by Amelia Grey
She forgave him for his tactless and boorish behavior.
Relief so satisfying that he wanted to throw his fists in the air and yell melted through him. A surge of sweet anticipation started in his chest and moved low in his loins. He was filled with gratitude and uplifted by the knowledge she wouldn’t have opened the door had she not forgiven him for the way he had treated her. And she wouldn’t have unlocked the door had she not been certain he knew she had nothing to do with the theft.
All he could think right now was that his grandmother’s necklace be damned. Susannah was a hell of a lot more priceless to him than a few strands of pearls.
Very quietly, he walked down the corridor to her room. He opened her door, slipped inside, closed the door behind him, and turned the key in the lock. Susannah was sitting up in bed with a book in her hand. An oil lamp burned on the night table beside her; a low fire glowed in the fireplace.
She looked so inviting dressed in a white sleeveless shift with her glorious brown hair flowing onto the pillows behind her. All the loving emotion he felt for her swelled in his chest. Desire and expectation rippled down his spine and settled into the hardness between his legs.
Their eyes met across the room and held. She looked cautiously at him. She was wary of him and he didn’t blame her. He hadn’t given her much reason to trust him up to now.
Race shrugged out of his coat as he walked toward her, letting it fall to the floor behind him. He kicked out of his shoes and propped one hip on the edge of the bed beside her. Without speaking, but keeping his gaze locked on hers, he took the book from her, closed it, and laid it on the table beside the lamp. He pulled the tail of his shirt from his trousers, lifted the shirt over his head, and flung it aside.
He then slipped his hand around to the back of her neck, pulled her gently to him as he lowered his head to hers, and brushed her soft, moist lips with his, easing over them with the lightest contact.
Contentment settled sweetly over him.
“I’m sorry I was such a beast,” he whispered into her mouth. He lifted his head and stared into her eyes once again. “I can only hope that—”
The pads of her fingers flew to his lips and silenced him. “All is forgiven, Race.”
Doubts rose up inside him. That was too easy. He knew how despicable he had been. “When I first got to your door tonight, it was locked. I didn’t blame you for not wanting me to come.”
Her eyes questioned him. “You waited?”
He nodded. “Not because I knew you would open it eventually, but because I hoped you would.”
“I almost didn’t.”
“What made you change your mind?”
A smile broke across her face, and as she looked at him, her eyes softened. The caution he’d seen moments before was gone, and he saw trust. She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did at that moment. Giving him her trust, her body, her all, made him jubilant like nothing ever had, and he knew in his heart he would never let her down again.
“You. This.” Susannah wound her arms around his neck, leaned forward, and kissed his neck, letting her lips skim along his shoulders, down his chest, and across each nipple.
A spiraling heat of desire swirled, searing and deep in his loins, and Race trembled with need at her gentle touch. He suddenly had a great desire for her to know that he loved her.
“Susannah, I—”
“Shh,” she said, silencing him with her lips on his. “No more need be said,” she whispered into his mouth. “Just make love to me, Race.”
“With pleasure,” he whispered as he accepted her kiss, her forgiveness, and her lips.
She was wrong, though. There was much more that needed to be said between them, but he would leave it for later. He didn’t want to talk right now, either. He just wanted to touch, to taste, and to see her.
He raised his head and smiled down at her as he fingered the lobe of her ear. “Your skin is so soft,” he whispered as his hand left her earlobe and traveled down to her jaw and followed the bone around to the other ear.
She arched her head back, giving him freedom to touch her as he pleased. He caressed the tender skin behind her ear with his forefinger while his thumb played in the hollow of her throat.
He bent his head and slanted his lips over hers in a slow, tender kiss. His fingers trickled down her neck to her chest to the firm swell of her breasts, nestled warmly beneath the cool cotton fabric of her night rail. Her breast was full, soft, and her nipple firm beneath the palm of his hand as he caressed her.
“Susannah,” he murmured softly as he moved his head low. With his mouth, he found her taut bud hidden beneath the thin material of her shift and gently tugged on it, nipping it with his teeth. Her nipple grew harder under his playful touch. The soft, feminine sounds of enjoyment she made elated him and added to his own satisfaction.
Desire for her grew strong, overpowering every other feeling. He kissed his way back up to her lips. They parted, and she leaned sensually into him, deepening the kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth, slowly, delicately, so he could enjoy the sweet taste of her.
His arms slid around her back, and he leaned her into the pillows as his mouth ravished hers. His tongue played with hers, tasting, teasing, giving, and taking.
He heard her soft moan of desire and felt her tremble with yearning, and it gave him immense satisfaction.
Eagerness to possess her tore at him, but he kept it at bay as his lips left hers and his tongue swept down her neck, tasting her, and back up to her mouth again. A whisper of satisfaction eased past his lips and into her mouth as he cupped, lifted, and caressed her breast, feeding his insatiable desire to touch her with all the hunger he was feeling.
He kissed her harshly, madly, and Susannah accepted his roughness and eagerness. That pleased him, aroused him.
Her hand dropped to his thigh and then slipped to the throbbing shaft between his legs. Her unexpected touch sent rushing, delicious warmth sizzling through him, and he lifted his body toward her. His uneven breaths quickened, and so did hers. She caressed his hardness with careful confidence, and he sensed her desire rising to match his.
Race felt her hands working on the buttons of his trousers, and he quickly helped her slide them down and off his legs and feet. He grabbed her night rail and pulled it up and over her head and flung it away, leaving her beautiful nude body for him to devour with his eyes, his lips, and his tongue. He tumbled her off the pillows and stretched his body beside hers on the bed. He wanted to give Susannah all the pleasure she had experienced the last time they were together and more.
He continued to massage her breasts, loving the feel of their full, firm weight in his hands. Occasionally he would stop and tease the nipple with his thumb and finger. He ran the palm of his hands and tips of his fingers over her naked shoulders to her breasts, to her waist, down the slim plane of her hip and inner thigh, and then back up again as he devoured her with his gaze.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered.
“So are you,” she said with eyes that were heavy with passion.
He chuckled and then grinned. “Men aren’t beautiful.”
She smiled convincingly at him. “You are. Your body is.”
Burning heat surged in his loins, and a longing ached in his heart to completely possess her and make her his. She reached up and let her fingertips glide softly, tantalizingly slowly over his chest, down his midriff, and lower. He trembled with need, loving the fact she had no inhibitions, and allowed her hands to go lower and close around his hardness, feel its thickness and weight. He gulped in a ragged breath. Her feather-light caress teased him and offered no mercy to his burning need.
He kissed her lips tenderly and enjoyed the unrestrained freedom with which she touched him. Race threw his head back in measured pleasure as his muscles contracted in sweet pain.
When he could take no
more of the exquisite torture, he lifted his taut body on top of hers and softly groaned from the satisfaction of having her beneath him once again. His body throbbed to complete their union, but he wanted to hold off a little longer and make sure she was ready for him.
He bent his head and kissed that warm, soft spot behind her ear. He inhaled the womanly scent of freshly washed hair and lightly perfumed skin. With tenderness, he slowly kissed his way down her face, moving as if they had all the time in the world.
With a gentle hand, he once again raked his fingers down her breast, to the curve of her waist, and then over her slim hip and to her shapely inner thigh.
Race moved his hand back up and caressed the warm skin of her abdomen before inching his hand lower until he found her softness. He rubbed the center of her desire with his thumb in a gentle circular motion as he lovingly kissed her lips. He heard the uneven tempo of her breathing, and he felt the urgent pressure of his manhood wedged against her hip.
She moaned in pleasure and trembled beneath his touch. Race smiled against her lips. There was immense satisfaction in the way she responded to him.
He didn’t want her excitement to end too soon so he stopped the stroking of her center and in one fluid motion he entered her with all the love he was feeling for her. Her body tightened around him like a leather glove, and Race almost lost control.
A low groan of pleasure rushed past his lips, and he sucked in a hard, ragged breath.
Her arms completely circled his back as she kissed his chin, his neck, and back up to his lips once more. He moved slowly, pushing in and out with long, easy strokes.
He moved inside her, and her lower body quickened in response, her hips lifting to meet him with a desperate eagerness, as if to take more of him into her.
Within moments, Race felt her body shudder, and he knew it was time. He slid his hands under her back and cupped her tightly to his chest, making her one with him as they reached the climax of their pleasure at the same time, and he emptied into her.
With uneven breaths, Race gently lowered his weight on top of her. She stroked his back, down his buttocks, and up to his shoulders again with loving hands while he rested his face in the crook of her warm neck. He inhaled deeply, drinking in her warm womanly scent.
Lying with her, he realized he didn’t give a damn about the pearls for himself—not one damn if it meant he couldn’t have Susannah. She was the woman he wanted in his life. The only one he wanted for now and for always.
Susannah was right for him. And that was all that mattered.
It was important to him that she know he wanted her. No other woman but her. But how did a man go about telling a woman he loved her? He had never done that before. And with all that had happened between them, would she believe him?
He rolled off her onto his side. She turned and snuggled tightly, fitting her body perfectly against his, with her head nestled on his arm.
Race lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers, looked into her eyes, and said, “Susannah, I know you’re going to find this difficult to believe, but I’m in love with you.”
Eighteen
My Dearest Grandson Alexander,
Here are more strong words from Lord Chesterfield: “In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is too great a majority of fools and knaves, who, singly from their number, must to a certain degree be respected, though they are by no means respectable.”
Your loving Grandmother,
Lady Elder
Susannah’s eyes popped wide open, and for a moment she was too stunned to move, but slowly, as his words sank in, she smiled and then softly chuckled.
Race’s eyebrows rose in concern. “What’s wrong?” he said, propping on his elbow.
“You, again.”
“Me again?” His eyes turned guarded. “I have to admit that laughing, no matter how nice it is to hear, is not the reaction I expected when I bared my soul to you.”
She moistened her lips. “Race, I’m not a young innocent who needs to be coddled with phrases about love that you don’t mean.”
The instant the words finished tumbling from her lips, she saw pain in his eyes, as if he’d been sucker-punched in the stomach, and she instantly regretted her flippant attitude. But how should she react to such a bold statement after the way he had treated her when the pearls were stolen?
A deep frown wrinkled his brow. “You think that’s what I’m doing? Just trying to make you feel good about having shared your bed with me?”
Her expression softened, and she cupped his cheek with her hand. “Aren’t you? Aren’t you confusing me with some of your younger conquests?”
He grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her palm, never letting his gaze leave hers. “No, Duchess, I am not trying to flatter you, and I am not trying to deceive you. I do understand your feelings. I’m perfectly willing to wait for you to fall in love with me. But hear me well, Your Grace, I have never told another woman that I loved her, because I have never been in love before. I know I haven’t given you any reason to believe anything I’ve said. That was an error on my part, but know this, I will give you time to see how determined I am to make amends for my past and then make you mine forever.”
Susannah felt her heart melt, and for some reason she couldn’t understand, tears pricked her eyes. Was he telling the truth? Did he really want her to be his forever?
“I want to believe you, but I’m troubled by all—”
He touched her lips with the tips of his fingers as his eyes searched her face. “Say no more for now. I’ve told you before that I am a patient man. I’m willing to wait for you to accept my love and return your love to me.”
Race softly placed his lips on hers, drawing her closer to his chest with his strong arms. He kissed her reverently for what seemed like hours before his kisses turned impatient and physical. His tongue played over hers inside her mouth as his hands moved over her breasts, down her curves, around her hips, until his finger found the dampness between her legs.
Susannah welcomed his hot, eager touch as she felt his rising desire pulsating on her abdomen. Further words weren’t necessary, because somehow she knew he wanted to prove to her what he thought she didn’t know, that she loved him, and that he was very much in love with her.
“Tell me I don’t have to love you, now, Susannah,” he whispered against her ear. “Tell me you don’t long for this, and I will believe you. Tell me.”
Her pleasure was so intense she wasn’t sure she could speak, but she managed a breathy “I can’t.”
Race chuckled into her mouth. His fingers continued to pleasure her until she thought she would scream from wanting, before he finally pushed inside her, merging their bodies into one. With his thighs wedged between hers, they moved together until all too quickly they were once again engulfed in the exquisite, luxuriant sensation of feeding love to each other.
With gulping breaths, Race relaxed on top of her for a moment before rolling onto his side. He pulled her close to his chest once again, and she snuggled. To her surprise, she felt his body shake and realized that now he was the one laughing.
Having no idea what he was thinking, she tensed. Looking up into his face, she saw that his eyes were closed. “What is so humorous?”
“You, making me prove my love.”
“Making you? I believe you are the one who felt you needed to do that.”
He kissed the tip of her nose and then closed his eyes again. “Give me a few minutes to rest, and I will prove to you once more that I love you, Susannah, or twice more if you are still not convinced.”
She looked down at his face in the soft glow of the lamp, and her heart felt so full she thought it might burst. Maybe he really did love her. And if he did, why wouldn’t he let her answer him back? She felt his body grow still, his breaths evened out, and she knew that he slept.
Susannah snuggled clos
er to him. She had never felt such contentment. Yes, she believed he loved her, and she loved him, but there was something devilishly exciting about his thinking she wasn’t ready to admit she loved him yet. But she would tell him.
Soon.
Susannah kissed his forehead, smiled, and closed her eyes.
Sometime later, something caused Susannah’s lashes to flutter up. She knew immediately Race was still beside her. She turned her head and saw he was lying on his back, looking out the window as the first fingers of dawn showed in the sky.
He looked thoughtful and as if his mind was a thousand miles away. Was he already regretting telling her he loved her? Was he wondering why she never told him she loved him?
She rolled onto her side, propped her chin in her hand, and stared down at him. She caressed his chest with the pads of her fingers.
“Race, why do you look so somber? Have I made you unhappy?”
He smiled, picked up her hand, and kissed every finger as he caressed her face with his gaze. “No, of course not. I was just doing some deep thinking.”
“Deep thinking? That sounds ominous. Should I ask why, or assume that what I don’t know can’t hurt me?”
He smiled and brushed her long hair over her shoulder to her back. “I was thinking about you and Gibby.”
“Oh?” she questioned.
“You are both strong-willed, capable people, yet you are both putting yourselves in danger, and I’ve not been very good at helping either of you.”
She gave him a playful smile. “It seems to me that I remember letting you help me with quite a few things tonight.”
He reached over and caressed the full swell of her breast. “I’m not talking about what we shared in this bed. I’m talking about things like your going to see Smith at his antiques shop, talking with Winston at parties, and trying to sneak into Spyglass’s bedchamber.”
“I have never tried to hide from you that I wanted the pearls and that I don’t intend to stop looking for them.”