Nicole Jordan (28 page)

He had planned to carry her to his bed but suddenly knew he couldn’t make it. So he pressed her up against the door and thrust deeply.

The painfully intense pleasure made them both shudder wildly.

He took her against the door, hard. His hand raked through her hair, sending the anchoring pins flying, while his mouth found hers, not letting her move or twist away. He felt her response, felt the convulsive movements of her hips arching into him as the heat of animal hunger flared between them.

Raven felt the same intense heat as his hard, straining body moved against her, branding her with his desire. He ravished her with fierce demand, yet she wasn’t afraid; she welcomed his fierceness.

Shuddering under the force of his thrusts, she rocked forward against him with desperate yearning. A roaring sounded in her ears as the exquisite pressure built. Raven tossed her head wildly, pumping her hips against him with frantic need.

Suddenly his muscles clenched. His head thrown back, his neck corded, he drove into her one final time. A moan burst out of him as his orgasm exploded in a powerful stream, pushing Raven over the edge. With a scream, she sank her teeth into the raw silk of his bare shoulder and gave herself up to the savage, unrestrained pleasure ripping through her.

They clung to each other in the aftermath, gasping for breath. An eternity later, Kell returned to earth to find Raven hiding her face against the base of his throat, her heart beating in a frenzied echo of his own.

Concern swept through him. His use of her had been devastatingly thorough; he had taken her with a pirate’s passion, with little regard for her inexperience.

Leaning back, he studied her flushed face, her swollen, bruised lips. “Did I hurt you?” he rasped.

“No,” she said quickly. And yet there was a vulnerable look about the mouth he had just ravished.

Searing heat and fierce tenderness filled him. He wanted to make it right. Next time he would show her more gentleness.

And there would definitely be a next time. He was tired of fighting his desire for her. Raven was his wife, and he wanted her; he should be able to have her.

Surely he could command enough strength of will to enjoy her body without falling for her. To slake his urgent need and still resist her incredible allure.

It would be difficult, but he was through denying himself.

His arms tightened about her for a moment, crushing her naked breasts to his chest. Keeping her legs wrapped around his hips, he managed to open the door and carry her to the bed, where he laid her down and stood staring down at her.

The room was dark but for the low-burning fire in the hearth, but Raven had no trouble seeing the glimmer of heat in his gaze or her own dishevelment. Her skirts and bodice were both tangled around her middle.

Blushing at her near nakedness, she stirred restlessly. “My gown is ruined….” she murmured, plucking at her bodice.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he replied as he began to strip her of her garments.

“Kell…what are you doing?”

“Undressing you. You’ll stay here tonight. You haven’t fully satisfied me yet.”

“Kell…” Raven bit her lower lip. She had agreed to attend to his sexual needs, not spend the night in his bed. “I don’t want to stay here with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because…it could lead to unwanted complications.”

That made him pause. “Physical intimacy can breed too much emotional intimacy, is that what you mean?”

She shivered. “Yes.”

Without replying, he removed her clothing completely, then eased the covers from beneath her hips and drew them up over her naked body. After going to the hearth and stoking the fire, Kell returned to the bed and slid in next to her. For a moment he lay beside her, staring at the ceiling, his arms laced behind his head. Finally he spoke.

“Do I understand your reservations correctly? You’re afraid to have a real lover because you’re determined never to fall in love?”

“Yes.” In a defensive gesture, Raven clutched the cover to her breasts.

Kell turned onto his side, supporting his head on one hand. “And yet sex and love are two entirely different matters. Passion doesn’t necessarily lead to love. If it did, most of the men of the beau monde would be in love with their mistresses.”

When she didn’t reply, he reached out to brush a tendril of hair from her cheek. “I see no reason we cannot be lovers, Raven. A relationship based purely on sensual pleasure. Like you, I’m not interested in anything deeper.”

Raven held herself rigid, wanting to look away from his eyes that seemed too burningly intense.

She couldn’t deny that she was afraid. Passion was dangerous; it could lead to terrible vulnerability. Yet perhaps Kell was right: the true danger didn’t lie in physical intimacy but in that of the emotional kind. A man could take pleasure from her body, but if he ensnared her heart, he took control.

Raven shuddered. She would never suffer a tragic love as her mother had. No man would ever render her senseless, without a will of her own.

Still, passion of the flesh didn’t always result in passion of the heart….

As if sensing her inner turmoil, Kell slipped his hand beneath the covers, resting his palm lightly on her breast. “Since we are tied together as man and wife, we might as well indulge ourselves.”

His warm, erotic touch distracted her, preventing her from forming a coherent reply.

“You enjoy my lovemaking, vixen,” he added in a low tone. “Your response a moment ago very clearly proved that.” He smiled knowingly. “Not many women are as responsive as you are. Your body craves my touch.” As if to prove his point, he brushed her peaked nipple with his thumb, making her arch involuntarily.

She did crave his touch, Raven thought in desperation, perhaps too much. And his brazen lovemaking…Trapped in his dark gaze, she stared back at him. It had thrilled her to have Kell take her like he had, as her pirate lover would have.

She swallowed against the dryness in her throat, struggling to break the hold Kell’s eyes had upon her. Was it possible, what he was suggesting? Could they engage in purely carnal relations without physical intimacy blossoming into anything deeper? Could she indulge in a passionate affair with her convenient husband without losing her heart?

Perhaps so…

But there were other considerations as well.

“What of the possible consequences?” she asked. “What about children?”

His features darkened in a frown. “What about them?”

“I don’t want to bring a child into this world without a father to love him, to care for him….”

“There are means of preventing pregnancy. We failed to take precautions tonight, but that can be remedied.”

Raven frowned as well, remembering how Kell had withdrawn from her body on their wedding night. “You are not interested in having children?”

“I’m not anxious to, no.”

She couldn’t read his impassive expression. “Not even to gain an heir? You wouldn’t want one someday?”

“Sean is my legal heir. That is enough for me.”

Raven stiffened at the mention of his brother and hastened to change the subject. “I know from the journal how to prevent pregnancy, but I have no idea how to obtain the necessary means.”

“Leave it to me,” Kell said brusquely before his tone softened. “Meanwhile…”

With slow deliberation, he pulled the covers from her grasp and reached down to stroke her inner thigh. His burning touch made her body clench with longing.

“There is still the matter of satisfying my sexual needs….” he murmured, his voice warm and rough like velvet. “And your own.”

Raven drew a steadying breath, vainly fighting the rush of desire that flooded over her. She wanted Kell to satisfy her. Desperately wanted him…

As his mouth slowly descended toward hers, she shut her eyes, ignoring the warning voices in her head. Surely she could manage a sexual relationship without tumbling into the quagmire of love.

Her chief goal would be to keep her heart safe, she vowed silently, trying to convince herself. She would never surrender her heart to this man….

Then the thought fled her mind as his scorching mouth met hers, and with a sensual shudder, she gave herself up to his caresses.

Chapter

Fifteen

Raven woke disoriented. The crackling fire looked familiar, however, as did the masculine bedchamber. She was alone, she realized, lying naked in Kell’s bed at the gaming house. The same bed where she’d spent her abduction.

Heat flooded her entire body as she recalled the mindless passion between them last night. She’d behaved just as wantonly as her first time in Kell’s arms, only last night she hadn’t had the excuse of being drugged.

Flushing, Raven sat up and saw her ruined gown draped over a chair along with her other garments. When she climbed from the bed in order to dress, she found herself wincing at the unaccustomed aches and twinges from too much sensual indulgence.

Then she caught sight of herself in the cheval glass. She looked like a woman who had been deliciously ravished all night long and who was more than eager to repeat the experience. Her hair was a wild tangle around her face, her lips bruised and swollen, her nipples rasped red from the attentions of his hot mouth….

Raven closed her eyes, remembering Kell’s exquisite lovemaking and the explosive desire he had aroused in her. The memory was a wild hunger in her—

A soft rap on the door made her snatch up her gown to cover her nakedness.

It was Emma, carrying a tray. “I’ve brought you breakfast,” she said with a cheerful smile, “or luncheon, really.”

Raven glanced at the brocade draperies, which were still shut against the morning light. “What time is it?”

“Nearly noon.”

“So late?” She blushed, feeling unexpectedly flustered to have been caught in Kell’s bed like this, by his mistress.

“Kell thought you needed to sleep. Your groom—O’Malley, is that his name?—was here at the crack of dawn, looking for you. He wanted to make certain you were all right. But Kell assured him you hadn’t been abducted again.”

Absurdly Raven found herself stammering. “I suppose…you are wondering what I’m doing here….”

“Not in the least,” Emma replied, setting down her tray on the small table near the hearth. “You are Kell’s wife, after all.”

“But still this is awkward with you being his…”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up. She studied Raven a moment before understanding dawned. “Did you think I was his paramour? Oh, Raven, Kell and I are not lovers, nor have we ever been. I have no claim to him.”

Raven stared, frowning. Had he deliberately misled her about the nature of his relationship with his beautiful hostess? She thought back to what he’d said about Emma knowing how to satisfy a man. He’d never actually declared in so many words that they were lovers, but he’d certainly implied as much, never taking the trouble to deny the accusation….

Relief and vexation roiling though her, Raven muttered an unladylike oath. She would have a few choice words to say to Kell about his deception when she next saw him. If not for her jealousy, she would never have agreed to share his bed last night—

Emma interrupted her vengeful thoughts with a faint, self-deprecating smile. “I admit I would have welcomed such an arrangement with Kell,” she confessed with surprising candor. “In fact, when he rescued me from my former situation, I offered to become his mistress, but he declined, claiming I was acting out of gratitude. He wouldn’t take advantage of my vulnerability. But if he had shown the slightest encouragement…” Her gaze focused on Raven. “I think you are very fortunate to have captured his interest,” she said softly, then shook herself out of her reverie. “Come, put something on and enjoy your breakfast before it grows cold.”

Raven felt herself flushing again, both at her state of undress and this strange turn of events, discussing Kell’s romantic inclinations with another woman. Rather than argue, however, she found a brocade robe of Kell’s in the wardrobe and settled before the hearth to eat. When she invited the hostess to join her, Emma hesitated only a moment before sitting in the adjacent chair.

“If I may,” the hostess murmured, “I have a question to ask you. It concerns his grace, the Duke of Halford.”

“Halford?” Raven repeated curiously as she sipped her hot coffee.

“Yes. Last night he…expressed an interest in seeing me again. Would you mind terribly if I were to agree? He seems in need of comfort after…well, after losing you to Kell.”

Swallowing her surprise, Raven shook her head. “No, I would not mind in the least. I have no claim to Halford.”

“I wouldn’t accept a permanent arrangement,” Emma remarked, “even if he offered. Kell pays me extremely well, enough to allow me a large measure of independence, so I can choose the gentlemen I see. But being alone as I am…well, it sometimes gets lonely.”

Raven felt a pang of sympathy. She understood loneliness; she’d known a great deal of it since her mother died, a feeling that had only been exacerbated since her marriage.

“I know Kell suffers from loneliness as well,” Emma said softly, “even though he would be the last to admit it. That’s why I am so glad he has you. I hope you will be spending more time here, Raven.”

She shook her head. “It’s unlikely, for I’ll be leaving town soon. I plan to celebrate Christmas in the country with my grandfather.”

“Oh, is Kell accompanying you?”

Raven hesitated. Her grandfather had expressly written in his last letter that her new husband would be welcome, but she hadn’t mentioned the invitation to Kell. “We haven’t discussed it yet, but I doubt he would want to go.”

“I do hope you can persuade him. It would do him a world of good to be with you.”

Raven wasn’t certain she wanted to persuade him, for sharing a holiday with Kell could only lead to more intimacy and complicate their relationship further.

And yet…Emma was no doubt right about his loneliness. She had sensed that in him almost from the first. Beneath his air of disdainful detachment, he was hiding more pain and loneliness than he would ever reveal. She just didn’t know if she wanted to do anything about it.