More than Passion (3 page)

Thomas’s curiosity was piqued. “Yes, so? What are you getting at?”

“Wouldn’t the inn be enough of a dowry?”

Thomas rubbed his chin, thoughtful. “I suppose so, if the man had money of his own. But what good does that do me now?”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Peter asked.

“She’s a comely girl. Maybe some rich gentleman will pay to have her.”

“Thomas, you can’t mean …?”

“No! To have her for his wife, you sot.” He nodded. “Yes. This bears thinking on.”

Peter stared at Rebecca for a moment, a faraway look in his eyes. “The older she gets, the more she looks like her mother, ’cept for the eyes. Aye, she was pretty, with all that dark hair. I remember the fetchin’ picture she made when she rode. Her hair flyin’ out free behind her, her blue eyes all sparklin’. You were a lucky man, Thomas.”

Thomas stiffened at the mention of Rebecca’s mother. “Yes,” he said in a low voice. “Lucky.”

“Well, my friend,” Peter said, “ya better do somethin’ soon.”

“Don’t I know it. I better get her wed while she’s still pure.” Thomas paused to smile wryly. “A virgin would fetch a high price around these parts.”

Peter looked shocked for a moment. “Oh, yer jestin’.”

Thomas smiled widely. “Of course.”

* * * *

As soon as the diners were fed, Rebecca climbed the stairs to her chamber. She longed for some peace and quiet. Her father had spoken of marriage again. She didn’t want to marry anyone he picked out for her. She had no real suitors, but she knew there must be someone out there for her. Geoffrey’s face popped into her mind. No. He wasn’t the man for her, either. He was just a gentleman with enough coin to secure a room at Raven’s for a period of time on his way to some other amusement. She’d been wooed by other gentlemen, titled and not, and her heart remained untouched.

She really knew nothing of Geoffrey but his pleasing face. And teasing smile. And his kiss! She still tingled when she thought of it. She’d retire early. Perhaps in the solitude of her room, she could reason through her odd reaction to that particular man.

“Good evening, Becca,” Geoffrey said in her ear.

She started and turned, surprised to find him standing close behind her. “Geoffrey!”

He smiled crookedly at her. “Ah, so it’s ‘Geoffrey’ again.”

Rebecca stepped back, pressing herself against the panel of her door. He moved closer, bracing an arm above her head. With his other hand, he caressed her cheek. She gazed into his eyes, lost in their blue depths.

“I wished to speak to you at dinner, but you were much too busy,” he said, his eyes staring into hers. “Why do you think that was, Becca?”

“I—uh,” she stammered. “That is ….”

He ran his thumb slowly over the curve of her lower lip. Oh, his touch!

“I think the truth is that you can’t stop thinking about this morning,” he said, his voice a caress. “About our kiss.”

She drew in a breath, shaking her head.

“Yes,” he insisted, gently grasping her chin to tilt her head up. “And neither can I.”

The full meaning of his words penetrated her muddled mind. She could only watch as he bent his head to hers, his eyes dark. His lips touched hers fleetingly. He pulled back and ran a hot gaze over her face. His gaze settled on her lips. With a soft groan, he kissed her again, harder this time. His tongue flicked over her lips. She didn’t know what he wanted, only that his mouth was so warm, so insistent. She opened her mouth to ask him what to do and his tongue swept inside. She whimpered, more surprised than scared. She reached up to twine her fingers in the soft, thick curls at the nape of his neck, moaning in the back of her throat. The little sound seemed to drive him on. He cupped her face in his hands, slanting his mouth over hers again and again.

Geoffrey finally dragged his mouth from hers. He took her hands and brought them down to rest on his chest. “I’m sorry, Becca. I only meant to ….”

Her head lay back against the door, her lips parted as she took short breaths. “To what, Geoffrey?”

“To tease you. To … taste you again.”

She opened her eyes to stare up at him. “Geoffrey.”

His eyes seemed to smolder. “My God—” He kissed her quickly and stepped back from her. “Good night, Becca,” he said, an unknown warning in his tone.

“Good night, Geoffrey,” she breathed, gazing into his beautiful eyes.

He started to walk toward his own door when he looked back at her. “I like the way you say my name, too, Becca.”

That brought her back to her senses. She eyed him as, laughing softly, he closed his door.

She straightened. “Oh, my.”

Chapter 3

After breakfast the next morning, Geoffrey borrowed a trap from the inn and drove into town to learn precisely how long the blasted wheel was going to take. He also wanted to put some distance between himself and Becca. The way she responded to him, so giving and trusting …. When her soft mouth opened up for him, he’d shaken with his need. He was very nearly unable to stop himself. Never before had a woman affected him so.

He was no stranger to the pleasures of the flesh. He’d bedded many a wench, and never left one of them unhappy. But this girl was different. She couldn’t still be pure, not the way she’d returned his kisses. Hell, if he’d simply opened the door to her room, she’d have given herself to him fully. So what had stopped him?

Those eyes, clear and innocent one minute, then darkened with passion the next. Becca seemed almost vulnerable. Whatever had she spoken of with her father last evening? Her upset had been clear to him. No matter. If he bedded her, that thought caused him to harden, could he just leave? Or would she worm her way into his heart?

He couldn’t let that happen.

After Bennett told him he still hadn’t started on the wheel, on doctor’s orders apparently, Geoffrey returned to the inn. As he sat in the overstuffed chair in his room, he thought back to the meeting with his solicitors. They’d told him that certain entries in his accounting ledgers just weren’t adding up. There were payments made to tradesmen for repairs to Geoffrey’s estate, but he was not familiar with the firms seeking payment. It seemed however, over the last few months or so, small amounts of capital were somehow unaccounted for. They were examining their books in this regard, seeking to find any clerical error that might have been made. He had no true reason to doubt his solicitors, as the firm was well-respected and had served the Kane family for generations. He rose and stood by the window.

His room had a clear view of the stables and the rolling hills beyond. Perhaps a ride would clear his head. Suddenly, a flash of color caught his eye. There, riding like the wind, was Becca. She wore a green riding habit, but no hat was on her head. Her glorious hair billowed out behind her, unbound. His breath caught in his throat. She looked so free, so beautiful, as she galloped her black filly over the rich green of the hillside.

Intense longing flared through him. “Ah, hell.” He turned from the window and went downstairs to the parlor.

He grabbed up a book he’d started to read the previous afternoon. He sat and read quietly for a while until male voices broke through his concentration.

“I’ll get her married, Peter. Soon, and to a man of my choosing.”

“Rebecca won’t want to marry some old man you pick for her, Thomas. Think of the girl.”

“I am thinking of her. Keeping her here at the inn wasn’t enough for her mother. Sometimes, I regret …. Ah, never mind.”

“Then who do you want her to marry?” Peter asked as their voices began to fade.

Unfortunately, Thomas’s answer was lost as the two men entered the office and closed the door.

Why was Kingsley worried about marrying her off? She was a beautiful girl. Certainly she had many suitors. And what had Peter meant by “some old man?” Geoffrey refused to let it bother him.

Stay out of it.
He had enough to worry about with his accounts. He’d be leaving in a few days and she’d be out of his sights.

But would she be out of his mind? He shook his head. He wasn’t going to lose his head over a lovely face again, not after what happened with Patricia four years ago. He’d come upon her and his younger brother in bed together and apparently Geoffrey’s betrothed had been playing him false for months as she was carrying John’s baby. After a hasty wedding, John and Patricia were given rooms in one wing of Kanewood, and Geoffrey did his best to avoid them.

Now, he took what was offered to him and made no promises, Rebecca Kingsley notwithstanding. She roused a protective streak in him that he vowed to keep dormant.

The next morning, Geoffrey again set out in the borrowed trap. He’d written a letter to his mother to let her know he’d been delayed. He posted the letter in town and climbed back into the trap and started back toward the inn. When Rebecca walked out of a shop not far from where he sat, he changed his mind. She wore a green dress and a straw bonnet with a matching ribbon tied beneath her chin. Her figure was shown to advantage in the laced-trimmed, fitted bodice. How could she manage to be both sweet and sensual?

He alighted the trap to stand in front of her. With her attention focused on the full basket in her arms, she bumped into him. With a murmured beg of pardon, she looked up. Her eyes widened as she saw him.

“Hello, Becca,” he said.

She averted her gaze from his. “Hello, Geoffrey,” she answered softly.

“No maid accompanies you?”

“No. The inn can’t spare it. My father had one of the grooms take me. He’ll be back in an hour’s time.”

“Oh.” Odd, but nothing about Rebecca seemed quite the norm. “What is in the basket?” he asked, lifting the cloth tucked over the top.

Inside were some luscious summer fruits, slabs of hard cheese, and fresh bread from the bakery.

“I had to purchase some items at the market.”

“Looks like the makings of a picnic to me,” he hinted.

She shook her head. “Oh, no. This is for the inn.”

She resumed her pace and Geoffrey walked in step beside her. “Well,” he began, “it appears that I’ll miss the nooning meal. Perhaps I could purchase something from you to sustain me?”

She stopped and quirked a pretty smile at him. “You certainly don’t look as if you’re starving.”

“Oh, but I am,” he insisted. “Please have mercy on me, dear Becca?”

She laughed then, a sweet sound. “All right. You may purchase something.”

Geoffrey made a show of perusing the contents of the basket. He scratched his chin. “I don’t know. What I really want isn’t in this basket.”

“And what is that?” she asked innocently.

He looked at her then and felt the pull of her. He forced a smile of his own. “You. Won’t you share my meal?”

“I shouldn’t.”

“I’ll replace anything we eat.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “You have my word as a gentleman.”

She gazed up at him and he must have managed to play down his baser desires and only let one hunger show on his face, for she gave a small nod.

“All right. I’d like that very much.”

He relieved her of the basket and turned back to the trap. After locating a blanket from under the seat, he grasped her elbow and led her to the common.

The common was covered with thick green grass and dotted with several large shade trees. He chose a picnic spot at the edge of the common, away from the crowded main road, and handed the basket to Rebecca. With a flourish, he spread the blanket and laid it on the grass. He bowed gallantly to her, and bade her to sit. She smiled and knelt, tucking her feet beneath her.

He watched her as she removed her bonnet and grinned.

“What is it?” she asked as she ran her fingers over that glorious black hair.

“Why were you wearing that silly bonnet?”

She clicked her tongue. “To keep the sun off my face. I don’t want to get freckles.”

He blinked. She already had freckles, very appealing ones, dotting the bridge of her perfect little nose. He hid his smile and stretched out on the blanket.

They shared some of the hard cheese and she broke off a piece of bread for him. They ate in silence as Rebecca kept her eyes downcast. Even so, Geoffrey couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her hair was pulled back, a few curls escaping to brush her smooth cheeks. They appeared soft as silk. Her voice broke his trance.

“Would you like some more cheese?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” he answered. “What else do you have in there?”

When she reached into the basket and offered him an apple, he arched a brow at her. “Like Eve you would tempt me, Becca?”

Geoffrey took the apple from her hand, his fingers brushing hers. She gasped and he felt it like a caress. She chose a red, ripe strawberry for herself and she nibbled at it. He watched her mouth, her lips darkened by the succulent fruit, and lust swirled through him. He had to taste those lips.

“Becca?” he asked softly.

Rebecca turned in answer, her lips parted to respond. He bent his head to hers, brushing her lips with his own. This kiss was gentle but as delicious as the one they’d shared in the hallway. He pulled back and raked his fingers through his hair.

Geoffrey tried to slow his racing pulse. Her lips were so soft, so sweet. If he’d deepened the kiss, he wouldn’t have been able to stop.

He turned his attention to the square, watching the people come and go without much interest. After a few minutes passed, he regained his control. He stole a glance at Becca and was struck by her vulnerability once more.

“Becca ….”

She looked up at him, her eyes large and shiny with unshed tears. He chose to take another tact.

“Your hair is so beautiful, love.” He reached out to finger one thick curl near her temple. It felt incredible to him, as soft and silky as he’d imagined. He let one finger trail over her smooth ivory cheek, and she closed her eyes.

She licked her lips nervously and the action drew his eyes to her full lips. He felt as drawn to her as he had since that first night at the inn. He cupped her face in his hands, coming around to face her fully. His lips captured hers in a searing kiss. He thought to pull away, but Rebecca’s hands stole up to the nape of his neck, urging him to deepen the kiss. With a low growl, he obliged her.