Lady Amelia's Mess and a Half (11 page)

“It’s a miracle. My headache is going away just as you promised. Are there any other spots?”

He offered her a hand. “Sit up, my dear.”

Once he had hauled her to a seated position, he angled her away from him. Sliding his fingers along her exposed back, he stopped halfway in between her shoulders and neck then pressed.

She groaned again. “Oh, my. Right there is good, too.”

“You are tense, Lady Kennell.” His warm breath brushed her neck and fanned out across her upper back.

She swallowed, aware of her budding desire. “You may call me Bianca, or Bibi, if you like.”

His strong fingers massaged in circles, causing her to melt against him. “Bianca is a lovely name. It suits you.”

Her headache had peaked and was receding. “May I call you Jasper?”

“You may call me whatever you like.” His fingers plucked the hairpins from her coiffure. “This is likely the cause of your pain.”

He released her hair and nestled his fingers into her curls, creating lovely tingles along her scalp.

“How does that feel?” he asked.

Bibi sighed and leaned into his chest. “Heavenly. You
do
have a magical touch, Jasper.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her onto his lap. “I promised I wouldn’t resort to trickery, but I find I cannot help myself.”

Bibi wriggled around to look at him, placing her hands on each side of his face. She studied the slant of his slender nose, his rosy complexion, round cheeks. His skin heated under her touch, and he turned a darker shade of red.

“I’m not much to look at, Bianca.” His long lashes rested against his skin as he closed his eyes. He had amazing lashes; any woman would be envious.

“Perhaps you would allow me to judge for myself,” she said. “I find you pleasing to behold.”

His eyes popped open, and she stared into their fathomless depths. Glorious eyes to match his lashes. “There is only one problem, sir.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I’m too large.”

“No.” Bibi shook her head. “I’m uncertain whether to keep looking at you or kiss you.”

Jasper’s lips parted on a gasp before stretching into a broad smile. “You may gaze upon me at any time, Bianca. Let’s not miss this opportunity to indulge your curiosity.”

His full lips covered hers, so warm and soft. He kissed her as a woman yearned to be kissed. The way Bibi had dreamed of being kissed, slowly. He didn’t rush her, allowing her to drink in his kisses, focused only on the feel of his lips against hers.

Jasper Hainsworth, Earl of Norwick, was much more adept at kissing than she would have guessed.

Before Jake’s carriage came to a complete stop in front of Amelia’s town house, he threw the door open and hopped to the ground.

His jaw dropped to his toes.

Lord Norwick’s coach was parked in front of Verona House, just as Lady Banner had said it would be. Jake shook off his suspicions. There could be a hundred explanations for Norwick’s presence. He only hoped for
one
that didn’t involve Amelia and the earl locked in a heated embrace.

Jake prepared to dash up the front steps, but movement through the window drew his attention. He halted and moved closer to the house. Leaning over the iron fencing, he peered through the lace-draped window. What was that large bulk in Amelia’s drawing room?

He squinted and tried to make sense of what he saw. Was it an animal? An elephant in the drawing room?

He craned his neck. Broad shoulders and dark hair identified the bulk as Norwick. His back was to the window. Nevertheless, Jake was having a blasted hard time making sense of what was draped around the earl’s neck. He rested his hands on the fence and lifted to his toes to position himself for a better view.

A loud clearing of a throat caused him to jump. Amelia’s butler stood on the front stoop and frowned down at him. “
Mr.
Hillary, what is it you are doing peeping into her ladyship’s window?”

“Jake, you made it.” Amelia slipped around the servant and froze on the second step. “What
are
you doing?”

Jake peeked through the window once more.
Egads!
Norwick was reclining on the sofa with Cleopatra in his arms. “Uh, I… I thought I spotted a thief… in your drawing room.”

The butler sniffed. “Indeed, the only thief I see is the one stealing looks through the window.”

“Bradford, you may go,” Amelia said.

The servant’s face puckered, giving the appearance of trying to eat itself. “Yes, milady.” He spun on his heel and stalked back inside.

Amelia’s hands landed on her hips. She had changed from her costume and into half-dress. “Were you spying on Lady Kennell?”

To admit so seemed foolish in the extreme, but it was preferable to admitting to spying on Amelia. What was he about, skulking around engaging in intrigue?

He released the fence and moved toward the stairs. “Forgive me. I didn’t know what I saw at first, though that is no excuse.”

She held her hand out in invitation. “Think on it no more. Come inside.”

His forehead creased as he climbed the stairs and placed his hand in hers. “Why are Lady Kennell and Lord Norwick here again?”

Amelia drew him inside and closed the door. “Did you not get my message?”

“I received it, but apparently some details were missing. You left the ball with Norwick?”

“Yes, well, he was available and offered. We couldn’t decline without appearing rude.”

We?
“You
and
Lady Kennell?” The buffoon possessed more prowess than Jake had given him credit for.

Amelia chuckled and shook her head as if he was dicked in the nob. “Of course Lady Kennell and me. Who else? I couldn’t abandon her in her time of need.”

Jake glanced over Amelia’s shoulder at the butler glowering at him from his post outside the drawing room door. “But you are out here.”

She turned a fetching shade of pink and lifted one shoulder. “The earl is assisting Lady Kennell’s headache. His methods are a bit unorthodox, and I thought it wise to leave them undisturbed.”

The butler’s dark looks were trampling on Jake’s last nerve. “Either dismiss your man or let us retire to a different area.”

“Come this way.” Amelia led him toward the back part of the house and paused in front of the breakfast room door. “Will this do?”

The room was dark except for the moonlight falling through the arched windows.

He took her upper arm and escorted her inside before closing the door with his foot.

“Do you not wish for a candle?”

He eased her around to face him, his eyes adjusting to the dark. “You didn’t leave the ball with Norwick to—how do I say this? You and he are not on intimate terms, are you?”

Her already large eyes widened. “No! Good heavens, no! Whatever would leave you with that impression?”

The tension drained from his body, and he hugged her to him with a sigh. Her soft hair brushed his chin as her head fit snugly against his chest. “I knew Lady Banner lied.”

“Lady Banner?” Amelia wiggled against his hold, tunneling her arms up between their bodies and digging her elbows into his ribs in the process. “What did she say?”

Jake grunted and loosened his embrace to allow her to pull back. “The baroness insinuated you and Norwick were involved. She said you left the party with him.”

Her outraged squawk filled the room as she shoved away from him. “And
you
believed her?”

Jake captured her around the waist and tipped her chin up with his free hand. “I wouldn’t have come if I had believed her lies.”

Her body shook with violent tremors. “You did. You were looking through my window. You thought to catch us together.”

“I did not. I swear upon my word as a gentleman, I knew she spoke a falsehood. I refused to make the same mistake I did last year and listen to rumors. I was simply caught unaware when I discovered Norwick’s carriage outside.”

“If there is ever any doubt, you will always believe the worst of me.”

His hands cradled her head, his fingers twined in her hair. “Then clear up any doubts, Amelia. Promise me there will be no other gentlemen. Tell me you will be mine.”

“Oh!”

“And blast it all, stop doing that with your mouth unless you pose an invitation for me to make love to you right here.”

She gasped.

Damnation.
He had gone too far. Dropping his hands from her, he moved back a step, preparing his apology.

“Oh!” she said, catching him off guard. A tantalizing smile spread across her lips. “Oh, oh, oh!”

Jake’s blood forged through his veins, hot and hungry. “You
want
me to make love to you.”

Her eyes glittered like jet. “Yes.”

He required no further coaxing. His muscles tensed a fraction of a second before he sprang forward and gathered her in his arms. Their mouths collided. Her sweetness roused his appetite.

When she backed up a step, he advanced. She came up against the table and started. “Oh!”

“Good God, Mia.” Every civilized part of him fled, and he lifted her to the table, pushing her skirts up on her thighs. Bare skin met his eager fingers and he drew back. She wore no drawers, stockings, or anything under her dress.

“Was this for me?” he asked, his voice a near growl.

A shiver raced through her. “I
was
expecting you. After the garden… Well, and then there was the dancing.”

He raised her chin to look her in the eyes, his thumb caressing her bottom lip. “Do you agree there will be no others?”

A wicked smile spread across her mouth. “I don’t want anyone else.” Her pink tongue licked the pad of his thumb and almost set him afire. When her searing mouth closed over his entire digit, he closed his eyes on a groan.

“Brilliant answer, sweetheart. Neither do I.”

While she lavished each finger with attention, her hands fisted in his robes and dragged the hem upwards. She was about to receive a surprise of her own. Perhaps those bloody Scots knew what they were about running around free as the day they were born.

Her breath hitched before rushing out on a soft laugh. “Is this for me?” Delicate fingers walked down his skin and circled his shaft.

A raging fire ignited in his groin and fanned out to engulf his entire body. “Hell yes.” With a low rumble in his throat, he crushed her against him and possessed her mouth.

Her silky tendrils threaded around his fingers as he slid his hand to her nape. He placed a kiss on her chin before languorously trailing his lips down her neck. Amelia arched, providing him with better access to her tender skin. Supporting her weight, he leaned her back farther and flicked his tongue over the swell of her breast.

She sighed.

Her feminine sounds stirred him as much as when she had touched him. His length jerked and grew thicker. Slowly, he raised her again before claiming her lips, delving his tongue inside her sensual mouth. Damn, he loved touching and tasting her. He pulled back a fraction, their lips close enough to feel her heat still. Her labored breaths matched his. He covered her heart with his palm and counted each time it knocked against his hand. Amelia’s heart pounded for him. Her half-mast eyes clouded with desire for him. And the faint scent of her arousal was all for him.

***

A haze had descended over Amelia so that the only thing clear in her heart was giving herself to Jake. She had never behaved with such lack of inhibitions, but Jake awakened a side of her dormant until his touch.

“Remove your clothes,” she commanded.

He released her long enough to drag the white robe over his head.

Her fingers traced the honed muscles of his chest before smoothing over the ridges of his abdomen. Her eyes followed her fingers as if powerless to do otherwise, dropping to his member before rising back to lock with his impassioned stare.

“My goodness, you are glorious to behold,” she said.

His lips curved up in satisfaction. “Your turn.” He lifted her from the table. When her feet hit the floor, he peeled her gown from her body.

She placed her palms against his chest and gently pushed him down in the cushioned dining chair. “Please, have a seat.”

He did as she requested before hauling her to stand between his thighs, his firm hands cupping her bottom, his fingers kneading her flesh. “Are you directing our lovemaking this round?”

“M-maybe.”

With one hand on her behind holding her in place, he slid a finger along the curve of her collarbone then drew lazy circles on her skin. “Splendid. Tell me how you like to be touched.”

His husky voice heated her blood as his fingers raised goose bumps along her arms.

“Um, that feels nice.”

Flicks of his tongue over the tip of her breast wrenched a pleasurable moan from her. He pulled back with a teasing smile. “That’s not good enough, sweetheart. I want to hear what you want me to do to you.”

A flush engulfed her, and she was grateful for the dark. Jake Hillary was much less proper than she had expected, and his daring excited her to no end. Nevertheless, she had never spoken of such improper things, even if she was engaged in the scandalous act.

Instead of speaking, she lifted his hand to her lips to place a loving kiss on his palm before lowering it to her breast.

“I like to be touched here, softly.”

Jake rewarded her with a grin before meeting her lips. His fingers glossed over her nipple and she sucked in a quick breath. Tweaking the tip, he initiated a pulsing pleasure in her core then leaned forward to place a kiss on her skin.

Amelia gingerly grasped his head to keep his lips at her breast. When he took her nipple into his mouth, she released a loud sigh of pleasure. “Oh, yes.”

Her nails grazed his scalp as she threaded her fingers through his dark blond hair. Jake licked and suckled until her legs quivered. If not for his strong arms around her waist, she would collapse on the floor. He found her lips again, lifted her off her feet, and placed her back on the table.

“Shall I discover all the other places you like to be touched on my own?”

Her heart slammed against her breast bone, threatening to break through and leap from her body. She nodded. “Please?”

Jake chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. “Very good.”

His fingers traveled from her fingers, up her arms and over her shoulders before trailing along her collarbone. Black fire blazed in his eyes.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured. “So exquisite.”

His adoration wrapped her in warmth and her affection for him grew.

He cupped her breast as he had done earlier, slightly pinching her nipple until it stood erect. Tingles raced along her skin, and when his warm mouth closed around her bud, she melted against the table linens. His tongue swirled the peak of her breast in excruciating slowness and heady pleasure.

“Oh, Jake. That’s perfect.”

He switched his attentions to her other breast while still stroking the recently lavished bud. Amelia shifted her hips, hungry for his touch lower. She covered his hand with hers and guided him to caress between her thighs. The light sweep of his finger across her sensitive spot brought a blissful cry to her lips.

He smoothed his finger over it again, eliciting the same enthusiastic response. “Right there?” His voice held a teasing quality.

“Yes,” she said between panting breaths. “Right there and lower.”

Jake carefully probed her swollen flesh, inserting the tip of his finger inside her. Amelia lifted her hips to take him in, but it wasn’t enough. “I want to feel you inside me.”