"It’s natural to have doubts. I mean I knew you desired me, but love? I wasn’t so sure."
"And you are now?" she asked softly.
He grinned at her, his golden eyes glowing. "You’ve fought like a tigress on my behalf. That isn’t the product of lust, but of the spirit, the heart. Thank you for the gift of your love."
"And yours. Your body too." She snuggled against him then and sighed.
"We’ll take the day off tomorrow, go out and spend it with the children," Ash said sleepily. "Who knows how many more days we will have left."
"Are you still thinking we should go to India?"
"We seem to have a lot of good prospects there. I’ll talk to Peter and Lawrence Howard. Maybe Lawrence could use a good doctor on his tea plantations. Both Darjeeling and Assam are gorgeous, no really hot weather, no real monsoons."
"It sounds like paradise," she murmured sleepily, "so long as we're together."
"Our paradise will be wherever we are, so long as we love each other."
"Amen to that," Ellen breathed, and drifted off to sleep in her husband’s tender embrace.
Chapter Thirty-five
Ellen was pensive the next morning, and Ash hardly dared ask her what was on her mind.
But finally Ellen said, "I’m not going to keep doing this. Think, ‘This is the last time I shall see this tree, talk to Mrs. Pearson, enjoy Nelly’s lemon curd tart.’ We need to live for the moment."
"So we can have a walk in the woods and then take the children out," he suggested.
"Lawrence and Juliet do have that swing in the clearing."
"I know." Ash grinned. "But we embarrassed them enough the last time we caught them sporting themselves in the woods for me to think we should go over to the ravine instead."
"All right."
"A bit of shooting practice might be no bad thing."
"And a picnic?" she suggested.
"Perfect. Like my lovely wife." He kissed her warmly, and went off to find some food.
Several hours later, Ellen laughed happily as she watched her husband gallop off through the forest clearing with his brother on his shoulders, making horse sounds the entire way.
Ranjeet chortled with glee. The two of them were making so much noise she almost didn’t catch the low growling coming from the undergrowth to her right.
She turned, her entire body instantly alert. Every hair on her body prickled to attention. She cocked the hammer of her musket almost without thinking.
Then it was in front of her, foaming, snarling.
"Run, Jaya, run!"
Point, aim, shoot.
Ash had drummed the words into her.
They did not leave her now. She could almost feel the hot breath on her face, feel the foam-flecked teeth at her throat. Or worse still, on little Jayashri as she fled.
The girl’s flight up the path had been enough to divert the rabid dog. Bought Ellen enough time to bring up the weapon and fire.
She knew she had only one shot if she was going to save both their lives. Praying to all the gods in the universe, she held the gun steady, pulled the trigger and shot the deadly rabid dog right between the eyes.
It halted mid-leap less than a foot away from her, crashing to the ground like a stone.
At last she heard Ash’s shouts. Her heart had been hammering so loudly she’d been deaf to his cries.
She now slumped against his broad chest in sheer relief, and forced back the bile which had bubbled up in the back of her throat.
Ash grabbed his dazed wife by the shoulders and shook her urgently. "Did it touch you? Bite you? Or my sister?"
"No, no, I’m fine. We’re both. It didn’t touch us."
"Oh, thank the gods. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you," he wept.
Ellen stared at her husband in shock. She had never seen him so distraught.
Terror made his voice harsh and rasping. "Take those clothes off now. Here, put on my gloves. Don’t touch them more than you have to. In fact—"
He shoved the gloves on her hands and then he took out his pocket knife. He slit the dress down the back and did the same for his sister, leaving the pile of clothes on the dog’s corpse.
"I’ll come back to burn it all as soon as I get you in the bath. Both of you," he insisted when his sister, confused and upset, now began to protest. Ellen, now clad only in Ash’s jacket, picked her up and held her close.
"It’s all right. He’s not angry, just frightened."
Ranjeet piped up, "But he’s never frightened. Never angry. Why was he yelling?"
"Not at us. He was trying to warn us about the very bad dog. It was going to hurt us with its teeth," Ellen said softly. "But it’s gone now. We just have to get all cleaned up and then we can be sure we’re safe. The bathtub will wash him all away."
Ash scrubbed them everywhere until they were raw, then himself, as she dressed his sister and put on her robe and combed out her hair.
For good measure he grabbed his brother, stripped him and washed him as well.
Finallly as he sat soaking in the scalding water his shoulders began to relax. She sat on the edge of the tub and began to wash his back, massaging his muscles, iron with tension.
"Ranjeet was right, you know," Ash said suddenly, his tone inexpressibly weary. "I never knew fear until I turned around to wait for you both to catch up and saw you facing down that rabid dog. I ran forward thinking to save you, but even as I did it, I knew I would be too late. I was so sure I was going to lose you, I felt as if my world had come to an end.
"Then you shot him dead, and it was like a miracle. I swore to myself then and there I would never ever let a day go by without telling you that you mean the world to me. I love you more with every passing day, Ellen. My life would mean nothing without you."
"Oh, Ash, I do believe you now. You’re always so calm about everything. I’m really sorry I ever doubted your love for me. Sorry it’s taken something as awful as this to prove it to me."
He kissed her hand passionately. "I do try to be a better man with my meditation and control. But really, love, the truth is, every minute of the day and night I just want to bury myself inside your sweet softness and never let go."
Ellen smiled. "As soon as we get the children dressed and that corpse taken care of, I’m going to hold you to that."
"Blast, that bloody dog." Ash heaved himself out of the tub and began to dress hastily in the old shirt and trousers Nelly had brought him.
He put on his leather gloves, picked up his old clothes, and stuffed them in a burlap sack the maid had provided as well. He got an oil lamp and tinder box from the kitchen, and began to head for the back door.
"Ash—"
"Stay here."
"But—"
"Your hair is wet. Stay here with the children. Tell them a story. I’ll be back soon." Bestowing one warm kiss on the top of her head, he left.
Ash returned a short time later and washed himelf again, throwing the second set of clothes right into the lighted boiler as he ran another bath and scrubbed himself once more.
"Where are the children?"
"Sleeping. Nelly is keeping an eye on them."
He nodded silently, looking more strained than she had ever seen him. When he at last felt clean and had stopped shivering, he put on his silk robe, swung his wife up onto his arms, and brought her up to their suite. He laid her down on the four-poster bed in their traditional bedroom, and began to make love to her like a starving man.
He climaxed almost as soon as he was inside her, and fell into an exhausted sleep.
Ellen was shocked. She had never seen Ash so overwrought. He clung onto her as though she were the only life preserver in a raging sea.
She was barely asleep before he began to thrash about in the throes of a nightmare so disturbing he woke up shouting for her and sobbing.
"It’s all right! I’m fine, right here with you. The dog didn’t touch me. I’m fine."
"I know," he wept against her shoulder. "
But we’re still going to have to be vigilant for a few months. People can die of rabies even a year after being exposed."
"It will be all right. Your sister was far away. She’ll be fine."
"I know," he said tearfully. "It’s you I’m worried about, my darling. I know I’d be upset if she were to fall ill, but nothing could compare with losing you. God forgive me, not even losing Mother could compare. I know we’ve only been married a short time, but I do love you so. Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone. I hope I’ve been a good husband to you, and that you’ve never doubted my fidelity even when Thomas was so angry and all those rumours began to fly."
She stroked his cheek tenderly. "I’ve never doubted you. Well, only once or twice when Georgina had decided to tiddle you. And only because I knew how determined she was to have you, to wreck our relationship. She hates seeing us happy. But I never lost my faith in you."
"She’s just going to have to accept the fact that she lost to you. It galls her to admit you’re the better woman. At any rate, if we’re going to go to India, it won’t matter what she thinks. So long as you’re happy."
She nodded. "I am, truly. How long do you think we’ll have to wait for—"
He sighed, and began to stroke her shoulder as he spoke. "I’m going to say six months to be on the safe side. I just want you to rest, and not go out more than you have to in the meantime. We know how it spreads, but I want you near me always to keep an eye on you. You need to look out for fever, extreme weakness, halllucinations, throat spasms, and extreme thirst."
Ellen held him tightly. "I love you, Ash. I don’t want to leave you."
"You won’t. It didn’t bite you, and we never touched the saliva that we know of." He looked at both their hands carefully. "And we have no open wounds. I love you too much to lose you. Surely the gods wouldn’t be so cruel as to take you from me. Not when I’ve only just found you. Not when you saved my sister’s life."
He kissed her passionately then, and the tide of tempestuous passion roared through them again. They made love to each other as though their lives depended upon it, never stopping until they were almost exhausted.
When they were at last sated and quiet, he whispered against her hair, "If you don’t mind, I think I’d like us both to have another bath now."
She understood and kissed him. "Fine."
They donned their silk robes, and went through their private bower to the large, marble tiled bathroom. There she twined around him, silk rubbing silk in a sensual caress.
Ash had an image of them making love in a whole new way which was so powerful his flesh tightened to the point where he held his body away from her and pulled down as hard as he could to stop the churning in his loins, more acute than ever even after all the rampant lovemaking they had already shared.
Ash sat on the edge of the tub hunched over to hide his desire and waited while the tub filled. He looked so pensive that she nuzzled his cheek with her own.
"What is it? What are you thinking?" she murmured, her breath like a caress on his fevered flesh.
"Nothing, it’s nothing," he declared, avoiding her earnest gaze as he tried to put the sudden erotic fantasy which had sprung up out of his mind
"I can see it’s something. Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help."
He groaned, and pulled her to him tightly. "It’s wrong. I shouldn’t be—"
"Be what?"
"So attached to material things that I feel really almost heartbroken about leaving our first married home together. And that I’m going to miss my family so much. I mean, I know it’s the right thing to do, the principled thing, going back to India. But it’s still difficult.
"And well, I shouldn’t be so, well, desirous of you. I’ve made love to you until I can barely remember my own name, and still I want you."
"Why is that wrong?" she asked in confusion. "I want you too."
"Well, not exactly wrong, but selfish of me, inconsiderate. Especially thinking about—" He sighed.
"Thinking about what?" she asked softly when he wouldn’t meet her gaze.
He shook his head. "I, I can’t even begin to tell you," he rasped, trying to pull away from her lush charms.
"What is it? You can tell me anything. After all we’ve shared, I don’t think you can shock me. Is it, well..." She whispered in his ear shyly.
"No!" He looked truly shocked. "No, no, nothing like that. That’s never tempted me. No, it’s, well..."
Ash knew he was going to have to tell her now, if only to stop her imagining even worse things than she already had about him and his proclivities.
"It’s something heard about from one of the men in the Tantra classes. He and his partners all did this well, special kind of lovemaking."
He reached over to the spigots and turned off the water. "They would lie on the tiled floor and pretend to be, er—"
Ellen was surprised to see him actually blush. She could feel her nipples peaking with unbearable excitement already. "Go on. Pretend to be what, darling?"
"They would cover themselves with massage oil and well, pretend to be snakes. You know, twine themselves together, make love without using their hands if they could help it."
"I see. Well, we have plenty of special massage oil, don’t we?" she asked with a smile.
"We do, actually. Some lovely almond oil would be just the thing."
"And the marble floor here is nice and big. Just perfect for er, slithering."
Ash swallowed hard. "Do you really think so?"
She gave a slow sultry smile. "I certainly do."
She opened the cabinet, found the large bottle, and held it up. "Do you want me to put it on you first?"
"No, you first," he whispered. "I can’t wait to touch you."
She held still as he parted her robe and shimmered it off her shoulders. She caught it before it fell to the floor, and drew out the sash, which she wove through her long blonde hair to tie it up out of the way of the oil.
He ran his hands over her reverently, smoothing the almond-scented liquid all over her from shoulders to knees. Then he turned her around and did the same to her back. She grasped the edge of the sink to steady her reeling world as his hand nudged apart her legs and he slicked her already torridly damp flesh with the oil.
He ran his fingers lightly over her entrance, teasing her, making her long for him to press inside. Instead he turned her to face him once more, and put an extra handful of oil on his fingers to slick over her delicate whorl.
Ellen opened her eyes slightly and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Who on earth was the wanton and voluptuous woman staring back at her? She was the one Ash had created, lost in the most incredible sensual delights, with no shame or regret.
She took the bottle from his hand and began to oil him, caressing him to a fevered pitch. She turned him just as he was about to grab her to him, and did his back, taking extra care with his lower back and buttocks, which she could see delighted him. She guessed these areas were as sensitive as her own. Then she slid her hand forward cup his tightly gathered pouch.
"Oh Lord, you need to pull them down, hard, now."
She blinked in confusion, but he grabbed her hand, curved her fingers over him intimately and pulled smoothly. "It helps delay me, like pressing the base or flattening the head with your palm," he explained through gritted teeth.
He moved one of her fingers to a small dimple where her own feminine core would be. "And if you press this little spot I’ll explode into a million pieces. No, not too hard— Oh drat, not now, please!"
Ash fastened her fingers around him again to tug downwards, and then spun around to pull her against him and drag her down onto the smooth marble floor. He took the bottle from her nerveless fingers and poured some of the contents onto the tiles in the small space between their hips.
"Now we’re going to writhe and twist," he said, a small smile playing about his lips, his face glowing with overwhelming desire.
She slid herself around in
the oil a bit, then lay full length, her arms relaxing down at her sides. She resisted the urge to giggle.
In fact, it was no laughing matter, but a heady feeling. For once their skin warmed the cold marble and each other, it really was the most remarkable sensation, as gliding as silk, but unyielding against her.
There was no cradling softness of a mattress, just pure raw hardness against her quivering buttocks, hips and belly as she slicked herself with the oil, avidly exploring the amazing delights of it all.
The Rakehell Regency Romance Series Boxed Set 5 Page 66
