The Gentle Wind's Caress (17 page)

Her nibbled her neck. ‘Hmm, my love?’

‘Farrell and I have never shared a bed.’

Ethan raised his head to stare at her. ‘Never?’ His eyes widened.

‘No, never. Our marriage hasn’t been consummated. At first I did want it, only so he wouldn’t look for an excuse to throw us out, but now I’m glad we didn’t.’

He closed his eyes briefly before a slow grin escaped. ‘That’s the best news I could have hoped for.’ He kissed her quick and hard and then laughed. Amazement glowed in his brandy eyes. ‘This is magnificent news! Have you any idea how I’ve tortured myself, thinking he has touched you?’

She shook her head, surprised by his response.

Suddenly, his expression grew serious, his eyes narrowed with longing. ‘This means you are truly mine, Isabelle. Do you understand?’ He kissed her lips, her eyes. His voice dropped, thickened. ‘All mine forever.’

‘Yes.’

‘You mean everything to me.’

‘I do?’ She blinked in happy surprise. ‘Truly?’

‘Of course!’ He pulled back to frown at her. ‘You don’t believe me?’

She glanced away with a shrug. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time a man in your position took a mistress.’ Inwardly she cringed at that awful word.
Mistress.

He took her chin and turned her back to him. ‘No, not you. Never a mistress. I promise you.’

‘But that is what I am. Now. It’s silly to deny it.’

‘You will be my
wife
. You have my word, my bond, my heart.’ He tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’

Isabelle squirmed closer. ‘Yes, but it won’t be easy. Nothing ever is. If I’ve learnt one thing over the last six months then it is that.’

‘Agreed. However, I love you and I will never let you go.’

She threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. Her body was on fire for his touch. An urgency, a wanting of completeness possessed her. She kissed him with a passion that surprised herself. She needed him in a way she didn’t entirely understand. Her body cried out to be fulfilled and her soul ached for a warm refuge from the harshness of her life. Ethan offered the answers to her needs. Moreover, she knew she gave him the love he craved and could only find with her. The power was heady.

She welcomed his kisses, soft at first, before becoming more demanding as his fervour grew like a consuming fire. She tore off his jacket, unbuttoned his waistcoat and helped him to shrug it off.

‘Glory be, Isabelle, I must have you,’ he whispered, hot against her mouth.

‘We will have each other, yes?’

He chuckled. ‘In every way, my darling, in every way.’

She tilted her head back as he kissed her neck, while his hands worked at the buttons of her blouse. His shirt soon followed the way of his jacket and waistcoat. Isabelle ran her hands over his chest. Delighting in his masculine shape, she clenched her fingers in the light sprinkle of chest hairs and bent to kiss him there.

Ethan sucked in a breath. He quickly used his jacket as a blanket and laid her down. Reclining beside her, he assisted her in undressing. Soon her corset and chemise lay in a heap beside them. Ethan went to take her skirt off but she stopped him.

‘No, darling. Leave it on.’

‘But-’

‘If someone should come, I can quickly cover myself.’

He nodded and then grinning, he slipped his hands up her thighs under her skirt to gently wriggle down her drawers. His voice became husky. ‘Do you know how I’ve dreamt of this moment?’

Isabelle bit her lip as his fingers found her. Her breathing stopped as for the first time the most intimate part was touched by another.

‘You’re ready for me, my sweet.’

‘I am?’ She swallowed. His fingers, soft and gentle, worked to make shivers of delight spread throughout her body. Her hand hovered over his, wanting to pull him away, yet to also keep it there. ‘Oh Ethan. I’m not sure…’

‘I will stop-’

‘No!’

He kissed her, flicking his tongue gently against hers. ‘Touch me, Isabelle. Feel what you do to me.’ He guided her hand to the bulge in his trousers. ‘Free me, my love.’

Hesitant, she unbuttoned his trousers and helped him to shove them down to his knees. Her eyes widened at the sight of his arousal.

Ethan lifted her chin so that she looked into his eyes. ‘Kiss me, Isabelle.’

Taking a deep breath, she ran her fingers through his hair before raining light kisses over his face. He pulled her close, laying her head on his arm. ‘I love you.’

‘And I you.’ Isabelle grinned, her skin tingling under his sensuous touch. ‘I want this to last forever. Just you and me in our wood.’ She gazed up at the tree canopy. Dappled sunlight filtered through like hundreds of fingers. To be exposed in the open was such a wicked delight that she giggled.

Ethan raised his head from sucking on her nipple. ‘What’s so funny?’

‘We are so immoral. I never thought I would say that about myself. Yet, I don’t feel bad about it. I guess I am doubly damned.’

‘Then we are both damned together. Perhaps this Devil fellow isn’t so bad after all?’ He bent and nibbled her nipple.

Isabelle spluttered. Her laughter rose and echoed through the wood. Ethan hugged her tight and rolled onto his back so that she lay on top of him. He released her hair from its pins and it cascaded down, imprisoning their faces like a veil. Her laughter died as his eyes darkened with yearning.

‘Let me love you, Isabelle, for the rest of my life.’

She kissed him gently, reverently. ‘I will, my heart.’

He rolled back over, pinning her beneath him. His kisses deepened, urging her on to a new level of awareness. Arching up to him, she dug her nails into his back. ‘Love me, Ethan.’

‘Always,’ he murmured. Using his knee, he gently opened her legs. Taking his weight on his hands, he paused a fraction before carefully entering her.

Isabelle bit her lip as he filled her and she moved slightly to adjust to him. Closing her eyes, she let out a pent up breath. It felt like her heart had stopped beating. Every ounce of her was centred on this one moment. Ethan kissed her, whispered something she didn’t hear. He withdrew a little and then slowly slid back into her, as he did so he lifted her hips up to meet him and she was shot with a sensation so startling her eyes flew open.

He smiled and kissed her again. ‘Take the ride with me, sweetheart.’

Chapter Ten

Whistling, Ethan jogged down the staircase, fit to burst with happiness. The thick walls of the house kept out the hot August sunshine, but the day’s brightness penetrated through the windows, beckoning him. As always Isabelle came to mind and his stomach knotted with anticipation. Soon, she would be in his arms, kissing him with a passion that empowered him. He had an insane urge to sing.

Elizabeth stepped out from the drawing room, glanced up and smiled. ‘Why darling, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy.’

‘It has been a brilliant summer, Mama.’

She laughed. ‘Indeed it has, though I have hardly seen you these last few months.’

Ethan grinned and jumped from the third last tread. In one fluid movement, he swept his mother into his arms and waltzed her around the hall.

She squealed like a young girl. ‘What are you doing, you silly boy!’

‘I’m dancing with a beautiful woman,’ Ethan declared, spinning her faster.

‘Stop it at once.’ Elizabeth giggled. ‘What has come over you?’

‘Love!’

Elizabeth halted, her smile slipped a little. ‘Love?’ She stepped back and patted her hair into place. ‘Have you bought a new horse?’

He laughed. ‘No, not a horse, Mama. A woman.’

All colour left his mother’s face. ‘A woman? What can you possibly mean?’

He closed his eyes and shook his head, inwardly groaning.
Damn!
He straightened his jacket. ‘It was stupid of me to mention it just yet.’

Elizabeth walked back into the drawing room, waited for him to join her and then closed the door. ‘Explain yourself.’

Ethan pushed his hands into his trouser pockets and shrugged. ‘It’s rather simple really. I have fallen in love with a wonderful woman who loves me in return.’

‘You are married.’ Her tone turned to ice. ‘Or had that escaped your mind?’

He snorted. ‘It is forever on my mind, as it stops me from being with Isabelle.’

‘Isabelle.’ Elizabeth sat on the edge of the sofa, her back straight, her face impassive. ‘Do I know her?’

‘No.’

‘I…I suppose it is natural for a man to have a…mistress when his own wife-’

‘Isabelle will be my wife!’

Elizabeth blinked. ‘Wife? What nonsense. How is that possible?’

‘I am soon to leave for York where I shall be petitioning for a divorce and if I get no satisfaction there, I’ll go on to London.’

His mother shot to her feet. ‘Divorce?’

Ethan turned away and walked to the empty fireplace. A delicate and colourful Chinese screen stood upon the hearth. ‘I cannot remain married to Clarice any longer. I wish her no harm but do not love her. I never did. I’m sorry.’

‘But you married her!’

He spun to face her. ‘Yes, for Father, for the estate, for the money, but never for me.’ His heart pounded as memories of that time resurfaced. ‘I never wanted her for me. It was a duty. My duty as a son and heir. Father was dying, he made me promise to marry her so that we could have her properties and strengthen our land holdings. You know we needed her wealth and she needed a home since her mother wanted rid of her so she could remarry and move away.’

‘Clarice has done nothing to give you reason to divorce her.’

‘I have grounds, or if not, I’ll get her to divorce me. She has grounds now.’ He ran his fingers through his hair. ‘She is not a true wife to me, never really was. Clarice wanted a comfortable home and to be free from her mother’s tyranny. She doesn’t want to be a wife, a mother or mistress of this house. You know that as well as I do. We’ve both known it for years.’

‘That doesn’t make it right.’ Elizabeth sat back down and Ethan noticed how her hands shook.

He didn’t want this argument with her. Upsetting his mother was the last thing he sought. ‘Try and understand, Mama. I’m tired of living my life without a woman beside me who I love. I’ve finally discovered what I’ve been missing.’ He sat beside her and took her hands in his. ‘I want children. I want to be loved and, sadly, Clarice cannot fill those needs.’

‘But divorce? Do you wish to have scandal attached to our good name?’

‘It’s a sacrifice I am willing to suffer.’

‘Will this Isabelle suffer it too?’

A wry smile escaped him. ‘She has no choice either, since she must divorce her husband to be with me.’

Elizabeth launched to her feet once more, staring at him as though he had turned mad. ‘She is married too?’

He nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. This wasn’t going well. ‘Mama-’

A knock interrupted them and the footman stuck his head around the door jamb.

‘We do not wish to be disturbed!’ Elizabeth snapped.

‘I’m sorry, Madam, but your seamstress has been waiting in the parlour for some time. Shall I send her away?’

‘No.’ Ethan took advantage of the escape. ‘My mother will be with her shortly.’ He turned and kissed his mother’s soft cheek and left the room.

Elizabeth tapped her foot and nibbled her fingernail. She looked at the waiting footman. ‘Tell Mrs Goodman that I shall be ten minutes more. Send in a tray of tea and cakes for her.’ She swept from the drawing room and up the staircase. A slow anger simmered in her chest.

She burst into Clarice’s bedroom, startling the woman where she lay on her bed still in her nightwear. ‘I must talk with you, Clarice.’

Her daughter-in-law blinked like a mindless ninny, a chocolate seashell half way to her mouth.

She hadn’t been in the room for a long time. Clarice had occupied the room from the very first day of marriage, surprising them all by asking to have a room to herself. Ethan had readily agreed. Elizabeth glanced around the bedroom. An assortment of sweets and chocolate boxes littered the bed. Clothes hung haphazardly, magazines stacked in piles by the bed, books lay where they had fallen. Distaste curled in her stomach and fed her frustration. ‘Do you allow the maids to clean in here?’

Clarice stared and popped the whole chocolate into her mouth.

‘Good gracious me!’ Elizabeth paced the room before stopping at the end of the bed. ‘Now listen to me carefully, Clarice. Do you like your life here?’

Clarice paled. She clutched a sweet box to her ample chest. Her double chin wobbled as she nodded.

Elizabeth looked down at the girl-woman and suppressed a shudder. Clarice’s dark hair shone in a greasy unwashed way. Over the summer she had kept nearly entirely to her room and Elizabeth felt guilty for enjoying the freedom of not having her in sight for days on end, but that absence only now increased her awareness of Clarice’s size. She seemed to have doubled her enormous weight. ‘Something has happened and together we must prevent it disrupting our lives further. Ethan wants to divorce you.’