Forbidden (Scandalous Sirens) (32 page)

“Mama?”

The word was wrenched from him as he flew across the room and straight into her arms.

Sobs racked her as she held him tight. She couldn’t let him go. She would never let him go again.

She saw over Raymond’s shoulder that Vaughn stood by the door. He wore a small, satisfied smile. When he saw her glance, he placed his hand over his heart, gave her a short bow, and closed the door behind him, leaving Elisa and her son alone.

* * * * *

The following morning Elisa was first to wake and lay staring up at the bed canopy, enjoying the peace in her heart and mind. It had been many long, turbulent years since she had woken to a day with nothing in it to dread.

She glanced over at Vaughn, who slept soundly beside her and then her heart gave a little leap as she glanced across the room to the settee where her son lay, his even breathing telling her that he, too, still slept.

Elisa eased out of the bed, drew a wrapper about her nakedness and crept to the settee. Going down on her knees so she could study him more closely, she took her fill. Her heart lurched with love and pride for her son. Awkwardly she lifted a hand to ward off the curl that fell over his brow. He was so handsome. In ten years time he would have every woman in England after him.

She had lost more than six precious years with him, but she would make up for them.

He stirred slightly, sighing, his lips curving into a soft smile. She smiled as well, smoothing the blanket over his side. “I love you, Raymond,” she said softly.

“I love you too, Mama,” he murmured, not opening eyes, but snuggling into the blankets.

This was a happiness she had thought unattainable, a pleasure so deep she feared it would end quickly, for no one deserved such unadulterated joy—especially wicked Elisa. But Vaughn had paid off Raymond’s aunt and uncle, so she had no fear of someone taking him away from her. Raymond, too, now he was older and understood the fears and motives of adults better, would also fight to remain in her life.

Elisa turned toward the bed and the man who had made it all possible.

He was awake, propped up on his elbow watching them, a soft smile on his handsome face. She went to him and lay down beside him, her back to him, cuddling into the warmth he gave. He held her close, his fingers weaving through hers as they watched her son together.

“He has your eyes.”

She smiled, and glanced over her shoulder. “I know.”

“A handsome young man as well.”

“You need not remind me,” she said, pleasure filling her at his words.

He laughed lightly, wincing as she glanced over at Raymond, his soft breathing filling the air. “Shhh.”

“I forgot, our son is sleeping.”

Our son.

She studied him closely. “Do you mean what you say?”

“Why would I not?”

“He is not your flesh and blood.”

“I would marry you and spurn your son?” He shook his head.

Elisa turned onto her other side so that she was facing him. “You can’t marry me.”

He frowned. “Do you refuse my proposal?”

“Yes.”

“Because you do not love me?”

“Love is for romantics. You’re a lord of the realm, Vaughn. You cannot simply marry whoever you please. You certainly can’t marry me.”

“I certainly can. The only reason I will accept for your refusal, Elisa, is if you can look me in the eye and tell me you do not love me.”

She looked away, knowing he would read the truth in her eyes. “I will destroy your life.”

“You’ve already done that, sweet one.”

She looked back at him quickly, shocked.

“You have completely changed the way I look at my life, Elisa. And part of that change is a refusal to be influenced by what people think I should or should not do. So I will marry whomever I damned well please.”

“If you do this, you will never be accepted by society again.”

“We don’t need them.”

“But…Raymond will need them when he grows to adulthood,” she said. “We cannot spurn them and allow them to cast us out.
 
It will cut Raymond off from the opportunities he should be entitled to—an education, a home, an income that will let him support a wife and children.”

“And if you do not marry me, Elisa, will you be able to provide him with every item on that list?” Vaughn asked.

Tears pricked her eyes and escaped to roll down her cheeks. She knew Raymond’s life would be bleak if she were to take care of him by herself. Her only comfort would be that she could surround him with love, unlike the last six years of his life.

“Shhh…Elisa,” Vaughn crooned. He lifted her chin, wiped off her tears and smiled at her. “I know how to solve your dilemma.”

“H-h-ow?” she asked.

“Trust me,” he said. “I have a plan.”

* * * * *

Elisa looked from Vaughn to the expensive ball gown laying across the bed.

“Natasha’s ball? We’re to go?” Elisa repeated. “Vaughn, you’re supposed to be courting the girl. You appear at her ball with a widow and her nearly-grown son on your arm and announce…what you intend to announce…Vaughn, good lord, they’ll kill us!”

Vaughn laughed a little. “What of it? We agreed, did we not? No more hiding away. No more hypocrisy. We stand up and claim our lives for what they are and hang the consequences.”

She bit her lip in indecision. They had agreed, but faced with the real prospect of confronting people who wielded the power to destroy her life and the lives of those she loved… “The doing is much harder than the stating of it,” she confessed to Vaughn. “The people that will be at Natasha’s ball—they are the same people who turned their backs on me when Roger died and at the ball a few weeks ago. I know these people, Vaughn. They have no conscience, no qualms…”

“Shhh…” He took her shoulders and kissed her temple. “Remember what we said. We know what is going to happen. We must face it this once and then it will be all over and we can live the life we want.”

She realized she was shaking. “Yes, that is what we said,” she agreed and her voice shook too.

Vaughn pushed at the fabric on the bed. “Besides, I insist I have the pleasure of seeing you in this dress and dancing, Elisa. My imagination must pale in comparison, I’m sure.” He held up the dress, displaying it for her. “Do you not itch to wear it, hmmm?” he asked, with a wicked smile.

Elisa looked at it and sighed a little. Vaughn had returned to their room just a short while ago, bringing the hint of cold weather breezing in around his boots, the big box under his arm. He had moved straight over to the bed, without even a greeting, thrown the lid of the box aside and let the delicate layers of silk and lace spill out upon the counterpane. The gown was an extravagant creation made of Tussore silk, and even in the dull afternoon light it glowed almost with a light of its own. It was a beautiful gown, made to draw the eye toward it.

“I bought it in London. A French countess ordered it, then decided against it later.”

“It’s too expensive,” Elisa said, her fingers grazing the soft material. It would feel wonderful against the skin.

“I want you on my arm and dressed to suit your true station in life, Elisa. I want you dressed like a queen,” he said, coming to her and pulling her into his arms. He pressed his hips against hers, his hands holding her against him. “Raymond is out riding with Henry again?”

Raymond had found a friend in the innkeeper’s son, a boy in his early teens who loved to ride as much as Raymond.

“And what if he is?” she asked, lifting her brow.

 
“Then I will take advantage of the moment,” Vaughn told her. With a slow smile, he turned her around so her back was to him. She felt him lift the skirt of her dress and against her bare cheeks she felt him rub his erection against her. He was still encased in broadcloth, but immediately a warmth built in her, shifting low into her belly and lower still. She became moist and warm.

His hands slid up her torso, to cup her breasts through the fabric of her gown. His thumbs caressed her nipples as they crinkled hard. Her hips thrust forward involuntarily as the ripple of excitement tingled through her, arrowing straight down to her cleft, to the nub there which began to throb. Her bottom was against Vaughn’s hips and she could feel his cock, thick, hard and beating against her. He groaned, a deep sound that tightened the building pressure inside her a degree more and one of his hands slipped down to push at her hip, to drive her more firmly against him. The tips of his fingers were only a little way from her mons and her pearl of pleasure and she ached for his touch there. She found the hem of her skirt and lifted the front of it in her other hand, while she guided Vaughn’s hand to the place where she wanted it. The long fingers slid into her hot, moist sex and stroked knowingly. She gave a small cry as the delicious surge of pleasure ripped through her and her head fell back against his shoulder. Her body quivered against his hand.

She could feel Vaughn’s heart beating frantically against her shoulder, could hear his ragged breath. There was an added satisfaction knowing he took enjoyment from pleasuring her, too.

“Yes,” she breathed out a sigh.

He bent her over the chair, her hands on the arms and her skirt over her waist. His hands stroked the tender flesh of her bottom, then she heard the quiet whisper of cloth against cloth as he unfastened his pants. The little silence was agonizing as she waited for him to enter her, eager for that first thrust that always gave her such enormous pleasure. She felt the blunt tip of his cock against her and then he thrust hard, filling her completely. He held her hips tight, grinding against her at a rapid pace, then slowing, withdrawing almost completely, driving her crazy with need.

He leaned over her, kissing her neck, his fingers seeking her pearl as he thrust within her, then slowly withdrew again.

Time and again he did this, slowly withdrawing, then filling her to her womb. The pressure built within her, to a point she could no longer take it.

Vaughn, perhaps sensing her need by her quickening movements, the tremors wracking her, and her building gaps and shortened breath, thrust three more times in quick succession, sending her over the edge, and as she cried aloud her pleasure, she heard Vaughn’s hoarse voice join her own, and his hot seed spill inside her
.

Chapter Eighteen

Elisa smiled as she looked out the carriage window and saw the blazing lights of Munroe Manor in the distance.

“I would have thought a frown or fear would appear on your face when you looked upon that manor,” Vaughn drawled from the corner of the carriage. “Hardly a smile. What are you thinking, my wicked Elisa?”

“Not what you would like me to be thinking, I am sure,” she said, with a quick smile in his direction before returning to study the limestone manor with the dozens of carriages and people milling about the steps.

“The way your mind works never ceases to astonish me, so perhaps I wouldn’t be disappointed at all. Tell me,” he coaxed.

“I am thinking how much I love you and how, as long as you are with me, nothing of what the night holds for us can touch me. Vaughn, I cannot believe how I feared these people only two days ago. And perhaps I might fear them again in a few minutes, but at this moment, here with you, I have no fear at all. I am invulnerable. I don’t know what I did to deserve this happiness, this peace. I hope it never ends.”

He leaned forward and took her chin in his hand. The swaying carriage made his fingers move restlessly under her chin. “I promise you, Elisa, I will do everything in my power to make this last for the rest of your life.”

She looked into his eyes. In the dim carriage the green of his eyes darkened. There was no devilish light there, no wicked humor. She smiled softly at him, as the carriage came to a swaying halt.

He pushed the door open as a footman unfolded the steps, climbed down to the ground, and turned to help her from the carriage.

Elisa took his hand, took her first step out of the carriage and looked around. There were a multitude of guests moving about the gravel drive, heading for the wide steps of the manor and some of them turned to look at Vaughn. One woman’s face lit up with a smile of delight, then turned to inspect Vaughn’s companion.
 
When she saw who it was that Vaughn was helping to the ground, her mouth opened and her eyes widened. She dug an elbow into the side of her own companion and quickly raised herself to whisper into his ear. The man was swiveling his head to look at them as they were swept up in the tide of people moving through the wide double doors of the manor.

Elisa swallowed a little. Her fear had already returned, shattering the glorious moment she had enjoyed in the carriage.

Vaughn’s hand pressed hers. “Remember, Elisa,” he murmured.

She looked up at him and he shook his head a little. “Remember what this night will give us,” he said, his voice low. “Don’t let them hurt you. It’s all meaningless in the end.”

She drew in a shaky breath and nodded her agreement. She took another breath, and looked around. Waltz melodies could be heard faintly in the air—the party was well under way. Waiting carriages were parked in the lane and on the lawns. Many people had obviously made the journey from London. Caroline and William would be sheltering them all for the night.