A Woman of Passion (25 page)

“I'm going to Northaw. I'll ride there tomorrow.”

“You'll do no such thing. You'll go in a carriage,” Frances insisted.

“Thank you, Frances.” William kissed her hand.

“An unmarked carriage, with a discreet driver and a guard,” Henry interjected.

“Bess, would you like Cecily to go with you? She considers herself your maid, darling.”

“Thank you, but I'd rather go alone,” Bess said as a blush dusted her cheekbones.

“Northaw has a small staff of servants,” William said, squeezing Bess's hand and watching her blush deepen.

On the drive to Northaw, Bess carefully went over the things she had packed to make sure that in her excitement
she hadn't forgotten anything. Long trained to pack up entire households, she decided to take bed linen, food, and wine. In her head Bess also went over the things she would say to the staff of Northaw. Because she had been a servant, she knew how they wished to be treated.

The moment she arrived Bess asked the housekeeper, Mistress Bagshaw, to assemble the servants. The indoor staff consisted of the housekeeper–cook, a pantryman, a footman, and two housemaids. She discerned immediately that Mistress Bagshaw ruled the roost and knew if she won her over, the others would follow.

“I have been asked by Sir William Cavendish, the new owner of Northaw, to prepare the house for his arrival. I am Mistress Elizabeth Barlow from Suffolk House, where Sir William spends his time when he is not at Court. I realize how difficult it is to serve a new master.” Bess looked directly at Mistress Bagshaw. “I will help you all I can and beg that you will help me. I understand you do not know how Sir William likes his household run. Neither do I.” Bess smiled. “We shall learn together. Thank you very much.”

She repeated her little speech for the outdoor servants, the gamekeeper, the stableman, and the grounds keeper, then she returned to the carriage to speak to the coachman and his guard.

“A Mistress Bagshaw is in charge here; please defer to her in all things. There are ample chambers on the third floor. Ask for anything you need. Thank you for a safe and pleasant journey.”

Bess, with Mistress Bagshaw at her side, soon set the maids to dusting and polishing. The food and wine were turned over to the pantryman, and the mounds of fresh bed linen carried upstairs to the second floor.

She chose a spacious bedchamber with long windows that looked out over the garden and the Chiltern Hills. She stripped the big bed down to its feather mattress, then used the bed steps to reach the dusty curtains. When all was removed Bess flung open the windows and bade the maids give the chamber a thorough cleaning.

When the room was spotless, Bess made up the bed with fresh linen, a soft woolen blanket, and a green velvet bedcover. Then the footman helped her hang her own matching bed-curtains. By the time the chamber was finished, the afternoon shadows were lengthening.

“Thank you, we'll do the second bedchamber tomorrow. I'll unpack my own trunk,” she told the maids. “Go and help Mistress Bagshaw in the kitchen.” To the housekeeper she said, “I'll just have a light supper of fruit and cheese—and perhaps a little of that delicious soup I smell.”

On the day that William was to arrive, Bess filled Northaw with flowers from the gardens. She gave Mistress Bagshaw a detailed menu for dinner, then spoke to the footman. “Sir William will most likely bring his own manservant, James Cromp, but could you please scrub out the wooden bathtub upstairs and make sure there is ample hot water ready? Sir William will wish to bathe and shave when he arrives.”

Bess tried to control her excitement, but as the hours ticked by she found she could not. It would have been easier to hold back the tide than the happiness that was building inside her. In the early afternoon she bathed and changed into a pale green gown that she knew was one of his favorites. She brushed her heavy mass of red-gold hair until it crackled and touched all her pulse points with the scent of April violets.

Some inner sense told her he was here, and already
breathless and giddy, Bess flew down the stairs and out the front door of Northaw just in time to see him arrive. Astride the black stallion, his great horsemanship was evident, and she knew he was aware of the splendid figure he cut. As Bess watched him dismount, a dozen emotions swam together, threatening to engulf her. As well as elation and excitement, uncertainty made her feel shy and tongue-tied. What would he say to her—what would she say to him?

Then suddenly she was in his arms, his lips whispering against her ear, “Why aren't you in bed?” Then his deep laughter rang out, and she saw the teasing amusement in his eyes and knew why she loved him so much.

No longer tongue-tied, her sultry laugh matched his. “You are a damned rogue!”

T
he servants gathered inside the front entrance to greet Sir William. To give him an opportunity to speak to them in private, Bess led James Cromp upstairs and showed him where to put William's luggage.

“James, I see no need for formality between us, since you will be privy to all our secrets,” Bess said with her usual candor. “I've ordered plenty of hot water, and there is a huge wooden bathtub in the next bedchamber.”

“Thank you, ma'am.” He started to unpack and hung Cavendish's clothes in the wardrobe beside hers. He glanced at the fireplace. “Would you like a fire lit tonight?”

“Yes, after dinner. It got quite cool last night when the sun went down.” Bess blushed, thinking her bed would not likely be cold tonight.

Cavendish came bounding up the stairs. As he entered the room, she saw his eyes sweep about the spacious chamber she had chosen for them. He nodded his approval.

“I just love the house,” she said breathlessly.

He gathered her in his arms, unmindful of James's presence. “And I just love you.” Bess closed her eyes as he kissed her, not quite believing that at last their time had come.

He kissed her again. “Let me get the stink of London off me.”

Bess and William had dinner alone in the private dining parlor off the hall. Northaw's only footman served them. The beefsteak was cooked perfectly, the vegetables tender, the Yorkshire pudding crisp. Bess was proud of her menu; she had planned it with a man's hearty appetite in mind.

William lifted his wine goblet. “I toast the loveliest lady in England tonight.” Then he quaffed deeply. “This claret is extremely good. I had no idea Northaw had anything in its wine cellars.”

“It doesn't.” Bess laughed softly. “I brought the wine.”

“I always knew you were a very clever girl. What other surprises do you have for me?” he asked with a rakish smile.

“Faith, my lord, 'tis the other way about. What surprises do you have for me?”

His deep laugh rolled across the table. “Sweetheart, don't tell me you're apprehensive?”

“A little,” she admitted breathlessly.

His whole heart went out to her. He came around the table and lifted her into his lap.

“William, the servants,” she protested softly.

“They won't mind a bit. I told them I was raising their wages.”

“But that's almost a bribe.”

“No, love, it is exactly a bribe. The golden spur works
every time. Watch, we'll have them eating out of our hands.”

“You're unconscionable.”

“I know.” He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek. “What do you want for dessert?”

“Strawberries, of course!”

“I'll feed them to you.” He dipped a red berry in sugar and lifted it to her lips. Her tongue came out to lick off the sugar before she took the strawberry into her mouth. His eyes showed his adoration as his desire mounted. “Luscious,” he murmured, touching his lips to hers. He repeated the ritual of strawberry and kiss until she was laughing helplessly.

“No more,” she said breathlessly.

“No more strawberries or no more kisses?” he teased.

“Come into the garden and I'll show you where they're grown.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her, then realized that perhaps she needed a little more time before they went upstairs.

Outside, dusk had fallen as they strolled hand in hand along the overgrown garden paths. Night-scented flowers filled the cooling air with their intoxicating perfume. Bess was about to tell him all her plans for the garden when he drew her into the deep shadows and took her into his arms. Her breasts heaved quickly, and she began to shiver with the intensity of her feelings. When he kissed her, her response was fierce, telling him that though she might be apprehensive, her desire was fast becoming greater than her trepidation.

His lips brushed the bright tendrils at her temple. “Bess, I've waited so long.”

She took his hand and drew him toward the house. Her heart was hammering. It was true, she had made him
wait forever, but now that their time had come, she vowed she would love him with every pulse in her body.

When they entered Northaw there were no servants in evidence, but they were beyond caring. They climbed the stairs with their arms entwined about each other, unwilling and unable to conceal their passionate desire any longer. If any had seen them, they would have known the pair were about to become lovers.

Before their heavy bedchamber door swung closed, he enfolded her in his powerful arms, then claimed her mouth with his in a kiss that was possessive and demanding and would never be denied again. Her lips parted at his insistence, and his tongue invaded the hot, sweet cave of her mouth, exploring with strokes and thrusts until she shivered at the intensity of her arousal.

Her delicious shivers prompted him to draw her closer to the fire before he began to undress her. His hands were knowing and sure as he unfastened her gown and lifted it off. Bess undid the tapes of her petticoat herself and stepped out of it, leaving herself clad in only a short shift and her stockings.

William gathered her to him again, and she felt the heat of his hands through the thin material that both revealed and concealed her curves. “Your body was fashioned to give a man pleasure.” His possessive hands fondled her breasts, and he dipped his head to kiss, then tongue her nipples through the delicate fabric. The clinging wet material turned transparent, so that the bright pink tips of her breasts were now temptingly visible. His eyes told her of the inner excitement the sight of her body brought him.

Every glance, every touch heightened her arousal and made her hands bold enough to go inside his doublet to unfasten his shirt. “William, I want to look at you and
touch you in the same way.” When he shrugged out of his doublet and removed his shirt, Bess's dark eyes drank in his male splendor. She had never seen him unclothed, and she thrilled at the realization that his wide chest and powerful shoulders had nothing to do with the padded doublets that were the fashion.

“Oh,” she gasped, as she ran her hand over his sleek muscles. “You're so hard.”

He took her hand and brushed it across his groin. “Hard as marble.”

“Let me see!” she demanded, as a hunger for the sight of him gnawed inside her belly.

William stripped off his clothes and stood before her completely nude.

“Oh, my God,” she murmured with breathless admiration. His cock was so dominant, it was a full minute before she could take her eyes from it. Then she saw the other things that made the male so different from the female.

His hips were narrow, but his thighs bulged with muscles, which had no doubt developed from long hours in the saddle. She reached out inquisitive fingers to trace a sinew and watched in fascination as his shaft reared and bucked as if demonstrating the brute force it possessed.

Bess gazed at him in wonder, her eyes slowly sliding up his magnificent male body. “You look like your stallion.”

“That's exactly how I feel—rampant!”

“Now I understand. … My God, how ignorant I was. Now I see how difficult it must have been to control your raging need. I understand your haste.”

“I was in a hurry, Bess, but I'll never be in a hurry again, sweetheart. Slowly. I'll savor you slowly.” He drew
her closer to his body and thrust his phallus against her soft belly.

Her back was to the fire, and he inched up her shift until her bottom was bared. The flames heated her naked flesh, arousing her further. Bess pulled the front of her shift up above her thighs, then she rubbed herself against him. “Mmmm, that feels so good.”

He kissed her eyelids. “Foreplay with you is like being in paradise.”

Bess thought it a lovely word. “Why, because I'm a virgin?”

He cupped her hot bottom cheeks. “That's part of it, knowing this is the first time you'll be fully aroused, knowing I'm the first to breach all your defenses. But a year from now, when you'll be anything but virgin, foreplay will still be like paradise. Your body is so lush, Bess, and your inborn sensuality so potent, nothing will stop it once I've awakened it.”

She rubbed her cheek across his dark auburn chest hair and nipped at his nipple with her teeth. “If you light a fire in me, you'll have to douse it.”

“Oh, I'll certainly try, sweetheart, but I suspect it will be more than a fire. It will be a conflagration.” He laughed down at her, then lifted off her shift and flung it into the air with a flourish. She was now clad in white lace stockings, held up by ribbon garters. “Those are the sauciest garters I've ever seen. Walk about for me, so I can get the full effect.”

“You rogue, what do you mean?”

He rolled his eyes in ecstasy, making her laugh. “There's something so titillating about red curls and green ribbons. I can't describe it. … Walk over for me and look in the mirror.”

Bess went to the mirror and blushed pink at her wanton
reflection. Her high mons was covered by a profusion of red-gold curls, while on either side a green ribbon decorated her thighs. Bess liked the naughty picture she made. He'd had her stripped down to her stockings once before, and she remembered vividly what he'd done to her that night. Only this time he didn't have to stop! This time she would let him play out his erotic games to their wicked conclusion! Bess cupped her breasts and admired them in the mirror.