But the effort had tired her, and when she collapsed, it was straight into the arms of none other than Collin Hunt, who had surfaced beside her.
Without saying a word, he hooked his arm under hers and swam swiftly back toward the shore, dragging her with him.
When they made it to the shallow part where they could stand, he gathered her in his arms and carried her onto the bank, where the others had gathered in a frightened little group. She was soaking wet, shivering, clad only in her shift from the waist up.
“What were you thinking?” Collin’s voice was laced with anger and fear as he set her none-too-gently on her feet. “You could have been killed.”
Before Erienne had a chance to respond, Anna cleared her throat. “I’ll just…take the children back to the house to allow you time to recover, Miss Stone.”
“Wait,” Collin called. He reached behind him and pulled Mary’s doll from where it had apparently been tucked in the waist of his breeches. He held out the doll to the little girl who ran over to grab it with both hands.
“Thank you vewy much, Uncle Collin,” Lady Mary said, with a huge smile on her face, before hurrying back to Anna’s side.
The nursemaid promptly took both children’s hands, turned, and marched doggedly toward the house without looking back.
Erienne sank to the ground and struggled to right her breathing. She had many things to say, but first she needed air, and she wasn’t about to waste any of her precious breaths arguing with Collin over why she’d thought she’d be perfectly safe diving into a tiny creek.
She did, however, glance down at herself and notice that her shift was practically see-through, her nipples standing at attention. She plucked at her shift to pull the fabric away from her skin.
Collin had marched over to where they’d made camp only a few minutes earlier and pulled the blanket out from under the basket. He returned to where Erienne sat shivering and wrapped it around her shoulders.
She waited until her teeth stopped chattering. “Th … thank you,” she finally managed.
“You might have died,” he repeated, his face etched with a mixture of concern and anger.
Erienne sat for a moment and contemplated that declaration. He was right. She had come close to death this afternoon. It was a frightening thought, but a true one. It immediately drained her of any anger. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come along.”
He took a seat on the ground beside her and searched her face. “I’m not trying to garner praise. I was worried sick when I realized you couldn’t come up for air. I was watching from down a ways, and came running when—”
Her head snapped up, her eyes seeking his. “You came running to save me?”
“Yes,” he admitted, looking positively boyish.
Gratitude washed over her, more powerful than the water of the creek ever could have been. She reached out and pressed a cold hand to his cheek. “Thank you, Collin. I’ve always considered myself a good swimmer. I suppose I never thought I’d be in danger.”
He sat up on his knees and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Do you want me to carry you back to the house?”
She tilted her head and considered the offer. “No.”
“Would you like me to send for Lucy?”
“No.” She pressed her cold, wet nose into the quilt.
He frowned. “Do you want me to walk with you?”
“No.”
He cracked a smile. “Would you mind telling me what you’d like to do next, then?”
“This,” she said resolutely, before tugging him down atop her, soaking his shirt.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, Collin woke up, rolled over, and groaned. Bloody hell. He’d kissed Erienne yesterday. And the day before. And done more, both times. They’d nearly made love on the creek bed yesterday. God’s teeth—she’d had her hand around his cock, and it had taken all the strength in him not to tear off what remained of her clothing and bury himself deep inside of her.
But the woman had nearly died, for Christ’s sake. In the end, Collin wasn’t so much of a scoundrel that he intended to take advantage of her in her weakened state. Instead, he’d forced himself to pull away from her, wrapped the blanket more snugly around her, gathered the basket, and walked her back to the house, where Anna had already alerted the maids, who were waiting for Erienne with warm blankets and a hot bath.
What the hell was wrong with him? He’d been around Erienne for only two days, and clearly couldn’t keep his hands off her. He had no right to appear in her life again and cause havoc. He’d obviously hurt her when he’d left. Even if she hadn’t mostly admitted it, he could tell by the acerbic things she’d said at dinner, by the tears in her eyes in the garden, and then there was that brain-rattling slap she’d given him in the library.
He couldn’t blame her for hating him. He’d hate himself too if he were in her position. He’d promised her love and marriage and then he’d left her. It didn’t matter any longer why he’d done what he’d done. She’d spent the last fourteen years as a governess, a position that was clearly beneath her.
As to why she’d grabbed him and kissed him by the creek bed … that was easily explained. She’d come close to death, and he’d come close to it himself often enough to know that a feeling of euphoria usually followed such an event. Clearly they were still extremely physically attracted to each other. She’d confused her euphoria with passion, that was all. He couldn’t blame her for that either, and he certainly hadn’t minded. But it hardly meant she was interested in more.
He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece across from the bed. He’d promised to meet Derek at seven. Collin threw off the sheets and pushed himself out of bed.
* * *
When Collin arrived at the stables a quarter hour later, his brother was standing by his mount, consulting his timepiece.
“You’re late,” Derek shot out, his head cocked to the side.
Collin grinned at him. “I’m a gentleman of leisure for the next fortnight, or haven’t you heard?”
“Ah, I see. Forgetting your rigid military training so quickly.”
“I wish,” Collin returned. “Now, didn’t you promise me something about showing me the perimeter of the property?” He couldn’t wait to get started. A long ride was just what he needed to clear his mind today.
They both mounted their horses and took off at a brisk trot across the meadow. It wasn’t until they were too far away from the house to see it any longer that Derek said, “You all right?”
Collin frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Derek shrugged. “Lucy seems to think something happened between you and Erienne down by the creek yesterday.”
Collin’s head snapped to face him. “What makes her think that?”
“She said Erienne seemed upset when she returned.”
“Erienne almost drowned,” Collin ground out.
“Is that all that happened?” Derek countered.
Collin arched a brow at him. “Careful, your grace.” It had long been a jest between them for him to call Derek ‘your grace.’
“You can’t blame us for wondering,” Derek replied.
Collin poked out his cheek with his tongue and nodded. “Suffice it to say, I’m thinking of leaving.”
Derek lightly kicked his horse’s sides to go faster. “Now, that’s surprising.”
“What do you mean?” Collin called after him.
“I’ve never known you to run away from anything before. No matter how difficult.”
* * *
Later that afternoon, Collin strolled through his brother’s empty library. He’d already read all the interesting books on military history. He was so desperate for distraction that he’d been looking at tomes on gardening, of all bloody boring things. He’d fully intended to leave this morning, to take himself away from Erienne, to give her the peace she obviously deserved. But then Derek had gone and said the one bloody thing he knew
would convince Collin to stay. That Collin wasn’t one to run away from difficult things.
And he wasn’t, damn it. So why did he want to run from this so much?
Because his emotions were involved. Emotions he barely wanted to acknowledge existed, let alone admit were causing him problems. He’d spent the last fourteen years dedicating himself to work and country, not worrying about things like love and marriage and touching Erienne Stone again. And now because of Lucy and her meddlesome ways, he was trapped in a house with the one woman who made his emotions riot.
He was so lost in thought he didn’t hear the door open. When he turned, Erienne was standing near the large leather sofa in the center of the room, the same large leather sofa where he’d pleasured her two nights ago. Bloody hell. That thought was not helping.
She hadn’t noticed him standing by the bookshelves in the far corner of the room. Instead, she bent to grab a book on the table in front of the sofa. She was wearing a dark gown and an apron. Dressed like a servant. The image of her in her ice-blue gown filled his mind. She should never have to dress like a servant again.
“Good afternoon,” he said. Then he wanted to kick himself. Good afternoon was a bloody boring thing to say. Besides, the afternoon was not particularly good. It was confusing and tense.
Erienne froze. “Oh,” she breathed, hugging the book against her chest. “I just came to fetch a book Mary left here this morning.” She glanced down at the cover. “Cinderella.”
He folded his hands behind his back and gave a solemn nod. “I’ve heard of that. Quite popular with the little ones, from what I understand.” Another idiotic thing to say. When had he turned into such an idiot?
“It’s her favorite.” Erienne stood there for a moment, as though casting about for something more to say, then seemed to decide the conversation was over and started for the door.
“Erienne, wait.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn to him. She stood facing the door, her back ramrod straight.
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked quietly.
She heaved a sigh. “Do you want to go?”
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“If anyone should go, it’s me. I’m a servant. You’re a part of the family.”
“Lucy wouldn’t like it if I ran off her new governess.”
“Derek wouldn’t like it if I ran off his brother,” she replied evenly.
Collin chuckled and felt himself relax a little. “Perhaps we’re both being unreasonable. What if we agree to a truce? We’ll both stay and try to act like civilized human beings to one another. It doesn’t need to be difficult.”
Erienne turned to face him. “Agreed,” she said with the hint of a smile. “It can all be quite simple.” She made her way to the desk in the corner and set the book atop it. Then, in a methodical fashion, she pulled a piece of paper out of the top drawer, ripped off a small bit, and grabbed the quill from the inkpot. She scribbled something quickly and waved the paper in the air to dry it. Then, picking up the book again, she walked over to him, handed him the slip, and marched out of the room.
Collin watched her go. The door closed behind her before he allowed his attention to drop to the paper in his hand.
Come to my bedchamber tonight.
Chapter Sixteen
Erienne paced her bedchamber floor in her shift. It was well after midnight, and she was vibrating with nerves, jumping at any noise. She hadn’t seen Collin the rest of the day. She’d remained in the nursery with the children, took her dinner there with Anna, and then retired early, not long after the children went to sleep.
Had she made an awful mistake giving that note to Collin? She hadn’t stayed to see his reaction, but for all she knew, he thought it was completely inappropriate. Or perhaps he’d been tempted, but had no intention of actually arriving at her door tonight. Hadn’t he just finished telling her they could both act like civilized human beings around each other? Hadn’t he been the one to stop what had happened at the creek? The truth was she didn’t want to act like a civilized human being around him. She hadn’t wanted to stop what happened at the creek. She wanted to rip off the man’s clothes and make love to him all night.
She’d spent last night tossing and turning, and finally decided what she wanted: one night with Collin. Perhaps if they spent the night together, she would be able to forget about him once and for all. Perhaps she’d be able to banish him from her thoughts and heart for good.
She’d remained a virgin all these years. Didn’t she deserve one night of passion? It wasn’t as if she was saving herself for marriage. That dream had vanished long ago. On the contrary, she intended to live the rest of her life as a spinster and a governess. What did her virginity matter any longer? She might as well give it to the man to whom it had belonged all along. The only man she’d ever loved.
A soft knock on the door made her jump. She pressed a hand to her pounding heart and forced herself to slowly cross the room and open it, her bare feet sliding along the thick rug.
When she swung open the door, Collin stood there, a small bouquet of purple and white wildflowers in his fist. She couldn’t help her smile.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” she breathed.
“I’ve yet to miss a challenge.”
She stood back to allow him to enter the room. “I suppose that’s true,” she told him, “but I wasn’t certain you’d want to participate in this one.”
She shut the door behind him, took the flowers from his hand, and pressed them to her nose. Their soft, cool petals tickled her, their scent fresh and sweet. “Thank you.”
Collin reached out and traced a fingertip along her cheek. “Why wouldn’t I come, Erienne?”
She took a deep breath and forced herself to meet his eyes. “We aren’t children anymore. I invited you here to do more than just kiss me.”
His eyes flashed green fire. “And I accepted for the same purpose.”
She made her way over to the bed and laid the flowers on the nightstand. Then, sensing he had more to say, she turned to look at him.
“I thought ...” He shook his head and seemed to gather his thoughts. “At the creek, I thought you were overcome by what had happened. Nearly drowning, I mean.”
“I was,” she agreed, “but that didn’t mean I didn’t want you. I’ve always wanted you.”
At her soft admission, he seemed to melt a little. His defenses. All the armor hiding his emotions. Pain crossed his features and he closed his eyes and drew in a breath. When he opened them, he stalked across the room to meet her and pulled her into his arms. “Are you certain this is what you want, Erienne?”
“I’ve never been more certain.” Of course, she had no intention of telling him this was all she wanted. One night. One night to remember forever. “Kiss me,” she breathed.
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her softly at first. But then the passion too long suppressed surged between them, and he claimed her lips with a possessiveness that brought her to her toes.
Her arms slid around his neck, and he wasted no time pulling off her shift in a single, upward sweep that left her hair wild and curling around her face and shoulders.
Together, they worked with frantic haste to divest Collin of his clothing. He stopped momentarily to sit on the edge of the mattress and shuck his boots, which hit the floor none-too-gently, thudding out his intentions.
When at last they were both naked—him unashamed, his gaze hungrily skimming every inch of her, and Erienne shivering with part shyness, part delight and trepidation—he drew her down onto the mattress, where they could gaze at each other in wonder and revel in the feel of each other’s naked skin.
“You’re beautiful.” She traced a trembling finger along the fine musculature of his chest.
He chuckled. “I believe that’s what I’m supposed to say to you.” His gaze darkened as it flickered down her body. “You are, by the way, beyond beautiful.”
He lowered himself a
top her. His dark head moved to her nipple, and he bit it gently and let his tongue toy with it before sucking it into the sweet heat of his mouth. She moaned and arched her back. “Collin,” she whispered.
When she was squirming with delight, he shifted his attention lower, a slow, sinful trajectory, pausing at her belly to shower kisses on the tender skin and dip his tongue into her navel, which seemed as explicit an act as any Erienne had shared with him before tonight.
Until Collin’s mouth found the aching place between her legs.
She stared down at him in a haze of lust, not entirely certain what he was doing, only that it involved his lips, his tongue … and she never wanted him to stop.
His soft hair brushed her inner thighs as he gently nudged and probed with his tongue to find that perfect spot. When she let out a gasp, she felt him smile against her flesh, and then his insistent tongue wreaked havoc on her senses, the building pleasure sending her body to seek and follow the hot touch of his mouth.
“You taste so sweet, Erienne,” he breathed against her skin.
She sank her fingers into his hair, her thighs tensing on either side of his head. She was mindless. Her head thrashed fitfully against the pillow, her legs straining more with each relentless stroke of his tongue.
Erienne had squeezed her eyes closed, grasping at every wild sensation, but her lashes lifted the instant she felt the slow slide of his finger inside her—first a tentative probing, and then, gradually, a sinuous rhythm, in and out, gliding against her wetness. Never did his tongue falter in its own dance on her, and suddenly the pleasure was too great, and her consciousness took flight in a riot of swirls and colors as her body shuddered beneath his sensual assault, utterly separate from her will.
When she came back to herself again, Collin’s hand was tenderly stroking her hair, his lips whispering against her ear things she never thought she’d hear him say again. Things about how much he cherished and wanted her, how much he’d missed her, and how badly he wanted to bury himself inside her.
Mr. Hunt, I Presume: A Playful Brides Story Page 8
