The Highwayman (Rakes and Rogues of the Restoration Book 3) (22 page)

Arabella heard his hesitation and sought to reassure him. “And yet you have made of it an entertainment. People boast of their encounters with you. Swift Nick has become a hero of sorts, even to those he robbed.”

He chuckled and ruffled her hair. “I know! ’Tis true. And Gentleman Jack follows down the same path. I am not a bloodthirsty man. I have killed in battle and when I must, but I have never liked it. It didn’t take me long to see that a frightened old woman is a frightened old woman, be she dressed in rags or silk. I found myself trying to put them at ease and leave them something for their trouble. A favorite piece of jewelry, a compliment, a quip. By then it wasn’t about money or revenge.”

“Then why have you continued, Jack? The king gave Swift Nick a pardon. Why risk His Majesty’s displeasure? Why return as someone else to steal what you don’t want or need?”

“Because I have grown to love it, Bella. And I am a highwayman, not a common thief. I rob. I don’t steal or sneak through people’s homes, bumbling about in the dark…except for the once, at your place. Stealing is for cowards. The highway is for brave and plucky lads with a thirst for adventure and a taste for freedom. It’s many a lad’s dream. That’s why they make us heroes. Freedom from a master, from the law, from any rules but those you make yourself. Freedom to come and go when and as you please. And you never feel more powerful and alive then when you challenge and best the thing that might kill you. It enlivens me, and it also calms me somehow. Be truthful, Bella. You have drunk of it yourself of late and found the taste is sweet.”

Arabella thought back over her own adventures. The climb down the tower with Jack, the first day she had stepped from the safety of her house after her return, not knowing if Robert lay in wait, and just lately, her journey across the loose sands of the Dee. “Yes, Jack. I have felt it, too. With you, when I faced my fear of Robert, and on this journey.”

“On this journey?”

“Yes. Several times in fact. Just ten days ago I was out at least a mile on the shore of the Dee when the sand opened up beneath us as if to swallow us whole. We narrowly escaped being washed out to sea. I thought for a moment it was the end for us both yet I felt no fear, just a great sense of urgency and clarity. I seemed to know just what to do without even thinking. It was a small instance, over in seconds, but it seemed that fate had sprung a trap for me and I battled and won. I remember after, thinking that I understood you better. It was quite stimulating really, and I certainly enjoyed my dinner that night.”

“Bloody hell, Arabella—”

She raised a hand to stop him. “I had a good guide. I take all possible precautions and I will not abide a lecture on safety from you of all people. I accept that there are hazards ahead of me.
You
deliberately court them.” She remembered, even as she said it, how she had declined to take the bridge. She held out her cup. She was almost sober. It was time for more wine.

“I don’t, you know,” he said, filling her glass. “I don’t court danger. I do all that I can to minimize it. For my own sake as well as that of others.”

“How?”

“Well…the mask for example.... It’s the fellow without the mask you need to fear. He doesn’t care if you see his face. He is not worried that you might identify him. The fellow
with
the mask intends to leave you alive, unless you provoke him. It is safe to assume that the fellow without one intends to kill you. Avoiding murder not only lets you sleep better at night, it can help you avoid the hangman.”

“So highway robbery itself is not a hanging offense?”

“Not necessarily. It depends on the circumstances and the judge. Robbery with violence is. But as we have established, as far as highwaymen go I am a remarkably peaceful man.”

“But if Swift Nick returns to robbery, or Jack is discovered to be Swift Nick….”

“Then, yes I would hang. The king will not be made a fool of, and it
is
the fate of most of us after all.”

“Jack!”

“Yes?”

“You said that I was more than an amusement. How can I be if you have accepted that you will hang?”

“But I haven’t, Bella,” he answered reasonably. “Anymore than you have accepted you will be pulled out to sea and drowned. I merely accept that it is a risk. You knew it was me at Shooter’s Hill, but no one else could tell.”

“But the stories! The mannerisms. Certainly Caroline was able to put it together. People must know who you are.”

“Only those who read broadsheets and chapbooks as religiously as their prayer books,” he said with a grin. “I cover my face. I use many names as I’ve told you before, and I ride a black mare as many men do. A fellow cannot be convicted solely on suspicion. You really need to find your maid more chores to keep her busy. My life has meaning to me. I have Allen to watch over.

“Allen? Is he a son? You have mentioned him before.”

“I suppose you might call him a ward. Perhaps you will meet him someday. Lately, other things have captured my interest. I plan on living a while yet.”

“And where do we go from here? That is, if you don’t hang and I don’t get washed out to sea. The last time we met you said—”

“That I could come to you by night, and I had no idea where it might lead. I still have no idea beyond tomorrow. Tomorrow I would be your guide.”

“
Was
it an accident that you stopped us on the road?

“No.” He trailed his fingers across the front of her bodice, and fingered her pearls.

“I…I never thanked you for returning these.” She caressed the necklace with her fingers as she spoke. “Or for the lovely poem and the rose. No one has given me either before and I….”

He leaned over, cupping her jaw, brushing her hair from her face with his thumb. His words brushed her like a soft kiss. “You were so beautiful in your sleep, Bella. Like an angel with your hair tumbling about your shoulders. You wore nothing but a sheet. I wanted to wake you. To pull it from you. To kiss each curve and hollow.”

He tilted her chin with gentle fingers, and kissed the underside of her jaw. A delicious ache made her nipples harden and her heart thrummed with excitement. His hand traveled with an unhurried touch, over her shoulders and along her arm to clasp her waist. He tightened his arm, pulling her closer into his embrace as he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I told myself to be patient.” He nipped her earlobe and she whimpered. “I promised myself there’d be time. You have no idea what agony it was to keep that promise after you woke. I have thought of that night often, Bella. And what I would do if I had you naked in my bed.”

“Jack....” It was barely a whisper. She lay her palm against his face and brushed her lips to his. A fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach made her limbs go weak and her breath quickened with her pulse. This was what she’d been waiting for since he’d climbed into her coach. What she’d be wanting and dreaming of since he’d kissed her at his leisure in her room.

He groaned, and eased her back against the cushions. “I came for
you
, Bella. I came because all I can think of is this. It was no accident.”

He traced her face with gentle fingers, then bent to kiss her cheek and jaw, breathing soft against her cheek. She sighed and closed her eyes. His lips grazed her lids, then the corner of her mouth as his thumb gently caught her lower lip and pulled it slightly open. A soft moan escaped her when his tongue plunged into her mouth. His kiss was lush and delicious. It tasted of wine and coffee, spiced with cinnamon and clove. It acted like a drug, consuming all thought and melting all reservations.

She gave herself over to the taste and feel of him, her lips swollen with wanting, her tongue joining with his, touching and stroking, exploring his mouth as her body yearned to feel his hands upon her. Stiff nipples strained, tight against her bodice and she arched against him, wishing she had worn something less unyielding and modest, something more open to his touch. She tugged at his shirt, eager to feel his skin. It was hot and silky smooth, and she ran her hands across his ribs.

He groaned and turned into her, his kisses growing deeper and more feverish as he thrust inside her with his tongue. His fingers hooked her neckline and he yanked it down. There was a tearing sound. Arabella whimpered in alarm, the spell she had been under broken. She pushed against his shoulders but he threw one long leg across hers, and lowered his mouth to her naked breast. When his hot mouth found her ridged tip she gasped and jerked against him as a startling new sensation sent a wild bolt of pleasure arcing through her body and stirred an exquisite ache between her thighs.

“Shall I stop, love?” he whispered, hot against her ear. “I don’t want to frighten you.”

She was torn for one brief moment between the warnings she’d heard all her life, and her longing for this man but she knew there would never be another man that made this feel so right. How could she deny herself Jack? She shook her head. “No.”

He kissed her soft on the lips, and brushed the hair from her eyes. “I would never hurt you, Bella. I will show you something of pleasure, yet leave you untouched. There is nothing to fear.” He captured her jaw, dragging his lips back and forth across hers, plundering her mouth in a heady kiss that left her gasping, and then he planted a searing trail of kisses down her neck, lingering beneath her ear and at the sensitive hollow where her collarbone met her throat.

She rose to meet him when he cupped her breasts, unable to stop herself. They felt swollen and heavy and her nipples throbbed unbearably with a blend of pleasure and pain. He brushed them with his thumb and it felt so good she could have wept. When he slowly drew a nipple into his mouth and teased it with his tongue, she bucked and squirmed against him and when he bit down gently a sweet thrill tugged her nipples and clenched between her legs. She whimpered and gasped for breath as his hot mouth closed on hers, muffling her cry as she called out his name.

Uncertain of exactly what she wanted, Arabella wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed against his length as he kissed her nipples and throat, whispering endearments, squeezing and petting her with strong nimble hands. Her fingers gently traced the hard planes of his face, trailing over his cheekbones and caressing his jaw. “Help me, Jack,” she moaned. “I don’t know what to do.”

“God grant me strength,” he muttered under his breath, before taking her hand and guiding it to the erection, swollen tight and hard within his breeches. “You can own a man with this,” he whispered against her throat.

Arabella touched him gingerly, feeling a thrill of power and excitement as he stirred and grew larger, and his big body quivered beneath her touch. He groaned, shifting to his side so she could reach him with ease and she ran her fingers back and forth before giving him a gentle squeeze.

“Christ! Bella,” he moaned, jerking against her.

“I’m sorry!” She snatched her fingers away, red faced. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Shh…,” he murmured, catching her hand and gently drawing it back. “It’s a sweet, sweet agony, love. Please don’t stop. Let your hands roam where they will. Follow where your instincts lead you, though not with any other fellow, just with me. Touch me as you feel, and tell me what does and does not please you. There is a grand discovery at the end, Bella. Grander than anything that goes before. Let me show you. Close your eyes. Don’t fight it. Just let yourself enjoy. You can tell me anytime you want me to stop.”

He changed position so that she was spread beneath him, and kissing and petting her, slid an expert hand beneath her skirt. His fingers traced her skin from ankle to thigh, slowly teasing. She held her breath, tight with tension, feeling embarrassed and vulnerable, yet desperate for some kind of release. His tongue flicked against her ear, and his fingers crept higher. She closed her legs against him and he stilled.

He chuckled. “You don’t want to come adventuring with me, Bella? You aren’t curious to see what lies beyond the next corner? You are the gatekeeper, love. It is for you to decide.”

She could feel the tension in his body, and his sex pressed hard against her hip. Her thighs were slick from her own moisture and an exquisite throbbing pulsed steadily between her legs. It embarrassed her, and it excited her. She knew, instinctively he would bring relief. A thrill of anticipation and fear coursed through her. She held her breath, and slowly relaxed her legs. “Show me, Jack. I would know.” His smile stole her breath.

His hand crept higher, caressing soft skin that no one had touched before. He slid his hand between the juncture of her thighs. She was moist and hot against his palm and he pressed against her with his thumb, sending waves of desire coursing through her body. “You like it when I touch you, Bella. You are hot and wet for me. That is how I know.”

As she stretched her legs wider in response, she felt her skin, all of it, burn crimson red.

“Don’t be ashamed of it, love. It makes a man proud to know he does this to his woman. It means he pleases her. It means she wants him.” His knowing voice, rich and seductive, touched her like a caress. As he spoke, his skillful fingers stroked the throbbing entrance between her thighs. She writhed and blushed in pleasure and embarrassment. She cried out when he gripped her nub between his thumb and forefinger, giving it a slight tug.

He spread her with his fingers and she whimpered with need, opening her legs wider and inviting more. Obliging her, he played with her soaking curls, stroking her slowly, watching with a smile as his strong sure fingers teased and excited until she was moaning and quivering, thrusting against him, wild with need. He lowered his mouth to suckle her nipples and she rocked against him, writhing beneath him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He captured her mouth in a feverish kiss.

With one hand on her bottom and one hand around her shoulders, he positioned her so her heated core pressed tight against his straining cock. His hands trailed up and down from the back of her knees to her milky thighs, tickling and stroking, then rose to cup her firm behind and grind her against his crotch. She forgot who she was and where she was. It didn’t matter. As the world burst around her on wave after wave of wrenching pleasure, she felt safe as she floated, for strong arms held her and she was anchored by Jack.