by Maya Banks
He laid her over the covers and stood before her, worshipping her with his gaze. She scooted back against the pillows, lying on her side as he climbed onto the bed. Propping his elbow on the pillow beside her, he rested his cheek in his palm and brought his other hand to the back of her leg. In a slow teasing manner, he trailed his fingers up the back of her leg and over the smooth skin of her buttocks.
He made circular motions in the small of her back then continued up over the curve of her waist and to her navel. Sliding his hand up underneath her breast, he cupped the swell and rubbed his thumb over the burgeoning tip.
“You have the most perfect body.” His mouth found the nipple he was teasing and he sucked it into his mouth for a moment. “Do you like it when I do that?”
Her voice cracked with her first attempt. She swallowed and tried again. “Y-yes.”
“What about this?” His hand strayed downward between her legs, his fingers gently exploring the soft skin hidden by her curls.
She nodded this time, sure that she would scream if she opened her mouth. Her body was a tight string that was being pulled tighter by the minute. The sheer number of sensations she was experiencing quickly overwhelmed her to the point of delirium.
As his fingers continued their torturous circular motion, her hips began undulating wildly. His mouth found her other nipple and she lost all control over her reactions.
Her mouth opened, and a scream burst forth as her world came crashing down around her. She felt plucked like a harp as his fingers strummed her body like a finely tuned instrument.
Never had she imagined anything could feel so wondrous and wild. And suddenly she knew what it was she’d always longed for, searched for. But had never had the courage to reach for...until now.
As she floated down from the immeasurable heights she’d just climbed, she opened her eyes to see Gray staring intently at her. “Are you all right?” he asked as his hand came out to caress her face.
She smiled, not at all trusting herself to speak. He pulled her against him, and the warmth from his body surrounded and lulled her. Her eyes felt heavy, and she cuddled trustingly against his chest. She felt him pull the covers up over them, and his arms went tightly around her.
“Go to sleep,” he murmured. “I’ll wake you in time to return to your home.”
Her head came up. “But we haven’t...”
He placed a finger over her lips. “We’ve done enough for one night.” He pillowed her head on his arm and pulled her close once more. She didn’t have the strength to argue with him, and sleep was such a lovely sounding prospect. Like a cat who’d gotten into the cream, she yawned and snuggled deeper into his embrace. Her eyes fluttered and closed and her last thought was that she hadn’t even had to contend with that part of his anatomy.
###
Soft lips coaxed her from the deepest sleep. She sighed, not wanting to waken from her delicious dreams just yet. Hands joined the lips as they stroked up and down her body. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Gray, now fully dressed, sitting on the bed beside her.
“You’re not a dream,” she murmured.
“I didn’t think you would come.”
His hand glided over the curve of her waist and came to rest on her hip. “But I’m glad you did.”
“I am too,” she said softly.
He lowered his lips and captured hers in a deep kiss. “It’s time for you to go.”
She sat up pulling the sheet around her body. “What time is it?”
“It’s nearly dawn and I thought it best to have you back before daylight breaks.”
“Yes, yes of course,” she said, scrambling up. The gravity of her actions hit her with the force of a falling brick. Avoiding his gaze, she looked frantically around for her clothing.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her into his arms. He discarded the sheet and settled her nude form onto his lap. Cupping her breast in his palm, he suckled first one nipple then focused his attention on the other. He raised his head and looked directly into her eyes before lowering his lips to capture and tug at hers.
His tongue swirled around hers, and he suckled her lips like the finest wine. When he drew away, he leaned his forehead against hers. “That’s in case you think I really didn’t want you.”
“Then why didn’t you...”
“There’ll be plenty of time for that later,” he said softly. “One thing at a time. And now you must be going if you are to make it back before you are missed.”
He pulled her from his lap and reached for her gown and underthings. “I’ll leave you to dress while I summon the carriage.”
He gave her one last lingering kiss then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Jenna sagged onto the bed, gripping her dress in her hands. Everything she’d done the previous evening came back in full force. She stared down at her garments for a long moment before she was galvanized into action. If she didn’t go now, she’d risk discovery, the one thing that would destroy her.
As she was pulling her dress on over her chemise, Gray strode back in. “The carriage is waiting for you out front. Here, let me help you,” he said, turning her around so he could fasten the buttons in the back. When he’d done the last one, he dropped a kiss on her neck. “It’s time.”
She turned back around, and he pulled her into his arms. “Be careful on your way home, my lady.” He raised her hand to his lips. “Until midnight.”
He ushered her out, and she hurried down the stairs where a maid met her at the door with her cloak. She threw it around her and ducked out of the house, looking cautiously left and right as she dashed to the waiting carriage.
Gray watched from the upstairs window as the carriage rode away and was swallowed up into the morning fog. A hollow ache plagued his chest. Jenna Wycliffe had inserted herself into his life in the space of a few hours, and he had no desire to usurp her.
For the first time in five long years, the icy layers around his heart were beginning to melt, and while it scared the hell out of him, he couldn’t staunch the yearning that simmered in his jaded conscience.
She was trouble of the first order, but he couldn’t deny her any more than he could stop breathing. Everything about her was enchanting. Her smile, her dimpled cheeks, and eyes that reminded him of warm cinnamon. How her nose wrinkled when she was deep in thought, and how when she blushed every inch of her skin reddened.
She brought sunshine to areas of his soul that had long gone without the light. But with sunshine came the threat of burn. Something he was intimately familiar with.
###
Jenna leaned against her bedroom door and closed her eyes in relief. She’d never been so frightened before in her life as she’d snuck in the back way to the house. Dozens of explanations had coursed through her mind in the event of discovery, and none of them seemed plausible enough to account for her absence overnight.
She looked longingly at the bed, but knew if she went to sleep now, she’d arouse suspicion and concern when she slept later than usual for the second straight day. A knock sounded at her door and she froze, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end.
“My lady? Do you have need of me?”
She slumped against the door in relief. It was only Margaret, her lady’s maid. No doubt she’d heard Jenna moving around. Thinking quickly, she tiptoed over to the bed and then called out in a sleepy voice, “No, Margaret, I had need of the chamber pot. I am going back to bed now. Could you waken me for breakfast later?”
“Yes, of course, my lady.”
Jenna smiled in relief and quickly started shedding her clothing. Not only had she escaped discovery, but now she could sleep a few hours, and Margaret would wake her in time to breakfast with Sebastian and Quinn. Burrowing into the lacy covers, she pulled them up to her chin and smiled dreamily as she relived her night with Gray.
A more delicious man never lived, of that she was positive. The reality of him far surpassed t
he idle gossip that had circulated the ladies’ groups. He’d known exactly where to touch her, kiss her, and caress her, though she was pretty sure there was a lot more they hadn’t done yet.
Far from a total green girl, she did know some of what went on behind the closed doors of the bedchamber. Enough to know that his...his thing hadn’t entered her body like it was supposed to. But maybe that was a good thing judging by its size.
A sudden thought hit her like a bolt of lightning. She hadn’t told him she wasn’t coming again. Though she had resolved that she would only spend the one night with him, she had never given it a thought once he began touching her. In fact she’d left fully looking forward to their next meeting.
How could she have forgotten what she’d so clearly decided? And did she send him word that she wasn’t coming again? Or should she try and see him in person? No, that wouldn’t do. She couldn’t chance another trip to his house in daylight.
She gnawed at her lower lip as she wrestled with her conscience. Truly, she hadn’t had a full night with him. No, they hadn’t completed the act at all. He’d said there was more to come. Devil probably knew she was planning to back out and purposely baited her into coming again.
She squeezed her eyes shut and blew out her breath in exasperation. Why did this have to be so difficult? Why was she making it so difficult? How could she be found out if she were careful? Tonight’s encounter had only whetted her appetite, and she wanted very much to experience the other pleasures he promised with those dark brooding eyes of his. Even if it meant risking everything.
Chapter Six
Jenna bounded down the stairs hoping to look more energetic than she felt. She’d been meticulous in her toilette, trying to disguise any sign of the prior night’s activities as if they would be emblazoned on her forehead.
She nearly collided with the family butler at the foot of the steps. “Good morning, Thomas,” she said taking a step back.
“Good morning, Lady Jenna,” he said, straightening his sleeves. “Breakfast is being served in the family dining room.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a sunny smile and hurried on toward the dining room. As she entered, her brothers looked up from their plates. She nodded at them and went over to the sideboard to begin preparing her plate.
After selecting eggs and sausages, she took her plate and slid into a chair beside Quinn.
“Good morning, Sprite,” Quinn said around a mouthful of food.
“Good morning.”
“Are you feeling well?” Sebastian asked from his place at the head of the table.
“Sebastian, I do wish you would sit over here with the rest of us,” she said irritably. “It’s wretched uncomfortable to crane my neck to see you, much less try to have a conversation.”
He chuckled and picked up his plate. He ambled down to a chair across from her and sat back down. “That better? You must be feeling well since you’ve seen fit to order me about as usual.”
“Much better,” she said smiling at him. “I never liked you sitting at the head of the table anyway. I can’t get used to anyone but Papa being there.”
“So what do you plan to do today?” Quinn interrupted from her side.
She turned to face him and pursed her lips in concentration. “I don’t recollect any specific plans. I’ll have to check with the family secretary to see if I have any engagements.”
“You don’t,” Sebastian spoke up. At her inquisitive look he added, “I already checked.”
“Well then, I suppose I am free to go shopping,” she said with a grin.
“Don’t forget Stuart is coming to call later on.”
The smile faded from her lips, and she felt Quinn’s leg go out and kick Sebastian under the table. Quinn glared at Sebastian. “There wasn’t any need to remind her. I am sure she hadn’t forgotten.”
“I was merely reminding her so that she would be here and not out shopping.”
She dropped her eyes to her plate. She had forgotten. It had been easy to push Stuart from her mind when Gray was all that consumed it. With a heavy sigh, she pushed back from the table. “I am going up to my room. Have Margaret summon me when Stuart arrives.”
The two brothers watched as she left the room, and Quinn rounded on Sebastian as soon as she disappeared around the corner. “What the hell was that for?”
“I don’t think avoiding the issue of her marriage is going to help her come to terms with it,” Sebastian said as he laid aside his napkin.
“It isn’t for you to decide. But I can tell you this. Shoving Stuart in her face at every turn is not going to make her come to terms with anything.” Quinn dropped his fork in disgust and got up abruptly. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
He strode from the dining room and mounted the stairs on his way to his room. He paused outside Jenna’s room for a moment then shook his head and continued on down the hall.
Closing his door behind him, he moved over to his desk and slumped down in the chair. It bothered the hell out of him that Jenna would be the family’s sacrificial offering. It wasn’t something he would have ever thought their father would do, and yet he’d agreed to the viscount’s terms with no fuss and the marriage contracts had been signed.
He’d always assumed the three siblings would be free to choose who they would marry since their mother and father had fallen so deeply in love and married against the wishes of Father’s family. Not that they weren’t technically free to choose, but none of them would go against the wishes of their father.
Now he worried that he and Sebastian would be next, but the fact that Jenna hadn’t a choice at all was uppermost in his mind. When Father returned from Italy, he’d confront him about it, even at the risk of gaining his ire.
###
Just after noon, a knock sounded at Jenna’s door, and she was informed that Stuart had come to call. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she straightened her skirts and went down to the drawing room.
To her surprise, Stuart’s father, Viscount Dudley, had accompanied him.
“My lord, I must apologize.” She executed a sweeping curtsy. “We hadn’t expected you.” With expertise born of years of practice, she yanked the bellrope and immediately requested a tray of tea and cakes, all the while maintaining impeccable composure.
She offered Stuart a curtsy only a little less grand than the one she’d performed for the viscount and smiled serenely as he kissed her hand.
“It is I who must apologize for coming by unannounced,” the viscount said offering a gracious smile. “I hadn’t taken the opportunity to call on your family since you arrived in London and thought to remedy that at once.”
“I am only sorry Mamma and Papa aren’t here to receive you.”
“Where is your locket, my dear?”
She looked up in surprise at the abrupt change in topic. “What locket, my lord?”
“Why the one Viscountess Dudley gave you on your sixteenth birthday. I was under the impression you always wore it.”
She placed a hand over the hollow of her throat. “Well, yes I do, most of the time. I must have forgotten it this morning.” She mentally said a prayer that it was still locked safely away in her jewelry chest and not lost.
“I am sure it would mean a lot to Stuart if you wore it from now on,” he said in a voice that sounded very much like he was commanding her.
“Yes, well, I’ll certainly have to wear it from now on.” She glanced over at Stuart who looked sullen and pouty. If she had to guess, she’d wager her quarterly allowance his father had a hand in his wardrobe today. Gone were the frilly slippers and colorful waistcoat and in their place were dull black boots and a somber brown coat.
She stifled a giggle at what must have been a horrifying experience for Stuart. Clearing her throat, she focused her attention back on the viscount who was looking at her rather oddly.
He was a paunchy man with graying, thinning hair and bulging cheeks. There were two chins to his
credit and perhaps a third hidden behind his cravat. Only a few inches taller than her own petite stature, he obviously tried to make up for his height deficit with his booming voice.
There was something uneasy about his eyes or perhaps her guilt was forging its way to the surface, because the viscount seemed to stare right past her outer façade and delve deeply into her thoughts.
Where were her no account brothers? She was going to strangle Quinn for leaving her alone to entertain the viscount. And Sebastian. He picked a fine time to relinquish his temporary position as head of the house.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the maid came in with the tray of tea. As the maid set the tray down on the small table in front of the settee, Jenna whispered urgently in her ear, “Find my brothers and have them come at once.”
The maid nodded and exited the room, leaving Jenna to pour the tea for the gentlemen.
“I’d offer you something more substantial, my lord, but I am afraid I am ignorant of the stronger spirits.”
The viscount nodded approvingly. “As well you should, my dear. A lady has no business indulging in a man’s drink.”
Jenna turned away and rolled her eyes. Where was Quinn?
“My lord, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Sebastian said as he strolled into the room. Quinn came close on his heels and Jenna pinned him with a glare. He shrugged apologetically.
The two men shook hands, and the viscount nodded at Quinn. “When is your father due back?” he asked Sebastian.
“Not until the end of the month,” Sebastian replied. “Would you care for a drink?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” the viscount said looking over at the cup of tea Jenna was approaching him with.
“I’d love some tea,” Stuart spoke up.
Jenna smiled and handed him the cup. Good old Stuart had always looked out for her when they were children.
“I’m sorry he came,” Stuart whispered to Jenna. “I don’t know why he felt it necessary.”
“No need to worry,” she whispered. She eyed her fiancé over the rim of her cup, puzzled by how different he could appear at times. As children, she’d spent many hours tagging along behind Stuart, Quinn and Sebastian. Stuart had never displayed any of the tendencies he did now. Indeed, he was no different than either of her brothers. Until the year she turned sixteen.
