She watched from afar, as he rode up to Marybeth, responding to Marybeth’s outlandish flirting. Why did it bother her so much to watch Marybeth flirt with him? She didn’t care about her flirting with any other man. But Grange was different. She didn’t believe him to be the sort to fall for women’s tricks, and yet he acted like he hung on Marybeth’s every word. Perhaps it was Grange, who was tricking Marybeth, she thought. Maybe he was a little like herself in that aspect, she decided, as she turned Thunderbolt back toward her depressing house. In a few days, she was going to have to meet the Irishman again. She hoped she would feel more indifferent by then.
He stood, waiting for her, as usual, on the highroad, his horse dancing impatiently to be off. She plodded Thunderbolt in his direction, wanting the night to be over with. The excitement of the pending robbery was what she looked forward to. Not having to share it with this womanizer that was mounted beside her. But she could not help but admire his muscular build, and that devil-may-care smile of his. He seemed a little nervous tonight though, and she wandered why?
“Ready?” he asked, as she pushed Thunderbolt into a trot to meet him.
She merely nodded, as she watched him racking his eyes over her in a way he had never done before. “What is the matter?” she asked, as he came up beside her.
“Something about you,” he said. “Something, I hadn’t noticed before.”
“And what would that be?” she asked.
“The way you handle your horse, and set your saddle. There is some subtle difference in it, I am trying to put my finger on.”
“Why should you care?” she asked flippantly. “It is the money that is important,” she responded.
“Perhaps to you, but not so much to me, if my suspicions are correct.”
“What suspicions?” she questioned.
“Do you really want to know?” he asked, leaning towards her in his saddle.
“If it bothers you so much,” she murmured.
The next moment, he was knocking her hat off of her head, and Lavonia’s blond curls tumbled down over her shoulders. “You are her! That kissed starved woman of no financial means! No wonder you have been robbing your own neighbors.” he said with a sneer.
“They are your neighbors as well,” she hissed.
The next moment, he had leapt off of his horse, and was dragging her down from hers, pulling her mask off of her face. Then he started laughing. “I have been riding by your side all this time, when I could have been ravishing you every night,” he murmured, placing his mouth over hers.
Lavonia struggled to free herself. “You are a brute, and had I not needed the money, I never would have continued to ride with you!” she cried, as she pulled her mouth from his, but he continued to hold her fast. He was not about to let her get away.
She reached her hand up to his mask, but he grabbed it. “No you don’t, love,” he chuckled. “You are not going to get me hung that easily. So you do it for the money? Is that why you had no funds with you, when I stopped your carriage? But we have robbed enough people to have you swimming in money,” he insisted.
“When my mother-in-law dies, she will leave me nothing. I will be destitute. So I was saving it in order to survive once that happens.”
“The woman sounds cruel. What does she care what happens to her money when she is dead and can’t use it any longer?”
“She has never liked me. She didn’t even like her son, and I can see why. She wasn’t going to leave him any money either,” she informed him.
“So you do it for the money,” he said quietly. “Then perhaps we can strike a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” she asked, looking up into his dark eyes. She could never see their color since she only saw him at night.
“I will let you keep all the money, in exchange for your charms.”
“You mean you wish to rape me again?” she exclaimed. “Never!” she spat. “It is bad enough that I have to work with you, knowing what you did to humiliate me.”
“Strange, you were acting like you liked it just a little,” he insisted. “It won’t be rape. After all it will be agreed upon. I help you get the money you need, and you give me what I want in return. Surely, it was not that unpleasant to you.”
“I will not dignify that statement with an answer,” she hissed.
“There is another course I could take, seeing as how I am ruthless, and desire many more evenings with you. If you refuse me that, I could always turn you in.”
“You wouldn’t! Highwaymen are sometimes hung!”
“Oh, I doubt they would hang you, but you would be ruined, and your sweet little game of the social life would be over.”
“How do you know about my social life?”
“You said yourself that I am a neighbor. Come along Lavonia, it is time you actually give in to a man.”
“Not you!” she spewed at him.
“You have no other choice.”
“I had not considered taking a lover. Besides, I thought you loved someone else?”
“She will never have me, so why not enjoy your beauty instead?”
“Only on the nights we rob?”
“If that is the way you wish it to be. If you desire more, you will have to let me know,” he chuckled.
“I am doing this under duress,” she informed him.
“Then you will agree?” he breathed, not believing his good fortune. The only problem was that if she agreed he would be stuck riding the roads with her, robbing their neighbors, and eventually someone would end up trying to put a stop to it. If either one of them got caught, they could both face the gallows. He wondered if the risk was worth it? Maybe for a short time, he considered. At least until she welcomed him into her arms, and he would not have to bribe her any longer.
“As much as I hate it, I have no other choice,” she conceded.
“You will not regret it love. I will be extra gentle with you, I promise.”
Lavonia, could not believe that she actually trembled at the prospects of the Irishman, not only taking her again, but he would be taking her every time they rode the roads together. It frightened and excited her at the same time. She vowed not to let him know how she felt, though. If he ever learned that she even mildly looked forward to it, he would take advantage of that weakness. She could sense it. “We had better get going,” she said softly, as she held out her hand for her mask.
He turned her and put it on, and then retrieved the hat. “You must be anxious to be in my arms again,” he teased. She just glared at him.
She painstakingly pined her hair back up, while he smiled on, loving the way her delicate fingers worked the pins, and then he placed the hat on her head for her. “It will be an easy one tonight, and quite out of the way, so we shall not be bothered by unexpected company,” he told her, and helped her back up on her horse.
The way he put his hand on her bottom reminded her of the time that Grange had done that. If Grange could see her now, he would be jumping for joy, anxiously wanting to exploit her in his paper. She shuddered at the thought.
They did not talk during the robbery. They both knew the routine, and only Grange did the talking during the robbery. When it was accomplished, Grange tossed her the bag. “All yours, love,” he smiled, but she did not look so happy, as she stuffed it under her vest. “Don’t look so sad. I told you I would be gentle,” he murmured, as he lead the way back to the room over the club.
This time, when they entered the room, he did not light the candle. He merely locked the door, and pulled down the shade, so the moonlight could not penetrate the darkness. Then he was coming to her side, pulling the hat off of her head, and slowly pulling the pins out of her hair.
The feel of his fingers in her hair, caused goose bumps to stand out on her arms, and when her curls were tousled about her shoulders, he removed her mask. He paused and removed his own mask, and then his lips were on her face, covering her in slow gentle kisses, kissing every inch of her face, as she trembled against his body
.
“I hope you are not trembling in fear,” he whispered, as he continued to kiss her face, and then her neck, and finally return to her lips.
As their lips touched, her arms rose to his neck, clutching him to her, and she let out a sigh. The sigh ignited him, causing his passion to rise suddenly. He found himself crushing her to him, as his mouth crushed her lips, and yet she did not pull away. She boldly met his tongue with hers, when he offered it, and a groan escaped his throat, knowing her passion was aroused as well.
The buttons of her coat, and then her vest, followed by the shirt she wore, tumbled through his fingers, in his haste to remove the men’s clothing. Her bare body, from the waist up called to him, in such a way, that all he wanted to do was taste every portion of her body, as he dipped his head to her, in his eagerness to taste the saltiness of her skin.
Her hands were on the buttons of his shirt. Pushing it open, and splaying her hands over the strong rippling muscles of his chest, and he shrugged out of both coat and shirt, pressing her hot bare skin against his own, as his lips found hers again.
Lavonia could not believe her want of him. The need to touch him, which she had not been brave enough to do the last time he had her there. She was caught between wanting to explore his body, and making him think she despised what he was dong to her senses. Her curiosity was overwhelming, and won out. She found her fingers unfastening his belt, and then releasing the buttons on his trousers, discovering that part of him, meeting against her waiting fingers.
“Oh, love,” he whispered, when he felt her touch. “Your boldness is what I enjoy the most.” Then he chuckled. “But perhaps I should take my boots off, and your’s as well.”
He moved away from her, and Lavonia almost whimpered at his short absence, as he removed his boots, and then he was placing her on the bed, and pulling her boots and britches off, as well.
“You did something to me, the last time you took me,” she whispered, as he climbed up beside her.
“I did many things to you,” he chuckled. “What are your referring to?”
“Your mouth. The way you touched me with your mouth.”
“Don’t worry, my love, my mouth is always ready to devour your skin,” and he leaned against her, and began to suck against her graceful neck.
Lavonia whimpered, and turned her mouth to his neck in return, and Garth basked in her boldness. “So you wish to discover how my skin feels against your mouth?” he asked.
“I have never touched a man, thus before. It is all new to me,” she said almost shyly. “It raises my curiosity.”
“I have no problem with you satisfying your curiosity,” he smiled. “In fact, I welcome it, and he lowered his mouth to her breasts, and then she did likewise with him. “So you wish to mimic my touches?” he asked softly.
“If it does not alarm you,” she ventured.
“Why would it alarm me? I love the feel of your mouth on my skin,” he whispered.
“The last time you touched my entire body with your mouth,” she recalled.
“Is that what you wish to do as well?” he dared to ask.
“I am not sure. I don’t know if it is proper for a woman to….well to touch a man so.”
“The only thing that would not be proper, is if you did something you did not wish to do. I would never ask you to do something that made you feel uncomfortable, or repulsed,” he promises.
“I am not sure how it will make me feel,” she admitted.
“Do you want to discover that for yourself?” he murmured, not believing she was offering to place her mouth against his skin so eagerly.
“I know nothing. I thought maybe you could teach me,” she responded, in a small voice.
“Take your time, and do what ever you desire. I will not think it offensive, or unacceptable, of you to express your curiosity, if you wish.”
Lavonia suddenly felt timid as she reached out her fingers to touch him, before she was brave enough to feel him beneath her lips.
“Let me lay beside you,” he whispered, moving over so she could lean over him, as her fingers, and then her soft mouth started to roam over his skin, haltingly at first, and then a little braver.
The feel of her fingers timidly touching him, and then her mouth kissing against him, awakened Garth’s every desire, but he remained still, in anticipation at what she chose to do. He did not want to make her feel uncomfortable in any way, or suddenly draw back.
Garth heard himself groan in pleasure, as her mouth kissed and nibbled, her bravery growing with each new discovery, at the texture of his skin beneath her curious lips. His heart leapt, when her bravery went beyond his own expectations, revealing a part of Lavonia that he had been certain would come to the surface, if she only gave it a chance to bloom.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Later, as Lavonia, laid in the crook of the Irishman’s arm, she wondered at her own boldness. While she hated the fact that he was coursing her to submit to him, the very experience of it contradicted that anger. She was intrigued at how she could arouse the Irishman, and how he could arouse her, with similar, yet different results. “Why won’t you let me see you,” she whispered. “You know who I am. I have to trust you, so why won’t you trust me?”
“You said once you would see me hanged if you discovered who I was,” he laughed, as his finger penciled lazily over her skin.
“You should talk. You are the one who threatened to expose me! You are a rouge! You were out marauding with out me, on that night you first took me,” she accused.
“I had seen you before, and wanted you. I couldn’t very well let my partner know what I was about, and all the time you were my partner,” he chuckled.
“You wanted me?” she breathed. “You planned to take me?” she said indignantly. The realization of it stung her. “Where did you see me?” she pouted.
“Around town. You are quite celebrated in the rags. Every man who has ever crossed your path wants you. But now that you are a widow, no one can have you. I was just more determined than anyone else.”
“You are terrible. And what good is this going to do you? I don’t know who you are, and eventually I will have to stop robbing carriages.”
“Perhaps we could still meet like this. You could take me on as your lover.”
“A lover I don’t even know, or have never seen? It is not a fair trade. Besides, I don’t love you.”
“Well, for now this will do. It’s getting late, and when daylight gets here, my identity may be compromised,” he informed her. “Time for you to get dressed.”
“How do I know you are not being a lover to every other maiden in the area?” she asked as she fumbled around for her clothes in the dark, and began to pull them back on.
“You don’t,” he laughed. “Better that you don’t.”
“You are married!” she cried.
He began to laugh. “If I was, would you become my mistress?”
“Of course not. And I would not do this with you any longer either!” she shrieked.
“Calm yourself. I am not married,” he chuckled.
“But how do I know that?” she wondered. “I can’t even trust you!”
“You will have to,” he smiled. “By the way, did I ever tell you that phony French accent did not fool me in the least?”
“It is probably as fake as your Irish accent,” she murmured. “But I like it so you can keep using it, if you wish.”
Grange merely laughed. Yes, he would have to keep using it, until she finally saw through his game, and then all hell would break loose when that happened. He wondered if he was getting in too deep?
Grange got dressed himself, and walked Lavonia, back down the stairs, to her horse. She was once more dressed as a man, without the mask. He helped her up on Thunderbolt, and watched her ride away. Now he had no other choice. If he wanted to continue making love to her, he would have to remain her partner. This was not how he had planned it.
Lavonia had to admit to herself, that as much as sh
e enjoyed the Irishman’s touch, she could not continue meeting him and letting him turn her into a wanton woman. There had to be a way to put a stop to it, she thought, as she searched her brain. If she wasn’t so newly widowed she could get some sap to marry her, in name only, so she could be supported, and then she could stop her highwayman ways.
Who cared about convention? She would do it anyway. But who could she get that would not demand his right as a husband to use her body? She hadn’t been able to stop Max from attacking her. But of course, she had the gun now, she smiled. Only that would not be fair. She needed to find someone who was not all besotted over her, who didn’t want to make love to her. Who didn’t even want a wife bothering him.
She took in her breath. Grange had said that he didn’t have time for a wife. That he preferred women of the night. She had bruised his pride when she was sixteen, maybe if she offered him a proposition where he could save face, by her accepting his offer now, and let him retain the freedom he had always had as a bachelor, he would consent to marry her, and she could leave the highwayman business to the Irishman.
The thought started to jell as she closed her eyes. She hoped she did not lose her nerve by morning. It seemed the only solution to her problem.
Lavonia tapped on the window of Grange’s newspaper office. The sign said closed, but she could see he was inside. He seemed tired when he came to the door, his eyelids drooped and he looked a little haggard. “What brings you here so early in the morning,” he asked. “I thought you would be getting your beauty rest.” Lavonia was the last person he wanted to see this morning. She had filled his bed all night, and his thoughts all morning, and now the inner battle would start all over again, just looking at her face. But he noticed her face had a determined set to it.
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