And even more terrifying was the realization that she no longer wanted to fight this terrible desire.
The nuns might have drilled into her the stark importance of a woman maintaining her virginity until she was properly married, but Raine was a realist at heart.
She had already accepted that there was no husband and no happily-ever-after in her future. And that was before she had gone missing for God only knew how long, kept in the house of a rake.
There would be no one in her future. At least no one who would care whether or not her innocence was intact.
As if sensing her inner turmoil, Philippe nibbled at the lobe of her ear, his hands lightly running down her arms.
“I can wait no longer, querida,” he whispered. “You have me mad with need.”
Mad. Yes. It was madness, she thought as he scooped her into his arms and carried her the short distance to the bed. Her gaze remained locked on his extraordinary face as she felt herself lowered onto the mattress, and then he was lying next to her, the hardness of his features unexpectedly softened with need.
Her body felt awkward as his arms gathered her close, her hands not knowing where to go until they at last settled on his shoulders. Thankfully Philippe seemed unaware of her unease as he ran his hands down her back and whispered words of encouragement.
“Yes, Raine, touch me, I need to feel your hands against me.”
His hands slid beneath her jacket and began to gently knead her stiff muscles. Slowly she began to relax beneath his touch and his lips brushed down the length of her nose and ever so lightly over her mouth.
She trembled as her lashes drifted downward. “I must be out of my mind.”
“No, meu amor, this was destined from the moment we met.”
Destiny seemed far preferable to simply lust, and as his mouth closed over hers in a searching kiss, she allowed her brief flare of sanity to melt away. Desire, as sweet and warm as the finest liqueur, flowed through her body and her fingers bit deeply into his shoulders.
Hesitantly, she began to return his kiss, a low moan lodging in her throat as he threaded his fingers through the heavy mass of her hair.
His touch was so gentle, almost reverent as he smoothed the tresses from her face. It was at complete odds with the pulsing hardness of the male body that he pressed to hers. She knew enough to realize that he was already prepared to take her, but there was no haste in his seduction.
His lips moved down the line of her jaw, pausing to occasionally take a light nip before he buried his face in the curve of her neck and breathing deeply of her scent.
Oddly, Raine had expected the heat and tension that flowed between them, but she hadn’t expected the sense of being…cherished. It undermined any lingering qualms, and she readily welcomed the scorching heat of his mouth as it returned to hers.
With a smooth motion his hands moved to cup her breasts, his thumbs teasing the tight bud of her nipple and making her shudder in reaction.
As if waiting for that telltale response he began tugging at the buttons of her jacket and pulling it aside. Her boots and trousers were just as easily dealt with and, quicker than Raine could ever imagine, she found herself completely naked.
At first she was merely relieved to have the offending garments out of the way. Her skin felt far too sensitive to bear the scratchy wool. But as he paused and pulled back, her eyes lifted to discover him regarding her with such intensity that she was swiftly embarrassed.
She would have covered herself if he hadn’t grabbed her arm and pushed it back onto the mattress.
“No, meu amor, do not hide from me,” he rasped, a hint of color marring the angular line of his cheekbones. “You are so beautiful. So…”
A groan was wrenched from his throat as he impatiently tugged on his cravat and pulled off his jacket. His movements were strangely jerky as he managed to wrestle himself out of his waistcoat and pulled his linen shirt over his head.
Raine caught her breath at the sight of his broad chest faintly dusted with dark hair, but before she could fully appreciate the spectacular sight he was lowering his head and kissing her with a growing urgency.
Still holding her arms pinned to the bed, he allowed his mouth to begin to explore her body with frustrating leisure. He lingered at the base of her throat, planting teasing kisses over the line of her collarbone and then, at last, he found the straining tip of her breast.
Raine released a shaky sigh as the pleasure blistered through her body and curled her toes. Dear God, she hadn’t known that anything could feel so wickedly wonderful. The heat of his lips as they suckled her, the rough caress of his tongue and even the gentle tug of his teeth. It was all enough to make her arch upward in a shuddering bliss.
“That’s it, Raine,” he urged against her skin. “Let me please you.”
Raine thought if he pleased her any more she might actually scream. There could surely be nothing better than this?
He taught her that she was mistaken as his hands skimmed down the curves of her body. Wherever they traveled they left behind a shimmer of excitement, like tiny fireworks flaring over her skin.
Her breath caught and held in her throat as his hands reached her legs and gently tugged them apart. Just for a moment she resisted, uncertain what he was demanding.
“Let me touch you,” he muttered, his mouth moving to tease the hollow between her breasts. “I want to feel your heat.”
Ever so slowly her legs parted and his fingers stroked the inner skin of her thighs. Raine clenched the blanket beneath her as the roaming fingers found her moist parting and stroked between the tender folds.
“Philippe,” she gasped.
His head lifted to watch her with eyes that smoldered with such heat that she nearly gasped.
“You are ready for me, meu amor. So warm and wet.”
Raine blushed as she realized that there was, indeed, an unaccountable dampness between her legs as his clever fingers continued to stroke and tease her. Her embarrassment, however, was no match for the swelling tension that clutched her body.
There was something just out of reach. A beckoning enticement that made her shiver and twist beneath his touch.
“Shh,” he murmured, “I will ease what ails you, sweet Raine.”
With her eyes squeezed shut she heard the rustle of Philippe removing the last of his clothing, and then shockingly she felt the warm weight of his body as he covered her.
His mouth touched her parted lips as he settled between her thighs, and her arms instinctively lifted to wrap around his neck. She felt the brush of his enlarged shaft against her thigh before it was at her entrance.
She had the briefest moment to consider just what he intended to do before he was pressing into her dampness with a relentless thrust.
Lost in the pleasure, Raine was unprepared for the sharp sting that stabbed through her body, and digging her nails into his back, she gave a muffled gasp.
Philippe stiffened, his head jerking back to regard her with a stunned expression.
“Meu Deus. Why did you not tell me?”
“Would it have stopped you?”
A mixture of emotions flickered over his face, all too swiftly for Raine to decipher. Then, with a low hiss, he was slowly pulling himself out of her.
Raine breathed out in relief, only to stiffen in surprise when his head dipped and he began scattering kisses along her throat, over her breast and down her stomach.
Her pain was forgotten as his lips expertly coaxed her passion back to life.
“Oh,” she breathed as his tongue dipped into her belly button and then traced ever lower. “Dear heavens…”
“Heaven has nothing to do with this, meu amor,” he muttered as he deliberately scraped her sensitive skin with the rough whiskers on his chin. “But I have no strength to deny the devil’s temptation. Not on this night.”
She had no notion what he meant, but before she could demand he explain, Philippe dipped his head lower and she gave a small scream as she felt
his tongue stroke the very heart of her.
Her hands clasped his hair as he licked and teased with a ruthless intent. A part of her was shocked by such intimacy. Good Lord, she did not know this was even a part of making love. Certainly she had never heard it spoken of, even in whispers. It seemed…decadent. But, oh, so wonderful.
A moan escaped her lips as she arched off the bed. That sweet tension was once again clenching her muscles and tugging her toward a pinnacle that she half feared to reach.
“Do not fight it, Raine,” he whispered, as if able to read her mind with the ease of a master. “Just relax.”
Relax? He had to be out of his wits. Her entire body felt as if it had been wound so tight she would explode.
He shifted, his hands holding tight to her hips as he continued his delicious assault. Raine whimpered as the tension reached a breathless point, and then shattered into a million sparks of pleasure.
“Philippe.” She sighed as she floated slowly through the velvet darkness. “That was…that was amazing….”
“That, sweet Raine, was only the beginning.”
His body slid upward and once again he was between her legs. She felt the tip of him enter her and the odd lethargy was banished.
Sensing her sudden tension, he lightly kissed her lips before pulling back to regard her with a somber expression.
“Do not fear, I will not hurt you. We will take this as slowly as you need.”
Suiting his action to his words, Philippe kept his gaze locked on hers as he gently pushed into her. Raine felt stretched and uncomfortably full, but as he promised there was no pain.
There was a final thrust and he was completely inside her. He paused, as if waiting for her to adjust to the invasion before he slowly began to move.
At first Raine simply tried to accustom herself to the strange sensations, but as his head lowered and he nuzzled at her breasts she realized that her hips were beginning to lift of their own accord.
He groaned in approval, his steady pace beginning to quicken as that wondrous pleasure spiraled through her.
“Yes, meu amor,” he breathed, his hands moving to cup her hips and angle her so he could deepen his penetration.
Raine dug her nails into his shoulders as her breath came in short gasps, the pleasure coalescing into a burst of shocking waves.
Above her, Philippe’s features sharpened as he gave one last forceful thrust, and then with a wrenching groan he collapsed on top of her.
In a rather dazed wonderment Raine held on to him with weak arms.
He was inside her. A part of her. As if they were one.
And it was the most astonishing experience of her life.
CHAPTER SIX
PHILIPPE STRUGGLED TO recall how to breathe as he rolled to the side and held Raine in his arms. He was exhausted, his body still shuddering from the intensity of his climax.
Meu Deus, he was one and thirty and fully experienced in the most exotic forms of seduction. But nothing had prepared him for the stunning pleasure, the searing heat and wild abandon that could be found in the awkward caresses of an untried angel.
A distant part of his mind was whispering that he had just taken this woman’s innocence. That he debauched and despoiled a virgin. A sin that had had yet to be laid at his doorstep.
That part of his mind, however, was lost beneath the tide of sated bliss that flooded through him.
At last managing to recapture his breath, he gazed down at Raine’s flushed countenance as his fingers absently stroked through the halo of gleaming amber curls. The sweet scent of her skin filled his senses and he was quite certain that he would never again smell lilacs without thinking of this precise moment.
“Are you well?” he queried.
A blush of color flowed beneath her skin before she buried her face into his shoulder. “Yes, yes, of course I am.”
“Raine.” He caught her chin in his fingers and turned her face upward. “Raine, look at me.”
There was a pause before the thick fringe of lashes at last lifted to reveal her eyes.
“What?”
“Did I hurt you?”
“No…” She bit off her instinctive denial as his eyes narrowed. “Perhaps a bit.”
Philippe felt an uncharacteristic twinge of remorse as he brushed his lips over her forehead. “I am sorry for that. If I had known the truth of your innocence, I would have taken greater care. There was no need for any pain.”
A tiny shiver raced through her body. “If I had been thinking clearly enough to tell you that I was a virgin then I would not have…We would not…”
“If you think that I intend to apologize for what just happened then you are wide of the mark, querida. I do not even care to know the reason you chose to give your innocence to me.” He tightened his arms, savoring the feel of her soft body pressed against him. “For this one night I intend to enjoy what is offered without counting the cost.”
His honesty seemed to disarm her as a portion of her blush eased and she gave a lift of her brows.
“Do you usually count the cost?”
“Always.”
“Why?”
His lips twisted. It was a question he never allowed himself to ask. Not since he had been fifteen and taken control of his father’s crumbling estate. Louis Gautier might be considered by all to be a most charming and gracious gentleman, but he had never possessed the least interest in his land or those servants and tenants who depended upon him. He found digging about in obscure places far more fascinating.
And of course, Jean-Pierre could never be bothered with something so trivial as rotating fields, productive wine vineyards or the cost of transporting goods.
“Because, my sweet Raine, I have a family and enormous staff who depend upon me to do so.” His fingers traced an aimless pattern on her lower back. “I may not be attempting to save the world by robbing unsuspecting travelers, but I do have my responsibilities.”
Her lips tightened at his deliberate jab, but she was not distracted. “Like your brother.”
“Jean-Pierre. Yes, damn his soul. Not only have I traveled for a fortnight to reach this dismal country, but now it appears I shall be forced to journey to France.”
She blinked at the edge in his voice. “You make it sound as if it is something terrible. There are a great number of people who would be in raptures at the thought of spending their days in such a lovely place.” Her lips twisted. “Especially if they possessed the funds to stay at the most elegant châteaus and palaces in the world.”
Philippe stiffened as she unwittingly touched the wound that festered deep inside him.
“I…dislike France.”
Her dark gaze searched his countenance; no doubt she sensed the coldness that was beginning to chase away the delicious heat that had so briefly held him in its grip.
“But, you said you were born there.”
“A perfect reason to hold it in abhorrence, would you not agree?”
A grudging smile twitched at her lips. “Perhaps to a certain extent, but not even your birth there can make me think of France as anything but a wondrous place.”
“Then perhaps I shall take you with me when I go,” Philippe said before he even knew the words were going to come out of his mouth. He did not know where they came from, or what had even prompted the strange compulsion, but once he recovered from his momentary shock he realized that it felt…right.
If he were forced to travel through detestable France in search of an unknown enemy from his past, he surely deserved to have some compensation?
Raine widened her eyes in disbelief at his words. “What did you say?”
He deliberately stroked his fingers down the slender curve of her hip. “I will no doubt be occupied with my tasks much of the time, but there will be moments I could slip away to be with you.”
“And you think I would be sitting around simply awaiting you to find a moment for me?”
“It is surely better than continuing your rather dangerou
s occupation as a highwayman,” he replied as his roaming hand reached the soft curve of her backside.
“I am not…” She snapped her lips together and gave a shake of her head. “No.”
“That is not a word often used in my presence, querida.”
Her dark eyes flashed with anger. “I will not become your…mistress. And I certainly will not travel to France.”
Philippe was genuinely startled. He had never considered himself particularly vain, but after years of having women plotting and scheming to attract his attention he was jaded enough to expect most females to be delighted at the thought of being in his company.
Especially a young woman who was no more than the daughter of a highwayman, no matter what her education.
“And what is it you object to, Raine? Becoming my mistress or traveling to France?”
“Both.”
An unexpected flare of anger raced through him. This woman had given him her innocence. He had felt her shudder her climax in his arms. And even now he could feel her body stir beneath his light touch. He had given her the first taste of passion she had ever experienced.
Not to mention the fact he could buy her anything her maidenly heart might desire.
She should be in raptures.
Instead a mulish expression was settled on her features.
“You said that you thought France so wondrous.”
“It is, but I must return to my father. He will be worried sick and there is no telling what he may do if I do not appear soon.”
Philippe gave a lift of his brows. “You believe you can return home as if nothing has happened?”
“Why should I not? It is not as if…”
“What?”
“It is not as if anything has truly changed.”
The anger within him deepened. How dare she pretend that what had occurred between them had been a meaningless mating that would be easily forgotten. There had been enough heat between them to set London on fire.
Just for a moment Philippe wondered why he cared whether or not she had been enraptured by his lovemaking. If the stupid chit preferred to return and live among the rustics as her beauty faded to nothing, then so be it. Certainly she was a distraction he did not need.
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