“The hell I didn’t. It was thoughtless and reminders of the life you were forced to live will never pass my lips again.”
He was only mildly distracted when she snuggled her derriere into his groin. “Thank you,” she said.
He sighed. “Go to sleep, Rosa. It’s been a long day, and we have an early start in the morning.”
“You can’t mean to sleep in here for the night.”
“That is exactly what I intend to do. Is the thought of that distasteful?”
“I have never slept with a man.” Her voice was hushed and held a note of marvel as though she didn’t believe his good intentions.
He chuckled at that, his chest vibrating along her back. “Surely after all we’ve done, you jest.”
“I do not mean in the sense of intercourse. I meant that I have never slept with a man next to me.”
She tried to squirm out of his hold, but he only tightened his arms around her. He wasn’t ready to let her escape; in fact, he refused to let her go.
“I don’t care what you did and did not do in your past. I have every intention of staying the night.” Sighing, he pulled both their hands up to rest between her breasts and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder. “Now, go to sleep or we’ll never be able to get out of bed come morning.”
ROSA TINKERED AWAY ON THE piano for a short time. Eventually she stopped, lost in her thoughts again. Teddy seemed to own all her thoughts.
At least she wouldn’t have to face Teddy for a few hours. She wasn’t sure what she should say to him after everything that had transpired between them since she’d been staying in his house. For three nights he’d come to her room only to hold her as they both fell asleep. She wasn’t sure why he’d not tried to make love to her again, but she appreciated having him next to her at night. Actually, she was growing to crave his company.
“Why did you stop playing?”
“Hmm?” She turned toward Mary’s questioning voice. “I wasn’t, was I?” She frowned and turned back to the keys, placing her hands above them, not sure where she’d even stopped.
“I never thought I’d see the day.” Mary’s comment wasn’t precisely an accusation, so she took no insult from it. Or at least she tried not to be insulted that she was so easily read.
“The day for what?”
“You’ve gone and fallen in love with de Burgh, haven’t you?”
Rosa remained silent, mulling the words over in her head. Was it possible to fall in love with someone she barely knew?
“De Burgh will grow bored of my company as the weeks pass. I cannot mingle in the circles he does.”
Mary’s hand touched her shoulder.
“I think you like each other just fine enough not to be bored any time soon.”
“I cannot be a part of his world, nor he mine.”
“Don’t be forgetting you were once a young woman of standing.” Mary sat next to her on the bench, her arm wrapped around Rosa’s shoulders.
She searched for her friend’s hand and held it between hers. “I’ll never mingle in his circles and I’ll not dare reach above my station again. You know what that brought me when I was young.”
It had brought her loneliness and heartbreak. Despair that had been so crippling she thought she’d never heal from the pain. She never wanted to feel the misery of losing the man she loved again.
Banishing the thoughts, she placed her hands over the keys once more and played a somber melody.
By the time lunch rolled around, Rosa was growing worried that she hadn’t heard from Teddy. Just as quick as the worry gnawed at her, a letter arrived. When she clasped it in her hands, her maid asked, “Would you like me to read it?”
“Of course.” Mary had been reading her correspondence for years; that Rosa should suddenly feel shy about sharing this letter was silly. She handed over the parchment. Anticipation filled her gut as her maid slid the envelope cutter and tore it along the edge.
Mary cleared her throat before reading, “Rosa, I apologize for not sending word sooner, I have had no luck where your brother is concerned. I have one lead that will keep me out till well past the dinner hour. The house is yours; the servants at your call. I will see you tonight. Teddy.”
She let out a whoosh of air. Of course he wouldn’t mention anything of a more personal nature in the letter, why she had thought he would ...
Could she still hope that her brother was lying low until he found the money to pay back whomever he owed this time? Hopefully Teddy found the answers they needed to solve the mystery of her brother’s disappearance soon.
THE SOFT SOUND OF the piano filtered down the hall and made its way to her ears, the tune vaguely familiar the nearer she drew. Rosa had been readying herself to see Teddy for the past hour. She could resist the music no longer. One hand measured her distance from the wall, since she’d left her walking stick in her room. The other hand pulled up her skirts so she didn’t trip.
On reaching his door, she turned the knob and paused when the recognizable tune washed over her. He remembered the song she’d played. Some notes were different ... off; he paused to fix his fingering, then resumed with corrections.
Why was he playing her piece? She walked toward the sound of the music.
When she was at his side, he stopped playing. “Excellent to see you. I was wondering when you’d arrive.”
She heard the sound of the bench sliding across the rug. Teddy placed something small and hard in her hands. She tipped it to the side and cool liquid sloshed over onto her hand.
“Careful. I guess I should have thought better than to put that in your hands.” He took the oddly shaped glass, and set it atop the piano with a heavy clunk. He flicked out his handkerchief and wiped the liquid from her hands.
“What were you doing?”
“Writing down your music. But I couldn’t remember a few of the passages, so you’ll have to play them for me so I can jot them down.”
Her hands trembled and her heart beat a little faster in her chest.
“You’ve gone stark white. Have I said something wrong?”
His hands gripped her unsteady ones. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the words she wanted to utter. Teddy’s forefinger curled under her chin to lift her face. His lips were light upon hers and the last thing she expected in her shocked state.
He didn’t rush the kiss. He took his time and explored her with a tenderness that melted her heart.
“You’ve rendered me speechless,” she whispered when his lips left hers.
“I’m sure you’ve come for news of your brother. I fear I learned nothing while out today.”
“I have set you on the path of finding a needle in a haystack. But I am beginning to fear for my brother’s safety.”
“Don’t,” he said. “I have only heard that he was on the run from people he owes money to. He’ll have to come up for air sooner or later. Either to pay his debts or to face those he owes money to.”
“I couldn’t agree more on that. Johnson’s part in all this doesn’t sit well with me.” And that had her worrying about what exactly Johnson was trying to prove. Surely he wouldn’t hurt her brother to get back at her? No, she couldn’t think that way. Johnson’s issues lay solely at Rosa’s feet. There would be no purpose in going after her brother to get back at her.
“I’ve known Johnson a long time, and while I don’t trust him, I can’t imagine him causing harm to your brother over a few quid.”
“How can you be so sure?” Even she couldn’t be sure of Johnson’s character right now, not in the face of uncertainty.
“Have faith. We’ll find him. Probably when he wants to be found, but we’ll find him nonetheless.”
He kissed her once again, the touch soft and alluring as though he wanted her to entertain happier thoughts. “Come.” He took her hand and tugged her toward the bench to sit. She tucked her skirts under the keys and hitched up the back a little to sit more comfortably. Teddy sat next to her. “I do have
friends looking for him as we speak, and they’ll contact me as soon as they see or hear anything.”
“Thank you,” was all she could manage to say. Everything he was doing meant so much to her that she was beginning to think she was in a dream.
“Play your piece for me again, Rosa. I’ve jotted down as much as I could remember. But I’m afraid I’ll do the beauty of this piece no justice without your help.”
“You don’t have time to focus on this. We can work on your music.” He placed his finger over her lips, then rubbed it back and forth over the lower portion, pulling her lips apart before stepping around her.
“Play for me, Rosa. I want to do this for you. You’ve been immensely helpful with my concerto. I wish to return the favor you’ve bestowed upon me.”
She nodded and settled herself at the piano. Her fingers played out a natural chord, so he knew which key she played in.
“I did have that down already. I guessed the time signature to be in twelve-eight. I couldn’t figure out if you changed for a few stanzas to nine-eight or if you went back to the common time.”
“Both.” Her lips quirked up at the side, impressed that he’d noticed the odd switches in time. He really had been paying close attention. Though she supposed it wasn’t too complex for someone of his skill to figure out the timing and key signatures.
Her fingers found the rhythm of the piece she’d played now for so many years. She didn’t know where or how it was born. Come to think of it, she didn’t know where most of her music came from, only that it was her own. And it often represented how she felt at the time. This piece had been about her loss and subsequent growth. Her search for life beyond the dark corridors of the half-existence she’d lived after Michael’s death.
Letting up on the keys, she turned her head toward him. “Would you play the violin with me? Not today if you find the idea silly, but sometime soon? I’ve longed to hear your hand on the strings.”
The scratch of the pen halted. “Why is that?”
She shook her head and switched to a light minuet.
“Are you sure we never met before?”
“We haven’t, but I did hear you play once.”
He set his pen down on top of the piano and got up from the bench. She missed the heat of his body at her side immediately. He didn’t go far, though. His hands resting lightly on her shoulders so he didn’t hamper her playing, he stood behind her. She changed to a gavotte, something faster, louder, her foot hitting the damper more frequently to douse the silence of the house around them.
He rubbed his hands down each of her arms. With too much ease and familiarity, he undid the buttons of her bodice. Cool air met her overheated flesh as he peeled the material away from the top swell of her breasts. She stopped playing and leaned back into him. His arousal pressed demandingly at her back.
Her hands fell away from the keys and into her lap as Teddy slid the bodice from her arms, stepping away only long enough to let the material fall to the floor.
“Don’t stop playing. I want to hear what you’re feeling right now,” he said before pressing a kiss against her shoulder.
She turned, intent on leaving the bench when his hands landed on her shoulders and eased her back down onto the seat. “Play something for me alone, Rosa.”
She pinched her lips together and placed her hands over the keys again. She played something of her own this time, something quick that had her shoulders and wrists bouncing to keep from slogging through the staccato notes and quick pace of the music. She chose this piece so he could not lay his hands on her till she decided she was good and ready for his attentions.
His knuckles grazed the bared skin between her shoulder blades, just above the corset and chemise. He touched her in the same way she explored the piano keys with the back of her right hand before she set out to play a piece.
He took his time, caressing his hands up the back of her neck and over the curve of her shoulders. He pushed the short sleeves of the lace-edged chemise lower, running his hand from the right to the left of her exposed upper back. Then he placed his lips to her shoulder again, first on her left, then closer to her neck. Featherlight touches like the softly beating wings of a butterfly; that was what his lips felt like against her oversensitized skin.
How she managed to continue playing, she couldn’t guess, but the music changed to a more melodic, romantic piece as she leaned back into his embrace.
His hand smoothed over her collarbone and dipped beneath the edge of her chemise to skim his warm, deft fingers over the firm tip of her nipple, finally cupping her breast. Pushing the material beneath her breasts, he lifted the weight of her breast free of the corset. The feeling of cold air washing over her heated flesh was intensely erotic.
She stopped playing and turned her head to the side to press a kiss to his cheek. His lips met hers, then their tongues tangled and danced.
With a great deal of gentleness and control of his desires, he brushed his hand over the jutted point of her breast. She needed so much more, but didn’t want to ruin this feeling building inside her. Not for all the world would she stop this moment.
Curling one hand around the back of his neck, she pressed their mouths harder together, wanting to taste more of him. His slow, steady pace remained constant, but he helped her stand and turned her to face him. Her one bared breast pressed against the rough cambric of his shirt.
Teddy let her go to slide the bench that stood between them away, before he pressed her back against the piano. Her skirts rang out their own tune against the keys—a mishmash of sounds as they fumbled with each other’s clothes.
His fingers slid between her back and the top ledge of the Broadwood, working out the bows and ties of her corset. Before long, it was falling away from her. Next, he found the tapes that held the hoops under her skirts.
“Step forward so I can lift the hoops over your head.”
She did as he asked. It was hard to be still while he took his time, his hands feeling her ankles and legs, squeezing her hips before he lifted the wires over her head. The rustle of material was replaced with the rasping of their breaths.
“Let me touch you, Teddy.” Reaching out, she found empty air. Why did he evade her touch?
He was back before she could ask him that question, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her back against the piano once again. He’d taken off his shirt, and she took the time to explore the lithe muscles, kneading into the flesh of his upper back. His shoulders flexed beneath her touch.
Spreading her legs, he lifted her to sit atop the black and whites, the audible groan of the keys a reminder of where they were. The ledge where the music lined up pressed into her lower back, but she didn’t care about the discomfort because she never wanted him to stop touching her.
When his larger frame aligned with hers, all that mattered was having him inside her body. Touching her. Caressing her. Making love to her. Why did she lose all sense when she was with him? Did that matter when this felt so right?
She lowered her hand, searching for the buttons on his trousers, and pushed them through the holes that fastened them in place. He stepped away from her only long enough to let them fall and then he was pressed against her again.
“Are you sure you want this?” he asked.
“More than anything,” she answered before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in for a deep kiss.
One of his hands guided his cock to the damp folds of her sheath and she moaned a little when he pressed forward.
“How does it feel for you?” he asked.
She bit her lip, unsure how to answer him.
He pressed marginally forward, teasing her as he entered her one slow inch at a time, not fully giving her what she desired. “Tell me, Rosa.”
“Heavenly,” she finally said, tightening her knees around his hips, wanting so desperately for him to take her with more force.
“Heavenly, how?”
“Like I’m coming apart from the in
side out.”
He bit her bottom lip and grasped her hips when she tried to thrust her pelvis forward. “Tell me more.”
“I feel like I would die without you inside me. I need you so completely that I wish we were the only two people in the world we had to worry about. That we could get lost in each other and forget anything but us.”
He slammed home so hard that a deep, satisfied moan slipped past her lips. But he still didn’t give her what she wanted; instead he held still inside her, leaned over, and sucked the tip of her breast into his mouth. With her sheath spasming around him so close to release when all he’d done was touch her, her head fell back and she surrendered to him.
He released her breast with a loud pop and then his lips were meshed against hers and he kissed her so thoroughly she was panting beneath him. Holding her still, he finally pulled out only to slam back inside her. Her sex convulsed around the hard intrusion of his cock that filled her so completely. She wanted him again and again. The keys clanked and groaned beneath them, but she didn’t care what kind of ruckus they made, she only knew that she wanted more.
He pulled away from her mouth so violently that she almost protested until he changed his footing so he could piston into her at a pace that left them both breathless.
Hands gripping her hips firmly to keep her where he wanted her, he said, “The things you do to me, Rosa.”
She couldn’t agree more, but couldn’t catch her breath long enough to say so. Not that she would have been heard over the piano’s protests. Sweat dotted along her temples and ran a cool path over her cheeks. His pace, while still demanding, slowed marginally and he stood close enough that her breasts brushed against the material of his shirt with every thrust.
“Am I safe to stay inside you?”
She nodded.
“Then come with me, Rosa.”
His mouth lowered to hers and his lips were gentler this time, sucking and laving instead of conquering. It had been so long since she’d enjoyed the feel of a man. She let go and gave herself to him fully.
The torrent of feelings and release flooded through her so thoroughly that Teddy had to swallow her moans and cries of ecstasy. Not that the rest of the household wouldn’t have guessed the nature of their visit with the piano still ringing and banging out a mash of sounds beneath their gyrating bodies.
Tempted by You Page 10
