A Dangerous Temptation

by L. R. Olson

  I swallowed my hurt, my outrage. Father did not take kindly to overly emotional women. I took in a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heart. Rational. I must speak rationally with him. “Reverend Thomas was here.”

  Slowly, he pulled the glasses from his face and set them upon the desk. Just as slowly, he closed his book. He didn’t seem surprised. Not even curious. Slim, debonair, and unruffled. I had expected some sort of a reaction. Perhaps he didn’t understand the direness of the situation.

  I moved toward the guest chair across from his desk. “Father, he asked me to marry him.”

  He didn’t say a word, merely stood and strolled toward the windows, his back to me. I frowned, confused. Not a laugh, not a look of surprise….no reaction but…knowledge. “Father, did you know he was coming?”

  He paused at the windows, his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze on the scenery outside. I’d always thought him so handsome. Always thought that I would want a husband like him, stoic and true. “I was wrong not to force you to marry Welch. I thought…perhaps the stigma would die down. It hasn’t. I love you, but I can’t let your mistakes ruin your sister’s chance at a good marriage.”

  I gripped the back of the chair so tightly, my nails dug into the leather. “You’re saying you are forcing me to marry Reverend Thomas? Does Mother know?”

  He looked at the ground. “It was her idea.”

  I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. The entire room spun. I felt like I was drowning and had no way out. No. They didn’t understand. They didn’t realize that I had to paint, it was like breathing, like eating. They didn’t understand that I needed to be free. “I won’t. He’s horrible!”

  His jaw clenched. “Don’t be selfish, Jules. You made a mistake, but it was still your choice to go into the garden with Welch’s son. I forgave you a long time ago, but I will not let you ruin Penny’s chances.”

  “I won’t marry him!” I spun around and raced from the room, only to draw up short. Penny stood in the hall looking worried, pale. If anyone would understand, she would. “Penny,” I started to reach for her. “Father is…”

  She glanced down, looking everywhere but at me. Something wasn’t right. I dropped my hands to my side. She hadn’t happened upon us, she had been in the hall…eavesdropping. “You knew. You approved.”

  “I just found out the other day what they were planning,” she whispered, a guilty flush coloring her high cheekbones.

  I stepped closer to her. My entire body was trembling with hurt and anger. “And did you try to stop them?”

  She didn’t respond, merely continued to stare at the floor.

  It wasn’t fair. One mistake. One silly mistake made when I’d drunk too much champagne and needed a breath of air. “You’d truly want to see me so unhappily married to the reverend? You truly believe your earl or anyone else won’t marry you until I’ve become respectable?”

  “Jules,” she whispered pleadingly. “It’s not that. It’s for…me. It’s embarrassing knowing that I have a ruined sister! When I marry, how will I face his family? The rumors will follow me everywhere.”

  “A ruined sister? That’s what I am to you?”

  Her lack of response was like a knife through the chest. “I had merely wanted air. Fresh air. He had taken advantage of me, yet I’m the one who suffers because of it.”

  “Jules,” Penny sighed. “Will it be so bad? The reverend has quite a bit of power over the town. Wouldn’t you like…”

  “I don’t care about power!” Determined to regain control, I turned and headed toward the front of the house. “Do you not know me at all?”

  “Jules?” Mother called out. “Where are you going? What did you say to Reverend?”

  I ignored her and pulled open the front door. He would be cruel. He would force me to give up my paints and drawings. I would not marry him. I’d already let one man ruin my life, I would not let another. Tears burned my eyes, blurring the garden before me. Servants were rushing around the estate, preparing the gardens and ballroom for the gathering. Tonight, my sister would announce her engagement. I averted my gaze, not wishing to speak to anyone, and slipped into the safety of the shadowed trees.

  “Jules,” Ramona called out from the garden. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Not now, Ramona,” I said.

  “But, Jules it’s about your sister’s fiancé…”

  I found the trail quickly. I knew this land. These lovely woods, these trees and flowers, they did not judge me. Hiking up my skirts, I ran until I reached the creek. I would eventually return home. I could not miss Penny’s engagement party, no matter how much she had angered me. But for now, for these two blessed hours before the gathering, I would be free. At the creek, I paused, letting the sound of gurgling water lull me into a peaceful trance.

  James.

  His name whispered through my mind, through the trees, upon the water.

  I picked up my skirts and raced toward the field that separated our house from his.

  James.

  James would be my savior. When he knew where I came from, how large my dowry was to be, he would marry me. We weren’t perfect, but he was honest, blunt and we were attracted to each other. Surely there could be worse things to base a relationship on. And most importantly, he would never tell me that art was a sin.

  The sun was beginning its descent. It would be dark by the time the guests arrived. But I had almost two hours. Almost two hours to be with him. It would sustain me…keep me going for now. After the gathering, when everything had calmed down, I would invite James to the estate and we would discuss our impending engagement with my parents.

  Entering his front garden, seeing his house, I felt a peace like I’d never felt before. I knew marrying him was right. My footsteps slowed. When I’d been a child I’d imagined marrying a dashing and romantic pirate of a man. When I’d gotten older, I’d become more rational and merely wanted a kind, gentle husband who would indulge my whimsies and delight in spirited conversations. James was neither. Yet, I found I didn’t mind.

  A man servant stood in the front garden, brushing down a fine black horse. He watched me curiously, but I ignored him and moved boldly up the steps as if I belonged there. His servants would talk. They would spread the rumor that I had been at their master’s house unescorted. I didn’t care. It would only urge him to do the proper thing. Heart slamming wildly in my chest, I grasped the door handle and opened the door, knowing I was ruining myself completely.

  The hall stood empty.

  No one in the parlor, nor study. My hope had started to fade when I heard footsteps upstairs. James. As if in a dream, I moved up the steps. He was there in the first room. I didn’t need to peek inside to know. I swore I could sense him. The proper thing to do would have been to call out his name. No, the proper thing would have been to send him a note. But I’d never been proper.

  In the back of my mind came the realization that I was practically forcing him into marriage and he might not forgive me, but I comforted myself by knowing he would get something too: my inheritance. Steeling my courage, I stepped into the room. I found him immediately near the far wall. He stood in front of a full length mirror, his back to me. He wore only trousers and shirtsleeves. I’d seen him in such a state of undress many times, yet here in his bedchamber, it was intimate. Too intimate.

  He glanced at me in the mirror, finding and holding my gaze. A shiver of complete awareness trembled through my body. There was no surprise in his eyes, only mild curiosity as he finished buttoning his shirt.

  “Jules,” he said in greeting as he reached for his cravat that lay upon the back of a nearby chair. He appeared relaxed and at ease. “What are you doing here?”

  “Do you come from an honorable family?”

  He paused. “I suppose that depends on what you mean by honorable. But yes, most of England would consider them honorable.”

  I took another step.

  “Are you engaged?”

  He
paused again. “Not at the moment. Why are you here, Jules?”

  My heart hammered so loudly I could barely hear him. I was so very tired of fighting my attraction. “I…I had nowhere else to go.”

  He paused, his gaze darkening. “I told you to never come here again, unless you—”

  “I do.” I stepped farther into the room and closed the door behind me. I thought to talk about the details of our marriage first, but suddenly found myself walking forward, eager to see him, touch him, kiss him. He turned, the cravat hanging around his neck, untied. God, he was lovely. How could anyone not believe in the beauty of the world when there were men like him?

  Slowly, I reached out and pulled the neck cloth free, tossing it toward the chair. I wished I could say the boldness was not me, that I was not acting myself. But I feared this was the real Jules. The true me who had been stifled far too long.

  Suddenly, he gripped my wrists. “Don’t, unless you are willing to see this through.”

  He seemed angry. I didn’t want him angry. I stood on tip-toe and pressed my mouth to his. He tasted of tea and whiskey, of him. I slid my tongue across his lower lip, as he had done to me the other day. If anything, I was a quick study. With a groan, he gripped my hips and jerked me close. I could feel the proof of his attraction pressing against my lower belly. I might have been a virgin, but I wasn’t stupid. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.

  His tongue delved into my mouth, rubbing, thrusting, sweeping aside any reserves. My skin felt afire, my nerve endings enflamed. I moaned, sinking into his hard form. My entire body was alive when he was near. Nothing mattered but him. This was right. How could it not be? His fingers dove into my hair, pulling down the elaborate coiffure, the pins pattering to the ground. In a symbolic taste of freedom, my hair tumbled down my back.

  “Gorgeous,” he muttered, pressing kisses to my jawline, then to my neck.

  Lord, no one had ever kissed my neck before. I liked it. Liked it too much. Shivers of delight danced across my skin, demanding more. Each stroke of his fingertips was like heaven. Every kiss drugged me deeper and deeper into a heavy stupor. He had taken hold and possessed me. Oddly, I didn’t mind.

  “I don’t want this to end,” I whispered, nuzzling my hips against his and pressing more intimately against his hard cock.

  His fingers found the buttons at the back of my bodice as his mouth traced kisses along my cheek. “It doesn’t have to.”

  I smiled, relieved. I needed to hear no more. As his lips found mine, he pulled my bodice free. I should have been embarrassed. After all, I’d never been naked in front of anyone but my maid. I wasn’t. I’d wanted him from the moment I’d spied him bathing. Perhaps even before we’d met. This man was as passionate as me. He did not fall for the silly nonsense of the ton. He was honest, and he would accept me as I was. And I knew, in that moment, that I could love him. Someday. Soon.

  My skirts fell down around my ankles before I’d even realized he’d undone the buttons. He lifted me from the pool of material, then settled me upon the floor. I didn’t miss the way his muscles flexed, so hard compared to my utter softness. We were opposites who fit perfectly together. As his hands reached for the strings at my corset, I reached for the buttons of his shirt. Our harsh breaths mingled as we raced to undress each other.

  Mother would not approve that I had run away, but she would be content when she knew I planned to marry. He might not be a reverend, but it was obvious James was smart, and had a decent amount of money. Even Father would approve. I managed to remove his shirt before he got to my corset.

  As I pushed the garment from his chest, I paused to soak him in. My corset fell free but I barely noticed. He was the most stunning man I’d ever seen. Dark hair sprinkled across a muscled chest, traveling in a tempting, taunting line to the waistband of his trousers. He seemed carved of stone. I wanted to trace every muscle, to taste his skin. I swallowed hard, my veins heating. My entire body felt afire. I’d never wanted anyone as much as I wanted this man. I would have sold my soul merely to taste his lips, to feel his touch.

  “You make me feel,” I whispered. “Feel free to be myself.”

  He frowned, his knuckles brushing underneath my chin. “You give me too much credit.”

  Before I could argue, he kissed me again. This kiss was even more demanding than the others, as if he had something to prove. Slowly, I reached out. I’d never touched a man like him before. Never run my fingers down the muscled chest and stomach of a male. He was a god. A mythical beast sent to earth merely for my pleasure. I wanted to paint him. I wanted to draw him every day for the rest of my life. And I would.

  “You’re beautiful,” I said simply against his mouth.

  “You’re silly.”

  I did not take offense. How could he possibly know how attractive he appeared when he saw his face every day? It was common to him. But to me, to the world, he was simply stunning. I pulled back and looked up into his eyes. They seemed even darker, if that were possible. He must have had gypsy in him, although I wouldn’t dare mention that thought to my mother and father for fear that they would reject the idea of marriage based on supposed bad blood. His breathing was harsh. Perhaps not as harsh as mine, but it was there…the slightest change in his very being that said he desired me.

  “I want you,” I boldly admitted.

  “Christ.” Suddenly I was scooped up into his arms and carried across the room. “You could tempt the pope himself.”

  He tossed me onto the bed, a bed that would be ours soon. I could easily make this large cottage into a lovely home. Mother and Father would be happy that I would be near. The pillows and blankets held his musky scent, a scent as comforting as the bedding around me. I settled into the cocoon, content to watch him as he reached for his trousers. Within a blink, the man was naked before me and every thought in my head vanished. His legs and arms were as muscled as his chest, his body as stunning as any Greek statue. For one long moment I merely feasted on the picture he made.

  Slowly, he leaned over me and reached for the ribbons of my shift. As he came nearer I caught sight of his manhood. Much larger than any statue, the long, throbbing rod surged from a nest of dark hair that matched the hair sprinkling his body. The plum head of his cock was darker than the rest, and a fine sheen of liquid glistened from the tip. Excitement gave way to nerves. Even as lust surged though my body, even as I wanted to reach out to touch him and see what he felt like, fear tickled the back of my neck.

  “You’re too big.”

  His gaze was dark, restless, demanding, as he pulled my shift loose. “Glad you’re impressed.”

  Before I could argue that I was more than impressed, I was terrified, his mouth was on me. His entire body covered mine, pressing me into the mattress. Mother had given me the basics before I’d had my coming out two years ago. Cecilia had filled me in with more detail just last year when she’d overheard two bar wenches talking, but now, in this moment, I wished I didn’t know.

  His knee surged between my thighs, parting my legs. He was going too fast. “Should…should we slow down?”

  “I’ve waited too long for you. Slow next time.” His lips found me, as his steel cock slid against my folds, only the material of my shift separated his chest from mine.

  He surged up against me, rubbing his erection against my very femininity. Every brush of his body against mine stoked the heat. The movement sent my senses spinning, my body burning with unfulfilled lust. I gasped, my nails biting into his back.

  “You’re a greedy wench, aren’t you? You’ve been stifled by this small town.”

  Lord, he knew me too well. He pulled the straps of my shift down my shoulders until my breasts were exposed. “I’ll show you pleasure, Jules. A pleasure you’ve never known before me. A pleasure that will have you begging for more.”

  I didn’t dare doubt him. He jerked the shift down my shoulder. Before I guessed his intentions, his mouth covered one breast while his hand kneaded the other. Sparks of desire prance
d across my skin. I groaned, shifting restlessly under his weight, lifting my hips until his cock pressed to my core. I was wanton, as the lovely ladies of the ton had proclaimed those years ago. They had been right all along. I would ruin myself for a man.

  He tore his mouth away, leaving my nipple a wet and hard nub. “God, you taste lovely.”

  It was everything Cecilia had heard, but so very much more. The emotions swirling through me were indescribable. He gripped my shift and jerked it down my body. His mouth followed, leaving behind trails of kisses that warmed my stomach. Then farther…farther. When he reached the junction of my thighs, reality invaded. No one had ever seen me there.

  “James,” I said.

  He didn’t listen.

  Worried, I shoved my hands into the bedding, attempting to sit upright. “I don’t think…”

  He lowered. I felt the warmth of his breath fan across my nest of curls and then suddenly his tongue was slipping between my folds. I cried out, falling back to the bed in complete surrender. My entire body felt afire with desire the likes of which I’d never experienced before. His tongue delved into my sheath, then out, over and over as his thumb pressed to the nub nestled within the curls. The ache twisted, intensified. It was too much. All too much. My fingers gripped the sheets.

  “James,” I cried out.

  The aching need exploded. Lightning burst through my body, twisting, turning until I thought I was no more. A flood of euphoria swept through me. This was why women sold their souls. This was what I’d been missing. I was barely aware when James stood, pulling off my shift and my stockings, undressing me completely. Barely aware when he was back in bed, his warm and hard body covering me fully. I was still floating…floating within a heavenly reality I never wanted to leave.

  “My turn,” he said, his dark, sinful eyes capturing mine.

  I couldn’t look away.

  “Spread your legs,” he demanded in a voice that sent shivers down my spine.

  I didn’t dare disobey him. With a whimper I parted my knees.

  No, I hadn’t been aware when he had moved atop me. But I was completely and utterly aware when he nudged my knees apart and thrust into me.