Why, the vixen was toying with him. Playing, just as he’d asked. She was nervous and inexperienced in many ways, but she was trying. For him. His affection for her increased tenfold.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he said and winked.
She smiled sweetly, her dimples showing. “Yes, please.” Moving to the side of the bed, she hooked her fingers in his waistband and unfastened the front fall of his trousers. She glanced up, practically gloating. “If you had seen your expression…”
He twined his hands in her silky hair and leaned forward to kiss her. Hard. When he pulled back, he flashed a wicked grin. “You like playing, do you?” He ripped the shirt over his head. “I know a game or two you might enjoy.”
Her round eyes doubled in size. “What kind of games?”
“This one is called ‘Don’t wake your neighbors.’”
He pounced. With a soft squeal, she scooted back on the bed, trying to evade his tickling fingers. She flopped on her belly, laughing, and tried to scramble across the bed. He caught her by the waist and dragged her back to the edge of the bed. As she halfheartedly struggled, his trousers slid low on his hips.
“Release me,” she said between laughter.
“Now, why would I release you, love?” He raised her night rail over her hips to bare her lush bottom. “I think I prefer you this way.”
She had a great arse, firm and full. He lightly smacked one cheek with his palm. She gasped and swung her head to peer over her shoulder. “Sebastian!”
“Shh.” He held his finger to his lips. “You’re going to lose the game.”
She narrowed her eyes at him but couldn’t maintain the pretense of scolding him. Her mouth twitched at the corners before a smug smile spread across her face. “We shall see.”
He bent over and placed his lips against the small dimples on either side of her spine. She sighed and sank into the bedding. Inching her night rail higher, he licked and nibbled his way up the gentle curve of her back. Her buttocks cradled his erection by the time he reached her nape, and he held still to appreciate the softness of her skin. His eyes closed and he groaned low in his throat.
“Quiet, my lord.” The imp wiggled her arse and elicited a much louder growl from him. “I’m winning,” she teased.
“We just started playing, sweetheart. Come here.” He urged her to stand, her back still to him, and eased the night rail over her head. He explored the slope of her shoulder, nibbling his way to her earlobe and catching it between his teeth as his hands covered her breasts. He tested their weight, pleased with how they fit his hands. Small like apples and soft. His fingers closed around her nipples and gently tugged. Her head rolled back on his chest with an eroticlittle sigh.
“Isn’t losing more fun?” he whispered against her ear.
She shivered. “Yes.” Her voice was airy, and she raised her arms in a languid stretch before draping them around his neck. The tips of her breasts were firm buds beneath his fingers, and her hips swayed slightly, seductively, as she abandoned herself to the moment.
“You’re as alluring as sin,” he murmured.
She dropped her arms and slowly turned within the circle of his embrace. All traces of playfulness faded. She gazed at him with large, soulful eyes. “I don’t want to lose you, Sebastian.”
Her voice trembled. The mix of fear and wistfulness caused his throat to ache. He cradled her cheek and touched his lips to hers, lingering, savoring her warmth. When their kiss ended, he pressed his forehead to hers. His eyes drifted closed as a consuming tenderness coursed through him. He couldn’t lose her.
“I want you for my bride. I want forever.”
She drew back, licked her lips. He steeled himself for rejection. “So do I,” she whispered.
Sebastian’s heart missed a beat. “Are you agreeing to marry me?”
She hesitated a moment then nodded. “Yes. It’s very sudden and others are likely to think—”
He swept her off her feet.
***
Helena gasped, losing her train of thought.
“Others can go hang,” Sebastian said. “I don’t care what they think.” He laid her on the bed and made fast work of removing his trousers. His chest flexed as he crawled atop her and braced his weight on his elbows. She trailed her fingers over his lean muscles, his olive skin hot and smooth beneath her palms. He was marvelously male and splendidly made, but his intense dark gaze was the cause of her stomach flutters.
He arched a brow. “What are we about to do?”
“Make love?” She smiled, rather daftly she suspected.
His returning grin warmed her to her toes. “Does that not sound better for two people who love one another?”
He didn’t allow her to answer before his mouth covered hers. She breathed deeply, the faint scent of pine soap now familiar and comforting. His mouth nipped at hers, the tip of his tongue grazing her bottom lip. She melted with him, their bodies touching heart to heart, hips to hips, his hardness to her softness.
Her tongue tentatively sought his, her exploration becoming bolder when his chest rumbled with a low moan.
When he inched down her body and circled the peak of her breast with his tongue, she arched her back, loving the incredible sensations. The heat of his mouth. The thrilling tumble in her belly. The pull between her legs. When she began to shift restlessly, his hand slid over her stomach and caressed her curls. Her hips lifted. The hunger was too much.
“Touch me,” she pleaded.
He held her gaze as his fingers skated along her feverish skin. He glided over the place that brought her so much pleasure, circling and caressing until her moans grew husky and more intense. When he withdrew his fingers, she almost whimpered.
He raised himself above her, then kissed her slowly. “Not yet, angel. I want to be inside you when you come.”
Her heart jolted and beat faster. When he slid into her, she arched her back and cried out with pleasure. His lips found her neck and returned to her earlobe. With each thrust, his warm breath created pleasant ripples along her skin. He filled her and she gripped his hips when he withdrew, urging him to come back deeper. After several more deep thrusts, he withdrew, ignoring her protest.
“Your turn on top.” He rolled onto his back and flashed his handsome grin. Helena just stared, at a loss for words. It wasn’t out of ignorance, but…
“I—do ladies do such things?”
“You will like it. I promise.” Sebastian reached for her hand, urged her to her knees, and half lifted her atop him. She closed her eyes and sighed when he entered her.
As he guided her hips, she murmured, “So blasted good.” The sensations were more intense and cloaked her in delightfully warm waves.
“Blasted heaven,” he said with a strained chuckle. His hands traveled over her stomach and covered her breasts. A light pinch on her nipples sent a strong current to her core. She startled, pausing for a moment. He rolled the peaks between his thumbs and fingers. She moaned and rocked her hips.
“Find your pleasure, sweetheart.” His lustful gaze roamed her body as his touch drove her. Her inhibitions fell away and shattered, just as she was certain she too would shatter in the end.
As her release was almost within reach, her fingers circled his wrists, holding tight. Sebastian plucked her nipples once more, and she climaxed, quietly crying out. Before her breathing evened out, he held her face between his hands and pulled her toward him for a kiss.
“Beautiful,” he whispered against her lips then rolled her beneath him. He swept the hair from her face and smiled softly. “I will withdraw.”
She caressed his rough cheek, certainty driving her heart. This man was to be her husband. She loved him desperately. “Please don’t.”
“Helena.” Her name sounded like a prayer from his lips. His kiss was hard as he thrust into her. With her hands free, she smoothed them up and down his back, his muscles bunched and so powerful under her fingers. And when he reached his own release, he buried his face in
her hair and softly groaned. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, more than pleased with herself for bringing him pleasure.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too.”
Settling beside her, he pulled the covers over them, blew out both candles, and tucked her against his chest. He lazily stroked her hair until her eyelids grew heavy, and the last thing she recalled before blessed sleep was counting the beats of his heart.
When she next emerged from unconsciousness, gray light was peeking around the curtains, and Sebastian was nuzzling her breast.
He lifted his head and aimed a sleepy smile at her. “Good morning, love.”
Warmth radiated throughout her body. “Good morning.” She threaded her fingers in his hair. “What were you doing?”
“Trying to wake you, so we can make love once more before I leave.”
“Leave?”
He kissed the tip of her nose, then her chin before settling at her breast again. “I’ll be returning to London today, but you should stay with your sister. You enjoyed each other’s company last night. I think Pearl would like to keep you a bit longer.”
Her stomach plunged. Had his proposal been true? Surely he wouldn’t stoop to lies to bed her. “You could stay, too.”
He aimed a smile at her. “Believe me, I am tempted, sweetheart.” He nuzzled her breast again then circled the peak with his tongue.
She sighed, dissolving into the bedding when she should be on guard. But it was too difficult when he touched her like this.
He released her nipple and winked. His tousled hair lent him roguish appeal. “I could stay, but you promised to marry me. Delaying our nuptials any longer than necessary is disagreeable to me, so I plan to see to Gracie’s passage from Ireland and purchase a special license. Then when you return, we will marry.”
She giggled, sounding more like a girl than a woman, but it seemed fitting since the last time she recalled being this happy was when her mother was alive. Her fears slipped away. “Sebastian, you are marvelous.”
“And I don’t want you to forget it while we are apart.” He returned his attention to her breast and caressed between her legs.
“I cannot forget,” she murmured. “Ever.”
“Good girl.”
Twenty-six
To say the London docks were chaotic was an understatement. At least to an outsider like Sebastian upon first glance. Wagons with creaky wheels and weighed down with barrels and crates arrived simultaneously. They passed within inches of each other as they clattered over the wooden walkways. Shouts echoed on the air, some orders, others curses. Men hustled to and fro, parting to allow the wagons to pass. Miraculously, no one was run down in the process.
The ships were oddly still, like slumbering giants, while seamen swarmed the decks outfitting them for the next adventure. A group of rough-looking men had formed a queue outside the shipping office, a sprawling wooden structure that was neither fancy nor impressive. Sebastian would call it solid, serviceable. And it reinforced how he should approach the man inside.
Captain Daniel Hillary was honest. Some said appallingly so. He didn’t put on airs and had embraced his grandfather’s bourgeois origins with no care for what Society thought. This made him the only man Sebastian would trust with the truth about Helena.
When he had left Helena yesterday morning, she informed him that she would remain behind only one more day without him. Secretly he had been pleased by her assertion. He never wanted to come between her and her sisters, but it meant a lot that she was eager to reunite with him.
Sebastian shouldered through the group gathered outside the shipping office door and entered a large room that spanned the entire width of the building. A prim little man sitting at a table in the corner looked up from a pile of papers on the surface. “How may I be of assistance, sir?”
The seaman standing at the table swung around to gawk. Apparently, Sebastian was out of place.
“I am seeking an audience with Captain Hillary. His manservant on Curzon Street said I could find him here. I am Lord Thorne.”
Placing the quill aside, the man stood and came forward. “I will see if the captain has time to speak with you.” He disappeared behind a door, his voice muffled as he announced Sebastian’s unexpected arrival.
A hearty laugh carried from the other room. “By all means, show in Lord Thorne.”
The door swung open and Sebastian was gestured to come inside. When he entered the sparse office, Captain Hillary was on his feet. “If it isn’t the man who humiliated Ben. Well done, Thorne.”
Sebastian’s brows shot up. He hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic welcome. “Humiliation wasn’t my original intention, but sisters have a way of interfering at times.”
The captain’s crooked grin grew wider. “I have a sister. I well know the trouble they can cause. Fortunately, Lana is her husband’s problem now.” Despite his words, his eyes lit with merriment when he spoke of his sister. Perhaps Sebastian and Captain Hillary weren’t so different from one another. “What can I do for you, Thorne?”
Sebastian took the seat offered to him and spotted a boy for the first time. He was sitting at a smaller desk in the corner, quiet as a ghost and engrossed in a drawing. He looked no older than Gracie.
Hillary’s gaze followed Sebastian’s. “This is Rafe, my wife’s brother. He is learning to become a seaman. I expect he’ll have his own ship by next summer.”
The boy glanced up with a coy smile. “I will only be twelve. I must be a man first.”
The captain went to him and ruffled his dark hair. “That’s correct. Your sister would demand my head if I sent you off too early on your own.”
Hillary’s fondness for the boy increased Sebastian’s hope that he would hear out Sebastian. “I am to marry soon, which is what brings me here. I have a favor to ask, although I realize you owe me no debts.”
“But my brother does.” The captain sat and leaned back in his chair, regarding Sebastian with a gaze that likely made others cower. Not Sebastian.
“Your brother has made things right for my sister, but he can never atone for the hurt he caused.”
Hillary nodded. “I hope you don’t expect Hillary Shipping to make amends. Ben may be part owner, but this business is my pride. I wouldn’t allow my pride to be trampled.”
“I have no ill will against you or your business. The favor I ask is significant, but I will pay you for your trouble.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed. “I have a family to protect and anything untoward threatens their well-being.”
Perhaps Sebastian’s plan wouldn’t work after all. He supposed he and Helena could try to hide Gracie at Mr. Mason’s home for the appropriate length of time for her to have traveled from Scotland, but it seemed riskier. There would be ship records in Scotland too, and Gracie’s name wouldn’t be on any of them. He didn’t know how to explain her sudden appearance.
He met the captain’s fierce scowl. “I am protecting mine too. My betrothed has a sister, and I need to book passage from Dublin for her and a maid.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” Hillary’s good humor returned and he leaned his elbows on the desk. “You didn’t need to come to me to book passage. My man could have helped you.”
“I am afraid that is where you are mistaken. My affianced bride’s sister won’t actually be on ship.”
If Sebastian didn’t require the man’s assistance, he might jest about the captain needing to close his mouth before he accidentally swallowed a fly. Instead, he explained the situation, leaving out no detail. Hillary probably would sense if Sebastian withheld information. He struck Sebastian as that type of man.
When he concluded his tale, the captain made a steeple with his fingers. “If anyone finds out about your betrothed’s past, it would cause quite the scandal.”
“I expect it would, but my family and I have withstood scandal in the past. We would survive it again.”
A corner of Hillary’s mouth
tipped up. “Yes, I do recall something about a scandal at my brother’s hands. Of course, I pay little notice to gossipmongers or care about providing entertainment for them.”
Sebastian suppressed a frustrated sigh. It appeared he would get no help from the captain. Helena would return this afternoon, and Sebastian hated to disappoint her, but he wouldn’t give up until she had everything she wanted.
“I will need the girl’s name,” Hillary said as he grabbed a sheet of foolscap and dipped his quill in ink. “And that of her maid.”
Sebastian gave a start. “Gracie Kendrick and Edith…um…” Damn, he should have thought to ask Edith’s surname.
Hillary smirked. “Perhaps something Irish would be best.”
“Gallagher?”
“Gallagher it is.” He scrawled their names on the paper then returned the quill to the holder. “I have a ship returning from Dublin at the end of the week or early next week. I will send word as soon as it makes an appearance.”
“Can your men be trusted?”
“I don’t surround myself with men I cannot trust. You have no cause for concern. The gossipmongers must look elsewhere for their entertainment. The Hillarys and Thornes haveprovided enough.”
Sebastian couldn’t agree more. He rose and shook hands with the captain to seal the agreement.
***
Helena hadn’t been back in London more than half an hour before Fergus announced Olive’s arrival at the door. Wickie’s cousin burst into the drawing room where Helena was enjoying a cup of tea after the long day of travel.
“Helena, where have you been? I stopped by yesterday when you didn’t attend the Mayfair Ladies’ meeting, and the town house appeared deserted.”
Helena winced. “I forgot about the meeting. Forgive me, Olive.”
She hadn’t had time to concoct an excuse to explain her absence, although she hadn’t realized she would need one. Foolish woman that she was. Of course Olive would notice she was missing.
Helena stood and made her way to the bellpull. “I will have another cup delivered and perhaps the cook has more of those ratafia cakes you love.”
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