“I’d noticed,” he murmured, taking a heady step toward her. Blood hammered in his ears—along with other, infinitely more male, parts of his anatomy—making it exceedingly difficult to concentrate on anything but the cling of her trousers or the lithe, fluid movements of her body as she moved slowly about the room’s perimeter. Dainty fingers ran across the lamps and end tables; Alex was hard pressed not to dwell on the memory of those very digits trailing paths of fire across his chest.
“We could always light a fire to warm up,” she continued, stopping before the hearth.
Hot on her heels, Alex slipped behind her, bracing his arms on either side of her along the mantel. “I have a better idea.”
Startled, Charley spun. The loose mass of her hair slapped his forearm, her palms falling naturally to the flat of his chest. “I didn’t realize you were so close.”
Moving quietly was an asset he’d come by in the army. He tilted his head, taking in the sleek curve of her face, down the column of her swan’s throat. Gently he placed his hands on her upper arms, closing the space between them. Charley gasped, her breath coming in quick gusts, but made no move to escape him. Warmth seeped through the fabric of her coat, tempting and tantalizing, until the desire to feel her skin on skin, was near to unbearable. To hell with slow. Alex wanted her with a burning need that proved more than a little frightening. He’d spend the rest of his life exhibiting what a devoted husband he could be, but today he just wanted to make mad, mindless love to her.
“Where do those stairs lead?” he queried.
“Upstairs,” she hedged.
He leaned closer. Her sweet breath rolled across his lips, more erotic than any touch. “And what is upstairs?” Those huge green pools flicked up to him, robbing him of breath. Not for the first time the obscure notion he could fall into those eyes—drown if he wasn’t careful—whisked through his mind.
To his immense surprise Charley stood on tiptoe, closing the hairs distance between them, and softly pressed her lips to his. Velvety smooth, the kiss sent a rush of unequivocal desire through him. “The bedroom,” she whispered against his mouth. His gut clinched. She drew back, coy lashes fluttering over wide, all too innocent eyes.
Alex’s throat ran dry. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Hell he was paralyzed. Falling into oblivion. Falling… for her.
“Would you like to see it?”
Ten
Charley ducked beneath Alex’s arm and strode to the stairs. Blood roared with dizzying force in her ears and she could scarcely believe she was actually doing this. She was not a vixen or a tease. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, and yet she flashed a demure ‘come hither’ glance over her shoulder, beckoning him to heed her untried siren’s call.
For a moment Alex looked so shocked she feared he’d fall flat on his face. “There are a number of things I would like to see,” he recovered quickly. Alex took one long step forward, snaring her about the waist before her foot hit the first carpeted stair, and spinning her into his embrace. “It’s more a matter of what you’re willing to show me.”
Charley’s breath caught at the fevered gaze her husband fixed on her. Intoxicating power and strength emanated from his massive frame, surrounding her, pulling her under his carnal spell. Passions roamed thick and dark in his midnight eyes, lending him an aura of supreme danger. This game she played could become very dangerous indeed.
Deftly Alex plucked open the buttons running down the front of her coat. She shivered beneath the practiced touch. “Perhaps this?” His big hands slipped inside the jacket, smoothing over her shoulders until the heavy wool hit the floor with a thud. The heat of his broad chest burned through the layers of her clothing. Alex leaned forward with obvious intent to kiss her.
“Don’t you want to go upstairs?” she asked breathlessly, heart knocking frantically against her ribcage.
“I can think of nothing we couldn’t do right here on the stairs.” He captured the back of her neck, drawing her in for a searing kiss.
The stairs? Charley scarcely had time to wonder what he planned to do on the stairs. Alex gathered her up in his arms, crushing her to his chest with a desperation matching her own. She moaned, opening to him. He answered the invitation slipping his tongue into her mouth, tickling, teasing. Forbidden sensations coursed through her, scattering her wits to the wind. She wanted this. Him. Alex’s hands on her body, his lips over her own. She’d always known their hearts were connected and perhaps fate had set right what man had got wrong. Charley curled her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, molding herself to every hardened contour of his frame.
Alex lifted her up, pinning her back against the wall, never once breaking the bond of their lips. A thrill shot through her. The position was so provocative. So new. The length of her hair draped in an intimate shroud around them. She took his face in her palms and whispered, “Take me upstairs.”
He groaned, the hands holding her thighs tightening. “Don’t tease me, Charley. My heart can’t take it.”
The words tugged at her heartstrings. She drew back and met his gaze. Her breath caught for all she saw mirrored there. Yearning poured from his eyes, so intense, it quite literally took her breath away. The need she saw and felt in the rigidity of his muscles held no malice or ulterior motive, only desire… dare she hope the beginnings of a future they could share together. This man was not callous or calculating. He was not the daunting Lord Major Coverstone who struck fear in the hearts of passersby, but simply Alex. Her Alex.
Sex wouldn’t solve their problems, quite the opposite to be sure, but it was something she wanted to experience. As a married matron she’d been thrust into many a lady’s drawing room with a gaggle of other married—or widowed—women who’d alluded to the pleasures of a lover’s bed. Charley did not want to be left in the dark of those conversations any longer. She wanted to know those elusive pleasures for herself.
She hesitated, slanting her face over his, mouth hovering just above his lips. “I wouldn’t dream of teasing you.” Her arms settled naturally about his shoulders and she wrapped her legs more securely about his waist. Lowering her face she kissed each of his eyes and the corners of his mouth in turn, memorizing him as she’d longed to do for so long.
The trip to the main bedroom was a blur of heated kissing and caresses. Somewhere in the process Charlie lost both boots, her shirt, and the old trousers were unbuttoned and falling off. At the top of the stairs Alex—in a similar state of dishabille—slung an arm about her waist, spinning her into the bedroom. Both of them laughed and the light in his eyes matched the joy building inside her. This was perfect. A new beginning with the man she’d loved since before she knew what love was.
“Today in the village,” Alex began, catching the garnet adorning her neck and twirling it between thumb and forefinger, “I bought you something else.” He stepped back, clasped the fingers of her right hand and sank down on one knee. “Twice yesterday you told me that we aren’t truly married, and after some thought I came to the conclusion that… you’re right.”
“No, Alex, I wa—”
“Just let me finish.” His Adam’s apple bobbed with boyish insecurity. He lifted his free hand, revealing a delicate gold ring. Charley clasped a hand over her mouth, tears blurring the perfect vision before her. “I don’t want for that to be, Charley. I want to be more for you than a husband in name. It is my solemn vow to honor you all the days of my life. Would you do me the honor of being my wife in every way?”
The words were not poetry or the stuff of romantic verses to be laid down on parchment for generations to come, but to Charley Alex’s impromptu vow was music from the angels. Fervently she nodded, battling the tears of joy threatening to burst forth. “I will.”
Alex smiled, his true special smile that showed the hint of shyness ever lurking beneath his austere exterior. He slid the simple band onto her finger.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, holding it up for better inspection. “The gold inla
y is braided.”
“A Celtic symbol. I’m told it means eternity.”
Moved beyond any measure she’d believed possible, Charley dropped to her knees, pressing parted lips to her husband’s. Husband. For once the word did not taste a lie. Did not sound awkward or an abstract concept in her mind. She shivered as his calloused palms brushed down her arms. His lips moved down the column of her neck across her right shoulder and his fingers slid to the strings of her chemise.
“Charley… sweet perfect, Charley.” He kissed the hollow of her throat. “You’re trembling,” he murmured, tangling his fingers in the length of her hair.
“I know, I can’t stop it.” She held her breath as one of his muscled arms circled her waist drawing her hips fully against him; his other hand grazed the tip of her breast. The trembling took on a new level, even her insides quivered beneath his touch.
Slowly she opened her eyes and immediately wondered at why she’d closed them in the first place. Golden sunlight filtered through the wavy windows highlighting the handsome angles of his face, illuminating the brilliance of his eyes. Emotion swirled with abandon through his gaze. In a word he seemed to worship her. She’d never dreamed to have a man look upon her this way. Even as her pulse quickened her apprehensions dissipated. She rose higher on her knees wrapping her arms around his neck, relishing the feel of his sculpted chest against her scarcely clad skin.
“Are you nervous?” He stood, lifting her with him. The battered trousers slipped to the floor, leaving Charley clad only in a scanty cotton shift and stockings. As her near bare legs pressed against his toned thighs, the quickening in her belly increased tenfold. Wintry air breezed over her skin, but she scarcely noticed.
“Is it all right if I say, yes?” she asked as he guided her to the bed.
“Very alright,” he murmured, brushing his hands over the gooseflesh raised on her arms. “You’re cold.”
Actually she felt hot… everywhere. “You promised to warm me up.”
Her husband needed no further urging. He threw back the green toned coverlet and swept her back onto the bed. He pulled the blanket over them, rolling on top of her and claiming her lips in a fierce exchange.
The world faded and swirled around her, scattering any remaining fears. Charley wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him to her, never wanting him to leave. This was perfect. His lips stroked hers with urgent, delicious need, leaving her on fire, everywhere.
This is what she’d wanted, yearned for.
She arched against him, relishing the weight of his sculpted frame. Roughened palms ran over her body with unconcealed abandon, stripping away the thin stockings. He grasped her hip, sliding a hand around the back of her thigh, pulling her leg up and around him. She obeyed every silent command, her body desperate for this man to make love to her completely.
He settled between her legs, pushing the fitted satin shift up her abdomen, pressing feather soft kisses against her belly as he went. He slowed at her breasts, uncovering each as though unwrapping a gift at Christmas. Cool air licked her nipples but Charley hardly noticed as tingles and heat raced to all the forbidden places of her body. Alex fitted his large palm around the soft flesh, touching his wet tongue to the tip.
“Oh!” Charley shuddered, and instinctively writhed, relishing the erotic contrast to the cold air.
Encouraged Alex deepened the sensual assault, sucking her breast into his mouth and drawing leisurely circles with his tongue. Charley sank her fingers into his thick hair, urging him on, wishing he’d turn some of that wicked attention onto her other breast. He didn’t leave her wanting long, and shifted his full attention to the opposite side.
The response of her body was absolutely shameless. Her nipples tensed and puckered, reaching for Alex, beckoning him forward, while her knees came up to cradle him above her.
He heeded the unspoken request to take their lovemaking further, and slid up her body, greedily devouring her flesh with lips and tongue until his honed frame lay completely on top of her, pressing her into the soft mattress. Charley tilted her face, meeting his mouth for another long kiss. Growing bold she slipped her hands beneath his shirt, stroking the muscular expanse of his back.
Alex shivered and drew back, yanking the shirt over his head, discarding it at the top of the bed. He then slid the shift over her shoulders and head, leaving her utterly exposed. It dawned that she should feel self conscious or try to cover herself, but she experienced nothing but a sense of rightness. In truth this was the most natural she’d ever felt within her own skin.
Alex dragged a physical gaze across her naked form. “You are so beautiful,” he rasped. “Charley, Are you certain about this? Now? Here?”
The impassioned vulnerability in his eyes only reaffirmed her decision. A smile toyed with her lips. Here she was, lying naked in a bed with him, and still he gave her the chance to stop.
“What better place?” She looped her arms around his neck, drawing him back to her. Drunk from his kisses she wanted more. Much more. “We are alone. Completely and perfectly alone.” No servants scurrying about the halls, whispering about the lord and his lady. This moment in the cottage was about them. No expectation or duty. No titles. Just they two and the magic breathing between them. They’d always been connected. Charley had known it since before she’d truly understood love or desire, but her heart had always been his. She brushed her lips across the dimpled corner of his mouth, beckoning him closer. “Make me yours.”
He groaned, sliding down beside her, moving with a different sense of urgency, his every action fused with an energy born of purpose… intent. His tongue intruded her mouth with slow, smoldering strokes as his fingers glided down her throat and trailed between her breasts, traveling lower… and lower… until—
Charley gasped.
Any further and he’d reach her most secret place. That aching juncture between her thighs all but begging to be caressed and kneaded. She clenched her fists, sure to expire from the anticipation. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to touch her there, but—
Oh!
His fingers wandered into her most intimate of folds, carefully parting the sensitive flesh. Gently he grazed the delicate nub at her center and pleasure shocks erupted within her. Charley tensed, half lifting off the mattress before dissolving in a puddle of overwhelming sensations upon the sheet. “Alex,” she moaned, curling her fists in the bedding, drinking in the luxurious bliss his clever hands laved upon her. Never had she known love making would be like this. After a few divine moments Alex took his sensual assault to a new level. Skillful lips fell to her ear, languidly suckling the responsive lobe while the opposite hand blazed trails of fire across her skin. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed through her, building until she was spiraling out of control, striving for some foreign magical release.
Suddenly his hands stilled. “Are you ready for more?”
Restless with unfulfilled need she rolled instinctively toward him, boldly reaching for the clasp of his trousers. “Does this answer your question?”
Beside her he shuddered and the powerful satisfaction of how her touch affected him swelled within her. She fumbled with the buttons releasing each with unintentional slowness, eager to slake her curiosity about the hard bulge straining against the buckskin.
Alex tensed. “Easy,” he whispered huskily. “If you get me too excited this won’t last long.”
“Really?” she breathed. “How?”
He grinned, eyes twinkling with desire and mischief. “Just wait, Charley, I’ll show you.”
He rolled from the bed and stripped away the last of his clothes. Apprehensions gone, she rose on an elbow to get her first entirely uninhibited view of him. She froze, eyes so wide she was certain they resembled saucers. Alex was… well, she didn’t know what he was, but it must be good, or perfect, or something she did not rightly know how to describe.
He chuckled as he returned to the bed again moving over the top of her. “Just breathe, Charley.” In a
manner ever so gentle he braced her in his arms kissing first her right temple and then the sensitive skin along the right side of her throat. Slowly his broad hand trailed up the curve of her leg. Automatically she opened to him and he settled naturally between her thighs as though made to fit with her… her other half.
“What should I do for you?” she whispered dragging hungry hands down his chest and across the flat planes of his tapered abdomen. Her fingers found a small silver scar and rested there.
“Nothing,” he groaned, locking eyes with her. “Not this time. Today is about you. I have much to make up for.”
“But—”
“No buts. Just let me love you.” Emotion swirled with reckless abandon in his eyes, but there was more than abandon. There was passion and love, and his eyes burned from deep within his soul. In this moment she acutely sensed their souls were touching, entwining, truly becoming one. Before the thought could travel any further he shifted and said, “Hold onto me, love.”
She complied, holding tight to his shoulders. In a motion as swift as it was gentle and smooth he slid inside of her, the sensation unlike anything she’d ever known. She stiffened waiting for the moment of pain she’d been taught would come, but there was not so much pain as pressure and soon Alex filled her completely. She felt him in every fiber of her being. She felt him tremble. She felt him breathe. His very life forced fused through her. For a long moment he held perfectly still, letting her adjust to his length and thickness.
“Are you alright,” he asked gruffly.
Beyond words she nodded, gripping his back, waiting for what would come next.
Slowly he began to move… in and out… reawakening her desires.
She moved with him, touching him, kissing him, knowing all the while he was pushing her toward that magical secret. The point of ascension. A place to be craved and desired… cherished.
Light to Valhalla Page 16