Leigh Sparrow

by In Pursuit of the Black Swan

  “And why is that?” she asked, nuzzling her head against his shoulder.

  A soft timbre of yearning rang in her voice.

  He closed his eyes. God, how he wanted her. She made him feel so damned alive, even when they were screaming at each other. But he dared not touch her. Forget the fact that she could be a spy, she was also his father’s ward. He was supposed to protect her from people like himself.

  He had to get away from her now. He was only a man, a mere mortal.

  He rapped on the ceiling. “I’m stopping the coach. I’ll walk home. This is your debut, for God’s sake. Your reputation could be ruined, if it isn’t already. You should be back at Berwick’s, dancing with Wallingford.”

  Rapping again louder, the coach lurched to a halt. He shoved the door open and stepped out. “Gerald will see you home.” His face was a guarded wall.

  Alexandra gave an exasperated huff. “Oh, Edward. Must you always push me to such extreme measures?” She reached down to the hem of her skirt, tugging it up her leg. “I daresay I am at my wit’s end. You can be such a wretched killjoy.”

  Edward’s eyes flared as he looked back into the coach to see her long silk-clad leg revealed. Then he saw the lacy pink garter on her creamy white thigh—and the pistol next to it, wedged in its ornate holster.

  She quickly pulled the pistol out and aimed it at him. “Edward, get back in the coach this very instant, or I shall shoot. You have driven me to the edge of my sanity. Now you are damned well going to do as I say.”

  Bloody hell. How could he have forgotten about the gun? Especially on that gorgeous leg? It was the six-inch lady’s flintlock.

  “Damn it to hell, brat!” he shouted hoarsely. “This is not a bloody game!”

  She cocked the trigger and narrowed her eyes.

  “What do you want from me?” His voice caught in his throat. Perhaps she was working for Jonteau after all and this was his final end.

  “I…I want you to kiss me, Edward.” The vulnerable longing in her voice was his undoing.

  His eyes stared at hers. “Put down the gun first. It’s very difficult to feel romantic with a gun aimed straight at my face.”

  “First get back in the coach.” She raised her brows, and the gun shook slightly in her hands. “At once, Edward!”

  “Gerald,” Edward called out to his driver with resignation, not taking his eyes off the pistol. “The scenic route.” He climbed back inside and slumped onto the bench across from her, his legs stretched out diagonally across the narrow aisle. The coach jostled forward again.

  Alexandra still held the pistol aimed at him. “The scenic route, Edward? Do you take this scenic route very often?” She looked like she wanted to pull the trigger anyway. “Perhaps we should raise the shades so we might see something scenic?”

  He scowled. “You’ll see quite enough with them closed.”

  Her gun was slowly lowered and set out of the way. As if still expecting him to flee, she shifted her skirts, quickly crossing to sit on his lap in case her quarry, namely him, attempted another escape. She turned to face him and pulled apart the front of his coat. Her full skirts draped over both their legs. “Now do you feel more romantic?”

  Edward groaned and grabbed her shoulders, jerking her firmly against him. He paused a moment to peer down at her beautiful face, then captured her lips with his. He ravished her mouth and then finally broke away gasping. “My God, Alexandra, do you not realize what you are doing?”

  Alexandra took that moment to tug off her gloves. Then she untied his cravat and began to unbutton his shirt. “I need you, Edward. Only you. I am so tired of fighting. And I am so bloody tired of waiting.”

  His heart hammered. Hot out-of-control need surged through his body. There had always been a pull between them. He had never understood it until now.

  She fumbled with his buttons and his walls of resistance crumbled.

  He cupped her face with his palms and raised her gaze to his. “Alexandra, I cannot resist you. I beg of you, stop this.” His voice was husky and ragged. He let go of her face and pushed her hands away from his half opened shirt. “You don’t know me any more. I’m not the lad you knew at Devonwood Hall.” He squeezed his eyes shut and then looked at her. “I don’t want to ruin you.”

  Her violet-blue gaze pierced him. “You told me in Paris you could love me better than anyone else. And I believed you.” She grabbed the rest of his shirt and tugged. The fabric tore with a stark rip. “I know you better than anyone, Edward. I want all of you, more than we had in Paris. I have loved you my entire life, and I cannot wait any longer.” Tears welled up in her eyes turning her heavy lashes into wet spikes.

  Then a wrenching of moment of self-doubt crossed her face. Her lower lip trembled. “Edward, don’t you want me?”

  He stared at her, stunned by her words, but he also knew he was completely and entirely lost. This beautiful temptress had bewitched him—utterly bowled him over—and he wanted her forever.

  “Be sure, Alexandra. Be very, very sure. There is no going back. I don’t care who you have been with or what trouble you are involved in. Once I make you mine, I will never let you go.” He searched her face for any doubt. “Do you understand what I am saying? Once you belong to me, I will never give you up.”

  Her gaze locked with his and she sniffled. “I am already yours Edward. Even before that first moment in Paris when you kissed me, I was already yours, and you were mine. Surely you knew it too that night. Surely you must have felt it.”

  His gut clenched. Somehow he had known. That night had haunted him ever since.

  He reached up to her hair and crushed a glistening soft curl on the side of her cheek.

  She pulled out her combs, and shook loose her white tresses. He watched in amazement as the shining halo of curls tumbled down her shoulders and back. With both hands, he dug into her hair and cupped her head, bringing her lips to his in an overwhelming yet gentle kiss. She touched his face with her fingers, and then moved her hands down to caress his chest, carefully avoiding his bandages.

  He unfastened her cloak and pushed it back, letting it fall behind her. The stays of her gown were unfastened. The sleeves of her gown were gently slid off her shoulders. Then in one swift motion, he jerked the gown down to her waist. The soft light of the carriage lanterns washed over her lush breasts perched above her corset. Ah, yes, they were perfection. Reaching behind her with both hands, he fumbled with the laces of her corset, removing it. Pulling her to him, he cradled her in his lap and cupped her breast with his palm, squeezing it possessively, then claiming the other in the same way.

  His mouth plundered hers with kiss after kiss. His tongue ravaged the honey-sweet cavern of her mouth. His blood burned for her, raging out of control. His lips trailed down over her throat and lower, finally suckling each breast in hot possession. She arched her chest forward and mewled with pleasure.

  With shaking hands, he took her waist, lifting her over to the bench across the narrow aisle. “Now, raise up your hips, darling,” he whispered under his turbulent breath. She pressed her hands into the bench and lifted her hips. Her gown and drawers slid down her legs and then off. She shivered demurely as she sat before him so exposed.

  He tore out of his jacket, waistcoat and shirt and knelt in front of her. His hands moved down to spread her knees apart.

  She gasped, but opened her legs wide for him, and his heart flipped. Her soft womanly core was more arousing than his most erotic dreams. He reined in his raging need, gently caressing the inside of her thighs. He stroked higher until his fingers found her most secret place.

  She was burning with wet heat. Her womanly scent was like a drug to him, his final undoing.

  “Edward!” she moaned. “Don’t stop.” Her hands grabbed his bare shoulders and her nails dug into his skin.

  If only she knew how unnecessary her request was. There was no going back. He was already over the edge and his pulse hammered with fierce urgency. He tore open his trousers and,
looming over her, positioning himself between her legs. Never had he known such need. His cock was stone hard and his balls ached. Cupping her bottom with his hands, he sank completely inside her, tearing through her maidenhead.

  She jolted and sucked in a gasp at the stab of pain.

  “I’m so sorry, darling. I’m a brute,” he whispered as disgust filled him. Yet, he reeled with pleasure at the intimate evidence that she had not been with Jonteau, or any other man. He stilled to let her adjust to him.

  “Don’t be sorry,” she said shakily. “I have dreamt of this moment. I knew there would be pain…Don’t you dare hold back, Edward Devin!”

  Edward groaned and pulled her back into his arms. He relished hearing his name spoken with such passion from her lips. He relished the feel of her skin next to his and the absolute perfection of how she felt with him inside her. He moved slowly until he sensed that her pain subsided. Then gradually he thrust faster.

  “More!” she cried out.

  They soared together in a fiery inferno. He took her with a burning passion he never knew existed. He had never before given this much of himself to a woman, and she met him with equal force. He was astonished by her. He couldn’t get enough of her. She had completely and utterly stolen his heart, his body, his soul.

  She screamed his name as her body shuddered with completion. His mouth covered hers and he erupted with his own shattering release.

  They clung tightly in each other’s arms, still joined. He gazed down into her shining face. “You are mine, Alexandra. You belong to me and no one else.” His voice was so raspy it almost didn’t sound like his own.

  She wrapped her legs around him and the corners of her beautiful mouth rose into a satisfied smile. “And you are mine, Edward Devon. At last. Completely. Mine.” She pulled him closer with both her arms and legs, and a surge of joy rushed through him.

  In awe, he stared at her and held her gaze. He could never live without her now. “You must marry me now, you know.”

  Her violet-blue eyes glowed. “Because I have compromised you?” Then her brows furrowed and her eyes tightened. “Edward, are you truly sure?”

  He groaned and squeezed her closer in his arms, reveling in the sensuous feel and intoxicating scent of her. His lips found hers repeatedly, finally coming up to breathe when the coach lurched to a halt.

  “Edward…Can we elope?” she asked while slipping back into her gown.

  Her question was tempting, but he shook his head. “There is nothing I would like better. But Ashford is going to shoot me as it is. If I cheated you out of a wedding, Aunt Bertha would insist on pulling the trigger.” He stroked her shining blonde hair. “How about marrying me next week? I honestly don’t think I can wait longer than that.”

  “Only if you sneak up to my room every night until then.” She gave a lusty giggle.

  He shook his head in amazement. There was no one else like her. She was outlandish and magnificent and trouble incarnate, but he was entirely and irrevocably in love with her.

  “Don’t forget your pistol, love.”

  She smiled brightly up at him and grabbed the pistol from the corner where she had stowed it, placing it back in its holster on her creamy leg. He watched her in fascination, still not quite able to believe she had indeed carried a flintlock pistol under her gown to her own debut.

  “I’ll keep it close in case you change your mind about marrying me.”

  “I won’t change my mind.”

  “Good. Because I promised someone else I’d marry him if you turned me down, and I would much rather marry you.”

  “I’m relieved to know I’m your first choice,” he said deadpan.

  “I’m relieved I’m not marrying Captain Drood.”

  “Are you referring to Captain Melvin Drood, your very good acquaintance, also known as Captain Shark?”

  She nodded and grinned.

  “So you were telling the truth when you said you knew him. I admit, I am truly impressed that he honored you by divulging his real name. Few people know it, you know. And some have been killed for using it.” He smiled at his last exaggeration, although the more he considered it, the more it might indeed be true.

  “How did you know it was his real name?”

  “As you said, it takes one pirate to know another. So was it you who sailed with me and McPhee on Sharky’s ship back from France?”

  “It was very considerate of him to bring us back from France—free of charge, I might add,” she declared.

  “The captain Shark I know does not do anything to be considerate, much less free. There will be the devil’s price to pay, I’m sure.”

  Edward’s fingers caressed a blond tendril on her cheek. “I still need to know the whole story of how you got to France, and then got me home. I admit I’m quite baffled. I had assumed we returned on one of my own sloops.” His eyes closed as he shook his head. “As I mentioned earlier, we definitely must catch up.”

  “Yes, darling, indeed we must.”

  He shook his head; the termagant had actually called him darling. “Let’s get you into the house.” He walked her to the door. “I shall see you very soon.”

  She turned to look up at him. Huge tears suddenly filled her eyes.

  His heart wrenched in a panic. “What is it, sweetheart?”

  She stared at him and opened her mouth, then closed it again, as if in indecision.

  “What?” he demanded. “You must know you can tell me anything.”

  She sniffled and closed her eyes, wiping them with the back of her hand. Then she gazed up at him. “Edward, I love you so desperately. Please say you love me back. I know I’m asking a lot, and I can be rather difficult at times, especially when we are shouting at each other. But unless you still hate me, I really need to hear you say you love me at least a little bit.” She bit her lip. “Unless you don’t,” she added with a soft smile, “then just say the words and lie to me.”

  Edward lifted her chin and solemnly lowered his face to hers. He looked into the vulnerable pool of her violet-blue eyes and his heart flipped. “First of all, I vow I shall never lie to you. Secondly, it must be quite obvious by now that I don’t hate you,” he murmured. “I love you, brat. I’m telling you God’s honest truth. You have completely and undeniably stolen my heart.”

  “So you don’t think I’m a termagant any more?”

  Kissing one damp eyelid, he answered, “No, love. You’re not a termagant.”

  “What about the spawn of Satan?” The corners of her mouth twitched. Her eyes remained closed as she waited for him to kiss the other lid.

  “No, love, you are not the spawn of Satan,” he replied, kissing the other lid.

  Her eyes opened into dancing pools of violet-blue. “How about the evil twin?”

  “Don’t push it, darling.” He chuckled, and gave her another quick kiss on the lips. “Just know that I love you, all of you, just as you are.”

  Heaven help him, from this day forward, his life would never be the same. Alexandra was an unpredictable imp who would test him to his limits. But he loved her beyond reason and knew a part of him always had.

  “I shall speak to my father at once about marrying you as soon as possible.” He gave her a soft smile and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m afraid I can’t do without you now. You’d better go inside before I ravish you again right here on the street.

  Chapter 30

  Alexandra crept inside the quiet Mayfair townhouse, trying not to wake up the servants. Not bothering to light a candle, she found her way to her bedchamber. Slipping out of her rumpled gown, she pulled on the night rail Henrietta had laid out for her. Her bed felt cool and empty. Dreamily she thought back to Paris, how her body sang after being with Edward. Now her body felt like a veritable symphony!

  With a small amount of guilt, she recalled her excuses for leaving her debut. She told Bertha that Ashford was taking her home, and she told Ashford that Bertha was taking her home. Knowing her ruse would hold up just long eno
ugh to get her out the door, she justified to herself that it was for a very worthy cause.

  Then her door creaked open, jarring her out of her thoughts with a slight panic.

  A hand suddenly covered her mouth.

  “Don’t scream,” a voice whispered in her ear. She felt Edward’s soft kiss on her lips as he removed his hand. A few moments later a warm male body climbed into bed beside her.

  “Edward, you’re unclothed!” she squeaked.

  Her night rail was tugged off over her head.

  “And now, sweetheart, so are you. I believe you did mention something about me sneaking into your bed. I thought it was a brilliant idea.” He gathered her in his arms, molding her body next to his, and kissed her lips. His hands roamed all over her, caressing her in places she had never been touched before.

  “Edward,” she whispered. “You are truly a cad.”

  “Yes, darling. I did warn you. And now I must have my way with you!” He rolled on top of her and fitted himself between her legs. “I love you, brat,” he whispered in her ear as he drove deep inside her.

  “I love you too, my Black Swan.”

  “Sharky told you, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, darling. But I knew already, the moment I heard the name.”

  The next morning, Alexandra lay in her bed alone. Edward had slipped out before anyone in the house was up. She felt achy in very interesting places, but she couldn’t stop grinning like a fool. Fumbling around her bed, she found her twisted night rail down by her feet and pulled it back on. Restless energy filled her and she was amazed she had slept at all.

  Looking out her window, she saw the sun just rising. Throwing back the covers, she got up and changed into her trousers and jacket. Then she tiptoed out of the house for an early morning ride.

  Edward returned to his father’s townhouse at dawn. No one questioned his late hour; it had been one of many over the years. Even though his shoulder ached, he dashed up the stairs three at a time. He whistled down the hall to his chambers.