by Julia Byrne
The impact sent her flying. Seconds later she landed hard on her hands and knees on the hall tiles, her right knee taking the brunt of the fall.
The pain was excruciating. Emily lay sprawled on the floor, gasping at the intensity of it. The day had got worse. Much worse. It was all beyond bearing. Lucas’s questioning, the suspicion that someone had snooped where he had no business to be, Harbury’s interference, her grandfather’s cold disapproval and dislike. And now her knee felt as if she’d done some serious damage to it. Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them and spilled down her cheeks.
Furious with herself, sick with pain, Emily pushed herself to a sitting position and swiped angrily at the tears on her face.
“Emily!” Lucas erupted through the doorway at blinding speed. “Sweetheart! What happened?” He went down on one knee beside her.
Emily sniffed and glared at the cause of her fall. “I tripped over my grandfather’s stupid carpet bag, which he left lying here.”
“Don’t move,” he said. He stood, grabbed the carpet bag, and all but threw it to the groom, who was standing in the doorway gaping at the scene. Lucas took a step toward him and slammed the door in the man’s face.
“That should confirm my grandfather’s opinion of our hospitality,” she muttered, and tried valiantly to muffle another sob.
“Here,” Lucas said, hunkering down beside her again. He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
“I am not crying,” Emily asserted inaccurately, wiping her eyes.
“Of course not. Where are you hurt?”
“My right knee.” Emily blew her nose and stuffed Lucas’s handkerchief into her skirt pocket. She gave a final sniff, grateful that at least she’d ceased making a fool of herself. “I thought I’d done something dreadful to it, but it doesn’t feel too bad now.”
“Let’s see if you can put any weight on it.”
He stood up and carefully lifted her to her feet, putting a supporting arm around her.
Emily leaned against him, letting her head rest against his chest. “I think I need to stand still for a minute,” she said in a small voice. “I feel a little queasy.”
“Shock,” Lucas explained. “A hard fall like that would shake anyone. Take some deep breaths.”
“What did you say to my grandfather?” she asked, obeying his instruction. “For a moment I thought he was going to hit you, and I knew you couldn’t strike back.”
“Is that why you went haring across the hall?”
She nodded.
“My poor little Emily. I could have stopped your grandfather easily without hurting him.”
She considered that. “But why would he want to hit you in the first place?”
“Ah. Well, somewhere in the conversation I may have suggested that he should be grateful you’re running a school and not treading the boards.”
“Good heavens!”
“However, I managed to convince him that your establishment is the epitome of decorum and respectability.”
“Oh. Thank you, Lucas.”
His arm tightened around her. A moment passed in peaceful silence. She felt his head bend to hers.
“Emily?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Would you like me to fetch Miss Tibberton or Miss Haymes to help you up the stairs?”
“They’ve taken the girls to the park to do some sketching. And why would I wish to go upstairs?”
“You just had a bad fall. You should rest for a while and someone should look at that knee.”
“I think I’ll live. It hurts, but I can walk.” She took an experimental step and grimaced. “Maybe.”
“Hmm. It looks as though you’ll have to make do with me.”
Before she could ask what he meant, Lucas swept her up in his arms and walked toward the stairs.
She ought to protest, Emily told herself, but instead she put her arms around his neck. To make it easier for him to carry her, of course.
“I didn’t know your father over-indulged in spirits as well as gaming,” he said as he started up the stairs.
“It got worse after he sold out,” she said. “I suppose there wasn’t much excitement any more. That’s probably why he gambled more often, too.” She hesitated. “How much did you hear?”
“I arrived in the hall as you were extolling the benefits of schools for unwanted children. I thought you might need some help after that remark.”
She winced. “Yes, I shouldn’t have said that. I suppose according to my grandfather’s standards, he and grandmother did their duty by me.”
“But duty can be a very cold thing to a small child,” he murmured.
Emily didn’t answer, but a sweet warmth blossomed inside her. She put her head down on Lucas’s shoulder as he turned her sideways to carry her into her room.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lucas kicked the door shut behind them and carried her across to the bed. Emily opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. The house was empty, and would be for at least another half-hour. No one would know if she spent a few minutes alone in her bedchamber with him. He laid her gently on the bed and sat down beside her.
She promptly sat up again. Sitting was a good deal safer than lying down while Lucas was with her. Especially as he was already pushing her skirts up to her knees.
Emily regarded her stocking-clad legs. For some reason, the fact that she was wearing chaste white cotton stockings made the situation more intimate than when Lucas had dried her bare feet on the beach. He undid the garter holding her right stocking in place and drew it down to her ankle, very slowly. Emily realized she was holding her breath. She wondered if it was dreadfully abandoned of her to relish the exciting little thrills racing through her at the touch of his hands against her bare skin. She risked a glance at his face. His lashes were lowered, but there was a tense set to his jaw.
“Lucas, this really isn’t necessary.”
“Why not?”
“Well…that’s my leg, and this is my bedchamber, and…”
He glanced up briefly. The wicked smile in his eyes sent more thrills shivering through her. “I do know a lady’s leg and a bedchamber when I come across them.”
She had to laugh, although the sound was more of a breathless gasp. “I suppose that did sound absurdly missish.”
His mouth curved. “You’re going to have a hellish bruise here,” he said, examining her knee. His fingers pressed carefully around the joint. “But nothing seems to be broken.”
Emily looked dubiously at her injured limb. “How do you know?”
“I’ve set a couple of broken bones in my time. Probably not as well as a doctor, but I know what a break looks and feels like.”
“Well…” she began, and promptly forgot what she was going to say because Lucas began rolling her stocking back up her leg. By the time he eased the soft cotton over her knee, Emily was holding her breath again. Her nerves seemed to be doing the same, as if they were waiting to see what was going to happen next.
Lucas re-tied the garter around her stocking—and brushed his fingertips over the soft flesh of her inner thigh.
“Ohh.” Emily fell back against the pillows. She hadn’t meant to do that; all her muscles had simply dissolved.
Lucas looked up, his eyes glittering. “That,” he said in a low growl, “was not a good idea.”
He removed his hands from beneath her skirts and came down beside her, taking his weight on one forearm as he leaned over her. Emily was vaguely aware that her skirts were still hiked up to mid-thigh, but the intent look on Lucas’s face banished modesty to the far reaches of the universe.
She shifted her gaze to his mouth, that hard, beautifully defined mouth that she longed to feel pressed to hers again, in need and passionate demand. Unable to resist touching him, she lifted her fingers to his lips.
“Emily,” he said very low. He caught her hand and held it. “Are you asking me to kiss you again?”
“Yes,” she
breathed. “If you want to.”
“Oh, I want to. I want to do a lot of things, but there’s no time.”
“The girls won’t be back until about four o’clock,” she whispered, feeling incredibly daring. “And Mrs. Starling will be in the kitchen until tea time, and—”
The rest vanished when Lucas cupped her face in his hand and brought his mouth down on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips, touching her tongue to his when he demanded entrance, then shivering at his low growl of pleasure.
Like a lion purring, she thought in delight. But then Lucas deepened the kiss, taking her mouth with such fierce ardour she could think of nothing but the sweet, heated pleasure swirling inside her, until it started to tighten, to become something more, something urgent and needy.
So absorbed was she in the burgeoning need within her that she barely felt Lucas undo the buttons at the front of her spencer. He broke the kiss so he could lift her enough to remove the garment. Still dazed, Emily rested her head against him as he swiftly unfastened the buttons of her gown. He drew the bodice down to her waist, freeing her arms and revealing her lace-trimmed chemise.
Emily drew in a shaky breath. She knew Lucas could see the taut little tips of her breasts pressing against the almost sheer garment. This was more than a kiss, much more, but she didn’t want him to stop. She was embarking on an affair. Without having to do more than ask him to kiss her, she was about to embark on an affair.
Oh, heavens! She was about to embark on an affair!
Somehow the repetition didn’t give her any more pause than the first astonished realization. When Lucas laid her gently back on the pillows, she gazed up at him in wonder, not at her own boldness, but that he should look at her with such naked desire.
Then she stopped wondering about anything, because Lucas lowered his head to kiss her again. He cupped one breast in his hand, kneading gently before stroking his thumb across the budding tip.
Emily clung to him as ripples of pleasure flowed from her breasts to the secret place between her legs. Every stroke intensified the sensation until she thought she couldn’t bear it any more. Even pressing her legs together didn’t ease the ache that was beginning to throb there.
“Lucas,” she gasped, wrenching her mouth free.
“Sssh,” he breathed against her lips. He began to unfasten her chemise. “You’re so sweet, Emily, so soft. I have to look at you. Don’t be afraid, sweetheart.”
“I’m not,” she said. “I’m not. Oh, Lucas, what are you doing to me?”
For answer, he drew her chemise down below her breasts. The low sound that escaped him when he raised his head to look at her had everything inside her softening in surrender, as though her entire body was preparing to yield to him. She wanted his hands on her again, she wanted his mouth on her, she wanted…
“Lucas, I want to touch you, too.”
“Not this time,” he murmured. “You like me looking at you, don’t you.” His voice roughened. “You like me touching you.”
“Yes. I like it a lot, but—”
“Then just enjoy it,” he growled. “I won’t hurt you.” He lowered his head again and closed his mouth over the tip of her breast, before laving it with his tongue.
Emily cried out at the intense pleasure. Her hips lifted off the bed, instinctively seeking, instinctively needing. Emotions swirled and cascaded within her, but were swamped by physical sensation. She could barely catch her breath enough to speak. “Lucas, this is…beyond anything.”
“Not yet, my lovely Emily. But it will be.”
“Do you…do you think we should stop now? I don’t think I can bear any more.”
“Yes, you can, sweetheart. You’ll like what’s going to happen, I promise.” With one last swirl of his tongue across her nipple, he shifted his attention to her other breast and lowered his hand to where her legs were tightly clamped together.
Emily gasped when she realized his hand was beneath her skirts, resting just above the place where every nerve in her body seemed to be throbbing. Only the cotton of her drawers separated her from his touch. The thin barrier was too much. She wanted his hand on her, bare skin to bare skin. She moved urgently, pressing against his hand and parting her legs, even as she blushed wildly at her wantonness.
“That’s it, darling,” Lucas whispered huskily. “You’re so beautiful, so responsive. Give yourself to me.” He bent to kiss her, and at the same time slipped his fingers into the opening in her drawers, parted her soft folds and stroked her with exquisite care.
Emily would have screamed with the incredible pleasure of it, but she had no voice. She could only grip the bedspread with one hand and hang onto Lucas with the other as the world spun away in a haze of unimaginable sensation. The knowledge that Lucas was touching the most intimate part of her body was both shocking and unbelievably exciting. She could feel the heat and wetness there but she couldn’t control it, couldn’t control the urgent little cries coming from her throat.
Lucas didn’t seem to mind. His breathing was ragged as he circled her nipple with his tongue before drawing it strongly into his mouth. Emily cried out again. Her entire body was demanding release from the tension drawing her tighter and tighter with every stroke of his fingers. Then he pressed deeper, pushed one finger inside her, and with a short, startled scream she convulsed in a cataclysm of breathtaking ecstasy that seemed to go on forever.
*
When Emily collapsed in a limp little heap beneath him, Luke pressed his hand against her for a moment, savoring the tiny aftershocks that rippled through her body, before withdrawing and returning her skirts to a state of modesty. He lay down, gathered her into his arms and held her close.
His body was aching with a need so brutal it had almost caused him to spill his seed then and there when Emily had climaxed beneath him, but he knew he had to wait. He couldn’t make love to her fully until she knew who he was. Apart from that, he didn’t want her first time to be rushed. As it was, they were risking discovery with every minute he stayed there, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her.
He had told himself that he’d be able to hear the front door if anyone entered the house, but, in restrospect, he doubted he would have heard a bugle blast right beside the bed. Even now, his senses were still in thrall to the sweet, trusting, innocently sensual response Emily had given him. And as if the knowledge had just been waiting for this moment, everything was suddenly very clear.
He loved her.
The knowledge made him feel as if he’d been pole-axed, but he couldn’t deny it. Emily was everything he needed, everything he wanted. She was his life.
“Lucas?”
He turned his head as she stirred against him. “How do you feel?” he asked, propping himself on one forearm. He brushed a tangle of curls away from her cheek and smiled at her.
She gazed up at him, the wonder in her eyes making his heart shake. “Lucas, that was…incredible.”
“It was,” he agreed, and laughed softly when she blushed.
“Did you… No—” She touched his face gently. “I can see you didn’t feel what I felt. Oh, Lucas…”
“Hush,” he said, and bent to kiss her. “This time was for you.”
“Thank you,” she said very solemnly.
Luke grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. “It was my pleasure, even though I wasn’t deep inside you when you found your release. Next time I will be.”
“Next time?” She blinked at him. “Good heavens! Time! Lucas, what are you doing on this bed? You must get out of here at once. Oh, my goodness, what if everyone is back? Why didn’t you tell me the time?”
“I must have forgotten to consult my watch,” he said dryly, disentangling himself from Emily and getting to his feet. “But strange as it may seem, I doubt more than twenty minutes has passed.”
“Well, that’s long enough,” Emily scolded, looking adorably flustered as she struggled to restore her clothing to order. She flung her legs over the side
of the bed as though to stand up. “Ouch.”
“Are you all right?” he asked quickly, coming to her rescue and swiftly doing up buttons.
“Yes, of course,” she said, blushing more fierily than before. “It’s just my knee.” She waved her hands at him. “For heaven’s sake, go away. Or if you’re going to stay, open the door and stand in the hallway. We can’t have people suspecting you’ve been in my bedchamber.”
“Not to be thought of,” he murmured. But he obediently did as ordered. Clearly, Emily was trying to retrieve control of the situation by reverting to her usual manner; issuing him with orders and instructions.
“Well, you and I can think of it,” she muttered. “But no one else must.”
He laughed as he stepped into the passage. “You know, Emily, your students are right. You are adorable. There’s no need for you to come downstairs. I’ll have Mrs. Starling bring you a cup of tea. It’ll calm you down.”
He left her trying to glare at him. But the expression was severely compromised by the wonder and sweet feminine knowledge in her eyes, and the suddenly shy smile on her lips.
*
When Lucas closed the door behind him, Emily collapsed back on her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. A second later, she popped back up and quickly smoothed the bedspread where Lucas had been lying. There didn’t appear to be any other evidence of the abandoned behavior in which she’d been indulging, so she lay down again.
Actually, it was just as well she hadn’t tried to stand; her legs felt so limp she doubted she could stay upright. She put a hand to her stomach. Nerves swirled therein when she thought about the last twenty minutes. Never had she imagined allowing a man such liberties. Never had she imagined such incredible sensations. And Lucas seemed to think there was more.
Well…she knew there was more. She was inexperienced, not ignorant. If Lucas hadn’t kept himself under such powerful restraint, she probably would have found out just how much more. But she’d trusted him to protect them both from discovery. Trusted him with the intimate secrets of her body. She had trusted a man she’d known only a week not to take advantage of her.
