And this was home now, thanks to them. But he wanted more.
He wanted Molly.
If he could just lie with her, for a single night, this aching need would be satisfied. Then he could enjoy his newfound wealth and success, and move on with his life.
He stopped pacing and strode to the door. Just thinking about Molly, about the way she tasted, the way she felt in his arms, had the need rising once more.
He turned away, counting the steps to the table, then back to the door. But it was impossible to get her out of his mind.
With a muttered oath he yanked opened the door and stepped outside. Wolf raced out behind him, then paused and lifted a nose to sniff the air.
William glanced toward Molly’s cottage, actually hoping it would be in darkness. Then he could talk himself out of this madness.
He felt a wave of annoyance at the flickering light he could see in her window. Why couldn’t she have just this once done the sensible thing and retired at a reasonable hour? Now the temptation would eat at him during his night walk with his dog.
Just as he was turning away, Wolf began barking frantically and started racing across the field.
More annoyed than puzzled, William started after him.
“Damnable creature,” he muttered. “He’ll have the entire town of Surrey awake if he keeps this up.”
The dog disappeared in the darkness, his barking growing more distant, and William stopped to look around in annoyance. Had Wolf run all the way to Molly’s?
He looked up and saw what appeared to be a strange darkened haze rising from her roof. A trick of the eye, he thought It was a mist of some sort.
But as he continued to stare, he felt his heart stop. That was no mist. It was smoke.
“Fire,” he shouted, then louder, “Fire! Duncan! Tyler!”
His heart in his throat, he dashed across the field, all the while shouting for the old man and boy to wake up.
When he reached Molly’s door, the air was thick with the smell of burning wood. He leaned a shoulder to her door and forced it open. At once Wolf dashed past him and raced to her side.
At first she appeared to be surrounded by flames. But as William’s eyes adjusted, he realized that it was the rug at her feet that was burning. She was attempting to put out the flames with a blanket. But each time she would beat back the fire in one spot, another would burst into flame.
“Here. That’s not enough.” William raced across the room and pushed her aside, then began hauling the burning rug out the door, unmindful of the flames that singed his flesh and licked at his shirt. Once he’d tossed the burning rug aside, he hurried back inside to help beat back the fire that had begun climbing up the curtains at the window and along one wall.
“Flee, Molly,” he ordered. “Go outside where you’ll be safe.”
“Nay. I can’t.” She picked up a bucket of water and tossed it at the flaming curtain.
Just then Duncan and Tyler arrived, still pulling on their clothes.
Without a word the two joined in. Duncan grabbed a burning blanket from the end of the chaise and beat out the flames, then used it to beat a thin line of fire that was inching along the wall.
“We need more water, Tyler,” Molly shouted.
The lad caught up an empty bucket and hurried out, returning shortly with water sloshing over the rim. He handed it to Molly, who gave it a quick desperate toss.
They did this over and over until there was no sign of fire anywhere in the room. They stared around in dismay. The walls and ceiling of the little cottage were charred. The curtains, the little wooden table, the rocking chair, all burned beyond repair.
They stumbled outside, choking and coughing, to sit in the grass.
“How did this happen, lass?” Duncan asked between gasps of breath.
“I fell asleep sewing. The gown in my hand must have brushed against the candle.”
“God in heaven.” William caught her hand. “You could have died.”
She gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine, William. Thanks to all of you.” Just then she looked down at his hands. Despite the black soot that covered them, she could see that they’d been burned and were beginning to blister. “Oh, no. You’ve been hurt.”
“It’s nothing.” He snatched his hands away and got to his feet. “You can’t stay here tonight. You’ll have to come back to my cottage.”
She shook her head as he helped her up. “Nay, William. I can’t leave now.”
“And why can’t you?” He looked toward Duncan and Tyler for support. “We’ve plenty of room.”
“Aye, lass,” the old man said. “We’ll see that you have the privacy you require.”
She gave him a gentle smile. “I know you would. And I thank you. But this is my home. I need to be here, to satisfy myself that the fire is truly out. If I were to leave, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I’d feel a need to stand vigil at the window all night long, watching for smoke.”
“If you won’t leave here,” William said firmly, “then I’m staying with you.”
“There’s no need, William.”
“Aye. There is. I’ll not have you here alone.” William turned to Duncan. “You and the lad may as well go off to bed. As for me, I’d be no good at my place. Like Molly, I’d be forced to stand vigil at my window all night long.”
The old man nodded. “I quite agree. This way, we can all rest better, knowing the lass is safe.”
“Safe.” Molly smiled before touching a hand to the dog that hadn’t left her side since he’d first arrived on the scene. “When I heard Wolfs barking, and saw William in the doorway, I knew I would be safe.” She walked to the old man to press a kiss to his cheek, then kissed his grandson, as well. “Thank you both for coming to my rescue.”
“How could we not? You’ve come to mean so much to us. Good night, lass,” the old man called.
He wrapped an arm around Tyler’s shoulders, and the two started across the field toward their beds.
Molly turned to William. “Sit on the bench in the garden and I’ll fetch some water to bathe your hands.”
She was gone before he could utter a word of protest. A short time later she returned with a basin and pitcher. She knelt before him and began to wash his hands. “Do they hurt, William?”
“Nay.”
“Oh, William, I was so frightened.”
“Not nearly as frightened as I when I saw the smoke.”
“But then I saw you there in the doorway.” She stunned him by lifting his hands to her lips and pressing a kiss to each palm, sending heat spiraling through his veins. “And I knew I’d be safe.”
“Is that what you think?” He stood and drew her up with him. He was watching her with a look of such intense concentration, she found it impossible to look away. “That you’re safe with me?”
“Of course.” She nodded.
He gave a hiss of annoyance and dropped his hands to his sides as he turned away.
“William?” She touched a hand to his back. “What are you doing?”
“The honorable thing. I’m leaving now, before it’s too late.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?” He shot a glance over his shoulder. His eyes looked as hot and fierce as they had that first night, when he’d stumbled into her cottage and frightened her half to death. “Go inside now, Molly, and latch your door. Then, and only then, will you be safe.”
* * *
For the space of several minutes Molly stood in the dark, watching as he walked away. His sudden change of mood puzzled her. Was it something she’d said? She went over every word in her mind.
Safe. She’d told him she felt safe with him. And then he’d changed right before her eyes.
As the realization dawned, she recalled something else. He’d said he was doing the honorable thing. Sweet heaven. He was leaving her alone in order to spare her honor.
“Oh, William.” With a hand to her mouth she dashed through the darkness after him. When s
he caught up to him, she lay a hand on his arm and felt him flinch. “Please don’t go, William. I don’t want you to leave me alone.”
“I have to.” His voice was gruff. “If I stay, you will most definitely not be safe.”
“I understand now, William.” She stepped in front of him and touched a hand to his chest. “I didn’t at first, but now I do. And I want you to stay.”
He caught her roughly by the upper arms and held her a little away, as if determined to keep her at bay. “I have nothing to offer you, Molly. Nothing. Do you understand? I have been disowned by my own father. Turned away by my family. Whatever wealth and title I might have had has been denied me forever. By associating with me, you will bring nothing but shame upon yourself.”
“The choice is mine to make, William. I care not for wealth or title. It’s you I want. Only you.”
He went very still, hoping to make her see the error of her ways. “I can make you no promises, Molly.”
“I’ll ask for none.”
His eyes narrowed. “If that’s true then you’re a fool.”
She lifted her chin in the way he’d come to recognize. “Perhaps I am. But I want you to stay the night with me. To hold me. And—” her voice trembled just a little “—love me, if just for the night.”
He moved his hands slowly up her arms, across her shoulders, drawing her inexorably closer. Against her temple he muttered, “Then God help us, for I haven’t the strength to resist.”
He crushed her against him and covered her mouth with his in a kiss so hot, so hungry, it seemed to steal all her breath. And still it wasn’t enough. He kissed her again, lingering over her lips, drawing out all the sweet clean taste until he could feel it filling him.
His voice was a whisper inside her mouth. “You realize, don’t you, that we’re both a couple of fools?”
“Aye.”
He felt that slender young body imprinting itself on his, and was desperate for more. With a muttered oath he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the cottage. Inside they made it as far as the door to her bedroom, where he paused to kiss her again. A mistake, he realized. The hunger for her was so great, he had to fight a desperate urge to tear her clothes from her and take her right here on the floor.
His tongue tangled with hers, mated, while his hands moved down her back, igniting fires along her spine.
“I’ve wanted you, wanted this, since the first time I saw you.” The words were whispered against her mouth while his hands moved up her sides until they encountered the swell of her breasts. His thumbs stroked, and he felt her nipples harden.
“I never dreamed. I’d thought no man would ever want me, William. I’ve been soiled and discarded. Like damaged goods.”
Damaged goods. Wasn’t that what he himself had been feeling for so long now?
“Oh, my darling.” He felt something loosen around his heart. A band that had been there for so long now, squeezing the very life from him.
He lifted a hand to the row of tiny buttons on her faded gown. “I want to undress you.”
He kept his gaze fastened on hers as, with easy, unhurried movements, he unbuttoned first one button, then another, until he was able to slip the gown from her shoulders. It slid to the floor, to pool at their feet. Then he untied the ribbons of her chemise and parted the fabric.
“You’re even more beautiful than I’d imagined.” He whispered the words against her throat, before running wet, nibbling kisses across her collarbone, then lower, to the swell of her breast. “Oh, Molly. Molly. You’re so beautiful.”
She swallowed, shocked by the desire that rocked her.
“You’re trembling.” He gathered her into his arms and pressed his lips to her ear. “Are you cold?”
“Nay. It’s—it’s the wanting. Though I was wed, I’ve never...wanted a man before.” She looked away, shamed by her admission.
He couldn’t imagine anything that would have thrilled him more. He tangled his fingers in her hair and dragged her head back. “Look at me, Molly.”
She did. And what she saw stunned her. Those fierce blue eyes that she’d once thought cold and cynical, were burning with heat and desire. “I’m trembling, too. And all because of you, Molly. Just you.”
He dragged her against him and plundered her mouth. She felt the heat grow until it was a raging inferno.
She had a desperate need to touch him as he was touching her. Reaching a hand to his shirt, she nearly tore it in her haste. Then she reached for the snaps at his waist until his clothes joined hers on the floor at their feet.
Now, at last, they stood, flesh to flesh, and she thought she would surely die from this wanting that shuddered through her.
He lifted her onto the narrow bed and lay beside her, gathering her close. His kisses were by turn harsh, then gentle, as though he waged a war within himself. His hands moved over her, drawing out hidden pleasures that had her sighing, then gasping with pleasure, and sometimes with shock.
He studied the way she looked, lying in a spill of moonlight, her skin gilded, her eyes gleaming like fire. Her golden hair tumbled over his arm, and he thought about the first time he’d seen her. He’d wanted desperately to touch. Now he could touch, taste, to his heart’s content.
His lips moved along the sensitive little hollow of her throat, then lower, to her breast, where he nibbled and suckled while his big clever hands moved over her, weaving a magic of their own.
When her hands fisted in the bed linens, he drove her to the first peak. She shuddered, struggling for air, and arched against him. Before she could recover he took her again, loving the look of stunned surprise in her eyes.
This, he realized, was a place she’d never been before, and he was thrilled to be the one to take her. He could feel her heartbeat thundering in her chest. It matched his own. He was nearly drunk with feelings for this woman. His woman, he thought fiercely. Only his.
He struggled to bank his feelings. To draw out this moment, for it was all he had to give her. But then she touched him as he was touching her, and he knew he was lost.
A single touch from her and all the madness was unleashed. He levered himself above her, whispering her name. He fisted a hand in her hair, loving the way her eyes stayed steady on his.
The need was so great now, clawing to be free. And still he waited, taking them both to the very brink until, desperate, she clutched at his shoulders and wrapped herself around him.
They came together in a firestorm of passion.
This was how he’d wanted her. How he’d dreamed of her. No longer cool, but instead like a wildfire, raging out of control. The last thread of his own control dissolved, and he felt himself being washed along in a tide of desperate passion.
He murmured her name over and over as he climbed with her to the very top of the mountain. He looked into her eyes in that moment before they stepped off the edge, and what he saw shattered him completely. For in that one final instant he saw her heart in her eyes. A heart so pure. So trusting. A heart fairly bursting with love.
It was the last thing he saw before he followed her over the edge.
Chapter 9
Molly awoke and lay very still. She’d never known such a night. It still didn’t seem possible that she and William had shared such intimacies. The entire experience had been like a rare and wonderful dream. One she still couldn’t quite believe. She had expected, after they had collapsed into each other’s arms, that they would simply sleep. Instead, they had loved again and yet again. And each time it had been different. At times they’d been overcome with such sweetness, such tenderness, it made her want to weep. At other times they’d been gripped by a sort of madness that thrust them into the dark side of passion, which excited her even while it shocked her.
She yawned and stretched and reached for the man whose arms had held her all through the night.
Finding the bed empty, she opened her eyes, expecting to find him dressing.
The room was empty.
She wash
ed quickly in a basin of water, then drew on her simple day dress and hurried from the room.
“William?” She opened the bedroom door and stared around at the destruction to her cottage. Seeing that the house was empty, she decided that he must have gone back to his own place, in search of clean clothes.
She felt a quick little flutter of disappointment, but brushed it aside. He had a life of his own to see to. Hadn’t he told her he could make her no promises? She couldn’t expect him to ignore his work, his obligations, just to be with her.
She stoked the fire and placed the blackened kettle over the hot coals. Afterward she walked to the doorway and stepped outside, breathing in the morning air, still ripe with the acrid stench of charred wood.
She glanced at the cottage across the field and felt a shiver of anticipation. Would William come to her before he left for Lord Kent’s estate? But as the minutes passed, and then an hour or more, she realized with a sense of dread that he wasn’t coming.
She hurried back inside to her bedroom, where she examined her reflection in a small chipped mirror. Oh, how she wished she could be more beautiful. She tried to see herself as William saw her. But all she saw were fine lines around eyes that appeared troubled, cheekbones a little too defined, and a mouth that was too wide. She stared down at her hands, which bore the effects of the fire. The skin was blistered, the nails torn and ragged. Not a lady’s hands, she thought sadly. Not the hands a man would want moving over him in the quiet of the night. And her clothes. So threadbare. So shabby. She wished she could afford to keep the lovely clothes she made for other women. But she’d learned years ago that wishing wouldn’t change a thing.
She set aside the looking glass and shook her head. Who was she trying to deceive? Still, she clung to the hope that William would appear in her doorway and dispel the nagging little doubts that were beginning to creep in.
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