Adam's Promise

by Julianne MacLean

  She gazed up at him, her cheeks stained with tears, her eyes repeating everything she had just said to him. They were pleading with him.

  God! She was right! Nothing mattered but this moment of pure openness! Madeline, his beautiful, timid Madeline, was wearing her heart on her sleeve. How could he even think of turning her away?

  With aching, jubilant surrender, he dropped to his knees before her and took her delicate face in his big hands, tilted it up toward his. The room was dim, but he could still see the faint luster of her eyes, smell the sweetness of her breath, feel the silky texture of her skin. He needed her, dear God, he needed her. And he would show her just how much.

  Gently, cautiously, he lowered his mouth to hers.

  She rose to meet his kiss, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him fast against her soft, heaving breasts. She parted her lips for him, and he plunged eagerly into the warmth she offered. He kissed her deeply and passionately, stopping only to say, “I’m so sorry, Madeline.”

  She laughed out loud—a happy, joyful release. “You are sorry? For what? You have done nothing but force me out of myself. You’ve made me feel beautiful.”

  He pulled her into him and kissed her again, this time with an abandon that almost knocked him off his knees. For too long he had shouldered what was forbidden, and now it burned in him like red-hot flames licking over his flesh.

  A brief second of panic ensued, when he wasn’t sure he could restrain his desire for her and keep from taking her here on the cold, hard floor, but it passed when she gazed lovingly into his eyes and touched his face. He knew he could do anything for her. He had waited this long. He could wait a little longer…..

  “Marry me, Madeline.”

  She smiled. “Oh Adam, I have dreamed of this moment all my life. That day when I stepped off the boat and you did not want me, I thought I was doomed to live without you forever. And when you still wanted Diana…”

  He touched a finger to her lips. “Forget about dreams, Madeline. No more of that. We are real, you and I. No more idealizing. Love me for the man that I am, as I love you for the woman you are. You, my darling, are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

  “Oh, Adam.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. “I’ve waited so long for this. Please don’t send me back to my room to sleep alone tonight. Take me to your bed.”

  He gazed into her sweet, dark eyes. “You ask the impossible if you expect me to sleep next to you and not love you as I intend to when I am your husband.”

  “I would not ask that of you. I want you, Adam. Tonight. If all had been right with the world, you would have been my husband ages ago. Let us make up for lost time.”

  It took no more to convince him. Rising to his feet, he gathered her into his arms and carried her up the stairs as quietly as possible. By the time he reached his bed and laid her down upon the soft covers, his entire being was pulsing with need.

  He stood over her, loosening his neckcloth. The moonlight shone in the window, illuminating Madeline’s white nightdress. She looked like a goddess, lying back upon the pillows, waiting for him. Her beauty was breathtaking, her innocence intoxicating. He had not known he could ever love a woman as fiercely as he loved the one before him.

  Adam pulled off his shirt and came down gently upon her. His lips found hers in the darkness and he reveled in their delicious flavor. She wrapped her long legs around his hips and he held her tightly in his arms, pressing his body against hers. He wanted all of her. He had waited so long.

  He kissed the smooth, warm skin at her neck and unbuttoned her gown, then let his lips trace a path down to her luscious breasts. Gently his hands slid from her hips down to her legs, sliding the gown up and up until he found the warm center of her womanhood where she was delightfully damp with desire.

  Feeling the warmth of Adam’s hand caressing her in her most private place, Madeline’s heart quickened with both anticipation and anxiety. She had no experience with any of this. She wanted Adam more than she’d ever wanted anything, but she had no idea what to do.

  “You’re shaking, Madeline,” he whispered softly, sounding surprised but charmed as he gazed into her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I want to please you, but this is all so new and I don’t know what to do.”

  His hands caressed her thigh up under her gown. “Don’t apologize for being adorable.”

  She laid a hand on his cheek. “Tell me what to do, Adam.”

  He smiled. “We could start by removing this.” He glanced down at her gown.

  She sat up and pulled the linen garment off over her head. She should have felt self-conscious, for no man had ever seen her in such a bared state before, but nervousness faded away with the oncoming wave of arousal when Adam’s face revealed his wonderment and his desire.

  “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”

  She gloried in the awe in his eyes and the sound of sexual hunger in his voice. He wanted her. It was a dream come true to see him this way.

  He came down upon her again, but this time she felt the heat of his bare skin against her own and shuddered with inconceivable pleasure. She met his open mouth with eagerness and delighted in the rhapsody of his kiss. Instinctively, Madeline parted her legs and thrust her hips upward, astounded by the feel of his firm arousal pressing against her. Still devouring his mouth with her own, she gave in to her burning curiosity and reached down to touch him over the thick fabric of his breeches. The rigid feel of him was wondrous. She felt so blessed to be intimate with him at last.

  Adam moaned and kissed her more deeply. He leaned on one elbow and unbuttoned his breeches, then slid them off. He took her hand in his and showed her how to touch him. Never taking her eyes off his, Madeline carefully observed what pleased him.

  “Yes, like that.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again and lowered his mouth to her breasts, kissing and sucking, thrilling her with his fervid tongue. She began to ache and tingle all over.

  He kissed down her belly and around her navel, then went lower until he reached the center of her womanhood, where her desires both began and culminated.

  An urgent response blazed through her at the exquisite feel of his mouth. Shocked at the intensity of her body’s sweet, throbbing ache, she clutched Adam’s shoulders until the pleasure became too potent to bear. The tension that was coursing through her body like out-of-control floodwaters surged to a forceful peak, then everything exploded within.

  All her muscles squeezed tightly, held fast for a moment, then relented with a titillating, debilitating release. Euphoria filled her, and for the first time in her life, she experienced pure and absolute physical contentment.

  “Oh, Adam.” Her voice was a breathy whisper. “I had no idea.”

  He rose up to settle himself between her thighs and gently thrust into her opening. Though she was tight and virginal, she was also relaxed, and the pain seemed insignificant compared to the spiritual bliss of his entry as he broke through her maidenhood. Tears of joy sprang to her eyes.

  Adam touched his forehead to hers while he moved within her, their bodies mating in pure, primitive harmony. It was everything she had dreamed it would be—intimate, pleasurable, loving. She had never known anything could be so beautiful.

  Adam’s pace intensified and she recognized his mounting need. He rose up on both arms and drove into her again and again until he pulsed within. “I love you,” he whispered hotly in her ear, his breath sending a torrent of gooseflesh down her satiated body. “And I promise I will never stop telling you that, Madeline, for as long as I live.”

  The love she felt brought tears to her eyes again. “Then I am yours. For as long as you’ll have me.”

  “That will be forever, my love. Forever.”

  The following afternoon, all the family gathered on the veranda to say goodbye to Lord Blackthorne and Lady Thurston and their entourage. Penelope had picked wildflowers to give to Diana, to wish her wel
l and to celebrate her betrothal to the viscount, and Mary had baked biscuits to send with her for the long journey to Halifax.

  Adam felt a surge of warmth and gratitude for the people and blessings around him. His family was together; Madeline would soon be his wife. Everything seemed true and proper. Idealistic dreams were gone now, replaced by what was real, and there was a certain security in that.

  “Will you come back to visit us, Lady Thurston?” Penelope asked. “You’ll be my auntie, after all.”

  “I will indeed be your auntie, Penelope, and I will be happy to visit, as long as you promise to make your father bring you to Halifax to visit me as well.” She tapped Penelope lightly on the nose, and a smile spread across her sweet cherub face.

  Adam escorted Diana to the lieutenant-governor’s coach and swept her up into his arms to lift her in. She squirmed on the leather seat to try and sit naturally, fumbling with her skirts to cover her injured leg.

  “You’ll be all right?” he asked her, closing the door and standing at the window. “There’s no hurry, you know. You can stay here if you like, until you’re fully recovered. Madeline and I would gladly take you to Halifax in a week or two.”

  She waved her gloved hand through the air. “Don’t be such a silly worrywart, Adam. I’m fine. You’re just looking for an excuse to go to Halifax for a honeymoon.”

  He smiled warmly at her.

  “Goodbye, Adam,” she said. “My future brother-in-law. I am trusting you with my baby sister. You had best not disappoint me.”

  “You know I won’t. I intend to make her happy, Diana. I promise you that.”

  “You don’t have to promise. You are a good man, Adam. I’ve always known that. I’m sorry for how things were between us, but it has all turned out for the best. We are all where we are meant to be.”

  “Indeed we are.” He squeezed her hand one last time. “Goodbye, Diana.”

  As he turned away from her, he spotted Lord Blackthorne. The viscount was the last guest to leave the house, leaning on his cane and limping down the steps on his wooden leg, following his valet, who carried a leather satchel.

  “My word, Coates, Mary has just given me enough blueberry tarts to turn me into one! What a perfectly delightful family you have.”

  Adam met the viscount in the middle of the yard and pumped his hand. “Have a safe journey, my lord.”

  “I most certainly will, and I will take up the case of your marshlands at Government House and see what can be done.”

  Their handshake continued. The viscount seemed reluctant to leave. He nervously cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “And do accept my apologies, man, for what occurred between Lady Thurston and me. I must thank you for not challenging me to a duel or something of that nature, Coates. You certainly had the right.”

  Adam smiled at Lord Blackthorne. “Nonsense. Diana was free to do as she chose. Life here in Cumberland could never have been right for her, and I think we all knew it.”

  “Yes, yes, well, I’m glad things worked out.” He peered over Adam’s shoulder at Diana, waiting in the coach. “By God, but she is a lovely creature, is she not? More charm than a sparkling jewel. What were the chances that a man like me could ever dream of marrying a woman like her?” He whistled in disbelief.

  “You are a lucky man, my lord,” Adam replied dutifully.

  “And so are you, Coates. Miss Oxley is a lovely young woman in her own right. Quite ravishing, actually. She seems to belong here. I always thought so, from the first moment I saw her. She’ll be a good mother to your children, and with God’s blessings, give you many more.”

  “I have no doubt.” They said goodbye again, and the viscount limped off to his coach.

  Madeline went to say goodbye to her sister. Adam watched them hold hands and kiss each other on the cheek. It was a fine thing to see sisters reunited with each other after so many years apart. Or perhaps they had found each other for the first time, here in a new land.

  Penelope and Charlie appeared on either side of him, and he wrapped his arms around his children.

  The coach lurched forward and Madeline waved goodbye. As soon as the convoy turned into the lane, she faced Adam, a glow of true happiness lighting up her face.

  Adam moved toward her and held out his hands. The children giggled and dashed for the house, leaving Adam and Madeline alone in the yard, facing each other with the sun raining down on their faces. Adam raised both of Madeline’s hands and pressed his lips to her soft knuckles.

  “Shall we go and find the reverend?” he asked, with a seductive grin.

  Madeline giggled. “Now?”

  “Yes, now. I would have preferred it to be yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that, but I will settle for today.”

  Her voice was silky and flirtatious. “Why the hurry?”

  “You know why, love.”

  “Because you’re afraid I’ll change my mind?”

  “No.”

  “Because you’re afraid John Metcalf will come back and propose to me again?”

  “No.”

  “Because…hmm. You have dykes to build and fields to drain, and today is your only free day?”

  Adam covered her mouth with his own, tasting the sweet honey of her kiss, consuming the light that had finally begun to shine from her soul.

  “Does that give you a hint?” he asked, rubbing his nose against hers. “If not, just wait until tonight, my Yorkshire bride—and I will show you exactly why.”

  Madeline smiled enticingly and kissed him again. “Then take me to the reverend, and let me tell him that ‘I do.”’

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1374-6

  ADAM’S PROMISE

  Copyright © 2003 by Julianne MacLean

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