Yes, she could definitely do this.
‘No, Eli,’ she said, reaching up to stroke the curve of his face. ‘I won’t run away, and I agree to be your mistress.’
‘Oh my love!’
He stood up, pulled her into his arms and kissed her with brutal passion, crushing her lips as firmly as he crushed her body against his. His large hands splayed her back as he pulled her closer still, causing desire and a deep, alien longing to pool deliciously inside her. When he released her and she looked into his eyes, she gasped at the deep, burning passion reflected in them.
‘I have one additional condition of my own,’ he said. ‘When the agreement is signed, you must tell me who you are running from and why. I can’t properly protect you unless I know.’
‘Yes, all right.’ She had planned to tell him today and get it over with. She would, too, but there was something else she needed to do first.
‘I had best get that agreement drawn up pretty damned quick,’ he said, breathing hard. ‘I want you and the twins safely installed here without delay.’
‘We don’t need an agreement in order to seal our…er, agreement,’ she said, astonished by her own forwardness.
The plain fact of the matter was that she needed to do this now. Not only was she aroused, but she was also anxious, worried she might not live up to his expectations, or lose her nerve all together. She could just tell him she was an unmarried virgin, of course. But her sixth sense told her he would call the whole thing off if she did and refuse to consummate their union. Having waited all these years, eschewing all attempts to drag her to the altar, Athena was now in a tearing hurry to find out what all the fuss was about. She trusted him, but still wouldn’t tell him about Blake until after she had lain with him. She was convinced that was the correct order in which to do things even if, deep in her heart, Athena knew that having only part of Eli would never be enough for her.
‘Athena, are you sure?’
‘I trust you not to renege,’ she said lightly.
‘Oh, my darling!’
Eli swept her into his arms and carried her to the bed, his intensely passionate smile sending spirals of anticipation roiling through her. He laid her down and then sat beside her, running thick strands of her hair repeatedly through his fingers.
‘That’s something else I’ve wanted to do since first meeting you,’ he said softly, dropping a line of delicate kisses across her brow. ‘I wish I had more time this morning. I would like to lick and kiss every inch of you, and spend the entire morning doing it. You are so beautiful, so deserving of my adoration, so perfect in every way that I sometimes think I must have dreamed you.’
‘I’m real, Eli, and I won’t break.’ She sent him a sultry smile. ‘Just love me.’
‘That,’ he replied with a wicked smile, ‘will be no hardship whatsoever.’
His lips worked their way down her neck, nipping and kissing, filling her with such selfish longing that it relieved her anxiety about her ability to satisfy him.
‘The first thing we must do is to rid you of this awful gown,’ he said softly. ‘Have you any idea how much I dislike it? It simply isn’t good enough for you. We can do a lot better, and as soon I have replenished your wardrobe, I never wish to see this one again.’
‘Yes, your grace,’ she replied meekly, biting her lip to prevent herself from smiling. ‘Are you always this dominant?’
‘You think this is me being dominant?’ He raised a brow and then swooped to kiss the end of her nose. ‘My darling, you have a lot to learn about me. Now, sit up and let me at the ties.’
This was it, Athena thought through a haze of passion, the point of no return. She sat up and Eli found the ties that held her gown up without difficultly. Clearly ladies’ apparel held no mysteries for him. The bodice fell away, and she quickly lay back down, her breasts now covered just by her thin cotton chemise. He looked down at her, an awed expression on his face, and then blew softly on each nipple in turn. She felt them harden almost painfully.
‘So responsive,’ he said softly as one hand moved to caress a breast. ‘And a perfect fit for my hands, just as I knew you would be.’
The firm touch of his fingers on her sensitive flesh made it seem as though she was floating outside of herself. It was a wonderful, sensual feeling, and she squirmed in an effort to push herself more firmly into his hand.
‘So eager,’ he said for a second time.
His hand went to her other breast while his lips came down to capture her opposite nipple. The pleasure was so intense Athena cried out. This was beyond her wildest expectations, and she revelled in the feel of his fingers and lips, sucking and moulding until she was in a frenzy of desire.
‘Lift your hips,’ he said softly.
She did so and felt her gown slide down her legs. He threw it on the floor and smiled when he saw her wearing one of the petticoats he had bought her.
‘At least I don’t have to be ashamed of that,’ she said.
‘You don’t have to be ashamed of anything, angel, and nor will you be from this point on. I guarantee it.’
He knelt at the end of the bed, removed her shoes and then slowly worked his fingers up her legs, rolling her stockings down, one at a time. Little mewing noises slipped past her lips. It was impossible to remain silent, or passive, in the face of such provocation. She was encouraged when Eli didn’t seem to think there was anything unusual about her reaction. With her stockings gone, he picked up one of her feet and sucked each toe in turn, tugging at them gently with his teeth before applying his magical tongue to her instep. The pleasure was so intense that Athena’s body elevated from the bed.
‘Shush! Stay still or I shall have to tie you down.’
‘You wouldn’t!’
His rich, throaty chuckle echoed off the walls of the room. ‘I’m in charge, angel. Never forget that.’
She harrumphed. ‘As if I could.’
‘Lift your hips again, darling. I need to look at you as nature intended.’
Eager now rather than embarrassed, Athena did as he asked, glad she wasn’t expected to do anything other than lie there and allow him to take control. She looked up at him, expecting at any moment for her reservations to return. When he had rendered her naked, and she saw an expression of wonder and appreciation settle upon his features, she felt empowered. Eli could probably select women at his whim, and she wasn’t quite so naïve as to imagine many had not preceded her. And yet she, with her complete lack of experience, could hold him in her thrall. It was what gave her confidence a timely boost as the love she felt for her complex, highly intelligent, and domineering duke swamped her senses.
‘You are so beautiful!’
He spoke in a tone of reverent awe, his eyes dark and intense as he stood back and simply stared at her. He reached down and ran a finger gently down the middle of her body, starting between her breasts, ending in the tangle of curly hair between her legs. Athena shuddered as a kernel of sensation, unfamiliar and primitive, flooded her body.
‘You like to be touched?’
‘Yes.’
Eli muttered an oath beneath his breath and shed his clothes in seconds.
‘I wanted to take more time, but you make it impossible.’
Oh my! His cock was enormous. It jutted aggressively from the juncture of his tapering hips and strong thighs, looking angry, twitching as though impatient to be inside her. Athena seriously doubted it would fit. She would disappoint him, he would decide against her, and her appointment to the position of duke’s mistress would be over before it had begun.
Eli joined her on the bed, and she reached out a hand to touch his chest. The last time she had seen it he had been chopping logs at the cottage, and she had been filled with the same urgent need to touch him then, never imagining it would happen. Her fingers tangled with the hairs on it, and she tugged gently.
‘I must have you now,’ he said, an urgent edge to his voice.
His large, hot body covered hers as he took
his weight on his arms and nudged her legs apart with his knee. His lips covered hers as his fingers parted her creamy folds, slick and yielding to his touch. She tensed when she felt the tip of his cock replace his fingers, then went with her instincts and lifted her hips to welcome him inside. He deepened the kiss as he moved slowly into her—and hit the barrier that was her virginity. Athena tensed, wondering if he would notice. Well of course he would! She sensed his confusion as he tried again, with the same result.
Abruptly he stopped kissing her and withdrew. Her eyes flew open and stared directly into his very angry ones.
‘You’ve never done this before?’
Chapter Fifteen
Eli ran a hand through his hair, broadsided by this totally unexpected turn of events. He stared at Athena with a mixture of anger and confusion clouding his thoughts. What the devil was going on? Was this some elaborate ruse to trap him? He wouldn’t have thought Athena capable of such behaviour but, still the in grips of the most desperate passion, he couldn’t come up with any other explanation.
He stood up, pulled his breeches back on and threw her chemise at her.
‘Get dressed,’ he said curtly.
‘Eli, let me explain.’
‘Oh, you’ll explain all right, madam, but you will do it fully dressed.’
He turned away from her as he pulled on his shirt, stockings, and boots, clumsy in his anger and disappointment. He had thought she was different, but it transpired she was no better than all the rest. As soon as she noticed his interest in her, she exploited it, using it to get him into a compromising position. He was willing to wager some aggrieved relative would have burst through the door as soon as the deed was done, demanding that he pay dearly for his passion.
Eli’s disillusionment was absolute.
He heard her struggling with her gown, but made no move to help her. Right now, he could barely look at her and didn’t trust himself to touch her. In spite of what she had tried to do to him, he still wanted her with a desperate passion that rid him of both common sense and the ability to think in a rational manner.
‘Eli.’ She was dressed and moved in front of him, forcing him to look her way. ‘Why are you so angry with me?’
Could she really be that naïve? ‘There is no Mr Defoe,’ he said starkly.
‘No, obviously not.’
‘Then why the devil did you pretend otherwise?’
‘I needed somewhere to live. Would your steward have rented the cottage to a single woman? Besides, I would not have been left in peace, even if he could have been persuaded to do so.’
Eli grunted. ‘But you have not yet told me why you were so desperate.’
‘I wanted to…er, consummate our agreement before telling you my life story,’ she replied, turning away from him, her face flaming. ‘Had you not found me to your liking, I didn’t want you to feel you owed me anything.’
Was he supposed to believe such flim-flam? ‘You imagined I would take your virginity without a second thought?’ He was filled with virulent rage. ‘What sort of man do you take me for?’
She shrugged. ‘It’s what men do.’
‘Not honourable men.’ He sent her a damning glare. ‘What precisely did you expect to get in return for your sacrifice, Athena?’
‘Nothing. I merely…just a minute.’ The colour left her face, a visible tremor swept through her body, and he seriously thought she might strike him. ‘You think I came here, deliberately to…to exploit you in some way?’
‘What else am I supposed to think? You’re a beautiful woman, and I doubt I’m the first man who’s wanted to do…to do what we almost just did.’ She couldn’t expect marriage, but she must have been sure of a very handsome pay day. ‘Why me? Why now? That’s what I would give much to know.’
She cast him a look of bitter contempt through eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Eli refused to be taken in by her genuine-seeming anger. She had much to be angry about since he had managed to resist her charms and ruined her conniving scheme.
‘Take me home,’ she said, turning away from him again. ‘I was wrong about you, and we have nothing more to say to one another.’
Eli flexed his jaw. ‘It seems we both made a mistake.’
She walked with great dignity towards the door, her spine rigidly upright, head held high. Through the blinding mist of his rage and regret, niggling little doubts crept into Eli’s mind, and he wondered if he had misjudged her in some way. He wanted to call her back and make her tell him what had really happened to bring her here. There was definitely something. She couldn’t have known their paths would cross and would not have rented his cottage with the expectation of their doing so. But he was still too angry to give her the benefit of the doubt and strode to the door ahead of her, threw it open, and offered her a sarcastic bow as she walked through it.
Walters was nowhere to be seen. Eli collected Byron himself, replaced his saddle and climbed aboard. He took Athena’s hands and pulled her up behind him. She pulled hers free as soon as she settled and didn’t wrap her arms around him this time. Instead, she must have held on to the back of the saddle. Eli told himself it was just as well, he didn’t want to touch her any more than absolutely necessary and rode back to the Hollow as fast as he safely could. As soon as they arrived, she slid from behind him before he could dismount to help her and strode off in the direction of the cottage without saying a word.
‘Just a moment,’ he said, going after her. ‘I’ll walk with you.’
‘There’s no need,’ she replied without turning around. ‘I’m quite familiar with the way.’
‘You didn’t answer my question, Athena.’
‘What question?’
‘Why me? Why now?’
She paused, and this time did turn to face him, fixing him with a disillusioned look. ‘Because I wanted you to be the one,’ she said softly.
And then, she was gone, slipping through the trees like a shadow.
He followed her, watching from a distance until he saw her disappear inside. He then turned back to Byron, rode back to the Park at breakneck speed, wondering why he felt so guilty when he was the injured party. Wondering why he missed Athena so desperately already when it was obvious she had used their accidental meeting to her advantage and tried to trick him.
He entered the house by the usual side door and ran up the stairs. His mother was leaving her apartment as he walked past it.
‘Ah, Eli, there you are. A word, if you please.’
‘Not now, Mother,’ he replied, not breaking stride as he headed for his study, conscious of his mother’s startled oh and her gaze boring into his back.
He sat behind his desk for several minutes, willing himself to calm down and think the matter through rationally. Was Athena really out to gull him? Just because most people were, it didn’t mean she was amongst their number. Damn it, he should have insisted she tell him who she was so afraid of, then he would have been in a better position to judge. He had been too angry at the time to listen, and probably wouldn’t have believed her anyway, but he still should have made her talk. He thumped the surface of his desk in frustration, barely conscious of the resulting pain that throbbed through his fist. Why was he so quick to judge her? Why did he find it so hard to think coherently when he was anywhere near her?
If the fear she had shown the previous day at the harvest dance had been fabricated then he ought to refer her to the manager of the Savoy Theatre. She would make a fortune treading the boards.
Eli continued to fester, feeling ill-used and yet bereft since he could no longer look forward to Athena’s engaging company. He sat bolt upright when he realised why he felt so uneasy. She was in danger in that cottage. She would either run, or live in fear of being attacked. He must guard her against both possibilities. He wasn’t ready to let her go, at least until they had spoken again, and the thought of anyone harming her filled him with a murderous rage beyond anything he had ever known before.
Eli yanked the bell pull, tappi
ng his fingers as he waited for Jessop to respond. Her words whirled around inside his brain as he did so, stark in their honesty.
Because I wanted you to be the one.
Athena, Oh, what I would give to make that possible! But you lied to me.
‘Your grace.’ His secretary entered the room and stood in front of his desk.
‘Arrange around the clock watch on Mrs Defoe’s cottage,’ he said curtly. ‘She must be protected at all costs and not permitted to leave. Don’t allow her to see the men keeping guard. The workers will be there during the day, but your men must watch for strangers who have no business being there.’
‘Do we know whom those strangers might be, your grace?’
‘If we did, they wouldn’t be strangers. Just tell them to be alert and not take any chances.’
‘I will attend to the matter personally.’
‘Any news from Nottingham?’
‘No, your grace.’
‘Dammit, what’s taking so long?’
Eli knew he was being unreasonable. It would have taken Jessop’s man at least two days to get there, and then he would have had to establish contacts. Even so, he became more uneasy with each hour that passed.
‘Let me know as soon as you hear anything. And send Salter to me. I have an errand for him to run in Portsmouth.’
‘You look like you’ve lost a shilling and found a farthing, lamb.’ Millie looked up from her baking and frowned when Athena stormed into the cottage. ‘Was it so very bad?’
Athena flapped her arms around, still feeling his rejection like an arrow to the heart. Still smarting from his harsh, unjust words. ‘It went horribly wrong.’
‘Tell me everything.’ Millie wiped her hands, and guided Athena to a chair beside the fire. ‘I’m sure it can’t have been that bad.’
‘No, it was worse than bad. It was a disaster.’
Athena, angry and upset, related the entire humiliating event.
‘I didn’t realise you intended to go through with it today,’ Millie said, sending Athena an appraising look. ‘I thought you would wait for the contract.’
To Defy a Duke: Dangerous Dukes Vol 1 Page 18
