One Night of Surrender: The Brothers Mortmain, Book 1 (10 page)

“He’s your image, sir,” one of them, a black-gowned housekeeper, declared.

“Thank you, Mrs MacNee,” Gervais said. “See that our…guests are made comfortable.”

Katherine glanced up and found Gervais’s eyes on her. For a moment she couldn’t look away, there was something in their dark depths that drew her, but then he turned his back and walked into a room off the hall, closing the door. To Katherine the gesture had been clear enough; he didn’t have to tell her he wanted nothing to do with her.

“Your room is this way, ma’am.” The servants led her up the staircase, past elaborately arranged weaponry. She wondered if she should correct them, remind them she was a ‘miss’, but it seemed churlish.

Soon Katherine was in a warm, comfortable room. She noticed there was a bowl by her bed with oranges in it. The vibrantly coloured fruit made her smile. How long since she had bitten into the succulent flesh of an orange? Not since that night in Newgate, surely? Picking one up, she held it to her nose and breathed in. Delicious.

Her room overlooked the long curling stretch of water that, so a maid informed her, eventually ran into the sea.

“There’s a pleasant beach down there, ma’am. Sometimes, if the weather’s warm enough, the master swims.”

Katherine stared down, trying to imagine Gervais crawling through the water, or standing on the shore shaking himself, his hair dripping, his naked body etched against the wild scenery.

Something shifted inside her. A longing. A need.

And that made her angry all over again. How could she need someone who had betrayed her so monstrously? Hadn’t she learned her lesson?

But it seemed she hadn’t. Despite her humiliation and anger, there was a part of her that remained attracted to him. She’d known it from the moment she’d seen him again in London, and downstairs when she gazed into his eyes she’d known it too. Was it too late to run away? Should she turn now and take Anthony and flee into the forest?

As she turned from the window however, she saw her son happily cuddled in Susan’s arms, and Katherine’s thoughts softened. A child needed food and shelter and Anthony’s father could give him that. What could Katherine manage if she was on her own? Love wasn’t always sufficient, as much as she wished it was.

She might be trapped here with Gervais, but this was a big castle. It was likely she would not see Gervais from one day to the next, especially when neither of them wanted to be in the other’s company. Surely they could live here together without ever crossing paths?

Summer had come to the castle, and Katherine was slowly growing accustomed to her new life. Out loud she’d learned to call the master Jerome, but in her head, in her heart, he was still Gervais. She did not see him at all, apart from the occasional glimpse from a distance as he rode out on his horse, or as he was leaving the nursery while she was on her way up. Susan said he was very conscientious when it came to his son, and Katherine told herself she was pleased that he spent time with the boy. Still, she doubted he loved Anthony as much as she did.

Breakfast was taken alone in her room, and lunch in the parlour. Dinner was in the small dining room, where she sat ridiculously in state, again mostly alone. Occasionally Gervais would join her, but apart from a few bland questions about her day, they did not speak. And yet dinner was her favourite meal because there was always an orange placed before her for her dessert. The fruit was perfect, fresh and sweet, just as if it had been newly picked from the tree. Katherine thought there must be an orange tree somewhere on the estate, although she would have thought it too cold for them to grow, but however it had reached her, she looked forward every day to her orange.

The peeling of it became a ritual, the first bite an anticipated pleasure. Sometimes the juice ran down her chin and she caught Gervais watching her and thought he must think her childish. But the truth was she didn’t know what he was thinking.

Then one day she happened to reach the door of the nursery before he had left, and saw him smiling down at his son in a way that made her wonder if his feelings weren’t deeper than she’d imagined. His own father had left his sons very much to their own devices, she remembered him telling her, and she wondered if Gervais was making a conscious effort to be different.

He glanced up then and saw her and his smile faded. He bowed politely and left the room, and she stood and listened to his footsteps retreating. But even with him gone, she found her thoughts much occupied with him over the next few days. In fact she thought about him far more than was comfortable. There were things she wanted to ask him, things she wanted him to ask her. That night at Newgate they had spoken a great deal and she’d felt as if they’d exchanged a piece of their souls. Now, in a strange way, she missed that intimacy.

Or at least she missed the man she’d imagined him to be.

Such thoughts were confusing enough, but then one morning she rose early, yawning and stretching, and went to the window. It was a beautiful day, the sun gleaming like sparkling diamonds on the loch, the birds singing. She felt her spirits lift and threw open the casement, leaning out to enjoy her sudden surge of happiness.

Down below in the water, her eye was caught by a splash and when she focussed more closely she could see a man swimming in the loch. His arms drove through the water, his powerful legs kicking up a foamy wake behind him, and she saw a gleaming naked shoulder and the curve of a firm buttock.

A tremor ran through her, warming her body inside just as the sun was warming her skin on the outside. She had an overpowering urge to see if the reality of him was the same as her memories. Katherine hesitated, knowing she should not, but the urge was too strong to resist. And besides, he wouldn’t know.
I’ll keep myself hidden,
she thought with a smile.

Not stopping to dress, she quickly wrapped her robe about her naked body and ran from the room and down the stairs.

The beach was not far from the gardens that circled the castle, with some worn stone steps leading down to the loch. She ran past the dovecote, hearing the birds coo inside, and then down the stairs into the garden, crouching low as the swimmer turned and made his way back toward the shore. Frustrated, she realised she wasn’t close enough to see him properly, and she wanted to. Katherine crept through the perennial border until she had a good view, and then she hid behind a clump of plants and waited.

As he turned his head Gervais spotted a flash of colour in the garden. He blinked the water from his eyes and saw a woman running, her fair hair flying out behind her, the sunlight silhouetting her body through the thin cloth of her robe. He’d chosen that robe himself, felt the silk between his fingers, imagined her lovely body clothed in such finery.

Katherine.

What was she doing out here at this time of day? Perhaps she was going to swim as well? But somehow Gervais didn’t think swimming was one of Katherine’s fortes, and usually when she spotted him she turned and went the other way. She’d been avoiding him and he’d been content to let her, uncertain as he was how to reconcile their differences.

At night he’d found himself tossing and turning. Their time in Newgate was suddenly so vivid; the feel and sight and taste of her filled his head to bursting. He imagined getting up and going to her room. Would she welcome him? Take him into her bed? He tried to convince himself she’d be the ardent woman he remembered, but it was more likely she would slam the door in his face.

He told himself there was time, plenty of time. That she would come around. A woman with Katherine’s passions must eventually give up her solitary existence. Although, to keep her, he would have to be honest with her, and she might not be altogether pleased when he revealed to her that he and Edward had been partners in crime. But Gervais was confident that even then he could win her over.

Now the flash of colour came again and he could see her, crouched low among the flowers. That was when Gervais realised she was watching him. The little minx was
spying
on him. The idea pleased him and gave him a new spurt of confidence. Perhaps reconciliation was closer than he’d thought?

With a grin he swam closer to the shore. He’d show her what she was missing! His feet touched the sandy bottom of the loch and he began to wade ashore.

Irritably Katherine swiped a plant stalk out of her eyes. She was concentrating on the man striding from the loch. The water was still up to his waist, and his dark hair was plastered to his head with rivulets running down over his broad chest. Her mouth felt dry and there was a trembling in her belly that made her want to squirm, but she lay rigid, afraid almost to breathe, as she watched more and more of him being revealed.

Then he paused, with the water lapping low on his belly, standing like a bronze statue in the shallow waters of the loch. Intent on seeing more, Katherine edged forward on her elbows, indifferent to the state of her robe. Ah, now he was moving again, ploughing through the water to the beach.

His cock was flaccid. For a moment she felt disappointment, until she realised she was silly to think he would be aroused after being in the cold loch water. His long, muscular legs followed and then, finally, he was standing on the beach naked. He shook his hair, water spraying everywhere, and stretched his arms upward to the blue sky, the movement delineating his muscles and sinews, showing Katherine exactly how a healthy male animal looked.

Heat trickled through her. She felt her nipples peaking, and the tingle between her legs where she was becoming moist and warm. Almost, she thought crossly, as if her body was preparing to take him no matter what her heart or mind might feel or think.

But it had been so long since that passionate night in Newgate, and Katherine was young and healthy. She knew it was impossible to go to his bed, but there was another way to satisfy herself and it was Gervais himself who had shown her how to do it.

With a little sigh she reached down, her fingers slipping into the apex of her thighs, pressing on the hard nub where her pleasure centred—gently at first, then with more force as her excitement grew. Her breath quickened as she watched him. He was drying himself with a cloth now and her eyes widened as he reached down to his cock and began to slip his hand up and down the length. Pleasuring himself.

His cock began to grow before her eyes, rearing up, thickening. What fantasy was he indulging in? Was he thinking about the night in Newgate? Katherine refused to allow herself to be distracted.

Her own fingers quickened, sliding in and out, pressing hard against her pearl. She could hear her own panting breath, the blood pumping through her veins, the rush of pleasure so very close.

And then, just as she was at the tipping point, just as she was teetering on a most wonderful orgasm, he stopped what he was doing and looked toward her. No, not toward her.
Directly at her
.

Shock caught her unawares.

With a cry, Katherine wriggled back through the plants, struggling to pull her robe about herself. She felt the silk catch on one of the plants.

“Why, Katherine,” Gervais called. His voice was low and deep and amused. “What are you doing there?”

He was striding toward her!

She tried to stand, but her robe was caught fast, and now it came half off. Her pale body gleamed in the sunlight and his eyes began to feast on her breasts and thighs. He growled deep in his throat. He was close enough now to reach out to her and he did, wasting no time. His hands closed over her breasts, fingers brushing the rigid buds of her nipples. His touch made her heart jolt. She tried to catch her breath. His hands were still damp but warm, the skin a little rough and calloused, causing wonderful friction.

Katherine groaned deep in her throat and her body arched toward him, despite her brain commanding her to run
.

“Beautiful,” he said. His dark eyes blazed just as she remembered them during that long night at Newgate.

She pressed into his hands, the intensity growing, and the tingling between her legs began to climb again. He clasped her about the waist and drew her soft body in against his. The coarse hairs on his chest rubbed against her breasts and his body was warm despite his swim. She felt protected by his enclosing arms and his strong masculine form. She felt safe, and it occurred to her that it was something she had not felt for a long time.

Her body, so close to climax a moment ago, began to urge her on to more reckless behaviour.

Gervais’s warm mouth closed on hers, and their kisses grew heavy with passion, making them both feel drugged. All about them the flowers bobbed and stirred. Katherine stood up on her tiptoes, opening her thighs wide enough so that his cock could slip between them and rest against the slick core of her body. She began to move back and forth, rubbing against him.

But it wasn’t enough. Her hand reached for him, fingers closing about his member. She felt a shudder of pleasure run through him as she began to stroke him as she had seen him stroke himself, her hand sliding up and down his rigid length.

He kissed her throat and shoulders, his mouth hot and open against her skin. One moment she was upright on her feet, and then she was on her back among the flowers and he was lying over her, a dark shadow against the blue sky.

His muscular thigh pushed between hers, and she felt him against her entrance, promising so much pleasure.