by Wendy Vella
And then he was there, probing her damp entrance and sliding inside slowly. She felt stretched, the delicate tissue giving to allow him in. With a final thrust, he possessed her.
“Oh.”
“Oh good?” He grunted.
“Oh yes,” Rose sighed. It hurt, burned, but it was so wonderful to have him inside her. They were now as close as two people could be.
“Rose, are you all right?” He cupped her face, his eyes searching hers.
She managed to nod, and he took her lips in a searing kiss. The sensation as he eased out of her body and thrust back inside made her moan. Biting her lip, she tried to stop, but could not hold back as once again that wonderful feeling consumed her.
“Let go for me, Rose.”
She did, and flew into oblivion once more. Wolf followed, his body thrusting into her one last time. She fell forward onto his chest and lay there, breathless.
Rose didn’t know how long he stood there holding her, but she was certain there had never been a place she would rather be.
“Are you all right?”
Rose nodded as he pulled away. His expression was unreadable.
Unfortunately, the passion that had stripped every thought from her head had gone, and reality had come crashing painfully back.
What would happen now?
“I-I should go.” Her voice sounded husky and unused.
Rose tugged up her bodice and then pushed down her skirts. She climbed off the table and landed with a thud on the floor. Her legs appeared to have stopped working.
“Let me help you.”
“No.”
“Yes.” His hands were so gentle. Rose felt the sting of tears as he lifted her and settled her on her feet.
“I don’t know what to do now,” Rose said honestly.
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know what to do, as I have just stated. I have never done this before.”
She wanted those green eyes to tell her what he was thinking. Were his insides all twisted in knots like hers were at the moment?
“We made love, Rose, and need to discuss that,” he said in a calm voice.
“I need to go, and will leave London as soon as I-I can. This cannot happen again.”
“It will happen again.”
“No! I am not that kind of woman... well, I wasn’t.”
She was a harlot.
“You are no different from what you were when you walked into my house. Good and kind, and a beautiful woman both inside and out.”
“I can’t be the person you want me to be. I won’t be anyone’s mistress.”
“I never mentioned the word mistress, Rose, that was you.”
“Then what? You will marry me and we shall live happily in your house, and society will accept me, a nobody? That will never happen.” Her heart literally ached at what she was saying, but the words had to be spoken.
Please help me make sense of this. Tell me you care.
His silence was deafening.
“I will of course marry you.”
How could there be absolutely no expression on his face when she was unravelling faster than a knee rug?
“But you don’t want to.”
“I have just said I want to.”
“Your tone and face suggest otherwise, Captain, and I will be no burden to a man.”
His face tightened, finally showing emotion, even if it was anger.
“You will marry me because this is what I want.” His words were clipped. “And there is nothing wrong with my tone. God’s blood, woman, allow me to take time to adjust to the changes in my life.”
“Changes in your life? What about the changes in my life!”
“Don’t shriek at me.”
Rose fought for calm.
“Your family will not want us to wed, and society will ridicule you for marrying me.” She scurried sideways as he advanced on her. “Do not touch me again!”
Stopping, he raised his hands at her shriek. Rose inhaled a deep, steadying breath so next time she didn’t sound like the heroine in an extremely bad play.
“Why do you not want me to touch you?”
“Because I lose reason.”
His lips tilted slightly, and Rose thought about retrieving the knife from her boot.
“That is not a compliment!”
“I’m sure it was.”
At least he was doing up his shirt now so she couldn’t be distracted by his chest. A chest she’d run her hands all over while he’d touched her, taken her.
“There is nothing between us and never can be. You are a gentleman, and I am unsure who I am.”
“What does that mean?”
“I could be the daughter of an actress; do you wish that for you children? To not know who they come from, what blood runs through their veins?”
“We will marry.”
“No. I will leave London, and then everything will be as it was.” It was a credit to the fact that she’d been curtseying most of her life that she managed to execute a passable one now.
“Stop!”
He wasn’t calm now. In fact, he’d roared that word at her.
“You’ll stop curtseying to me and placing me on a pedestal simply because my birth is better than yours.”
“But it is! Everything about you is better than me.”
“I am not better than you, no one is. Birth does not make a person!”
“I’m not discussing this with you now... not after what we did.” Rose would not cry in front of him.
“I can still taste your skin and smell your scent. I can still feel the lush weight of your breasts in my hands, and I want to do so again... will do so. I want to wake with you in my arms and make love to you in the morning.”
“Stop it!”
How had a few words transported her back there when they had just done that? Suddenly her nipples were tight, and she was uncomfortably aware of everything from the waist down. This would never do.
“Rose, I don’t know what is happening between us, and God’s truth I am not entirely rational at the present moment—”
“You are extremely rational, and possibly the most rational man I have ever met.” She found herself defending him. “What you need to do more of is speak to your family about what you endured. Share your experiences with them, and by doing so it will help you to heal. What you endured simply changed you, Captain—”
“Wolf, for pity’s sake!”
“I do not like being roared at.”
“You were roaring at me.”
“I apologize if that was the case,” Rose said stiffly, “however, I cannot call you Wolf. It would not be right.”
“We were just closer than a man and woman can be. How can it possibly not be right! God, you’re an infuriating woman.”
They glared at each other.
“We will marry,” he said slowly. “It would be in your best interests to understand that.”
“No,” Rose said quickly.
“Yes.”
She saw that he was not to be deterred, and so did the only thing she could. She shuffled sideways several steps, and then ran like a coward to the door. Wrenching it open, she fled before he could stop her.
“Rose, come back here!”
Once she was on the street Rose kept running, all the way home. This time she would not be lured back to tutor the children. This time she was leaving and not looking back.
Rose had given herself to Wolf without reserve, and only now with distance from the disturbing man could she see the reason why. Captain Sinclair now held her heart.
Chapter 27
Four days, that was how long it had been since Wolf had seen Rose. Since he’d made love to her, and still he could not form a thought without her being in it. She had quite simply turned his world upside down, and he didn’t seem able to right it.
He’d washed himself this morning and thought of her skin and how smooth it felt to the touch. The sunrise had reminded him of her hair. Ev
en drinking his bloody tea he’d wondered how Rose took hers.
What they’d done in his house had stayed with him in vivid clarity. His need for her had not eased with distance; in fact had strengthened. He was now more determined than ever to marry her. To hell with their differences, what he felt for Rose Abernethy transcended everything. Love? Very likely. He had not conceded to that as yet, but he was getting there.
He’d hired another man to watch over her because he did not want her in danger and he wasn’t confident she wouldn’t leave London while his back was turned. Reports thus far told him she was safe and still in that bloody house. Although now at least the roof no longer leaked.
What was she thinking? Did she feel something more for him? God it was confusing. Wolf was rarely confused, but with Rose he couldn’t rationalize what was between them. All he knew was that his emotions for her were powerful.
“He’s brooding again.”
“It’s a constant state these days, and strangely coincides with the note we received three days ago explaining that Miss Abernethy can no longer teach Samantha piano. A fact she is gravely disappointed with again.”
Wolf ignored the conversation going on between his family members and continued to brood. They were riding back to London, having just been to view the mill. Everything was coming along well, and he had hopes that the veterans would be able to move in over the next two months.
He had thought it best to give Rose some time before he approached her again, but one more day was all he could allow. Wolf loved and needed his family, but that was nothing to the desperate emotion he felt for Rose. Thoughts of her consumed him, and that told Wolf he could not live without her.
How was he to convince her to marry him?
As yet he had not told his family of his decision, but knew they would be happy for him. They liked her and loved him. Perhaps they could help him convince Rose?
“Have you had any more episodes, Wolf?”
“No, Cam.” Wolf sighed. He could cheerfully strangle Rose for telling his cousins about the episode in the park. She’d done it as much out of anger as because she worried about him, and it had caused him a great deal of angst.
“I think we need to test that theory and take you to do some target practice.”
Wolf tried not to wince at Eden’s words.
“Are you having another episode now just because I mentioned guns? I’m sure you just winced.”
“No, Cam, and I do not have episodes. It was something that happened in the park due to the loud, unexpected noise and will likely not happen again.” Wolf glared at his cousin. “If it does I shall alert you.”
“But how will we know? It’s not as if one of us can be with you always... although, perhaps—”
“No.” Wolf cut Dev off. “I love you all, but have no wish to share your company every minute of every day.”
They fell silent, but he knew this was merely to collect their thoughts and come up with a new scheme.
Since that day he’d made love to Rose, his family had increased their vigilance over him. For four days he had been watched, questioned, and given more of Essie’s potions, all simply because Rose had told them the truth, a truth he’d hoped to keep from them, and it had to stop.
“I really am well, so there is no need for this constant vigilance. And don’t enter my bedchamber again at such an hour; seeing your face is not a pleasant way to wake up.”
“I was checking on how you’d slept,” Cam said, unrepentant.
Wolf sighed. “I really am all right, you know. Yes, things take me back there sometimes, but for the most the episodes are lessening.”
“So you say, but you are not exactly forthcoming with these kinds of things, so you will understand if we have doubts.”
“Had your Miss Abernethy not told us in a loud, clear, and may I add, annoyed voice that day in the park, then I doubt we would have ever known how badly you were suffering, Wolf.”
“That’s not exactly true, Cam, as we’ve all had unease at times, awareness that things were not as they should be with Wolf, and yet he refused to tell us why?”
Eden had spoken and Wolf felt humbled that they loved him so much, even if they annoyed him beyond reason.
“We should have used those thumbscrews we found in the dungeons at Raven Castle,” James said.
“Did I ever tell you that I spent time as a sniper?” The words left Wolf’s mouth before he could stop them.
“Speak to your family about what you endured.” Rose had said those words, and here he was doing as she told him. He would tell her that when he saw her tomorrow.
“Christ, were you really?” Dev asked.
“I remember the snipers,” James said.
Wolf nodded.
“Is the memory of that hard?” Cam asked.
“Yes.” He wasn’t ready to discuss what he’d seen in detail, but it was a start that he’d shared a small snippet of his army life.
“How did you get injured?” Max asked.
James, Dev, and Wolf were in the lead, with Cam, Max, and Eden at the rear. She’d insisted on coming today, her intent to inspect the mill they were constantly discussing.
“I was fighting with my men and took a bullet. We were massively outnumbered, but they fought with every ounce of pride they had. Hungry, some ill, we were weakened, but kept going. I called retreat when I realized we were outnumbered and the other regiment was not arriving as I had believed. We did, and as I ran, I took the bullet.”
“And you were no doubt the last man to retreat?” Dev said solemnly.
“As you would be as their leader.”
“Aye,” both James and Dev said.
“How did they get you back to safety?” Cam asked.
“I ran, crawled, and roared at them to keep going. Two refused and helped me. One took a bullet and never made it.”
The silence around him told Wolf his words had affected them.
“I’m sorry I—”
“No,” Max said. “Never apologize for sharing with us what you endured. We and others should know about it. I fear for the most it is glorified here in London, far from the fighting. James and Dev rarely speak of their time on the front either.”
Wolf nodded, and as he rode between two men who knew what it was to be bloodied and in battle, he felt comforted by their presence, especially when they moved closer and their thighs touched. The solidarity helped Wolf. Rose had been right, he should not have kept this from them. The telling had been hard, and yet something had eased inside him while doing so.
“Thank you for sharing with us, Wolf.” Eden sniffled loudly.
“Watering pot,” Cam said, and looking over his shoulder, Wolf watched the brother and sister share a brief hug.
“Preparations are coming along well for the concert, Wolf. With only a week to go, I am hoping it will run smoothly. ’Tis a shame that only Eden can perform, as your Miss Abernethy has declined.” James broke the heavy silence.
“Rose will perform,” he said, vowing to ensure she did so. “It will go a long way to funding another house for the veterans in London, and I cannot thank you enough, James.”
“Eden and the others are enjoying the organizing, and I am enjoying the fact that we will be getting some of those idiots to do what they should have long ago. How will you get Miss Abernethy to perform when clearly she has no wish to do so… or I suspect see you?”
“I will ask her.”
“Are you that charming then, that she’ll simply acquiesce to your request?”
“He is quite charming,” Cam said. “The Winslow ladies certainly think so, and several others.”
“I will speak with her,” Wolf said again.
“What exactly is going on between you two?” Cam asked. “Something happened that day in the park, I’m sure of it, but not what was the catalyst.”
“That is between Rose and me.”
“So something did happen?”
Wolf nodded, but did not elaborate, and wo
uld not do so until he had spoken with Rose.
“Well don’t be a bullheaded fool. If you like the woman, tell her,” Dev said.
“Yes. She may have this… thing, for want of a better word, about her birth, however, none of us do, so make sure she is aware you care for her,” Eden said. “Don’t be a muttonhead. Tell her clearly, or you will lose her.”
“I beg your pardon, is there a particular reason I am under attack when I have just bared my soul, as, I will add, you have wished me to for some time?”
“Not really, just that I think she would make you happy.”
“I think she could too,” Wolf said slowly.
“Acknowledgement,” Dev said, “how wonderful.”
“But why was Miss Abernethy angry, I wonder?” Cam mused.
“He said something foolish, is my guess,” Max suggested.
“I had wondered,” Cam added.
“Please desist in chewing over my life as if it were a tasty bone,” Wolf said.
“Clearly something occurred, as Wolf has suggested it did, but what?” Dev wondered, ignoring him.
This particular conversation had been circulating through the family since the day he’d made love to Rose. The day he’d kissed her lovely, lush flesh and felt her shudder to completion in his arms. No amount of noncommittal comment on his part made the slightest bit of difference, as they simply continued to discuss the matter themselves... loudly.
“I think he said something to have her running away again. In the condition he was in, it’s likely he did not give a great deal of thought to what came out of his mouth. She certainly looked like Emily can when she’s angry.”
Wolf shot Cam a look that would have quelled any of his soldiers. His cousin simply smiled at him.
“I’m leaning toward that also,” Eden said.
“For pity’s sake have you nothing better to do than meddle in my affairs!”
“Ah, so you admit there is an affair to meddle in?” Cam asked.
Wolf raised his eyes to the sky and battled the need to roar.
“There is another matter to consider.”
“Christ,” Wolf muttered.
“Is there? By God, do tell, Eden,” Cam urged.
