"I want to touch you," he said, his words a soft breath against her mouth. "Everywhere."
Her dress was flimsy, with few buttons and bows, and it took mere seconds for him to push it over her head, leaving her clad only in a thin chemise.
His body tightened yet again as he hooked his fingers tinder the thin straps that held up the soft slip of silk.
"Did I buy this for you?" he asked, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.
She nodded, gasping as one of his large hands closed over her breast. "When you got me the dresses. It was in one of the boxes you brought back from town."
"Good," he said, then pushed the strap over her shoulder. His lips found the elegantly stitched lace that edged her bodice, and he followed it as he pushed it down, stopping only when he reached the pinkened edge of her nipple.
She whispered his name as he kissed the dusky aureole, then nearly shouted it when he closed his mouth around her nipple and began to suck.
Caroline had never felt anything as wonderfully primitive as the sensations curling in her belly. Pleasure and need were unfolding within her, spreading from the very center of her being to every inch of her skin. She'd thought she'd felt desire when he'd kissed her that morning, but it was nothing compared to what was devouring her now.
She looked down at his head at her breast. Good Lord, he was devouring her.
She was hot, so hot, and she thought she must be burning up wherever he touched her. One of his hands was now creeping up her calf, and his trouser-clad knee was using gentle pressure to open her legs. He settled his weight between them, and the hard proof of his arousal pressed up against her intimately.
His hand moved ever higher, past her knee, along the smooth skin of her inner thigh, and then it paused for a moment, as if giving her one last chance to refuse.
But Caroline was too far gone. She could refuse him nothing, for she wanted everything. Perhaps she was wanton, perhaps she was shameful, but she wanted every wicked touch of his hands and mouth. She wanted the weight of him pressing her into the ground. She wanted the rapid beat of his heart and ragged rasp of his breath.
She wanted his heart, and she wanted his soul. But most of all, she wanted to give herself to him, to heal whatever wounds lay beneath the surface of his skin. She'd finally found a place of belonging- with him-and she wanted to show him the same joy.
And so, when his fingers found the core of her femininity, no words of refusal or protest passed her lips. She gave herself into the pleasure of the moment, moaned his name, and clutched at his shoulders as he teased her desire into a merciless vortex.
She clung to him as she spun out of control, the pressures within her building to a fever pitch. She felt taut, stretched to the limit, and then he slipped one finger inside her as his thumb continued its sensual torture on her hot skin.
Her world exploded in an instant.
She bucked beneath him, her hips rising off the ground and actually lifting him in the air. She shouted his name and then reached frantically from him as he rolled off her.
"No," she gasped, "come back."
"Shhh." He stroked her hair, then her cheek. "I'm right here."
"Come back."
"I'm too heavy for you."
"No. I want to feel you. I want-" She gulped. "I want to please you."
His face grew taut. "No, Caroline."
"But-"
"I won't take that away from you." His voice was firm. "I shouldn't have done what I did, but I'm damned if I take your virginity."
"But I want to give it to you," she whispered.
He turned on her with unexpected ferocity. "No," he bit out. "You will save that for your husband. You are too fine to waste it on another."
"I-" She broke her words off, not willing to mortify herself by saying she'd hoped he would be that husband.
But he could obviously read her thoughts, for he turned away from her and said, "I won't marry you.
I can't marry you."
She scrambled for her clothing, begging a prayer to God that she wouldn't start to cry. "I never said you had to."
He turned around. "Do you understand me?"
"I'm quite proficient in English." Her voice caught. "I know all the big words, remember?"
He gazed upon her face, which wasn't nearly as stoic as she'd hoped. "Christ, I never meant to hurt you."
"It's a little late for that."
"You don't understand. I can never marry. My heart belongs to another."
"Your heart belongs to a dead woman," she spat out. She immediately dapped her hand to her mouth, horrified by her venomous tone. "Forgive me."
He shrugged fatalistically as he handed her one of her slippers. "There is nothing to forgive. I took advantage of you. For that I apologize. I am only glad I had the presence of mind to stop when I did."
"Oh, Blake," she said sadly. "Eventually, you're going to have to allow yourself to stop hurting. Marabelle is gone. You're still here, and there are people who love you."
It was as close to a declaration as she was willing to make. She held her breath, waiting for his reply, but he just handed her her other slipper.
"Thank you," she murmured. "I'll go inside now."
"Yes." But when she didn't immediately move he said. "Do you plan to sleep in the washing room?"
"I hadn't really thought about it."
"I'd give you my bed but I don't trust Penelope not to come in and check on me in the night. She occasionally forgets her younger brother has grown up."
"It must be nice to have a sister."
He looked away. "Take the pillows and blankets off my bed. I'm sure you can fashion something comfortable."
She nodded and started to walk away.
"Caroline?"
She whirled around, hope flaring in her eyes.
"Lock the door behind you."
Chapter 17
es-cu-lent (adjective). Suitable for food, eatable.
I have often beard that even the nastiest of food seems virtuous and esculent when one is hungry, but I disagree. Gruel is gruel, no matter bow loud one's stomach rumbles.
-From the personal dictionary of
Caroline Trent
Caroline awoke the following morning to a knock on the bathroom door. At Blake's order, she'd turned the key in the lock the night before-not because she thought he would try to ravish her in the night, but because she wouldn't put it past him to check the door just to see if she'd followed orders. And she certainly didn't want to give him the satisfaction of scolding her.
She'd slept in her chemise, and she wrapped herself in a blanket before opening the door a crack and peeking out. One of Blake's gray eyes was peering back at her.
"May I come in?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"Do you have breakfast?"
"Madam, I haven't had access to decent food for nearly twenty-four hours. I was hoping Perriwick had brought you something to eat."
She opened the door. "It isn't fair for the servants to punish your sister. She must be starving."
"I imagine she'll eat well enough at teatime. You're expected to pay a visit, remember?"