She lifted a hand, attempting to wave away his thanks with embarrassment. He came closer, looking down at her intently beneath the rim of her bonnet. ‘My mother has been unwell, as you know, and a shock such as today could set back her recovery significantly. If you hadn’t acted so quickly …’
‘I was merely in the right place,’ she said, stifling a sigh as Elijah cupped the back of her neck with gentle fingers.
‘It was more than that,’ he said, staring deeply into her eyes, his voice a low, warm caress. ‘You are a woman of courage and fire. You care enough to help a stranger on the street regardless of your own peril.’ He paused, took a deep breath. ‘You are the woman I want by my side. To make me complete.’
Susanna swallowed, her palms damp, her eyes abruptly dewing. ‘Mr Storm,’ she said, but the words deserted her because she didn’t know what she wanted to say.
Elijah lowered his head. His lips brushed hers like the kiss of a butterfly’s wings before he drew back. Clearing his throat, he said, ‘My driver will take you home.’
Her legs trembling, Susanna moved to the head of the stairs. Elijah stepped up behind her, touching her waist with fleeting fingers. ‘I hope to see you again while you are in London,’ he said against her ear.
Susanna didn’t reply. She descended the steps and was greeted again by the butler, who offered her refreshments. She refused and asked to be taken home. As he showed her out to the carriage, she looked up and saw Elijah at the top of the stairs, watching her.
When she got home, Susanna was in a state of nervous excitement. Making sure Lucy was out of the way, she confessed about Elijah to her aunt and what had happened with his mother that afternoon. Georgina sat watching her with gleaming eyes like a cat, and admitted that Elizabeth had sent a letter with Lucy describing the Seymours’ scandalous new neighbour and how he had broken Lucy’s heart in favour of Susanna.
‘She had nothing nice to say about Mr Storm other than a comment on the size of his purse,’ she said, lifting a handkerchief to her face to hide a smirk.
Susanna felt herself blush a little. ‘Mr Storm has many fine attributes,’ she said.
‘Does he really?’ Georgina pulled her chair closer. ‘Do tell all.’
‘Aunt, really.’
‘Oh stuff,’ Georgina said airily. ‘Are we not both women of the world? The way you talk about this Mr Storm tells me you have been intimate with him in some fashion.’
Susanna stared. ‘Aunt, you mustn’t tell my mother.’
Georgina snorted. ‘I thought you knew me better than that, Susanna. Am I not to be your confidante and your advisor when it comes to the tricky subject of men?’
Susanna glanced around as though the walls had ears. ‘Well, aunt, the second time I saw him, I caught him engaged in the most intimate behaviour on our land …’
Chapter Nine
The sisters’ stay in London continued in a whirlwind of parties courtesy of their aunt, but Susanna was maudlin. She couldn’t forget the intensity in Elijah’s eyes when he had said those words about her making him complete. She swung between swearing him off for good and running to his side to take back her refusal of his proposal. She suspected it still stood, that he waited for her to change her mind, but just how long would he wait before his head was turned and another woman claimed him? Men like Elijah Storm came along once in a lifetime, Susanna was sure of that.
The final party of their stay was at a mansion in the Surrey countryside that belonged to an old friend of Georgina’s. The three women were ensconced in rooms for the evening on their arrival and, on their descent, were greeted by Lady Yvette Mario and her husband, Thomas. Georgina had murmured something salacious about her relationship with Yvette and Thomas in the carriage on the way there and Susanna wondered if she had misheard.
The house bustled with finely dressed guests, ladies dripping in jewels and men in their smartest frock coats and cravats. Waiters in livery moved smoothly between the bodies with trays of champagne and canapés. Lucy gaped around her with wide eyes while Susanna was more subtle, demurely watching men from beneath her lashes. She wore a new gown of white silk with a broad black sash and intricate corsetry at the back. Lucy was radiant in sapphire blue.
The three women chatted with some of Georgina’s friends before moving into the grand ballroom and taking a table near the floor. Georgina tossed back champagne like it was going out of style and Susanna felt a little tipsy too, despite trying to keep her self-control. Lucy chattered excitedly about a man in uniform watching her and then she gave a gasp, put her hand over her mouth. Susanna followed her gaze.
Standing with a blond-haired man against the wall, wearing black and white evening attire, was Elijah Storm. Susanna’s heart leapt and thudded wildly against her ribs as Elijah spotted her and leant close to his companion’s ear to say something above the music.
‘That blackguard,’ Lucy said darkly as Elijah pushed himself lazily off the wall and strolled around the edge of the dance floor like a nonchalant cat stalking its prey.
‘Hush, Lucy,’ Susanna scolded. ‘There is no need for rudeness.’
‘Just because Mr Storm has you by your heart, or indeed other parts, is no reason for me to like him,’ Lucy replied snottily.
Susanna kicked her hard under the table. Lucy gave a little cry and sank miserably into her chair.
Elijah reached the table. He regarded the three ladies with blue eyes dazzlingly bright. ‘Miss Seymour and Miss Seymour.’ He bowed low.
‘Mr Storm,’ Susanna said with a coolness she didn’t feel. ‘If I may present my Aunt Georgina.’
Georgina held out a hand eagerly, all heaving bosom and fluttering lashes, and Elijah smiled and took it, barely sweeping her knuckles with his lips. ‘Charmed.’
There was an uncomfortable silence as Elijah stood looking at Susanna like there was no one else in the room.
‘Mr Storm,’ Georgina piped up. ‘Why don’t you put us all out of our misery and ask Susanna to dance?’
Elijah gave a rueful, almost shy grin. ‘Miss Seymour.’ He held his hand out. ‘May I have this dance?’
Susanna rose to her feet, gathering her skirts. ‘You may, Mr Storm.’
His large hand closed around hers, palm warm and intimate. He led her to the dance floor on quaking legs while she asked herself if this had been the best idea.
Elijah wrapped a firm arm around her waist and pulled her close to his hard body. He swept her expertly around the floor to a fast waltz.
‘How is your mother?’ Susanna asked nervously.
‘Much recovered, thank you,’ he replied, looking down into her eyes from his lofty height. ‘I’m not sure I expressed my gratitude adequately enough last time …’
Susanna regarded him questioningly. Was he serious? She remembered the ardent, eloquent thanks and praise he had bestowed on her. She searched his stunning eyes and found both tenderness and passion. She shook her head.
‘I’m persona non grata with your family now,’ he observed.
Thrown by the sudden change of subject, she fumbled for words. ‘It has been a difficult time. Lucy has accepted your lack of interest and moved on. As for my mother –’ Susanna sighed. ‘Time will heal her troubles.’
‘She would no more have me in the family now than Lucifer himself,’ Elijah suggested.
‘And you once suggested you’d rather wed a plump-bottomed stable hand than marry into my family,’ she said smartly.
Elijah grinned, his pearly teeth blinding. ‘Surely it’s a man’s prerogative to change his mind?’
‘No, it’s a woman’s.’
Elijah dipped her low and almost dropped her, pulling her upright with the blood rushing to her head. She clung to his neck, glaring.
He smiled again. He lowered his voice to a seductive murmur with his lips pressed right against her ear. ‘Having already proved yourself my match, I am hoping you will now admit that I am your match, sweet Susanna.’
She stared up into his mesmerising
eyes with her skin tingling all over and her body ablaze with passion for him. She swallowed, afraid of the words that wanted to spill out. And then the dance ended and he strode off the dance floor, tugging her after him. Mindless of the people who saw them go, he led her out onto a misty, cold balcony, and there descended steps into the dark garden.
Susanna hurried to keep up with the strides from his long legs. When she shivered, he stripped off his frock coat hurriedly and wrapped it around her shoulders. He steered her into a maze of trees, pressing her up against the massive trunk of a beech.
‘Susanna,’ he said softly, cupping her cheek. ‘You’re going to drive me out of my mind with desire.’
She trembled, lifting her chin with determination, aware of the silent solitude of the garden. Would she really be able to stop any nefarious plans on his part and, more to the point, did she want to? ‘As I’ve probably already said, Mr Storm, you think with your prick.’
His expression darkened. He pressed her closer against the rough bark, his hard cock jutting into her hip. ‘Nay,’ he said. ‘When it comes to you, I think with both my prick and my heart. The two are entangled. I want you in all ways. Not just the bedroom.’ In the darkness, the fire in his eyes was subdued, but she knew it was there.
She licked her lips nervously and immediately he swooped in, devouring her, his mouth soft and seeking. She opened her lips with a sigh, found his tongue and they stood lip-locked against the tree, his body sinking into hers, moulding her curves to his. She slid her arms around his neck. He scooped her closer, lifting her under her backside, grinding against her, and she gasped, gown constricting her desperately when she wanted nothing more than to be bared to him. His hand found her breast, squeezed through her corset, her nipple standing stiff before it was touched.
He drew back suddenly, letting her slide down the tree. Before she could react, Elijah had slipped to one knee and was fumbling in the pocket of the frock coat that lay discarded on the ground.
‘Susanna, I beseech you,’ he said as he opened a small box to reveal a ring which sparked like fire under the pale moonlight.
Susanna’s jaw dropped. She looked from the ring, to his eyes, and back again. ‘Elijah,’ she said softly and she saw by his triumphant look that he knew her answer before she did.
He took her hand in a palm that was damp and unsteady, and slipped the ring onto her finger. ‘Marry me,’ he said urgently.
She touched the soft contour of his cheek and was suddenly sure. ‘Yes,’ she said.
Elijah rose swiftly to his feet. He lifted her, laughing, off the ground and into his arms and held her close, face pressed into her cleavage.
Chapter Ten
The wedding was the event of the year. People came from all over the country to Elijah’s country mansion. Edward walked his elder daughter proudly down the aisle, while Elizabeth sat on the front row of guests looking like she was sucking lemons, Lucy sobbing softly by her side. Elijah’s mother, although frail, looked much recovered and sat smiling on the opposite side.
At the top of the room stood Elijah, a formal morning suit hugging his delicious body, his black hair gleaming. He turned around as Susanna approached and his rather nervous expression dissolved into rapture. He lifted her veil before he took her hand.
They stood before the priest and declared their love and exchanged rings; afterwards, Susanna couldn’t remember anything apart from the beautiful glow of his crystal eyes. They laughed, danced, and drank. Elijah kept her by his side and introduced her to dozens of people whose names she instantly forgot. Everything seemed surreal. All her belongings had been moved to his home the night before, and in two days they would embark on their honeymoon in France.
She could only think of one thing – their wedding night. She couldn’t wait to be alone with him, and his burning gaze when he looked upon her told her he felt the same.
People started to fade away. Susanna was exhausted. Lucy came up and kissed and hugged her and shyly offered her hand to Elijah, who ignored it and kissed her cheek. Edward shook his hand manfully and welcomed him to the family. Which just left Elizabeth, who hung back unsurely.
‘Mrs Seymour,’ Elijah said respectfully. ‘I will spend the rest of my life making your daughter happy.’
Elizabeth regarded him a moment and then nodded slowly, as though only just realising that was what really counted. A slight expression of shame crossed her face before she stepped forward and presented her hand imperiously to her son-in-law.
Elijah kissed her knuckles. He bade his new family farewell, and the two tearful women and Edward left. Susanna stood watching their carriage disappear down the drive with her husband’s arm wrapped around her. They turned, and Elijah closed and bolted the door.
The butler hovered behind them, no doubt waiting for dismissal. ‘That will be all, Reuben,’ Elijah said. ‘Thank you to you all for your hard work today and the days of preparation beforehand.’
The butler bowed. ‘May I say what an extraordinary success it was, Mr Storm, and how delightful your bride looked.’
Elijah smiled. ‘You may. Thank you. Good night.’
‘Good night, sir.’ The butler retreated across the huge marble hall towards the kitchen and Elijah pulled Susanna against his broad chest.
‘Now, what am I to do with you, Mrs Storm?’
Susanna grinned cheekily to hide her nerves. ‘Give me what you’ve been promising me for months? Something about servicing my three holes, I seem to recall.’
A slow smile spread across his face. ‘What a good memory you have, my love.’ He swung her up into his arms, and then he carried her up the grand staircase at his leisure, looking into her eyes all the way.
Susanna clung to his neck, trembling with excitement and anticipation that this moment had finally arrived. Elijah carried her into his bedchamber and closed the door firmly behind him before he let Susanna slide slowly down the hard length of his muscular body. She looked around, taking in the sumptuous décor and hangings on the four-poster perfunctorily. She would have done this outside in the barn had he wished, such was her need.
Elijah placed his hands on her shoulders. He drew her close and kissed her, and she melted into him as always. He spun her around. ‘Allow me,’ he said, and began plucking at the complicated fastenings to her dress with eager fingers.
Susanna shuddered, underwear wet, groin throbbing. He pulled her wedding dress apart and down her arms, and the satin and lace slid into a silky pool around her ankles. She lifted her feet to discard it and Elijah caressed each of her toned calves with one hand as he lifted the dress. He laid out the gown on the back of an ornate chair, then came back, beginning work on her corset, loosening the laces so, finally, for the first time today, she could properly breathe.
As if he could read her mind, he said, ‘You may breathe now, my love.’
Susanna giggled, and he slid the corset off her and left her in her thin shift. She turned to face him. He placed his hands on the hem of the shift and stripped it slowly off over her head. She stood bared to him, breasts taut and nipples hard as his gaze perused her.
‘I can hardly believe I have permission to touch,’ he said in a murmur. ‘I’m the luckiest man in the world.’
Boldly, Susanna grasped his hands and put them on her breasts. Elijah cupped them, squeezing her nipples, and she arched against him with a soft moan.
He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her close and bent his head, tonguing and sucking at her nipples. Susanna grasped handfuls of his silky hair. She pushed herself against his mouth, a trail of fire leading down to her groin, and his hand followed the path, cupping her through her silk drawers, finding the fabric wet with her need.
Elijah straightened up. He peeled down her underwear and she kicked it aside, standing in only her stockings and shoes.
‘Would you think me terribly depraved if I ask you to leave those both on?’ he questioned, a twinkle in his eye.
‘That’s the least depraved thing I’ve
heard you say yet,’ she rejoined with a smile.
Elijah laughed. He lowered his face to her neck and swept heated kisses over her throat. Meanwhile, his hand passed over the hair between her thighs and one finger slipped between her slick lips.
Susanna stifled a cry. His finger penetrated her, fucked her for some seconds until she was dripping, and then he spread her cream over her aching clit, rubbing slowly.
She grasped his wrist, urging him to go faster, rocking against his hand and he looked down, watching, his lashes a sooty sweep against his pale cheeks. ‘I hope you know,’ he said against her ear, ‘that the chances of me lasting tonight once I’m inside you are minimal.’
‘As long as you satisfy me, why would I care?’ she replied, a touch breathlessly.
‘Oh, I’ll satisfy you,’ he said, now with two fingers in her and his thumb on her clit. ‘You’ll never need to worry about that, my love. People will see you out and about with such a glow to your cheeks that you will be the talk of the town – a woman whose husband makes her come at least once a day.’
Susanna blushed. She had no doubt any more that Elijah was a man of his word, and shivered to think of all the ways he would please her. ‘You’re incorrigible,’ she said as he withdrew his fingers and led her to the bed.
‘I know.’ Elijah pushed her down. Then her new husband performed the sauciest, sexiest striptease she had ever seen. He unfastened his cravat and tossed it away. He shrugged his frock coat off his shoulders. His waistcoat dropped to the ground and he kicked his boots off. His rippling torso came into view as he discarded his shirt and stood tall and magnificent. As Susanna watched with awe, Elijah peeled his pants apart and dragged them down his legs.
He’d bothered to wear underwear for his wedding but it was a curious style she had never seen before. Tight, silk shorts that moulded to every curve of his tumescent cock and heavy balls, cupping his assets perfectly. He gripped himself, touching greedily with a sly smile thrown her way, rubbing the head of his cock with his thumb so a wet spot bloomed on the flimsy material.
Seducing Mr Storm Page 6
