Rebel Enchantress (31 page)

“I suppose we have been inconsiderate to keep you from your bed, but Priscilla and I are starved for your company. Why just yesterday she was saying she didn’t know how much longer she could stand your being away. She has come to rely on you so much, you see.”

Priscilla made a halfhearted attempt to support her mother’s statement, but Nathan could tell something preyed on her mind. He had no intention of asking what it might be. As long as it kept her out of his bedroom, she could keep her secrets.

He took pains to make enough noise for Serena to know he had gone to his room. Then, taking care to make absolutely no sound, Nathan opened his door, stepped out into the hall, and listened intently. He could barely make out the murmur of voices—Serena’s and Priscilla’s—in the drawing room. Taking the stairs two at a time, he reached the top floor in a matter of seconds. He went straight to Delilah’s room, went in, and closed the door.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he lay down on the bed to wait.

The house was quiet when Delilah finally climbed the stairs. Mrs. Stebbens had been in bed for at least an hour. Even Lester had given up his late hours in the pantry and had gone to bed. There were no lights in the drawing room either. She was the only person left awake.

She didn’t mind that. She had a lot of thinking to do, and she could do it better alone. Odd, as long as even one person was up, she felt restless. But the minute everybody was asleep, she felt perfectly relaxed and free of all the day’s pressures.

Her feet dragged up the stairs, not because she was tired, but because her mind was in a turmoil, her emotions too chaotic to allow her physical energy. Nathan’s coming to her in the kitchen had brought home the reality of their situation and the inescapable fact that something had to be done soon. Their feelings for each other wouldn’t remain a secret much longer. They’d better be prepared for the avalanche of anger and bitterness when it came.

As she reached the second floor she thought of the unfinished painting in Nathan’s dressing room. That ought to be sufficient proof he loved her, but did he love her enough? His love had come so quickly, so unexpectedly, so easily. Could it go the same way?

She climbed to the top floor, thoughts tumbling about in her head. What about her love? Would she have come to love him if he’d worn the loose-fitting breeches common in America? But more important, what did she know about him and his life before he’d arrived at Maple Hill?

Nothing.

Not that she doubted he was everything he set himself up to be. His treatment of her proved that. And it had really brought about her change of heart. It was why she had come to love him.

Delilah paused at the top of the steps. Was their love strong enough to withstand the storm that would break over them once everybody knew? She didn’t know. She guessed she wouldn’t until the opposition had to be faced.

What a chilling thought. Suppose they were wrong. They would be subjected to a lifetime of misery. She moved toward the door of her room. She didn’t know what to do, but she would have to think of something before Nathan swept her off her feet and into something unwise.

She smiled to herself. For a man able to be cool and calculating in every other area of his life, even ruthless when the occasion demanded, he was remarkably impulsive when it came to her. Protecting her from Serena and asking her to help him with his business were unusual, but not impossible to justify. Giving her material for dresses and following her to the kitchen were … well, she hoped nobody in Springfield ever found out. These situations would be impossible to explain.

The moment Delilah closed the door she knew someone was in her room. She was about to scream when a hand clamped over her mouth and her arms were pinned to her sides. Her body tensed and was about to explode into furious action when a voice whispered in her ear, “I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

“Nathan!” she exclaimed.

Nathan crushed her in an embrace before she could tell him he had no business in her room. Delilah liked being hugged so much she decided to wait a few minutes before telling him to leave. After all, the damage had been done. He was already in her room.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said when she could finally breathe. “Do you know what Serena would say we were doing if she found us here?”

Nathan kissed the hollow of her throat. “Nothing that hasn’t already crossed my mind.”

“Maybe,” Delilah said, blushing crimson, “but it’s a far cry from crossing your mind to doing it.”

Nathan kissed Delilah’s warm flesh below the neckline of her dress. “Don’t I know it,” he groaned.

“But Serena won’t.” Delilah tried unsuccessfully to redirect Nathan’s lips. “She’ll assume the worst.”

“I don’t think we ought to disappoint her.”

“Nathan Trent, don’t you try to fool me with that innocent act. You’d be upset if I disgraced myself with you.” The feel of his lips on her flesh made her wonder if she had misjudged him. Her words were for herself as much as Nathan. Did she really want him to stop?

“Surprised,” Nathan admitted, “but I would get over it.”

Delilah tried to break his hold on her, but he would have no part of that. She tried to hold his head against her bosom, but he wouldn’t allow that either.

“You know there’s still a lot between us we haven’t talked about.”

“Talking would be a waste of time,” Nathan said.

He nibbled at her earlobe, traced the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue. She couldn’t understand why her mother always said there was no feeling in the ear. He was driving her crazy.

“I say we dash headlong and tell people about it afterward.”

“I couldn’t get married without telling Reuben,” Delilah said, trying to keep her mind on the argument rather than his lips.

But the kisses on her ear were as nothing compared to her body’s electric response to his kissing the back of her neck. The fine hairs on her nape sent fiery sparkles exploding through her until she was nearly incapable of thought.

“You’ll have … to tell … Serena. Can’t have it said the … surprise of her nephew marrying the kitchen … maid caused her to fall down dead in a fit.”

“I’ll tell Serena,” Nathan mumbled. He was kissing her eyelids now. Delilah had never heard of anybody doing such a thing, but she liked it.

“You’ll do what every man does,” Delilah said, trying not to think about what the feel of his hands was doing to her. “You’ll wait until it’s too late, and that horrible Lucy Porter’s mother will tell her.”

Nathan didn’t answer. Apparently he found he liked letting his lips trail down Delilah’s neck and along her shoulders much better than answering questions about his aunt. In fact, he seemed to like that better than talking.

“You’ll need to … find somewhere else for … Serena and … Priscilla to live,” Delilah said. Between Nathan’s lips on her shoulders and his fingertips caressing the undersides of her breasts, she found it hard to keep to the thread of her conversation. “I don’t think they’ll … be happy with … us.”

Apparently Nathan seemed happy enough with what he was doing to let the future take care of itself.

“Nathan, are you listening to me?”

She received a groan in reply, but Delilah wasn’t sure whether it came from her or Nathan, for at that moment his hands cupped her breasts. Her body reacted as if it had been charged with electricity.

“No,” she whispered. But immediately she wondered if that was what she meant. Her body certainly didn’t seem to agree with her mind. She arched herself against Nathan only to be brought into contact with unmistakable proof that his blood was just as heated as hers. Delilah pulled back, but Nathan pursued her until she was backed up against the wall.

His hands continued to caress her breasts through her dress, his lips to lay trails of searing kisses across the top of her bosom, his body to scald her with the heat of his passion. The more she tried to summon the strength to push him away, the more her flesh cried out to hold him close.

Delilah thought she would pass out from the pleasure. How could she have survived all these years with no inkling of the intense gratification to be derived from the touch of the man she loved?

When his hands dipped inside her dress and lifted out one breast, she realized there was still more she had to learn. As he took her throbbing nipple between his lips and sucked it gently, she decided she couldn’t stand any more. Her every nerve felt white-hot, her every muscle tense and expectant. Even her breathing accelerated in anticipation. She was conscious of nothing but the sweet agony of his lips on her breast.

“Nathan, stop. Please. You’re driving me insane.”

But apparently he was beyond control. He cupped her other breast and gently massaged its almost painfully sensitive nipple with his fingertip.

Delilah was certain she was going to faint. It was no longer a matter of the propriety of what Nathan was doing to her. The pleasure was so intense, the agony so unbearable, she doubted she could stand it one minute longer without calling out his name in a long, shuddering moan of desire. It was now a question of whether she could overpower her own fierce longing to satisfy her need.

Using all the strength and willpower she possessed, Delilah broke from Nathan’s embrace. He reached for her again.

“Don’t come any closer,” she said, retreating around the corner of the bed. “I don’t think you’ve given what you’re doing enough thought.”

“I’ve thought about it until it’s nearly driven me mad,” Nathan said. He moved forward, intending to trap her in the corner. She leaped up on the bed and rolled off the other side.

Her action stopped Nathan in his tracks. He had done the same thing the night Priscilla had come uninvited to his room. Could he do this to Delilah? She loved him, he was certain of that, but did he have the right to force himself on her before she was ready? He did not question the answer, only his ability to do what he knew he should.

It took a staggering amount of effort, but he reined in his rampaging desires.

“I don’t know what came over me. I guess spending every night thinking about you was too much of a strain.”

“I spent every night thinking about you, too.”

“And you didn’t feel compelled to try to seduce me, is that what you’re saying?”

“No, just that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about us, trying to decide if we could have a future together.”

“And …”

“I found out I love you”—she had to hold Nathan off so she could finish the sentence—"but I don’t know if I love you enough. I don’t know if you love me enough either.”

“I love you enough for anything.”

“That’s what you say now, when your blood is pounding in your ears and your body demands satisfaction” Delilah was delighted to see a tinge of color creep up Nathan’s collar. She was glad to see that he, too, could feel self-conscious about his physical condition. “You said you wanted me from the time you first saw me.”

“I still do.”

“I shouldn’t tell you—I don’t think nice girls say this to men—but I wanted you, too. I didn’t quite understand it then—I still don’t fully understand all the things that happen to my body when you’re around—but ever since I first saw you, I’ve hardly been able to think of anything else. If I didn’t know I was a well-brought-up girl, I’d swear I was a tavern doxy.”

“Who taught you to think that?”

“Never mind. I know now that it’s natural. Mrs. Stebbens explained it to me one day. But there’s more to it than that, Nathan. Even more than our wanting the same things. We’re on opposite sides. If the regulators and the government start fighting, it’ll be even worse.”

“If you really love me, none of that matters.”

“It will, regardless of how much I love you. I can’t expect you to change the way you think, give up all your money just for me.”

“And I can’t expect you to give up your family, everything you’ve ever known for me.”

“I couldn’t do that if it were my choice. I couldn’t stand it if they turned their backs on me and cut me off. They are my family and my friends. They’re who I am.”

“And me? What am I, Delilah?”

“The most wonderful man I’ll ever meet, the man I fell in love with, the man I want to marry.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“I just answered that.”

“I’ll make you a promise,” Nathan said. He took her by the hands, led her to the side of the bed, and they both sat down on it. “I’ll give you till Christmas. I won’t pressure you to make any decisions. I just want you to think about one thing.”

“What?”

“If you could have only Reuben or me, who would it be? Don’t tell me anything now; don’t even think about it just now. But remember this. I love you more than anything else in the world, but I don’t want just your body. I want all of you. Your intelligence, your curiosity, your loyalty, your friendship, your trust, your time, everything. Or I want nothing. If it should ever come to the point where I’m pitted against your brother and his friends, or anybody else with a claim on your loyalty, I want you to know I will do everything I can to be fair. Everything. But I must know I have your loyalty.”

“I don’t know if I can offer you that.”