Julianna suppressed a shiver of reaction and smiled; she was more than ready to play any games Will might suggest.
Reaching up, she found the rope ladder hanging from the trunk and tugged it down. “Here you go.” She held out the ladder. “There are eight rungs.”
“Is it safe, or am I going to get halfway up and fall on my arse?” he asked. “That doesn’t sound romantic to me.”
“Imagine all the things I could do to you while you were forced to lie abed,” she teased. “It will hold, but if you don’t believe me, I’ll go first.”
Will stepped back out of her way and gestured for her to go ahead. “I look forward to it,” he said with a meaningful glance at her long skirts.
Sending him a challenging look of her own, Julianna slowly kilted up her gown, purposely exposing her legs to above her knees, and scrambled up the rungs. “I should have started wearing lady’s garb sooner,” she called down as she waited for Will.
“I’m glad you started now,” he said once he joined her.
She unrolled the tattered leather curtain that hung over the doorway, surrounding them in a soft darkness. Working by feel, she rolled up the canvas window covers and located the lantern beside the door. Soon a mellow glow filled the small dwelling.
It hadn’t changed much over the years, other than the pallet she’d added when she was fifteen and came here to hide away and dream. Back then she’d have been horrified to imagine sharing that bed with a man. Now she could scarcely wait.
She sat on the straw mattress and lounged back. “Care to join me?” she asked, patting the spot beside her.
Will leaned against the trunk of the tree and smiled lazily. “Depends on what you’ve got in mind.”
She sent him a seductive look, slipped off her shoes and brought her legs up onto the bed. She slid her gown high along on her thighs, until the tops of her stockings were almost exposed.
Her heart started to thump harder as he pushed away from the tree and walked to the bed. Dropping to his knees beside the bed, he laid his hand on the hem of her gown. “Anyone nearby that I should know about?” he murmured. “Or are we alone?”
“Alone.” Taking a deep breath, she tried to get her bearings. His hand seemed to burn through her gown, heating her blood and stirring her imagination.
“There’d better not be anyone in the area,” he said. “Because I think we might be noisy.”
“Good.” Feeling bold, she pressed her mouth to his and dragged her tongue along the line of his lips. His groan spurred her to reach for the ties of his shirt, teasing him with her mouth while she slowly unknotted the strings.
Will hadn’t moved his hand, but his fingers curled around her thigh, branding her with his touch. She wanted more, but felt a bit shy about asking for it. Instead she pushed the neck of his shirt open and pressed her palms to his flesh.
His leanly muscled chest rose and fell in reaction to her touch, luring her to run her fingertips through the dark curls on his chest and scraping her nails over his skin.
He tore his mouth from hers and rested his cheek against hers. “God, Julianna—you make me wild. My mind says to go slow, but instead I want to grab you. What do you want?”
“After the way you teased me when we made love before, I think ’tis my turn to torment you.”
“Who was teasing?” he asked. “You’ve been teasing me from the moment we left the keep today. Knowing that this—” he moved her skirts up her leg, exposing her stocking and her naked thigh “—was right there under your gown drove me wild. I wanted to do this—” he hooked his finger in her garter “—and this.” Leaning down, he drew his tongue over the flesh above the stocking.
When he bit lightly at her thigh, Julianna thought she’d melt right there. She’d never thought of such things till she met Will. She groaned and fell back among the pillows. “You’re making my head spin,” she groaned.
“Good. What are you thinking?” Slowly dragging her skirts up, Will slid his fingers into the top of the stocking and slid it down her leg, his mouth spreading heat in its wake. After he tugged it off her foot, he moved to the other leg and repeated the process.
He expected her to think? Julianna could scarcely do more than feel and react to the fire in his touch. She needed to kiss him, craved his lips on hers and his hands everywhere.
Burying her fingers in his hair, she pulled him up onto the bed with her and shoved his shirt over his shoulders, yanking it free of his braes and tossing it aside.
Her hands didn’t falter this time when she undid his belt and untied his braes. Unable to resist, she drew her nails through the hair on his stomach, the hiss of his indrawn breath goading her on.
“Wait,” he muttered. He reached down and jerked his boots off, then wriggled out of his leggings. He stretched out beside her and stared into her eyes. “I think you’re wearing too many clothes. I’d better do something about that.” He stripped off her gown and undertunic in record time, then bent to kiss her nipples through the sheer silk of her chemise.
“You taste so sweet,” he said, nuzzling the valley between her breasts.
With all her attention focused on Will’s lips, she didn’t notice he’d begun to slide up her chemise until she felt the cool night air on her stomach, followed by the heat of his palm. The contrast was enticing, especially when combined with his touch on her breasts.
Sighing, Julianna lay back and savored the onslaught of sensation.
Even the brush of Julianna’s warm skin against him made his aching flesh burn with need. He wanted to slow down, but his body urged him to take Julianna, to make her his without delay. He felt sparks flow through his blood, spurred on by the beautiful woman spread out before him like a feast—for his eyes, his hands, his senses.
Julianna had been right, there was something seductive, romantic, about the murmur of flowing water, the soft glow of her flesh in the faint light of the lantern.
He brushed his lips over her as she lay within his embrace—lips, breasts, stomach, the soft curls at the juncture of her thighs—anointing her with his love. He heard the word in his head without fanfare, without fear. It simply was. He loved Julianna d’Arcy, loved the things she gave him, the way she made him feel. A different Will Bowman existed because of her, a man less driven, more content to savor life.
He felt worthy.
Worthy of anything, including her love if she chose to give it to him. God, he hoped she did.
She stirred beneath his touch, her body seeking his in an unmistakable way. But he wasn’t yet ready to give in to the passion driving through him. He wanted to make her want—no, need—him as much as he needed her.
By the time he had Julianna writhing on the pallet, he thought he might explode from wanting her. He kissed his way up her body, taking her mouth in a driving kiss that was a weak substitute for what he truly wanted.
“Will,” she pleaded, her voice husky with desire. “Don’t make me wait any longer.” Her hands shook as she cradled him in her hands.
Now he knew he’d explode if he couldn’t make her his soon. Her fingertips stroked a path of fire, all around where he needed her touch the most, tempting him to grab her hand and move it.
But he didn’t. After the way he’d teased her, he owed her the same courtesy. After all, ’twas a contest neither would lose.
He reached the point where he couldn’t take any more of her sweet torture without giving in to the driving need to explode with pleasure. He wanted to be inside her for that.
Lips fused to hers, he caught her hands in his and drew them away from his aching flesh. “Love, I’ll never last if you touch me now.”
She rose up to meet him as he slipped into her warmth, wrapping her legs around him as though she’d never let go. Holding him tightly with arms and legs, she moved with him, until they fell into passion together.
Julianna drifted up from the depths of passion, her mind no more ready than her body to return to the world outside. Will lay snuggled against her
; the pallet was a tight fit, especially for two tall people. But she didn’t mind. There was no place she’d rather be than in his arms.
She heard him murmur something into her hair, but she couldn’t understand the words. “What did you say?” she asked, her voice sleepy.
He burrowed into her tangled tresses, drew her closer and mumbled again.
“Will, I can’t hear you.” She slid her head away from him, forcing him to move off her hair.
Sighing, he raised his head and stared into her eyes. Something within his warm gaze called to her, but she didn’t know what it was. He swept her hair back from her face and touched her cheek. “I said, I love you.”
Julianna had heard people say their heart skipped a beat, but she’d always assumed ’twas simply something people said, not an accurate description.
Now she knew ’twas true.
She didn’t know what to say in response. Will had caused her to be, for one of the few times in her life, completely speechless. However, he couldn’t mistake the meaning of the single tear running down her cheek.
Could he?
He looked uncertain, an unusual expression for him. She fought the tightness in her throat, sought some way to ease it so she could speak the words she thought he waited to hear.
Pinning him with her gaze, Julianna tried to put her love into that look as she stroked his face and mouthed the words.
“Do you? Are you sure?” He looked like he wanted to believe her, but didn’t quite dare.
She nodded.
“You’re not saying it because I—”
“Nay,” she whispered. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “I love you, as well, Will.”
He crushed her to him. She couldn’t mistake the need in that embrace, a need for far more than physical satisfaction.
“I know we haven’t known each other very long, but the time we’ve spent together has been—intense, you could say.” He pulled back and stared into her face. “You make me feel things I didn’t think I knew how to feel. I like being with you, even when we’re not in bed,” he said with a laugh.
Julianna framed his face with her hands. “I do love you, Will. But do you think we need more time? Time to know each other better?” Though she couldn’t imagine needing more time to know Will Bowman. She’d realized almost from their first meeting that there was an almost magical pull that drew them together.
“I’m glad we didn’t take some things slow.” His gaze swept over her in a caress that sent a wave of heat over her. Will pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was a promise of pleasure to come, as well as a vow. “I think that a lifetime might possibly give us time enough to know each other better.”
Tears welled in Julianna’s eyes.
Will cradled her head in his hands and smoothed her hair away from her face. “Nay, love, don’t cry.” He brushed his mouth across her brow. “I can wait—”
She shook her head. “No waiting,” she whispered. She took a deep breath, drawing in strength and determination along with it once she looked deep into Will’s eyes. “You won’t escape me so easily, Will Bowman. I carried you off to my keep over my saddlebow. In my estimation, that means you’re already mine,” she told him. “You shan’t elude me by waiting, or leaving, or any other excuse.”
His lips curved in a smile, Will cradled Julianna close. “How could I fight so fierce a warrior?”
“You cannot. The Bride of the Tower has chosen her mate—if you’ll have me as your wife.”
His blue eyes aglow, Will took her hand in his, pressed a kiss into her palm and pressed it over his thundering heart. “Then your grateful captive—” he grinned “—is most pleased to accept your offer, milady.”
He bent close, his lips up against her ear. “The next time though, love, may I carry you instead?”
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Elizabeth Bailey for her contribution to THE STEEPWOOD SCANDAL series.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6047-7
BRIDE OF THE TOWER
Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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* The L’Eau Clair Chronicles
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