«Maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference if I had stayed,» Wolfe said, shrugging. «I was never fully Cheyenne. Part of me was always fascinated by the land across the sea where my father lived. Yet I was never fully British. Too much of me belonged to campfires and wild lands. The viscount’s bloody savage.»
She made a soft sound of protest.
Wolfe shrugged again. «In the end I became neither Indian nor British. I became a man who chooses his own way, his own rules, his own life.»
«A Western man.»
He smiled oddly. «Yes. A man with neither home nor family, and a past that was too painful to keep.»
For a moment, Wolfe looked beyond Jessica. The sadness in his expression was almost tangible. Tears stung her eyes once more, for she knew what he was thinking: He was a Western man married to a woman who was all wrong for him.
«Wolfe,» she said huskily.
«Finish the brandy, elf. Then I’ll bathe your face and hands with rosewater. Afterward, if you like, I’ll hold you so that you don’t hear the wind while you fall asleep.»
Jessica started to speak, only to have Wolfe’s thumb press gently against her lips.
«Drink up. It will take the knots from your muscles almost as well as a rubdown.»
Memories of the night Wolfe had rubbed scented oil into Jessica’s aching body leaped between them like invisible lightning.
«Don’t worry, Jessi,» he said matter-of-factly. «I won’t ever frighten you like that again. You don’t have to fight for your life with me.»
Eyes closed, Jessica lifted the glass and drained the last of the fragrant brandy, wondering why she felt unhappy rather than relieved.
«Wolfe?» She coughed and swallowed quickly. «Are all — that is — are most —» She coughed again.
«Slow down, elf.» Wolfe eased Jessica back onto the pillows and tucked the fur blanket up over her breasts. «Let yourself relax.»
He reached into the basin of warm water, retrieved a linen cloth, and wrung it out. Gently he washed her face, removing the trail of tears.
«Wolfe?»
He made a questioning sound that was rather like the purr of a very large cat.
«I thought all marriages were like my mother’s,» Jessica said.
«I realize that. Now.»
«But they aren’t, are they?»
«No.»
«Even in the marriage bed?»
«Especially there,» Wolfe said, wringing out the cloth. «If there is affection between husband and wife, the marriage bed is a place of pleasure for both of them. If there is love…if there is love, I suspect that paradise holds no greater joy.»
The cloth moved gently down Jessica’s arm. For long moments, the scented cloth lay over the sensitive inside of her wrist, where life pulsed softly beneath fine-grained skin.
«Most men,» Wolfe continued as he smoothed the cloth over her palm and fingers, «aren’t drunken or cruel. They take no pleasure in a woman’s pain.»
Jessica watched Wolfe with wide, intent eyes.
«Any man worthy of the name knows his own strength,» Wolfe continued. «He knows that women are more delicately made, more slow to burn with passion; but once a woman burns, there is no fire to equal it, not even a man’s. She will share that fire generously with a careful partner.»
«Despite the pain?»
«An aroused woman feels only pleasure when she holds a man inside her body. That shared fire is the sweetest kind of burning. For both of them.»
«Fire without pain,» Jessica whispered, remembering.
A wave of desire went through Wolfe, but nothing of his response showed as he turned away to rinse the cloth once more.
«Yes,» he said, as he bathed Jessica’s other arm. «Fire without pain.»
Motionless, she watched Wolfe with clear, steady eyes, loving the black angles of his eyebrows, the slightly shaggy thickness of his hair, the bottomless indigo twilight of his eyes, and the sharply defined peaks of his upper lip.
«When the fire is finally quenched,» Wolfe continued, drawing the cloth down Jessica’s arm, «there is the serenity of lying together in the dark and knowing you have found your true mate. There is a rightness in being joined that goes all the way to the soul. There is power as well, the power of being able to summon ecstasy at will. It’s a godlike power. It’s the power of creation, of life itself.»
«Have you —» Jessica’s voice broke as sadness overwhelmed her. When she spoke again, it was a bare whisper. «Have you known that with a woman?»
«I’ve had lovers. Surely that doesn’t surprise you.»
«I wasn’t talking about your penchant for duchesses.»
Wolfe looked up from the slender fingers he wanted to kiss and saw tears magnifying Jessica’s eyes until they were extraordinary gems.
«What are you trying to ask me?» Wolfe said.
She closed her eyes and whispered, «Have you lain in the darkness with your true mate and felt the rightness of it all the way to your soul?»
«If I had, I would have married. Yet I know that kind of closeness can exist between a man and a woman.»
Jessica started to ask how Wolfe knew if he had never experienced it, but the answer came from her own knowledge.
«Caleb and Willow.»
«Yes,» Wolfe agreed. «Caleb and Willow.»
Sadness caught in Jessica’s throat. «Is — does — that is — oh, blazes,» she said despairingly, unable to order her scattering thoughts.
Wolfe’s thumb pressed lightly against her lips. «Slow down, elf. You’ll get yourself tied in knots again. Would you like more brandy?»
«I’ll get muzzled,» she muttered beneath his thumb.
He smiled gently. «I don’t think so. You’ve had only a teaspoon or two.»
When Wolfe started to get up from the bed, Jessica’s hands closed around his powerful wrist.
«Wolfe? What if — that is — do only people like Willow and Caleb find pleasure in — in touching?»
A slow, very male smile was all the answer Jessica needed.
«You don’t have to be a paragon, if that’s what you mean,» Wolfe said.
«Would you —» Jessica’s voice broke. She took a deep breath and held onto Wolfe’s wrist as though it were a lifeline. «Touch me. Teach me.»
Wolfe’s eyes widened, then narrowed in response to the elemental tightening of his body. «I won’t take you, Jessi. That would make annulment impossible. I’m the wrong husband for you. You’re the wrong wife for me. Lying with you would be the worst mistake of my life.»
For an instant, Jessica’s nails bit deeply into Wolfe’s wrist. Then she released him and lay back with her eyes closed, too ashamed even to look at him any longer.
«Sorry,» she said tonelessly. «For a moment I forgot what you thought of me. You should have let me go to the wind. It would have been kinder. But then, you haven’t felt kindly toward me since the night I ran to your room after Lord Gore attacked me.»
«Jessi, you aren’t thinking at all,» Wolfe said. His fingers went from Jessica’s pale cheek to the soft curve of her mouth. «Or have you decided you want to be pregnant?»
Her eyes flew open. They were dark with fear, haunted by nightmare.
«Don’t panic,» he said calmly. «I said I wasn’t going to take you. I meant it. We’re just wrong for each other as man and wife.»
«I can’t let you go. I’m sorry, but I can’t. The thought of lying beneath the likes of Lord Gore…» Revulsion rippled visibly through Jessica’s body.
«Not all lords are brutal sots.»
She simply shut her eyes and shook her head. Candlelight twisted and ran through her hair like threads of fire. Wolfe’s fingertips traced one of the long locks so softly that Jessica didn’t feel his touch.
«There are young, handsome, decent lords in Britain,» Wolfe said, lifting his hand. «I’ll see that Lady Victoria finds one for you.»
«I would sooner marry the wind than suffer a man’s touch.»
«And ahalfbreed is somehow not quite a man, is that it?» Wolfe asked harshly.
Her eyes flew open in astonishment. «I never said that or anything like it!»
«Didn’t you?» Wolfe leaned over, flattening his hands on either side of Jessica’s body. «First you ask me to touch you, then you say you’ll never suffer a man’stouch.AmI not a man?»
«But you are so much more than other men,» she whispered. With trembling fingertips she traced the black line of Wolfe’s eyebrows and the fierce brackets on either side of his mouth. «So much more…»
Wolfe couldn’t prevent the primitive shiver of response that went through him at Jessica’s words, at her touch, at the emotion in her eyes.
«Jessi,» he breathed, shaken. He turned his head and kissed her fingertips, then spoke before he could think better of it. «There are ways of touching that will give you intense pleasure, yet leave you still a virgin. Do you understand me?»
Slowly, she shook her head, watching him with luminous eyes.
«I can give you ecstasy without taking your maidenhead,» Wolfe said simply.
Jessica’s eyes widened.
He smiled. «Oh, elf, the look on your face…»
«Is such a thing possible?» she asked, ignoring the heat creeping up her cheeks.
«Quite possible. There will be no pain for you, no risk of pregnancy. You will be a virgin still.»
«How can that be?»
Wolfe bent down and brushed his lips against Jessica’s ear. «I’ll show you, but you’ll have to help me.»
«How?»
«I’ll show you that, too.»
13
Very gently, Wolfe’s fingers slid into the wild, silky depths of Jessica’s hair. He rubbed her scalp slowly.
«You have wonderful hands,» she said, sighing. «They quite unravel me.»
Smiling, Wolfe traced the rim of Jessica’s ear with his tongue. She made a startled sound as sensations coursed through her, leaving a trail ofgoosebumps on her arms.
«Such a tiny cry,» he said. «Did I frighten you?»
Jessica shook her head and watched him with heavy-lidded eyes. The scent of roses curled up from her unbound hair. Wolfe’s nostrils flared as he took in the scent.
«Tell me how it made you feel,» he murmured.
«Is that how you want me to help you?»
«That’s one way.»
«You made me feel shivery and yet very still at the same time,» Jessica said, watching Wolfe. «I think a rosebud must feel that way at the first touch of the sun.»
Wolfe’s breath came out in a silent rush as he fought for control. «You humble me, Jessi.»
She would have asked why, but the tip of Wolfe’s tongue was tracing her ear once more, drawing forth another delicate tremor of sensation. Her breath caught again.
«I didn’t know,» she said.
«What?» he murmured against her ear.
«How sensitive my ear was.» She sighed and stretched her neck, silently offering herself to his mouth. «And how good my Lord Wolfe’s tongue feels.»
His heartbeat paused, then deepened as sleek talons of need sank into his body. He nuzzled Jessica’s soft earlobe before he caught it very gently between his teeth. He heard her breath break, then unravel in a shivering sigh.
«And your Lord Wolfe’s teeth,» he whispered. «How do you like them?»
Jessica’s answer was to arch her neck while her hands pushed her long hair above her head, baring her neck and ear to his mouth. With a rather fierce smile, Wolfe accepted her offering. His tongue traced her ear once more, spiraling inward until she gasped at the warm penetration. He continued the rhythmic strokes until her voice broke over his name. Slowly he released her and lifted his head, enjoying the sight of her half-closed eyes and her hair fanned over the pillow.
«Is that all?» Jessica asked wistfully.
Laughing softly, Wolfe shook his head. «Where would you like to be kissed next?»
«Where else would it feel that good?»
«There are places where it will feel even better.»
Jessica’s eyes widened as she read the confidence in Wolfe. «Truly?»
«Oh yes.» Wolfe looked from her parted lips to the curves of her body beneath the covers. «But you’ll have to keep helping me.»
«Does that mean I get to bite your ear?»
The combination of mischief and innocent passion in Jessica’s voice made Wolfe laugh even as he felt the vital hardening of his body.
«It means I want you to keep telling me how it feels when I touch you,» Wolfe said.
«I’d rather bite your ear.»
He laughed, delighted by the sultry teasing in her eyes. «Not yet, Jessi. It would distract me.»
«Distraction? Is that what you call those odd butterfly shivers in the pit of my stomach?»
«In a way. Those shivers are the beginning of passion, and passion is damned distracting.»
Jessica hesitated, giving Wolfe a look through lowered eyelashes. «That’s what I was afraid of. Being passionate.»
«Are you still afraid?»
«Not with you.»
Wolfe kissed her gently. «Good, because I suspect I’ve never known a more passionate woman, but exploring your passion will require physical intimacy. Not consummation. Just…intimacy. That kind of intimacy disgusted you before.»
«Do you mean…» Jessica flushed and swallowed. «After you bathed me, when you…?»
«Yes. When I put my hand between your legs.»
Jessica covered her flaming cheeks with her palms. «Dear God, Wolfe. I don’t know if I can speak of such things.»
«Too disgusting?» he asked neutrally.
She shook her head.
«Talk to me, Jessi. The last thing I want to do is frighten or repel you.»
«How about embarrassing me?» she muttered.
«I like that idea.» Wolfe looked at the curves of her body beneath the fur cover. «I’ll keep it in mind. Now talk to me.»
«Talk?» Jessica asked in disbelief. «I can’t even think at the thought of you touching me like that. I keep remembering how I accidentally caught your hand between my legs in the bath and your skin felt so much nicer than the sponge, but remembering makes me shiver and turns my heart upside down and I can’t breathe for the velvet butterflies filling me and you’re asking me to carry on a conversation as though we’re in Lord Robert’s library discussing the relative merits of Keats and Shelley!»
As soon as Wolfe untangled the torrent of words, he smiled and kissed the hands that shielded her hot cheeks.
«You felt unbelievably soft to me, both in the bath and in the bed,» Wolfe said. «Touching you made me shiver and turned my heart upside down and I couldn’t breathe.»
Slowly Jessica lowered her hands. «Feeling like that doesn’t unnerve you?»
«It should,» he admitted ruefully, «but all I can think of is what a sweet delight you are to touch, and how brave you are to trust me despite your fears.»
«I suspect you’re saying I have no more sense than a spring rosebud.»
«I suspect I’m saying I have no more brains than the sun that unwraps the rose.» Wolfe bent down to Jessica’s mouth, stopping only when he was so close he could feel her breath flowing over his lips. «Will you let me touch you the way sunlight touches a spring bud?»
Jessica’s breath caught. «How does sunlight touch a bud?»
«Gently. Completely. Everywhere.»
Her breath came out in a soft rush that Wolfe tasted, for his mouth was covering hers. When his tongue drew a warm line over the sensitive edge of her mouth, she opened it in surprise. His tongue slid inside. Unexpected pleasure shivered through Jessica.
«I didn’t mean to shock you,» Wolfe said against Jessica’s lips. «I warned you it would be…intimate.»
«You didn’t shock me. The butterflies did.»
«Butterflies?»
«Don’t look behind you, but the parrot is back.»
«Hammer the parrot.» Wolfe cau
ght her lower lip tenderly between his teeth. «Tell me about the butterflies.»
«I think they’re made of fire, not velvet.»
«Do you want to find out?»
«Yes, but please don’t misunderstand if I’m startled and draw back,» Jessica said softly. «You don’t repulse me, Wolfe. You’re the most beautifully made man I’ve ever seen.»
«Sweet little liar. Either of Willow’s brothers is more handsome than I am.»
«Tree That Stands Alone, you are blind. When you walk into a room, all men are in your shade. You alone catch the light.»
Jessica felt the tiny shuddering that went through Wolfe and knew that her words had moved him.
«Does that mean you’ll let me kiss you intimately again?» he asked when he could trust himself to speak.
«Yes,» she whispered. «Please.»
The gliding heat of Wolfe’s kiss sent glittering sensations from Jessica’s tongue to her knees. She pressed her fingers deeply into his hair, wanting to touch more of him, wanting to be closer, wanting to feel more of the intriguing, shimmering pleasure.
The kiss deepened, strengthened. Wolfe consumed the soft warmth of Jessica’s mouth until the world shrank and began to spin slowly around her. The feeling was new but not frightening, for he was still with her, as close as her breath, closer.
He was her breath.
She wound her arms tightly around Wolfe’s neck, knowing he was strong enough to keep her safe in the world he had created with his kiss, a world of languid heat and butterfly wings brushed with fire. When he tried to lift his head, she protested and searched out his tongue with her own, wanting the kiss never to end.
Strong arms slid beneath Jessica as Wolfe lifted her from between the sheets. The flexing and shifting of his powerful body was another kind of fire caressing her. The bare skin of his chest and arms and back felt better to her palms than the soft fur on which she now lay. She tested the power of his torso, sinking her fingertips into resilient muscles, scoring him softly with her nails.
A deep sound vibrated through Wolfe as hunger knotted fiercely in his body, making his muscles cord up beneath Jessica’s exploring hands.
«Wolfe?» Jessica whispered. «Is something wrong?»
«No. I just learned that elves have tiny golden claws, that’s all.»
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