dinner, his tongue explored the nuances of her smile. He considered himself fortunate to have found her. The woman was more intoxicating than the best bottle of single-malt he owned.
And tomorrow afternoon she would be his legally. He would have her in his bed every night until she gave him the heirs he needed, and even then he wasn’t sure if he would be done with her, though he intimated as much earlier to his uncle and cousins. No, for some reason he didn’t think he would ever tire of her.
Ren tore his lips from hers and placed a row of kisses along her jawline toward the highly sensitive area just below her ear. When his tongue touched it she arched into him, as she had each time since the first night, making him feel wanted and desired. As a man, not as a title, or means to an end. Her low moan fed his aching desire for her.
Her hands slid down his sides to pull his shirt up and placed her hands on his bare back, holding him tightly, making his cock ache. The feel of her hands on his skin was painfully arousing. There had been women he’d bedded in the past who were repulsed by the hair on his back and chest. His Lia was not. She never pulled away in fear or disgust. Instead her fingers played on him, titillated him, and tortured him. And he loved it.
In his opinion, after they were married they would have all the time in the world to explore each other’s likes and dislikes. Right now, her entire body naked and riding him was what he wanted. He began to work the row of buttons on the thin muslin and the sash tied at her back. When he reached her chemise, he groaned in disappointment because it blocked his feel of her smooth skin.
A broodmare, that’s what he’d called her. The man thought of her only as a means to an end. Lia had to leave him tonight. Before she fell further under his seductive spell.
She would leave him tonight, but right now she was going to make love with him as though there was no end to their time together. As though her fantasy of a real, loving partnership, such as she’d seen with her parents, might actually exist between them.
Lia forced herself to remember every detail of this moment. The feel of his hands on her sensitive skin, and the way his soft lips sent shivers racing through her body as he covered her naked flesh with kisses. He used his fingers, lips, and other parts of his body to stir her desire for him, and stoke a fire within her so raging the only relief was his loving. These memories would warm her through the many long, lonely nights ahead. They would have to last the rest of her life, for after making love with this man surely no other could compare.
Her body sang as he toyed with her nipples through the bodice of her gown. She brought her hands to his chest, and began unbuttoning his shirt. When it was undone, she pushed it from his broad shoulders and traced her palms over the sculpted muscles of his chest and back. He quickly divested himself of the shirt and returned to her before her skin had a chance to cool. She brought her lips to one nipple, laved it with her tongue, and gently suckled him. Pushing him back to the mattress, she straddled him, her hair creating a curtain about his face, blocking what little light there was from the single candle in the room.
She leaned forward and kissed his chin, then traced her tongue along the length of his jaw, licking her way to the area beneath his ear, curious if it held the same effect for him that it did for her.
It did. His hardened shaft pushed upward toward her, but was trapped by the breeches he still wore. Ren furiously unbuttoned the row of tiny buttons on the back of her dress. That done, he bunched her skirt up about her waist while she continued to caress his neck and chest. Breaking away, she sat up and helped him tug the dress and chemise over her head. He tossed it across the room, but Lia didn’t care, for his lips were already on her breasts, his mouth sucking greedily first at one nipple, then the other. He stoked the fire in her as he stroked her waist and back, then grabbed her bottom and drew it up toward his face. Unaware of what he wanted, she was shocked when he parted her fleshy lips and his tongue began to work his magic on her most sensitive spot. She would miss this pleasure he gave her.
As his tongue tickled, his teeth gently nibbled. His fingers penetrated her, causing her to fall forward, grabbing on to the painted iron headboard as he brought her to her first climax that
night.
While her inner body still convulsed, he guided her off him and quickly removed his breeches. He resumed his place beside her, drew her into his arms and kissed her, sharing her essence with her.
“I love the way you taste,” he whispered.
Knowing this was her last night with him, and knowing how much he had enjoyed it when she did it before, she broke the kiss and slid her body down his length until she knelt between his knees. She gently stroked the long, thick shaft in one hand, and caressed his sac with the other. When the first clear drop appeared she licked the head of his manhood, tasting him. Her tongue lapped around the head, and she raised her eyes to watch him. His eyes were shut tight, his lips thinned and he grimaced as though in agony. She shifted her position, her hand still stroking his shaft lightly.
Suddenly she felt the need to have Ren remember her after she was gone. She wanted him to wish it was her he was loving when he took another woman. She wanted him to miss her passion and intimate kisses when he married another woman one day. “Ren,” she whispered. His dark silver-gray eyes opened and met hers. She held his gaze as she lowered her head and licked the salty sweetness from him. “I love the way you taste as well.”
Lia took him deeply into her mouth and teased his shaft with her tongue for only a few seconds before she moved up his body to straddle him. She sheathed him with a swift downward plunge. His hands held her bottom and he moved with her as she began her frenzied ride. When she felt his body tense she quickened her pace, milking his climax from him as she joined him in ecstasy.