Heart of Courage (19 page)

She went up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his, cutting off his words. He groaned at the feel of her soft breasts pressing into his chest, the way her lips trembled then parted, inviting his tongue inside to taste her. His arms went around her, hauling her hard against him, and his erection strengthened to immense proportions.

By the gods, he couldn't resist her, couldn't turn away from the tempting butterfly kisses she pressed against his mouth, his nose, his cheeks, couldn't deny himself the feel of her plump little breasts teasing his chest.

“Go now, Lindsey, before it is too late.”

“I don't want to go, Thor. Not yet.” And then she was sliding her hands inside his coat, shoving it off his shoulders.

With a sigh, he gave in to his fierce desire, reached around to unbutton the back of her gown, moved the fabric aside and filled his hands with her lovely pale breasts. He caressed the tips, turning them to hard little buds, eased the gown off her shoulders and bent his head to taste them.

In minutes, she was lying on the ground beneath him, her riding habit askew, his hands inside her drawers. She was unbelievably wet as he stroked her, stretched and prepared her to take him, slid himself deeply inside.

Mindless with need, he began to move, driving wildly toward release, barely able to hang onto his control yet determined to give her the same burning pleasure she gave him. She reached her peak and cried out his name, and a few minutes later, he allowed himself to follow.

As he lay in the soft grass beside her, he tried to tell himself this would be the last time he touched her.

But he refused to make another vow he could not keep.

P
leading a headache, Lindsey slept all afternoon in preparation for another late night with the stallion. As she lay in the middle of her deep feather mattress, she couldn't help smiling as she thought of Thor and the way they had made love. It was as if he couldn't get enough of her, as if she were some drug he simply had to have.

Lindsey felt the same—without the guilty conscience that seemed to burden Thor. Whenever the chance arose, she intended to make love with him. She was faithfully taking the potion Samir had made and it seemed to be working. There wasn't much time left before her parents arrived back in London and her affair with Thor would have to end, but until then, she meant to enjoy every moment.

The late afternoon sun shined through the windows, warming her as she lay in her chemise, dreamily imagining her rendezvous with Thor that night.

Then her little maid, Kitty, burst into the room. “You've a visitor, miss. That big handsome brother of Mrs. Draugr's husband is here. He says he needs to see you.”

“Great heavens, Thor is here?”

“That he is, miss.” She grinned and rolled her eyes. “Not that you could mistake him for anyone else.”

Lindsey laughed. “No, certainly not.” Jumping up from the bed, she reached for the robe Kitty held out to her. “Fetch my apricot silk gown, will you, Kitty? Hurry—I need to get dressed.”

As fast as possible, she stepped into her gown and waited impatiently for Kitty to tie back her hair. “You can curl it before I go to supper,” she said. “I don't have time for that now.”

If Thor was here, it must be important. She grabbed her pretty fringed shawl off a chair in case they went outside, and headed downstairs, anxious to see what he wanted.

She found him waiting in the Red Salon. As she walked into the room, he rose to his feet, his incredible eyes seeking her out, sending a little curl of heat into her stomach.

“What is it, Thor? What's happened?”

He flicked a glance at the door and she walked over and pulled it mostly closed, leaving it open just enough to spare them from gossip.

“Tell me.”

He caught her hand and led her toward the sofa, waited for her to sit, then sat down beside her. “It is the girl, Penelope Barker.”

A thread of uneasiness slid through her. “What…what about her?”

“She was a chambermaid at Merrick Park.”

Her unease heightened. “What do you mean,
she was?
”

“She worked there for several years. Then one day she disappeared. No one knows where she went. The grooms say she was with child. The old man, Horace Nub, says the babe she carried belonged to Lord Merrick.”

For several moments, Lindsey just sat there. “Perhaps Stephen gave her money and sent her away somewhere to have the child.”

Thor looked down at his feet.

“What? What are you not telling me?”

“There were rumors…the people in the village believe…they think she was murdered.”

The breath she had just taken stalled in Lindsey's lungs. “No. It can't be true.”

“As you say, mayhap he gave her money and she just went away.”

“But you don't believe it.”

“I do not know what to believe. I know Merrick's name has been linked with murder. Now there is the chance of a murder at Merrick Park. It seems a strange coincidence.”

Lindsey bit her lip. “It does, indeed. We need to find out who is sending those messages. Someone knows the truth. We need to know who that someone is.”

Thor rose from the sofa, big and dark, and completely out of place among the delicate porcelain vases, crystal prisms, and lace doilies in the drawing room. “I will see what more I can find out.”

Lindsey rose as well. “I assume we're still meeting tonight.”

With obvious reluctance, he nodded. “I will be waiting for you in the trees.”

She glanced toward the door, turned back to him, went up on her toes and kissed him. He smelled of horse and man, a virile combination that sent soft heat into her belly. Lindsey parted her lips and his tongue swept in. Her heartbeat quickened, began to pound loudly in her ears. For an instant, she forgot she stood in the drawing room, that someone could walk in at any moment.

It was Thor who ended the kiss. His eyes were dark with heat and promise, and this time she knew there would be no need to coax him into making love to her.

Lindsey ignored the little tingle of warning that said perhaps she had finally unleashed the wolf, and she was no longer the one in control.

 

It was late in the evening before Lindsey was able to excuse herself from the guests downstairs and make her way up to her bedroom. A waxing moon rose over the landscape, lighting her way to the stable to saddle a horse. The grooms were all asleep in their quarters upstairs. All but one, it seemed.

Tobias Dare approached, a sleepy-eyed groom with a worried frown on his youthful face. “Miss Graham! I wasn't sure who it was.”

“Just me, Tobias. I have business to attend to. I hope I can count on you not to tell anyone I was here.”

“Of course, miss.” He was used to her wearing men's riding clothes, as she did so quite often. “I'll saddle Buddy Boy for you.”

She was on her way a few minutes later, riding out the back door of the barn, heading Buddy Boy off toward the copse of trees at the east side of the house.

As she knew he would be, Thor was waiting in the shadowy darkness of the grove. He said nothing as she rode up beside him, just whirled the stallion, and they set off in the direction of the ruins. She had never seen him astride the powerful black and she thought what an incredible pair they made. Thor rode bareback, using only a bridle, handling the horse so easily they seemed fused together.

Saber should be his,
she thought, and silently vowed that she would do everything in her power to make it so.

They reached the stone ruins and Thor pulled the stallion to a halt. He slid off the animal's back, walked over and helped Lindsey down from her saddle.

“I wasn't sure if I should wear men's breeches, but I wanted to be able to ride astride. I hope he'll still know I'm a woman.”

Thor assessed her from head to foot and she couldn't miss the heat in his eyes. “You are a woman, sweetheart, of that there is no doubt.”

The hunger was there, though he tried to hide it. She wondered if he would act on it, as she had imagined in the drawing room, or if he would be reticent, as he had been before.

Saber nickered a greeting. Thor took her hand and walked her over to where the horse stood. Lindsey spoke to him softly, rubbed his ears, and fed him a lump of sugar, then Thor lifted her up on the animal's bare back.

Saber's head came up. His ears twitched an instant before he settled back down for another few bites of grass. For the next two hours, Lindsey worked with the horse, climbing off and on, rubbing his neck and flanks, walking him in circles then mounting him again, walking, trotting, increasing his pace until she was able to ease him into a canter.

“Even with such a bright moon, it is too dark to run him or take any jumps,” Thor said. “Do you think you could get away sometime during the day tomorrow?”

“It won't be easy with so many guests, but I'll find a way. I shall meet you here at noon.”

Thor nodded. “In the daylight, I suppose you will be safe. You haven't seen anyone following you? No one out of the ordinary paying you any sort of interest?”

“No, of course not.”

“There is still the matter of the murders. You need to be careful, Lindsey.”

He was probably right. At least two women were dead. Perhaps three—and one of them might have died somewhere very near here.

She watched Thor lead Saber over to a grassy area to graze. All evening he had carefully kept his distance, though she hadn't missed the heated glances, the scorching desire in his eyes when he thought she couldn't see. She wondered if she had been wrong, if the wolf would remain carefully leashed and again she would have to coax him into making love to her.

She was trying to decide how best to approach the matter while he finished tethering the stallion. As soon as he was through, he began striding toward her. He didn't stop when he reached her, just bent and scooped her up in his arms.

“Great heavens!” Lindsey gasped.

His eyes locked on her face, smoldering with the hunger he no longer tried to hide. “Our work for tonight is done. The rest of the night is ours.”

Her heart jerked, then set up a clatter. The wolf was free. Anticipation roared through her as he carried her inside the cluster of ancient stones and set her on her feet. Moonlight reflected on the hard line of his jaw and glinted on the wavy dark hair that curled at the nape of his powerful neck.

With efficient yet unhurried movements, he untied her braid and spread the heavy mass of hair around her shoulders, then began to strip away her clothes.

“Tonight we will take our time,” he said, kissing each new area of skin he exposed. “I will make love to you as I should have done before.”

As he should have done?
Sweet God, each time had been better than the last. She couldn't image what he could possibly do to give her more pleasure.

He turned her, kissed her slowly and deeply. His lips felt like hot moist silk as they moved over hers, nibbling, teasing, coaxing, his tongue sweeping in to taste her, his kisses deepening until her mind spun away and she was trembling.

She moaned at the feel of his mouth moving over her bare shoulders, of hot, damp kisses trailing down to her naked breasts. He took each one into his mouth, laved and suckled until her legs felt too weak to hold her up.

Thor seemed to know. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her over and settled her on a bed of yew branches covered by a soft woolen blanket. He had planned this. There would be no need for seduction tonight.

Stripped of her clothing, lying languidly on the blanket, she watched him undress in the moonlight. He drew off his full-sleeved shirt and her pulse increased at the bands of muscle across his powerful chest. She held her breath at the sight of his flat belly and narrow hips, exposed as he slid off his breeches. His legs were long and supple, and his male anatomy—dear God in heaven—the man was built like a stallion!

He strode toward her with eyes full of purpose, kissed her deep and thoroughly, then knelt between her legs. Lindsey shifted restlessly, eager to feel that hard length inside her, craving the wild release he could give her.

Thor seemed in no hurry, just leaned down and pressed his mouth against the inside of her thigh, bent her knee and kissed the sensitive skin underneath.

“Thor…please…”

“Not yet, sweetheart. I would taste you first.” And though for a moment she didn't understand his meaning, as his mouth settled over her most feminine part, she knew.

Great heavens!

Sensation poured through her. The velvet claws of desire sank into her, gripped her, and held her in thrall. Thor tasted and suckled, used his hands and his mouth to pleasure her as she never could have imagined. Her body tightened, spun into a taut, quivering thread and finally broke free. She arched upward, crying out his name, but Thor did not stop. Not until a second climax shook her, stirring wild, fierce spasms of pleasure.

She was trembling when he entered her, surging deeply, his hard length filling her at last. He slid his hands into her hair, held himself still as he kissed her, then slowly began to move.

She heard the whisper of his deep voice in her ear. “By the gods, Lindsey, you belong to me. No matter the future, for tonight you are mine and I mean to make certain you know it.”

When the passion rose again, when the pleasure overwhelmed her and her body crested and tightened around his hard length, Lindsey knew it all the way to her soul. When he thrust deeper, took her harder, stirred her to climax, she knew there was no other man who would ever take his place, no other man who would ever fulfill her as he could.

The hard truth hit her like a fist.
Dear God, I've fallen in love with him!

Lindsey thought of all the pain that would mean, all the heartbreak, all the grief. As she reached another shuddering release, it was all she could do not to weep.

 

As promised, the following day, Lindsey left for the ancient ruins just after luncheon. She hadn't slept in the few hours left last night or early that morning, her mind too full of Thor and the terrible situation in which she found herself. In the hours since she had left him, no matter how she tried to convince herself she had been wrong—that it was lust, not love she felt for him—she knew it was a lie.

She was in love with Thor and losing him was going to break her heart.

She loved him, and because she did, she wanted to give him the gift of the beautiful horse.