“A spy!” Rowena gasped with a smile. “What – ”
But she broke off before she could speak as the serving boy returned to their table.
“A bottle of wine, sir, m’lady?”
“No!” They both spoke together, and the lad disappeared sharply from their table. They shared a look, and James’ heart glowed with warmth.
“What is he doing in England?”
James raised an eyebrow. “My friend?”
Rowena shook her head irritably. “No, the spy! You said that your friend had followed him, the spy, to England and – ”
“Who said that the spy was a gentleman?”
He could have crowed aloud at the look of astonishment on Rowena Kerr’s face.
“But – but you said…a woman?”
James nodded impressively, and lowered his voice even further – partly to ensure that no one could overhear them and partly, he admitted to a secret part of himself, to encourage her to lean forward to and give him another stupendous view of her breasts.
“I cannot name names, obviously under the circumstances, but I can tell you that my nobleman friend escaped France but two weeks ago, and is now looking for his sister, who has been on the run, here in England, for over a year.”
It was impossible not to preen, James found, as he watched Rowena stare at him, impressed beyond words.
“I am a friend of both since childhood,” James whispered. “I know that…my friend would do anything to find his sister. What he does not know is that I have been tracking her movements for the last six months. When you met with me, I had just been to see her, to tell her the news that her brother, too, had escaped from France.”
Rowena placed down her knife and fork, and looked up at him with an emotion that he could not quite read: was it devotion? Was it desire?
“You must have a taste for danger,” she said lightly, her fingers playing with the stem of her glass. “Does your appetite for such things apply to…to all areas of your life?”
James’ mouth went dry. He knew women. He knew what they wanted, and how they indicated that they wanted it, and when he had one to himself he knew exactly how to pleasure her.
Rowena Kerr wanted him.
“I generally find,” he said in a low voice, not taking his eyes away from hers, ready to lose himself within her, “that I know danger when I see it, and I have never run from it yet.”
She hesitated for a moment, and then a smile, almost shy, but unwavering, crept across her face. “‘Tis a shame for you to spend another night cramped in a carriage. I have no objection to sharing a chamber this night, if you do not.”
6
Rowena glanced around for the gong making such a racket, but it was her heart thundering in her own chest as she rose from the table and turned away from James, Viscount of Paendly, hunger in his eyes.
She could hardly believe the words that had emanated from her lips, but they were honest and true. Holding back her desire for him was no longer an option – she was far too attracted to him to resist.
And why should she? She would be paying the price for a night of passion once she returned to society; why not experience those delights herself, if she was going to suffer for it?
Her feet seemed to be walking of their own accord: they did not need her to guide them. The innkeeper had already given them their directions – “Up two flights of stairs and ‘tis the only door on your left, there is no way to miss it” – and now she was walking up the stairs with James behind her.
Close behind her. Rowena did not need to turn around or glance her head to feel his presence mere inches from hers. A smile broadened on her face, and she found she had to fight the urge to sway her hips.
This is not a chance for you to seduce him, she reminded herself, almost breathless as she turned the corner and started up the second flight of stairs. You may want him to make love to you, Rowena Kerr, but he is a Viscount. He has his honour, even if you are happy to ignore yours.
But it was impossible to ignore the heat that was rushing through her body, the aching desire for him to touch her. As she took a step onto the top landing and saw the only door on the left, she hesitated, and felt the masculine strength of a man’s chest touch her back.
“Do excuse me,” came the low whisper in her ear, and Rowena shivered to feel him so close.
She could say nothing; she could barely trust her tongue at all. Rowena shook her head almost imperceptively, hoping that it would imply her lack of concern, but all it did was bring his jaw and mouth into contact with her ear, and she gasped aloud.
“H-here we are,” she said in broken tones, trying to cover the shiver of delight that had flowed through her at that infinitesimal touch. Her fingers outstretched, she pushed the chamber door open.
There was quite evidently but one bed.
Rowena swallowed, feeling the heat surging through her even more strongly now, but determined to stay calm.
“Here we are, then,” she repeated stupidly, hating the sound of her own voice but desperate to fill the silence with something.
Stepping into the room, Rowena cast around it for something to say, some comment to make. If she did not say something banal soon, her real thoughts would spill out of her head. Touch me. Caress me. Love me – be intimate with me.
The secret thoughts of her hearts were on the tip of her tongue, and despite their scandalous flavour, they tasted sweet in her mouth. They tasted right. There was no bitterness of shame intermingled there, and as James closed the door behind them, leaving them quite alone in the little room, Rowena turned to face him.
Yes, she wanted him to make love to her. But where to start?
“Ah, I see that Smith has brought up your luggage.”
If she did not know any better, she would almost say that James too was a little unsure what to say. That typical candour, that almost languid comfort that she knew him to possess, seemed to have melted away. He was staring at her with those clear blue eyes, as though he had never seen her before.
As though he had never seen a woman before.
A hot rush of desire rushed through Rowena as she looked at James in the candlelight. He was handsome; devilishly so, and he was kind, and clever, and there was something dangerous about him that she could barely put her finger on.
And she knew exactly what she was going to do.
“That was very kind of Smith, to be sure,” she said lightly. “I wonder, James. Would you be so kind as to assist me?”
Her heart, once thundering, now seemed to have stopped, but her breathing hadn’t – it was faster now as she laid the bait to catch herself a man.
And he bit. James smiled, and took a step towards her. “Of course…Rowena.”
A shiver of anticipation washed through her, just to hear her name from his lips, and she tilted her head slightly as she looked up at him.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “Would you please undo the back of my…my gown? I cannot reach it alone.”
It was almost enough just to see the desire spark in his eyes as she watched James swallow, saw his muscles in his chest tighten, the increase in his breathing, the passion igniting in his gaze. He wanted her, she could see it now, and she had given him the perfect chance to reach out and take her.
But would he?
James swallowed for a second time. “It would be my honour.”
Triumph was not the word for it: relief, heated, wanted, mingled with desperation for him to touch her now, now – but she must be calm.
Blushing slightly in the full knowledge that she was more than capable of doing this herself, but knowing that this was the best way to bring him closer to her, Rowena turned away from James, pulling her golden hair to her front to pool on her left side, revealing the curve of her neck.
For a full ten seconds she stood there, exposed and unsure of exactly what James was doing – but then a gasp escaped her lips as strong, warm fingers brushed the base of neck to move a few strands of hair that got left beh
ind.
“You…you are beautiful.”
The whisper was so quiet that for a moment, she thought that she had imagined it, but the heat scorching her skin every place that James’ fingers touched told her the truth.
Trying to control her breathing, fighting every temptation to turn around and see the expression on his handsome face, Rowena raised her hands to hold the front of her gown to her and closed her eyes as strong and secure fingers gently pulled the ribbon of her gown away – and snapped them open once more as she heard his ragged breath.
He wanted her. She knew that, could feel it deep within her, felt it in her gut, and something lower in her body. What surprised her was how much she wanted him.
Licking her lips nervously, Rowena tried desperately to think of a way to initiate a kiss. How could something so simple feel so complicated?
“There,” came the jagged voice of the man standing inches behind her. “All…all done.”
All that was holding her gown up her across her breasts were her own hands – and those, she thought wildly, could easily fall –
And then she gasped. A hot and passionate kiss had been laid on her neck and her entire body seemed to alight with joy.
“Oh, Rowena,” James groaned as her neck arched away from him, giving him complete access to her side.
But before she could truly revel in the moment, it was over.
“I am sorry,” said James’ voice, and Rowena did turn now to see him, and saw confusion and desire and regret in his eyes. “I must apologise, Miss Kerr, I…I am afraid that I could not help it.”
Rowena stared at him, mouth slightly open in confusion, and he shook his head with a wry smile. “You are too damn beautiful and I was too damn weak to resist you.”
She paused for one second – just one second, as though standing on the edge of a cliff in the wind. And then she decided.
Her gown fell to the floor in a shimmer of violet silk and there she stood, completely naked. For who was wearing underclothes in this stuff inn?
Rowena was not entirely sure what reaction she was expecting, but she knew what she was hoping for.
James growled and took her in his arms in two short strides, placing his mouth on hers in a fiery kiss that removed any doubt in her mind that this was right – for how could something that felt this good be wrong?
His hands were on her buttocks, pulling her close to him, and she gasped at the feeling of his buttons scraping across her breasts. His tongue, gentle at first and then firm, determined to take the pleasure that he had seemingly waited so long for, ravished her mouth driving ripples of joy across her body.
Rowena gave herself up fully to the kiss, but it was not enough. There was a burning desire in her for more, but what more could there be? How could love surpass this?
She did not have to wait long to find out. Her fingers had moved to those buttons and started to frantically undo them, and within two minutes James too was naked – and Rowena’s eyes widened as she saw him.
He had pulled away slightly, but kept her hands in his. His eyes watched her carefully as her own raked over his nude form.
“You…you are not afraid?” His voice was still a growl but it was a quiet one, with no malice, just passion.
Rowena swallowed, and shook her head. The ache in her body for him was growing now and in answer to his question, she freed a hand from his own and placed it, hesitantly, on that most private part of him.
The groan that escaped James’ lips only made the ache worse, and seeing the pleasure on his face seemed to warm her even more.
“Oh God, yes,” he moaned, and pulled her closer, forcing his lips down on hers in an ecstasy of kisses that made her cry out into his mouth in turn.
Rowena could barely concentrate, her body seemed to be alive for the first time in her life, but she followed her instincts and caressed and fondled and teased until James cried out.
“Oh, Rowena!”
His hands moved fast, and she was lying on the bed, her arms pinned beside her head, and James was between her legs panting hard.
“That was incredible,” he moaned between kisses, “but if you are to receive any great pleasure, then I need to stop you.”
Rowena opened her mouth to reply – she was receiving pleasure, and she did not want him to think otherwise – but instead she cried out in joy as his lips moved to her breast and his tongue started to play with her nipple.
She was starting to feel wet right where James was between her legs, and the heat there was growing as the pleasure did, and his hands has released her own and was caressed her other breast and she arched her back in uncontrolled passion, and her hands were on his back and she could not help but scratch him as the pleasure overwhelmed her, and this was everything, he was everything, they were everything together.
And then James entered her and Rowena could not help but moan, “Oh James – yes!”
For it was like he had come home to her, and she had been waiting for him her whole life. He fitted her perfectly and though she was tight she was wet and warm, and he delved into her with control.
For a moment he paused, and looked down at her with wild eyes. “Did I hurt you?”
Breathing fast, barely able to construct a sentence, Rowena shook her head wildly, and raised her lips to be kissed.
James grinned hungrily, and lowered his face to hers – but he raised himself to leave her, and then slowly entered her again and it was too much, too good, too wonderful for words.
But it was not enough.
“Faster,” she moaned as his mouth moved to her other breast and lavished the same attention to it as the first. “God, James, I want you harder!”
She did not need to ask twice. Soon a rhythm was building in her the darkest promise of release but it was not here yet and his hands were on hers and they were pinned back by her head and she struggled against him playfully, twisting her hips slightly, and James increased the pace.
“God, Rowena, you are so – oh God!”
The heat between them was high now, and Rowena could barely keep her eyes open with the pleasure of it all, and he was thrusting deeper and harder and faster and then she came, ecstasy upon ecstasy, pleasure after pleasure exploded through her body and she cried out.
“Yes – oh James!”
At the sound of his name he emptied himself into her, hard as a rock and then softening into clay, collapsing beside her with their hands still entwined.
Vision hazy, body tingling, James lay back with the most beautiful woman that he had ever known enwrapped in his arms. This, then, was what belonging felt like. This was what it was to connect beyond the physical. Exuberance and exultation poured through his veins as his heart pounded, trying to keep up with his exhausted mind.
How could he not glorify in the feeling of Rowena Kerr in his arms?
A chuckle – but not his.
“What are you laughing about?” He murmured as he tightened his arm slightly around the giggling woman making his whole body shake with her mirth.
Those large dark eyes turned up to look at him, and a bolt of love, pure love, there was no point denying it, shot through James.
“It looks like I was ruined after all,” breathed Rowena with a beaming smile.
James laughed in his turn. “Ah, but you have nothing to fear. You have my word that none shall hear of it, your secret is safe with me.”
And what was more, he meant it. How could he ever betray such a woman: fierce and strong, yet willing to be vulnerable? He would have no hand in her ruin, he…he cared for her too much.
He watched the long golden lashes flutter over her eyes as Rowena attempted to fight off sleep, and instinctively, James opened his mouth to speak, to keep her awake. One glance at her lithe form told him that he was more than capable of ravishing her again…
And then he stopped, when the realisation that he was in truth far more interested in continuing to talk to her than reclaiming his position over her body.
; Well, they said it would happen eventually, thought James, heart swelling. Perhaps you did not consider that you would meet the love of your life on the road to Aylesbury, but here she is: the only woman you could ever consider as your equal in wit, merit, and far more beautiful than you would ever be described handsome.
He watched her start to drift, willingly, into sleep, and a frown rose across his forehead. It was almost painful to remind himself that they would be departing from each other in just a few short hours. The county crossroads were but ten miles off, taking Rowena Kerr in one direction, and James, Viscount of Paendly in another.
She would continue alone, and so would he.
As sleep threatened to overtake him as well, James wondered how their next meeting was ever to be arranged. Marriage was never something on the cards for him, it had just never appealed. But the thought of going the rest of his life without Rowena in it? It was unthinkable.
Unable to stave off approaching slumber any longer, the last thought before he fell asleep was whether he could install her anywhere convenient as his last, and most beloved, mistress.
7
Someone shot James and he jerked awake with a cry – but felt no pain.
Hurried hands moved over his body to find the wound, and a woman slid from his side. She was warm and smiled at the movement, murmuring his name.
James looked around him wildly. There was no one else in the room: no possibility of a gun fired. There was still no pain, and no wound either, as far as he could tell.
He slumped back against the bed and closed his eyes. It must have been a dream. All that talk with Giselle had left more of a mark on his unconscious than he had thought.
But then the shouting rose from below, and another bang, what he must have mistaken for a gunshot in his sleeping state.
“What is the matter?” A sleepy voice asked beside him, and he looked down to see Rowena’s naked body tucked beside him, eyes open blearily, with a contented smile on her face.
Another sound like a shot, and now she was starting to wake up properly.
Ravishing Regencies- The Complete Series Page 40
