It seemed that the hut was the base for woodcutters or possibly those engaged in more furtive work. Caroline thought it unlikely in the extreme than any poachers would be out that night, so she counted on having the place to herself. That said, it was draughty, uncomfortable and cold, but it was shelter and she would have to stay in it until the daylight brought either rescue or at least the chance of finding her way back to the path. Caroline thought guiltily of Lavender, who had warned her not to walk too far and would now be beside herself with worry. Lewis would probably be furious…But there was nothing to be done. At last she was starting to feel warm and the warmth made her drowsy. She banked the fire down, lay down on the rough bed and drew the cloak about her as best she could. She blew out the candle and almost immediately fell asleep.
Caroline had no idea how long it was before she awoke. It was still dark, and from outside the hut came the scrape of metal on stone. She sat bolt upright, suddenly terrified. If this was a poachers’ hideout and she was here, alone in just her shift in the middle of the night…Even as the thoughts rushed through her mind, there was a crash and the door was flung open. In the aperture stood Lewis Brabant and he looked furiously angry. He held a carriage lamp high in one hand, the candle inside shedding its light over the interior of the hut and shining into Caroline’s eyes. Behind him, the darkness swirled with flakes of white. Lewis came into the hut and closed the door behind him, shaking the snow from his cloak. Caroline found her voice.
“Lewis! Oh, thank God, it’s you! I had quite given up hope!”
Her words did not appear to have a soothing effect, for Lewis still looked furious. “Had you indeed, madam? Yet you seem quite comfortable here whilst the rest of us tramp through the snow searching for you!”
His gaze swept over her, taking in the warm firelight, the makeshift bed and Caroline, her hair dried in curls about her shoulders. An indefinable look came into his eyes, one that made Caroline suddenly self-conscious. She started to rise, remembered that she was in her shift, and pulled the cloak more securely about her.
“I was making do until help arrived,” she said hastily, “but now that you are here, Lewis, we may return to the house—”
Lewis gave her a scorching look. He removed his cloak and arranged it beside Caroline’s dress in front of the fire, kicking the glowing embers into life again.
“Return to the house? You must be mad if you think that I would step outside again in that weather!” He came across to the bed and sat down on the edge, grasping Caroline by the shoulders. “I have sent the others back and I was about to give up and go home myself! Have you any idea what I have been through, Caroline, searching for you from barn to byre, calling your name, looking for footprints until I thought all hope was lost!” He shook her. “And now that I am here I will not stir again until the snow has ceased and neither will you!”
The cloak had slipped. Caroline folded her arms firmly across her breasts.
“But we cannot stay here—” she began, only to be silenced by the infuriated glare Lewis gave her. She started to realise that he was even more angry than she had first thought.
“Pray do not argue with me, madam!” His tone was as arctic as the weather. “I suppose you will tell me next that it is inappropriate for us to be alone! All I can say is that you should have thought of that before wandering off and putting us all to an unconscionable amount of trouble!” The fury took hold of him again. “Good God, you of all people should know that there are poachers in these woods—”
“Well, they will not be out tonight!” Caroline retorted, as angry as him now.
“No!” Lewis stood up and turned away to put more wood on the fire. “They will not! No one else would be so stupid! Of all the addle-pated little fools! What were you doing—running away from me? If my proposal was so unwelcome you need only have said! I would not have pressed my suit further!”
Caroline frowned. “Of course I was not running away! How can you be so nonsensical! I went for a walk and wandered from the path by the veriest accident!”
“Hm,” Lewis looked slightly mollified. He straightened up. The fire was burning brightly now, filling the hut with light and warmth and shadows. Caroline snuggled back under her cloak.
“By all means make yourself comfortable by the fire!” she said sleepily. “If we are indeed to stay here until daylight you must try to rest…”
“Thank you!” Lewis sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled his boots off, sending them crashing across the hut, where they bounced against the door. “I confess that sleep is not the matter on my mind at the moment.”
Caroline, whose eyes had just started to close, opened them again hastily. She was in time to see him discard his jacket and pull his shirt over his head. She drew back with a gasp of alarm.
“Lewis, I only meant—”
“Yes?” He turned on her suddenly. “Just what did you mean, Caroline? I believe you gave me your word that you would not stray from Hewly again, yet I find you foolishly walking in the snow, wandering from the path…”
Caroline, totally intimidated by the presence of a semi-naked man so close to her, shrank back against the wall of the hut. “I was only…I wished to have some time to think…I took my book of poetry…”
Lewis’ gaze travelled over her slowly, taking in her flushed face and stormy hazel eyes. He deliberately dropped his gaze to her bare shoulders and the cloak that Caroline was now desperately clutching beneath her chin. Caroline felt the heat come up to her skin, suddenly suffusing her from head to toe. Lewis looked from her to the red velvet dress, draped across the wooden chair before the fire. He started to smile, but it did not reassure Caroline at all, edged as it was with predatory intent.
“Well, well,” Lewis said cordially, “so you decided to go for a walk…In your evening dress, in the snow…And to think that I have been waiting this age for your romantic inclinations to triumph and when they do they almost kill us both! Yet I find that I am glad, after all…”
Caroline found that there was nowhere further to retreat to, for her back was against the wall and she was becoming decidedly chilly. She tried to wriggle under the cloak, but Lewis was too quick for her. He leant across her and pulled her beneath him in one swift move, trapping her with his weight. Caroline squirmed.
“Lewis, what—”
Her words were cut off as his mouth came down fiercely, violently, plundering the softness of hers. A delicious warmth flooded through her, a trembling and tingling that left her utterly confused. His lips were parting her own ruthlessly, his tongue sliding between them with a merciless demand that left her reeling. Caroline gasped and he took immediate advantage to deepen the kiss, sending her senses spinning. His hands tangled in her hair; his mouth moved over hers in total supremacy.
Caroline came to her senses briefly when Lewis let her go for a moment and she realised that he was removing the last of his clothes. The firelight slid across his hard, muscular body in slabs of red and shadow and Caroline lay still and watched, unable to tear her gaze away.
“Lewis,” her words came out as a whisper, “is this really necessary…?”
His shadow seemed to stoop like a hawk as he leaned across her, taking her lips in another insistent kiss.
“Yes, my darling Caro, it is entirely necessary.” His voice was very husky. “But before we go any further there is something I should tell you. The church is booked for Saturday morning—two days’ time, or indeed it might only be one day by now, and I shall brook no opposition. I have a special licence. And if you still think that I do not love you…”
Caroline’s eyes flew wide. “You love me? I did not realise—”
“Are you quite mad?” For a moment Lewis looked fierce again. “How much more obvious does it need to be…?”
Caroline could not answer as he kissed her for a third time. His skin was warm beneath her fingers, intriguingly taut and soft at the same time…She smoothed her hand across his chest experimentally and heard him groan as
he slid down beside her on the truckle bed.
“I thought that you were married to your ship,” she said at last, a hint of teasing in the words as she looked up into the blue eyes so close to hers. “I am sure that you said that she was brave and true…”
“So she was, and I swore not to marry until I found a woman to match her…”
Lewis stripped back the covering cloak and his fingers found the laces of Caroline’s shift. She caught her breath as he dealt efficiently with the bows and brushed the material aside impatiently.
“I protest—You have done this before, Lewis…”
He laughed. “What, do you think I am a rake, then? Prim Miss Whiston will have no truck with rakes…”
He bent his head to her breast and Caroline cried out at once, arching against him. This was a whole new world of sensation, urgent, melting…
“Severe Miss Whiston…” Lewis’s voice was rough now as his hands moved softly over her exposed skin “…would never indulge in such inappropriate behaviour as this…” He slid the shift down over her hips. “I am persuaded that she would be quite horrified at such unsuitable conduct…” He trailed tiny kisses down her throat and over her breasts until Caroline was almost crying with need.
“Do you know how much I have longed to find my own sweet Caro again?” Lewis said softly. “I knew that she was only hiding and now that I have found her I will never let her go…”
“Lewis,” Caroline could barely concentrate, but she had something to tell him. “Did I tell you that I love you too…”
She saw the blaze of triumph in his eyes. “Darling Caro…”
Caroline reached out and slid her hands over his back, gasping with pleasure at the feel of him beneath her fingers, pulling him closer. Every inch of her was burning for him and when Lewis brought his mouth back down to hers she writhed with delight and drew him to her, aware of nothing but the spiralling desire that threatened to consume her.
“Please, Lewis—”
“Oh, Miss Whiston—” his eyes were mocking her but there was a heat there that matched her own “—pleasure should not be hurried!”
“Later,” Caroline whispered, arching against him, “later you may take your time…”
She heard him laugh and it was the last conscious thing that she remembered in the whirl of sensation that engulfed her. She had no thought for convention or appropriate behaviour. Prim Miss Whiston was gone for ever.
It was cold in the hut and Caroline burrowed deeper under the covers, closer to the warm, male body entangled with hers. Lewis shifted slightly to accommodate her and drew her to him so that her cheek was resting in the curve of his shoulder.
“Lewis, you say that we are to be married in two days…”
“One day. It is past midnight.” His voice was a sleepy murmur.
“But I have not yet agreed to your proposal…” Caroline was tracing her fingers over his chest. She leant closer and saw the corner of his mouth lift in a smile.
“So you have not. Will you run away instead, then?”
“I might…”
“And I would have to bring you back and tell anyone who cares to challenge me that you are absconding with the family silver…”
Caroline wriggled closer, lowering her lips to within an inch of his. Drowsy blue eyes smiled into hers.
“Is there any?” she whispered.
“Mmm…” Lewis made an effort to stir himself. “I am sure I could find some to substantiate my claims…”
He reached out a lazy hand and pulled her back down beside him. With one finger, he traced a line down the soft skin on the inside of her arm, pausing as his hand brushed the side of her breast. Caroline started to tremble.
“Do you think that you will like being married to me, Caro?”
“It will be tolerable,” Caroline gasped, as his hand drifted across her bare stomach. “Of course, you will have to behave sensibly—”
“I have no intention of doing so, I assure you. Is this sensible?” Lewis bent over and kissed the corner of her mouth softly. “Is this?” His hand cupped her breast, stroking gently.
“Lewis?”
“Yes, Caro?” The gentle movement did not cease.
Caroline shivered. “It is not really appropriate to repeat your actions so soon—”
Lewis leant over her. “Yet I distinctly remember you telling me that I might do so. Slowly, as well…”
Caroline abandoned the unequal attempt to think straight. There was no necessity for it. Probably, she thought blissfully, as Lewis started to kiss her again, very slowly, there would never be any need to be strict and prim and appropriate again.
“Caroline, brave and beautiful,” Lewis whispered against her skin. “My dauntless Caro, the perfect companion. I believe that I have truly met my match!”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4015-9
A COMPANION OF QUALITY
First North American Publication 2002
Copyright © 2001 by Nicola Cornick
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A Companion of Quality Page 19