Rebel Enchantress

by Leigh Greenwood

  Even though she knew it was useless, that it would only make telling him to go that much more difficult, Delilah threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with equal intensity. She gave no thought to being observed, to Jane and Reuben coming back early, or to Shays or one of his men stopping by to see her brother and finding her locked in a passionate embrace with one of his enemies. She only cared that Nathan loved her, that he wanted her, and that she was in his arms.

  For that moment Nathan was enough.

  “I’ve thought about holding you in my arms so long it has become an obsession,” he whispered.

  “I’ve thought of you too,” Delilah said, squirming in his embrace as his tongue tickled her ear. “Every night I tried to think of the things I needed to do for Christmas, but all I could think of was you.”

  “I remembered the way we used to share secret looks during dinner,” Nathan said. He nuzzled her neck, making his words hard to understand. “That day down by the river, the night I waited for you in your room, the hours we spent together in the library. I remember most the way you looked that evening in the drawing room singing love songs. I always imagined you sang one to me.”

  “I did, when I was alone. I never realized until then how powerless words are to express our deepest feelings. I wanted to touch you, but I didn’t dare.”

  “You can touch me now,” he murmured as his lips trailed searing kisses across her bosom. She knew she should object – she would be mined if anyone saw such an intimate display of feeling–but she didn’t want to stop him. She felt his loins begin to swell, the pressure against her abdomen increasing, and a moltep core of heat expanded and flowed through her. Her arms encircled his waist and drew him closer.

  She would have to live without him for a lifetime. Just a few minutes more. Then Nathan’s lips touched the tops of her breasts, and she knew her moment of decision was near. She had to stop him while she still could. His tongue snaked down below the edge of her gown, pushing down the linen lining until it reached the hard, aching, swollen nipple just waiting to be caressed.

  Delilah gasped when he gently removed her breast from the confines of her gown and suckled it with his hungry mouth. Her body grew rigid with tension, alive with expectation, demanding in its hunger. The now familiar uneasiness came to her stomach; it spread through her body until every nerve stretched to the breaking point. She felt the warm moisture between her thighs grow hot, felt her hips loosen, her muscles quiver with eagerness.

  She grasped Nathan’s head to press him closer to her breast, hoping his nearness would relieve the growing ache inside her. His mouth loosely cupped her swollen nipple while his tongue’s rough edge teased it. Then ignoring her nipple, his impudent tongue traced circles around its sensitive base before laying trails across the warm underside of her breast.

  Desperate to relieve the delicious ache that tortured her, Delilah roughly guided Nathan’s lips back to her throbbing nipple. He eagerly took it in his mouth and sucked, hard.

  Delilah gasped at the sweetness of this agony.

  In that moment she wanted Nathan more than she wanted life. Every day, every hour, every second of the last four months had been leading up to this moment. Now that it was here, Delilah wondered that she had never seen its inevitability – and that she didn’t want to escape it.

  She offered no objection when, with a groan of throttled passion, Nathan swept her up in his arms and carried her into the house. She offered no protest when he laid her upon the bed and uncovered both her breasts to provide a feast for his hungry mouth and seeking hands. This was an affirmation of her love. Above all else she wanted him to have that.

  Fulfilling a wish which had bedeviled her for months, Delilah placed her hands on Nathan’s bottom and caressed the firm, muscled mounds of his buttocks, feeling muscles tense and quiver under her fingertips, his body move and shudder against her, her own body become more heated. Even as Nathan tortured her breasts, the center of her need changed.

  A burning sensation centered itself in her loins. Dimly perceived at first, it continued to grow in intensity and breadth until the whole lower half of her body was on fire. She couldn’t remain still. She wriggled and squirmed until she brought her aching flesh with its mounting need into contact with Nathan’s body. There was no reluctance, no twinge of regret. Unconsciously her hips relaxed and her legs opened.

  Nathan uttered an agonized groan when she pressed herself against his swollen groin, then peeled her dress and shift down to her waist. From there it was a simple matter to slip it from under her hips so Delilah lay naked before him.

  It happened so quickly it took Delilah’s breath away. For a moment the cold air made her conscious of her nakedness, but soon the heat from deep within her core warmed her entire body until she felt she would burst into flame. She wanted Nathan. She had to have him. Her seeking hands found his groin.

  With a strangled protest, Nathan snatched her hands away. “I can’t control myself if you touch me,” he muttered.

  Delilah didn’t understand, but as Nathan’s hand slid along the line of her leg, over her thigh, and directly to the sensitive spot between her creamy white thighs, it ceased to matter. No hand had ever caressed her. She had never allowed anyone to explore her body, but she didn’t draw back. This intimacy, this sharing of what had always been hers alone, was her gift to Nathan. She entreated him to possess her.

  Her body tensed as Nathan’s fingers skimmed over hypersensitive skin, igniting a trail of sparks, each lighting up a different nerve center until she squirmed beneath his touch.

  But nothing compared to the shock of Nathan’s fingers parting her flesh and driving deep inside her. Delilah’s entire body rose off the bed. The feeling was indescribable. It was as though she had been invaded, plundered, and possessed by a force beyond her power to resist, yet at the same time finally liberated, taken outside of her corporeal self to a plane where she and Nathan could truly become one.

  Fighting to retain some control over her limbs, Delilah unbuttoned Nathan’s shirt and pulled it off his shoulders. She let her fingers play over his chest, across his back and his tight abdomen. But the feel of his body under her fingertips was almost blotted out by the blaze he had kindled deep within her. As his hand sank deeper inside her, her hands became more insistent in their searching. Again she found his groin, and again he groaned in pain as he pushed her hand away.

  “Don’t. You’ll ruin everything;” he said as he slipped out of his clothes. Nathan barely had his body under control. He trembled with the urgency of the need that filled his every living cell. He was trying to prolong each precious moment, but it took all his willpower to keep from falling upon her right then.

  Before Delilah had time to see the beauty of his naked body, Nathan moved above her. His hand plunged inside her once more while his lips sought out and suckled her tender nipples.

  She thought she would cry out in sweet agony. Then she felt something larger, softer, more insistent between her legs. The pressure increased and she instinctively opened wider to accept him. Slowly Nathan entered her, stretched her until she was certain she could never hold all of him. No matter how impressive he had been in his tight breeches, he seemed even more enormous inside her. Then, without warning, he drove deep into her until she sheathed all of him. The sharp, unexpected pain stunned Delilah, and she lay still, fearful of what would come next.

  When he began to move inside her, slowly withdrawing and then, just as deliberately, sinking his full length into her, Delilah’s fears receded before the sweet intoxication that gripped her. Her abdomen tensed, the muscles in her groin expanded and contracted with his movements. Nathan methodically stoked the fire he had built within her, careful to keep it growing, careful to keep her balanced on the edge of the abyss.

  Until his lips found her swollen nipples once again. That was too much. Delilah could no longer control her body. Unable to further endure this slow buildup, to wait for the explosion she instinctively knew was coming
, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the longing and fear and desperation and hunger that had haunted her from the moment she’d left Maple Hill. She wanted to get her fill, to absorb enough of him to keep her from ever again feeling so desperately in need of him.

  Nathan’s lips covered Delilah’s neck and shoulders with kisses. Even as he plunged deep into her, as the rhythm of his lovemaking increased to a headlong rush toward fulfillment, his lips worshiped her body. The feel of her soft skin under his fingertips, the taste of her sweet mouth, her feathery, warm breath on his cheek, the salt of her tears of happiness, the smell of her fresh clean skin mingled with the fine moisture of desire and combined to stir his passion as much as the wet, welcoming flesh he buried himself in.

  Delilah’s body responded, adjusting her rhythm to his, an ever-expanding wave of pleasure radiating from her belly, cutting her off from the trammels of her ordinary being and leaving her free to meld – heart, body, and soul – with Nathan. Delilah surrendered to this swell, this never-ending series of swells, which carried her along on its powerful crest. Higher and higher, deeper and deeper, until, utterly disembodied, she was completely free.

  She felt Nathan react to her quickened tempo, her more aggressive response, with an increase in his rhythm. Absorbed by the sensations which rocketed through her limbs, Delilah surrendered and let herself be carried along by the quickening pulses.

  Abruptly Nathan’s body went rigid, his strokes became irregular, his harsh breath came in quick, uneven gasps. Instinctively Delilah’s muscles clamped down on him, trying to absorb him deep within her. Then, from her core, she felt a wave of sweet agony grip her body, turning it inside out as waves of pleasure rolled over her, tossing her upon stormy swells until she felt she could stand no more. She held tight to Nathan as she drifted to the edge of consciousness.

  He groaned aloud as the exquisite pleasure of repeated explosions racked him, giving his body, so long denied, its natural release. Firmly in the coils of the most intense consummation in his life, Nathan was helpless until the spasms of pleasure had run their course.

  Then, gradually, they both relaxed and lay still.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Delilah and Nathan remained in each other’s arms without speaking long after their breathing had returned to normal and their hearts had calmed in their breasts. To speak would have been to break the spell which, sheltering them in its care, allowed them this short, precious time together.

  Time. She had so little time to tell him what this day meant to her, to explore the body which seemed to be the other half of her own. She had stolen surreptitious glances for months, but how little she actually knew of the body that had so recently worshiped her own.

  Nathan was so unlike Reuben. The two men were equally tall, but Reuben was built for strength. Thick, powerful shoulders and legs gave him the look of a Goliath, while Nathan reminded her of a fine carriage horse. He was tall and strong of limb, but lean. His chest was broad and powerful, yet his waist was greyhound slim.

  And he wasn’t hairy like Reuben. As her hands traveled over Nathan’s limbs, she was glad his skin wasn’t marred by rough hair. Just a light sprinkling in the center of his chest and around his navel highlighted the wonderful smoothness of his flesh.

  There was something powerfully exciting about exploring a man’s body intimately. It was as though she had been allowed to pass through a barrier which kept out every other person in the whole world. She alone, no one but Delilah Stowbridge, would be allowed to run her hands over Nathan’s torso, to gently massage the muscles in his shoulders until he moaned with contentment.

  It was almost as though she owned him. No, that was wrong. He had made her a gift of himself. What an awesome demonstration of faith, the act of surrendering oneself to another. Odd, Delilah didn’t think it so incredible that she should have done the same for Nathan. That seemed natural. But that he should have done it for her!

  She could hardly believe it was happening.

  Her hand slipped down Nathan’s side, over his hip, and around his buttocks. She didn’t know what it was about this part of his anatomy that aroused her so, but even now she could feel her nipples begin to harden. She brought her hand forward over his hip but Nathan intercepted it and guided it gently to the safer region of his stomach.

  Delilah melted into his embrace. The feel of his warm skin against her sensitive nipples was almost as exciting as the feel of his lips and tongue had been a short while before. She pulled away just a little. She wasn’t ready for another round of such passion as they’d experienced. She wanted to lie still and absorb as much of his nearness as possible. She would always welcome his love, but her soul received its richest nourishment from these moments of quiet.

  She traced his jaw with the tip of her finger. His skin was so clear, so closely shaven; his chin was so strong. And his lips were soft, just moist enough for them to catch on her finger. That tickled his lips, and she smiled when he twisted away.

  His hair fascinated her too. Every man she knew wore it long and gathered at the back with a ribbon. Nathan’s thick, blondish-brown hair was cut so short it barely touched his collar. She combed it with her fingers. Next to her nearly raven tresses, his locks looked lighter than ever.

  She took his face between her hands. Would she ever tire of looking at him? Would this time together be enough to last her through all the empty years ahead? A tiny sob broke from her throat.

  Nathan propped himself on an elbow. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head and nestled in the crook of his arm, trying to recapture the mood, but his words had broken the spell.

  Delilah sat up and reached for her dress. “You have to go. Reuben and Jane will be home soon.”

  Nathan pulled her back down next to him. “Not yet.”

  He tossed her dress aside, but she picked it up again. The moment was irretrievable.

  Nathan made no attempt to convince her to come back to bed. Maybe he could tell from the way she put on her clothes that she wouldn’t change her mind. He began to dress as well.

  “When can I come again?”

  Delilah kept her back to him. “You can’t,” she said, softly. “We can never do this again.”

  “Then why did you—”

  “I don’t know” She turned to face him. “Yes, I do. I wanted something of you I could remember, something I didn’t have to share with anyone else, something to remember when you’re gone.”

  “Delilah–”

  “Don’t say anything, please,” she begged, cutting him off again.

  “I was just going to offer you a job,” Nathan said.

  “A job?” Delilah asked, taken completely by surprise. “I need someone to supervise the flax spinning. I’ve got weavers now as well. Mrs. Wheaton doesn’t like the responsibility.”

  Delilah almost jumped at the chance to have a legitimate reason to see Nathan. Not even Reuben could object to her going to Maple Hill if she had a job.

  But she couldn’t do it. And not because of Reuben or Jane. Because of herself. Being around Nathan regularly, knowing she could never be anything more than his lover, would tear her apart. Better to have nothing to remember than something she would someday come to regret. “I can’t.”

  “Is it because of Reuben?”

  “No. It’s because of me. You don’t understand, do you?”

  He shook his head.

  Why couldn’t he see it? Didn’t anybody in England ever fall truly in love? “I can’t be around you and know we can never be more than lovers.”

  “I want to marry you.”

  “But you also think I betrayed you.”

  “Not anymore. I don’t know what happened to me that night – sometimes I think I lost my mind – but I don’t believe you betrayed me.”

  Delilah’s elation was short-lived. She could see that, as much as he waited to believe she was innocent, he would never be completely sure she was telling the truth until he could prove it
to himself.

  Still, she had hope now. Nathan loved her and wanted to believe her. That was more than she’d had when she’d gotten up this morning. It might be enough if she was smart enough to figure out how to make Hector or Priscilla admit what they had done. She didn’t know whether she could do it, but she was going to try.

  In the meantime, she couldn’t keep seeing Nathan. She had no willpower where he was concerned. If she gave into him again, she wouldn’t be able to refuse him after that. Then, if he didn’t marry her, she would despise herself.

  “When you’ve proved to your satisfaction what I said was true, offer me the job again.”

  “At least let me give you some money.”

  That made her angry.

  “I don’t need your money,” she said scornfully. “I won’t be kept by any man.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  Nathan gestured to the crude, bare cabin. “You must have very little. I could help. Mrs. Stebbens cooks more food than we can use, and there’s much more in the storage rooms.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but now that Reuben’s debt is paid, we have enough for our needs.”

  Not until Nathan’s face registered hurt and bewilderment did Delilah realize how cold and hostile she’d sounded. But she couldn’t have felt otherwise. To have Nathan treat her family like a charity case shocked and embarrassed her. It also infuriated her.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just thought since I have so much–”

  “And we have so little, you’d give us some of it,” she finished for him. “Thank you, but Reuben and Jane would choke on anything from your hand.”

  She regretted her words the moment they were out of her mouth. The fact that they were true didn’t make it any easier.

  “You’d better go before I say anything else,” she said, going to the door and holding it open for him. “Besides, if you stay much longer, someone is bound to come by.”