Eloisa's Adventure (15 page)

“It’s
too dangerous to stay,” she countered. Once again, a small voice
asked her whether the danger came from the man before her who, once
again, tugged on her heart-strings merely by being in the same room
as her.

“He
hasn’t hurt us yet,” Simeon reminded her.

Eloisa
sighed and struggled to keep her temper at bay. “You said that your
uncle was poisoned.”

“We have
all the food we need with us,” Simeon countered and glanced at the
basket.

“No,
that’s true. However, he has got us squirrelled away in one room
while he has the run of the house,” she reminded him.

Simeon
pursed his lips and knew she was right, but couldn’t bring himself
to leave her to her own devices in a house this size while he
searched the passages. He would tear the place apart with his bare
hands if she vanished on him. Just the thought of anything
happening to her made him want to clutch at his hair and pound
something with his fists.

It
disturbed him to realise just how much she had come to mean to him
already. He hardly knew her, but found her to be excellent company.
She didn’t whine about insignificant little details, or twitter on
about useless things. Instead, she was calm, logical and very
clever. There was a spark of fire in her that he found somewhat
addictive. When he saw it, he found himself searching for ways to
provoke her again so he could witness it once more. It was damned
annoying because he didn’t want to be that attracted to her.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it because he
felt considerably more for her than any respectable host should
feel about a single, very feminine guest.

“Simeon?” she called when he lurched out of his seat and
strode toward the door.

“What,”
he called as he strode into the hallway without stopping to hear
what she had to say.

She
followed his muffled voice into the room she had tried to sleep in
last night. Once in the doorway she paused and watched
him.

“I
wonder if he was after these,” Simeon murmured and pointed to the
baskets beside the wall. “He would have to walk around the bed, but
wouldn’t want to risk waking you up.”

“In case
I screamed,” Eloisa admitted ruefully. “We said we would keep the
baskets with us while we were downstairs in the pantry.”

“Which
points to the fact that he didn’t just lock us in the room, he was
listening to what we were saying.”

Eloisa
shuddered and looked down at the full basket beside her. “We have
the food, so it is inevitable he will want to get some, if not all
of it back. Why hasn’t he fetched it already?”

She
moved to the window and looked outside. There were several large
puddles in the driveway and yard now that hadn’t been there last
night. She didn’t need to go outside to know that the ground had
been turned into a quagmire from the relentless downpour. It was
going to be difficult to get out of the yard, much less out of the
driveway so she could walk several miles to the nearest
village.

“You are
not going anywhere today,” Simeon growled in her ear.

Eloisa
spun around. She had to tip her head back to look up at him but,
when she did, she glared balefully up at him.

“I am
going. We cannot sit here and eat all the food while we wait for
that intruder to come and find us. Heaven only knows what he is
prepared to do to us just to get his food back. I think you need to
get some reinforcements into this house to help you search the
corridors. Do it by yourself and you will be asking for trouble,
army training or not.”

Eloisa
sucked in a breath and tried to calm herself down. She didn’t want
to raise her voice at him, but her temper was frayed by the
feelings that had come out of nowhere. On top of the poor night’s
sleep she had just endured, and the worry about when and where the
intruder would appear again, she was just about at the end of her
tether. “If I see him again, he will get a piece of my mind, I can
tell you.”

Simeon
grinned. “Just scream at him again, that should render him useless
enough for us to capture him.”

Eloisa
smiled in spite of her worries. “I am sorry about that. I was just
scared.”

“Remind
me not to scare you,” he teased. He liked the way her eyes sparkled
when she laughed. It was wonderful to see the tension and worry
vanish and be replaced by mirth; however temporary.

Before
he realised what he was doing, he cupped her cheek with one large
palm. It really did feel as soft as it looked, although this
morning was paler than usual. He smiled gently.

“You are
beautiful when you smile,” he whispered, his voice husky with
desire.

Eloisa
felt her stomach flip. She was mesmerised by the way lighter flecks
of brown twinkled at her when he smiled, and smiled back at him
somewhat dreamily.

“Eloisa.” The husky rumble of his voice was half-plea,
half-warning.

She
watched his head lower toward hers with an air of inevitability. If
she was honest, this was what she wanted; this closeness. She
wanted to experience his kiss just once more before she left. After
all, anything could happen today. If the rain suddenly stopped and
Simeon decided it was safe enough for them to leave for the
village, then she would never get to be alone with him
again.

Determined to make the most of the opportunity while it was
there, Eloisa sighed in anticipation and remained still. The soft
sweep of his lips against hers was tender, yet persistent. Rather
than capturing her lips briefly as he did yesterday. This morning,
the long slow glide of his lips over hers captured her breath and
then to tease her some more. She gasped and eased back a little so
she could look at him.

He would
tolerate no distance though because, after a momentary hesitation,
he followed her. She found her lips captured once more. This time
with a tender possession that gave her little choice but to cling
to his broad shoulders. He was so tall against her that she had to
tip her head back so she didn’t fall over. She clung to his shirt
with trembling fingers when she began to quiver but she still
couldn’t stop him.

As if he
understood, his arms slid around her and he drew her gently toward
him. It felt terribly wanton to be pressed so intimately against
him but she made no attempt to stop him. She could feel his very
heartbeat; taste his every breath. A low moan escaped her when his
head tipped to one side and the kiss deepened until it became
outright possession. One large palm cupped the back of her head and
held her still while his lips scalded her.

After a
momentary pause, she began to copy his movements. The low moan her
tentative actions elicited from him eased her fears about whether
she was doing the right thing or not. She had never felt this close
to anyone before. Hugs with her sister aside, nobody had ever held
her this intimately, and with this much possession. She felt
scorched; branded; yet incredibly precious.

A small
voice of reason warned her that she should not read too much into
his actions. After all, men like him probably kissed women every
chance they got. To her though, this was special. This was one of
those exquisite moments in life that not only changed her, but
changed the way she looked at the world, and the people in
it.

“God,
Eloisa,” he growled when his body responded to her proximity with a
need that was difficult to control. His lips slid down the gentle
curve of her neck. He placed on hot kiss against her shoulder then
crept back up to nibble at her ear. He lifted his head and looked
into her eyes for a moment to gauge her reaction, but didn’t
speak.

He must
have seen what he was looking for because his lips returned to hers
with a ferocity that left her clinging to his shirt with a yearning
that almost overwhelmed her. She wanted this. She wanted more. She
wanted him.

Passion
flared to life between them. Simeon was painfully aware that the
bed was only a few steps away. He warned himself that they were not
going to use it. It was foolish to even consider indulging himself,
especially with someone like Eloisa. She deserved better. She
deserved to be courted properly and be allowed to save herself for
her wedding night.

The
sudden thought of her in another man’s arms brought a fierce scowl
to his face, and anger to his heart. Desperate to retain some
semblance of control, he dragged his lips away from hers. It was a
physical wrench to leave the moist recesses of her mouth but he had
to do it before matters went beyond his tentative control
completely. The urge to recapture her lips and plunder was so
strong that he released her and lifted his hands as he back-stepped
away from her.

“God, I
am sorry, Eloisa.” Her whimper of dismay horrified him and added to
the guilt that weighed heavily on his shoulders. “I should not have
done that,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.

He
stalked toward the window before she could slap his face. Once
there, he braced his hands on the window frame and stared blankly
out into the storm outside. The trees dipped and swayed beneath the
force of the winds that continued to pummel everything and echoed
the tumultuous emotions that battered him.

To say
that he was shaken was an understatement. She was, by far, the most
beguiling woman he had ever met. In all of his adult life he had
never been drawn to a woman like Eloisa before and kissed her with
a need that drove all sanity aside. The lust that burned deep
within him was something he rather suspected would rage there
forever more, but not for any woman - just Eloisa. He closed his
eyes on a bitter curse and knew he had just made the tension within
the house considerably worse. Unfortunately, he was helpless to
find a way to apologise for it.

“I
promise that it won’t happen again,” he growled when she remained
still and silent behind him.

At least she wasn’t running out of the front door
screaming,
he thought ruefully to himself,
although couldn’t quite decide if that scenario was worse or
better.

Eloisa
swiped the tears away from the corner of her eyes when she heard
the bitter regret in his voice. She didn’t need to see his face
again to know that he wished the kiss hadn’t happened. She had
caught sight of the revulsion on his handsome features before he
had turned away and was suddenly ashamed of her behaviour. In that
moment, she felt cheap and sordid, and wished the ground would open
up and swallow her.

“I think
it is time I left,” she said firmly. She didn’t hear his swift
intake of breath because she was already out of the door by the
time he turned around.

“Eloisa!” he shouted, but she ignored him, and raced down the
stairs without slowing her pace. “Eloisa, come back!”

But she
couldn’t. Tears trickled down her face as she raced through the
house. She couldn’t breathe. She felt cheap; used; and heartbroken.
She had been enthralled by what had happened; he had been horrified
by it. Embarrassed colour flooded her cheeks as she swept across
the hallway toward the front door. Her gaze remained locked on the
front door. It was the embodiment of freedom; an escape from
everything; from the house; from him; from the fear and worry; from
the emotion that battered her tender heart.

When she
reached the door, she slid the bolt back and yanked the door
open.

“Eloisa,
don’t go out there,” Simeon shouted as he tore down the stairs
after her.

“I am
going. I am sorry I embarrassed you so much,” she gasped from the
doorway. She saw him race down the stairs but didn’t wait for him
and yanked the door open with a ferocity that matched the winds
outside.

Once in
the open air, she slammed the door behind her and lifted her skirts
off the ground before she ran for the driveway.

CHAPTER
NINE

“What
the hell are you doing?” He shouted as he slammed out of the house
after her. For someone so small, she was fast on her feet. His
chest was heaving by the time he caught up with her. When he did
finally catch her, he yanked her around to face him with such force
that she was slammed against his chest.

The
anger he was about to unleash on her suddenly evaporated at the
sight of the tears on her cheeks. He realised then just how unfair
he had been by taking the liberty of kissing her when there was so
much fear and confusion around them.

“Look, I
am sorry for kissing you. I should have kept my hands to myself,”
he growled.

“I know
that I am not of your ilk, and I am sorry for burdening you with my
presence,” she replied shakily. She flicked her now sodden hair
away from her face and ignored her tears as she looked proudly back
at him. “Thank you for your hospitality but, now that it is
daylight and I can see where I am going, there is no reason for me
to remain under your roof any longer.”

“Eloisa,
you are not going into the village,” Simeon challenged. “Let’s go
back inside before we both drown. I promise I won’t force myself
upon you again.”

Eloisa
stared at him in shock. “You did no such thing. I know that I am
not of your kind, but I made a mistake back there as well. It was
my fault as much as yours.”