Captive Pride (16 page)

A shudder of pleasure shot through Noah at her innocent invitation, but still he held himself in check. He had blundered once; he would not do it again. With patient care, he worked at arousing her once more, his hands skimming over her in an erotic play that teased her to the heights of desire and banished all thoughts of pain from her mind.

CC could not remain still beneath his burning weight. His masterful touch had transported her to rapture's precipice, and she needed him to show her the way to total fulfillment.

“Noah…” She whispered his name as she lifted her hands to frame his face and draw his eyes to hers. “Please, Noah…”

Her plea broke what little control he still had over his own passions. He began to move within her again, this time taking care to pleasure her as he went. He never stopped touching and kissing her as his hips drove in age-old rhythm into her welcoming softness, and when she reached her pinnacle of delight and cried out her ecstasy, he held her tightly. His own peak soon followed, the knowledge that he'd taken CC from pain to pleasure heightening the joy of his excitement. They crested and soared, completely immersed in the splendor of their joining, and then rested, wrapped sensuously, intimately in each other's arms.

A near-violent fury shook Matt as he stood in the study with a group of men listening to the conversation between Harley Winthrop and Colonel Thornhill praising the soldiers stationed in Boston.

“Gentlemen,” Matt interrupted abruptly, his sudden anger overwhelming him, “it's been my experience that the troops stationed here are less than the professional soldiers you make them out to be. I should think that discipline would be one of your most pressing concerns.”

Winthrop cast him a quick look of surprise as he wondered why His Lordship would be interested in military affairs. Colonel Thornhill, a tall British officer of ramrod-straight posture and a long, flowing mustache, frowned at his inference.

“How's that, Lord Kincade?” Thornhill inquired. He knew that the Kincades had only just arrived in Boston, and he wondered what possible contact this young man might have had with the troops.

“I had the occasion to rescue a young girl from two of your fine troopers several days ago,” Matt informed them coldly.

“Rescue a girl
from
our troopers?” They exchanged puzzled glances. “I dare say—”

Matt cut them off. “She had been beaten, and had I not arrived on the scene when I did, she surely would have been more sorely abused, if you understand my meaning.”

“I hadn't heard of this infraction,” Thornhill blustered. “Two soldiers attacking a young woman?”

Winthrop frowned in consideration and then shrugged, chuckling maliciously. “Must have been a colonial wench. She was probably a working girl….”

“Sir!” Matt took offense at his remark. “Indeed she was a colonial, but she was no prostitute. She went out on the streets that night to fetch a doctor for her seriously ill parent. Your fine soldiers, instead of protecting her, were the cause of her terrible anguish! She might have died at their hands.”

“Were you able to identify the soldiers?”

“No, all I saw was their backs as they ran away,” he told them scathingly.

“And the woman?”

“I don't know if she followed up on the report I made to the constable or not,” Matt answered uneasily.

Matt had wanted to check on Faith after that morning, to make sure that she was all right, but he had hesitated, believing that she wanted nothing more to do with him. When the doctor had returned to the inn the following morning, he had instructed him to attend Faith at her home and then report back to him after seeing her. Upon his return, Dr. Spalding had assured him that the young woman and her mother were doing fine. It had heartened him to know that Faith was better, but since she had sent no message with the doctor, he'd been forced to accept that there would be no further contact between them. He had directed the constable to her home, too, but the officer had never reported back to him with any findings or information, giving him reason to believe that Faith had been unable to identify her attackers.

“Evidently she didn't, Lord Kincade,” Thornhill dismissed. “I'm sure it's all blown over by now. Usually these girls lead the soldiers on, you see….”

“Our men do have their raucous moments, but all in all, they're good fighting men.”

“No, I don't see, Thornhill. And Winthrop, I'm surprised by your attitude! You call attacking a defenseless woman a ‘raucous moment'?” Matt was furious.

“Lord Kincade,” Thornhill began with a rather mollifying tone, “you've only just arrived here in the colonies. You can't possibly know the way of things yet….”

Matt's blue eyes turned icy as he faced the two officers. “Sir, I'm learning, and what I'm learning does not endear the military's presence to me!” He gave them both a curt bow. “If you will excuse me?”

And without another word, Matt strode with dignified aristocratic grace from the room. He was still angry when he reached the ballroom, and he stood stiffly in the open double doorway watching the dancers as they performed the minuet. A servant passed with a tray of champagne and he helped himself to a glass of the sparkling wine, downing it quickly in his disquiet.

His gaze searched the crowded room for some sign of Noah or CC, and noting their continued absence, he wondered at Noah's reason for wanting to be alone with her. After returning to the house as Noah requested, he had discovered that Edward had not been looking for him. The awkwardness of the moment had passed quickly as he'd joined the men in the study, but he still had been left to ponder his brother's interest in lovely Cecelia Demorest. She was definitely an attractive young woman, but the Widow Woodham seemed more Noah's type—sophisticated, worldly, sensual….

Still, Matt knew he should be pleased that Noah hadn't changed so completely that he couldn't appreciate a beautiful woman. Matt just hoped that he wouldn't hurt CC in any way, for he sensed that she was an innocent in the ways of the world, and he didn't want his rakehell of a brother taking advantage of her naiveté.

Thoughts of innocence brought Faith to mind again, and Matt traded his empty glass for another full one. Faith…he could still see her in all her beauty as she'd rested on his bed, and the memory of the way they'd parted filled him with a strange emptiness. He thought of her terror upon awakening and how he'd calmed her fears, and he remembered the kiss. Matt had alternately cursed and treasured that one tender moment. Had he denied his sudden, obsessive need to kiss her, she probably would not have fled his company, but he had given in to his desire, and he had regretted it bitterly ever since.

He drew a deep breath as his gaze darkened in serious thought. If the opinions voiced by Winthrop and Thornhill were reflective of the Crown's general attitude toward the colonies, no wonder there was so much unrest…and maybe he'd been precipitate in arguing against selling the arms to the rebels. How arrogant the British officers had seemed! He recalled then the conversation between the merchants that he and Noah had overheard in the taproom their first day at the inn and he wondered now at the veracity of their complaints. If mobs of colonists were running about the city, then maybe there was a justifiable reason for it. That conclusion gave Matt pause as he glanced about the room filled with rich, successful loyalists. He found himself wanting to know more about the troubles that were developing, but he knew that this would not be the place to learn anything objective. Deciding to hold his peace for the time being, he set aside his troubled thoughts and rejoined the crowd in the ballroom. Tomorrow would be soon enough to delve further.

 

The faint stirrings of a chilling zephyr carried the soft strains of music across the stillness of the night-shrouded grounds. Within the darkness of the summerhouse, the sound of the melody intruded, borne on a bitter breeze.

Awareness crashed through Noah's drugged senses as reality and reason returned, and the icy fingers of the wind branded him with a cold, confusing thought.
CC had been a virgin
…. The realization both alarmed and aroused him as he lay still embedded within her warmth, and he fought down an unexpected surge of desire at the remembrance of her untutored passion. Keeping tight control over his body's urgings, Noah drew a deep, steadying breath as he considered the ramifications of all that had happened. He did not doubt for a moment that she had intended to bed him. She had taunted him at the stables, and had they not been interrupted, she would have given herself to him then. Tonight had been inevitable. CC had known it and so had he. And, Noah arrogantly assured himself, no matter how much she might try to deny it, she had enjoyed it.

Cynicism returned as he thought of Matthew, John, and the arms shipment. Irrationally, he found it angered him to know that CC was willing to use her body…to sacrifice her very virginity…just to further the rebel cause. Even as it infuriated him, though, the arousal he was fighting to control would not abate. If she wanted to persuade him, why not? Perhaps if she tried just a little harder, Noah mused harshly, he just might be convinced to lower his price….

Heat throbbed anew through his loins as he gave free rein to his needs. It startled Noah to find that his desires could be so potent and forceful so soon. Never before, even with the most sensual of mistresses, had this happened to him, but he wasted no time thinking about it as he began to move within CC, driven by the need to possess her again.

Languidly secure beneath the protective warmth of Noah's big body, CC had been drowsily content, blocking out, in her sensual satisfaction, all thoughts of reality. Only when Noah hardened within her and began to move again was she forced to admit to herself what had happened. Stunned by her situation, she went rigid beneath him. How could this have happened? How could she have given herself to Kincade?

Noah felt the change in her, and believing she would willingly succumb to him once more, he murmured, “Relax, love. Let me—”

“Get off of me, Kincade!” she hissed.

Aware that his movements were stoking the embers of her forbidden desire again, she twisted her body and pushed against his chest at the same time in a burst of desperate energy, successfully dislodging him and almost dumping him on the floor.

“What the…” Noah managed to brace himself, and he drew back viciously to stare down at her.

But CC was not intimidated by his hate-filled glare and she took advantage of his momentary shock to scramble from beneath him. As she did, her gaze accidentally grazed his lower body, and she witnessed there the throbbing strength of his need for her. She bit back a groan and rushed to snatch up her chemise.

“You're the most loathsome man I've ever had the misfortune to meet, Kincade!” She refused to look at him.

“Indeed?” His mouth thinned as his eyes narrowed to silver slits. “You didn't think so just a short while ago, my dear.”

“You…” she fumed, struggling with the buttons on her undergarment.

“If anything, sweetheart”—he sarcastically drawled the term of endearment—“you were begging me….”

Emerald fury glittered dangerously in the depths of her eyes as she turned to face him, and her breasts heaved in agitated indignation beneath the soft, sheer covering of her chemise.

“The only thing I begged you to do was to stop!” she fumed, miserably aware, even as she said it, that he had spoken the awful truth. “Stay away from me from now on! You're a scheming manipulator, and I don't want anything to do with you.”

“It will be my pleasure to stay away from you, but let me warn you, Miss Demorest.” Noah spoke slowly and distinctly, lending a deadly seriousness to his words. “You leave my brother alone. Matthew is an innocent in all of this and knows nothing of your intrigue or deceitfulness. I won't allow him to be used as a pawn.”

Noah's stance was menacing as he loomed over her, and even his unclothed state did nothing to detract from the power of his regal command. CC didn't understand what he could possibly mean by saying that she was using Matt as a pawn, but she refused to be cowed by him and stood up to his anger with more bravery than most men.

“You, sir, are the user. Not me! I have forfeited something more precious than gold at your hands this night!”

“What you forfeited was forfeited willingly, CC. You will not convince me otherwise.”

Recognizing the undeniable truth of his statement, she flushed painfully and she was grateful for the concealing darkness.

“Get out…” Her tone was flat and unemotional. “Now.”

Noah dressed quickly and strode from the summerhouse without another word. He paused on the terrace to check his appearance and then reentered the house with the nonchalant air of a man who'd just taken a casual, lengthy stroll through the gardens.

CC managed to pull herself together into some semblance of respectability, but she knew there was no way she could return to the ball without first returning to her chambers and securing Anna's help. Quietly she skirted the grounds and entered the house through the servants' entrance. Racing up the back staircase, she did not relax until she'd made it safely and undetected to her bedroom.

 

Eve was angry and restless. Noah Kincade had mysteriously disappeared after leaving her side and going out on the terrace. Though she'd searched as discreetly as possible throughout the house, she hadn't been able to locate him anywhere. Determined not to let anyone know of her unwavering interest in him, she had continued to lightly flirt with her numerous suitors and had even encouraged Geoffrey a bit, though she was wont to do it. His presence at her side had been a face-saver, though, for she had not wanted anyone to suspect that Kincade had left her without a thought. When she saw Noah return to the ballroom through the French doors, she was elated and she turned quickly to Geoffrey.

“Geoffrey, darling, would you mind getting me another glass of champange?” She gave him her most seductive smile.

“Of course, Eve. I shall be right back.” Geoffrey hurried to do her bidding. He had been pleased when Kincade had disappeared from the scene and had taken full advantage of the opportunity to dominate Eve. She had been his usual attentive companion and he was eagerly anticipating the end of the ball. As he procured the glass of liquor, his blood raced excitedly as he imagined them in bed together, and he turned back in her direction, anxious to be with her again. Perhaps, he thought avidly, I can convince her to depart a little early…. But as Geoffrey started back, he saw her moving across the room toward Kincade, who had just come back inside from the gardens. He realized then that Eve had only used the pretense of wanting another drink in order to send him from her. The jealousy that had been born several hours before flared to life again as he watched her throw herself at the other nobleman.

Instead of returning to Eve's side, he drank her champagne himself, taking no time to savor it properly. The mixture of whiskey and champagne hit him hard, and he swore viciously under his breath as he saw Kincade escort Eve out onto the dance floor. A wildfire of emotion swept through him, but somehow he managed to hold himself back from making a scene. With all the dignity expected of one in his vaulted position, Geoffrey sought out another of the eligible young ladies and graced her with his presence.