The Libertine (16 page)

He gazed at her naked form in the bedside candlelight, and the
look in his eyes was both passionate and possessive. Chloris swayed under his
scrutiny, her body pulsing. Yet he stood tall and unwavering, studying her as if
she were the most important thing he would ever see. The man was a consummate
seducer, for he had ways in which to make a woman feel his desire that were too
powerful to resist. His gaze made her tremble. She wanted him so badly. Wanted
him to take her and fill her and join them together completely. Was it so wrong?
Her mind said it was, but her heart and body craved him like no other.

Beyond him she caught sight of the door and what it
represented—a futile barrier between them and discovery. “Lennox, there is not
even a key here to lock the door.”

His gaze lifted and held hers, silencing her. “No one will
enter.”

Had he made sure of that by magic because of what had happened
the last time he came here?

“Let me make love to you.”

It was so hard to deny him. She stepped closer until she was
right against him and cupped his face in her hands. “I want that, too, but I am
afraid you will be discovered here. I have heard Tamhas ranting about you. I
dread his mood if he found us this way.”

His mouth tightened for a moment, but he ignored her
comment.

Instead he ran his fingers over her up-tilted breasts, and his
eyes glimmered with firelight that was of his own making. “I sense your need.
Let me slake it, let me bring you sweeter dreams than you might have had
tonight.”

Oh, how his words stoked her fires. The ache at her center
grew.

When her body shivered and her head dropped back, he covered
her neck with fevered kisses. “I was ready to be inside you this morning, and
that need has only grown.”

She could not fight it.

He bent, lifted her easily into his arms and laid her out on
the bed. Looming over her, he sighed deeply. Slowly, he began to caress her
body, trailing his fingertips over the surface of her skin. As he touched her,
from shin to thigh, from hipbone to breast, he seemed to draw the breath from
her body, quickening her blood, sending wild her senses.

“Lennox.” She ached for him desperately. Desire the likes of
which she had never experienced before washed over her and it made her eyes
smart, for her emotions could come undone far too easily.

“Let me love you,” he replied.

Chloris shut her eyes, savoring the words.
Let me love you.

She felt him shift and he breathed over her nipples, then
kissed them, one after the other, his tongue swirling over the peaked surfaces.
Chloris melted into the bed, yet his intimate attentions were almost too gentle.
Every moment they had seemed stolen, and she wanted to clasp him to her,
frenzied, to bond with him hard and fast for as long as she could before their
paths were forced to diverge.

Instead, Lennox shifted down the bed and lifted one of her
feet, clasping her gently around the ankle with one strong hand. When she
realized his intentions, she moaned softly. He parted her legs, his hands moving
along the inside of her legs as he climbed onto the bed between her knees.

Glancing down, she stroked his thick black hair with trembling
hands while he kissed the inside of her thighs. Each kiss was like sunlight
dancing on her skin, teasing her. Worse still was the pounding she felt deep at
her center and at the crest of her folds, where her swollen nub was tingling
wildly, anticipating his touch.

“You are adorable.” His breath was warm on her sensitive
skin.

“Oh, please, Lennox,” she murmured, her body shifting, her
hands clutching at the bedcovers.

Splaying his hands around the top of her thighs, he sank his
mouth onto the mound of her sex and kissed her deeply, his tongue moving between
her folds.

Arching, her head fell back against the pillows. She moaned and
twisted on the bed when his tongue moved faster. Pleasure blossomed fast, her
heightened emotions bringing her closer still to him. He buried his face between
her legs and tongued her faster. Her back arched, her bud growing tight and
sensitive under his ministrations. A sudden tremor ran through her and she
bloomed into climax. Still he kissed her there, making her spend again. In the
distance she heard her own voice crying out. She all but fainted away.

His voice drew her back to him. “I want to hold you in my arms
forever.”

“Hush,” she whispered. “Please, let us only think of this
night, for the rest is an intrusion.”

A shadowy smile passed over his face. “It is, but we will have
more than this one night, mark my words.”

He pulled his shirt over his head and off, casting it
aside.

Chloris savored the sight of his muscular shoulders. Then, when
he stood up to undo his breeches, the bulge of his cock made her mouth go
dry.

He eyed her possessively as he kicked his boots off and undid
his breeches, shoving them off. His cock sprang out, long and thick, its head
beautifully defined and dark with blood. Her thighs instinctively rolled
together as she took in the sight of him and damp heat trickled onto her thighs.
This is what he had done to her, and it was so intense that she could only wish
it could be the way he suggested, that they might lie together every night.

Then he was over her, his cock resting against the tingling
folds of her sex. His closeness overwhelmed her with a renewed fever of desire.
She was intoxicated by him, wanting him above and beyond anything. When he
entered her she clutched him in welcome and let out a loud moan of relief.

His eyes flashed, his mouth in a passionate curl. He nudged
then drove the full length of his shaft inside her slick channel, until the
blunt head was pressed to her center.

Chloris arched up from the bed in response. She reached up to
wrap her hands around his head. “Lennox, when you...when we are like this, it is
the most beautiful thing I have ever known.”

“I know.” He looked down at her, studying her face, his body
supported on his arms, his hips hard against hers. “It is the same for me.”

They stayed that way, locked together by the intensity of the
moment, until a sob escaped her. “You have made me know what it is like to be a
woman—” she paused, because she had to swallow back her emotion “—a woman
fulfilled.”

“We were meant to be this way,” Lennox replied, and then he lay
over her, stroking her hair as he kissed her mouth, soothing her.

His cock throbbed inside her. It made her desperate.

Shifting her legs to wrap them around his hips, she invited him
deeper still.

He began to thrust. Slowly at first, tenderly.

Oh, how she wanted it to last forever. Desire, fate and
circumstance would not allow it. That made each point of contact between them
more poignant. She reached around to caress his broad back, her body rocking to
meet his, each and every time he thrust into her. In the candlelight she saw how
he held back, how he made every moment last. Each thrust was so exquisitely full
of sensation that she felt as if she was about to spill again, every time his
swollen crown crushed against her center. All the while, he locked her gaze to
his, not allowing her to look away as they shared the intensity of their
joining.

When their movements became more fevered she clung to him. She
felt another sob building at the back of her throat. When it escaped her, he
slammed home and she tipped over the precipice.

“Oh, yes,” he whispered, and she felt his cock jerk.

Release flooded her, her entire groin filled with heat, her
body alight as far as her peaked nipples and her throat. Then Lennox spilled his
seed, and in the moment of their mutual release, his mouth covered hers, owning
her inside and out, and Chloris thought she would die of the pleasure.

* * *

Lennox lay on his side and drew her tightly against him,
arranging her body inside the curve of his. That warmth and closeness made her
feel cherished.

At first Chloris dozed in his arms, supine with pleasure,
comforted and loved. But before long her mind pushed forward objections. She
fought sleep, concerned for his safety. “Please, go before you are discovered
here.”

He did not seem surprised, but he had an answer ready. “I will
go if you promise to meet me at dawn in the usual place.”

“But—”

He hushed her with his finger on her lips. “We will talk then.
Now promise me you will come.”

Uneasily, she considered the suggestion. He would not rest if
she said no, he would keep coming back here, and that had to end. “I will come,
Lennox. However, it is only talking we will do.”

The closer she allowed him to get, the harder it was.

He narrowed his eyes, his lips curving.

“That was not meant to be a challenge,” she added.

“I agree, we need to talk, because I need to convince you that
we will lie together, every night.”

She attempted to give him a chastising look. “And I need to
convince you of the many reasons it cannot be.”

The brooding look in his eyes was only belied by his lingering
smile.

She clasped his arm. “Lennox, I promise to meet you, if you
promise me you will not seduce me by magic or otherwise.”

He lifted her fingers in his and kissed her palm. “I promise.”
Then he rose and began to dress. “However, should you change your mind about
doing anything other than talking, I will not argue.”

Chloris couldn’t help herself, she laughed. “You are a
dangerous man.”

“Only if I am wronged.” He shrugged. “Tenacity is my strongest
characteristic, keep that in mind.”

Chloris caught the serious note in his tone, and it made her
long for a different life, a life where they
could
be together.

She rose and pulled on her nightgown in order to say goodbye.
As they stood by the door, and she strained to hear any movement in the corridor
outside, she noticed he looked only at her. “Please, take care when you go
through the house, I fear for your discovery.”

He stroked her jaw with his warm palm, the look in his eyes
thoughtful. “It is not me you need to fret over.”

Then he bent and kissed her, quickly, and took his leave.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lennox dreamed of her that night as he had so many
before, in those few hours before he rose at dawn to meet her in the forest. The
dreams were pleasurable at first, purely carnal. Then an overwhelming feeling of
despair filled him as her face swam before him at the moment when he shunned
her. Her sense of pride had been raw and wounded after he revealed the scars on
her back, her beautiful eyes full of betrayal and sadness.

Interleaved with that were more pleasant images, moments from
their lovemaking. The memory that haunted his dreams the most was the way she
looked up into his eyes as she offered herself again, her hands fisting against
his chest. That precious moment when all her doubts had been cast aside, when
nothing would hold her. Her voice whispered around his mind.
You have made me know what it is like to be a woman—a woman
fulfilled.

Lust surged in him. Tossing in his bed he fought the urge to
wake fully, unwilling to break with the dream because he felt her hair brushing
against his face and chest, and it was so soft, so real. Lennox wanted it to be
so. He wanted to lie with her every night.

Her body pressed to his, and her soft lips on his mouth let
loose his desire.

He reached out and clutched her to him, grabbing fistfuls of
her hair and holding her close as the kiss took hold of him.
Chloris
. The urge to possess her wholly, to make her
his and his alone, was taking root in him.

But her hair was long and silky under his fingers, and it did
not tangle or bounce.

Something was amiss.

Jerking free he opened his eyes and stared up at Ailsa.

His heart thudded violently against the wall of his chest.
“What are you doing?”

Ailsa ran her hand over his bare chest and flashed her eyes at
him. “Waking you in the manner you enjoy most of all.”

It seemed like some strange jest because his mind and body were
filled with Chloris and her essence. Then Ailsa’s hair spread over his chest in
a silken curtain as she ducked her head and kissed him on his breastbone. Her
hands moved lower to his breeches, where she began to undo the buttons.

Lennox grabbed her wrist, halting her. Pushing her aside, he
sat up on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hands.

“Lennox?”

“A moment, please.” The error disturbed him immensely.

Ailsa laid her hand against his back, sending her warmth into
his bones, offering herself to him for pleasure and purpose—to give strength to
his day in deed and magic.

Lennox rose to his feet, drawing away.

He did not want to hurt her, but he did not want her.

Turning to face her, he saw a woman thwarted.

She half sat in the place where he had left her, resting her
hands on his empty mattress as she looked up at him. A beautiful lass she was,
with her black hair trailing to the bed and eyes that flashed with mysticism and
magic—eyes that reflected her heritage. She was a powerful young witch, and she
needed a strong master to guide her lest she strayed from the natural path.
Ailsa wanted that master to be him, always, but it could not be. Lennox was sure
of that.

Swallowing hard, he reached for his shirt and pulled it over
his head.

“It is her,” Ailsa accused. “Chloris Keavey, it is her you
want.”

Straightening his breeches, he secured the buttons. “Be careful
of what you are saying.”

“No. I know you, Lennox.” Her tone was bitter and she stared
pointedly at his fingers lacing up his breeches. “You are blinded by your desire
for her.”

When he met her stare, her eyes flashed with rage.

It occurred to him that she’d suspected it even before she woke
him with her kiss. He’d wondered on it that night on the clearing. Had she set
out to test him? He shrugged his waistcoat on. “I have never bound myself to one
woman, you are well aware of that fact.”

“Until now,” she said accusingly, drawing away and rising to
her feet on the other side of his bed. “You would bind yourself to her. I see it
there in your eyes. That is why you do not want me anymore, because she is the
only one for you now.”

Lennox cursed beneath his breath as he attempted to do up the
buttons on his waistcoat. Ailsa spoke the truth. He could not deny her words nor
would he have been able to indulge in carnal congress with her, because it was
Chloris he wanted. That was no surprise. He loved her and would always protect
her. Being confronted about it by a member of his coven did not help his state
of mind, especially when his foremost concern was convincing Chloris to leave
her husband and be with him instead.

“She’s not even one of our kind,” Ailsa continued, seemingly
determined to drive her dagger deep, “which is the greatest risk of all. Even if
she loves you now, there is no saying what she will do to you in the
future.”

Irritated, Lennox shouted at her. “Enough!”

“Why? Am I not allowed my say?”

Lennox glared across the bed at her. She was as slippery and
determined as a salmon leaping upstream. “You are allowed your say,” he
retorted, “but I am currently troubled on many accounts. I fear for Mistress
Chloris, who has suffered greatly and took a great risk the night she came here
for our help.” The leaden weight in his gut made him shake his head. “It is the
way of my life, and it has always been so, to fret over women.” He paused, but
it had to be said. “Until I find my sisters I will not rest. I do my best for
you and the other members of the coven, but for my own part I cannot commit more
than that to you and you have always known that.”

“I have always known that, but that is not the problem now.”
She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him. “I have sympathy for
your burden, believe me, for I, too, have lost people who were close to me
because of the craft, but you use your sisters as an excuse far too often,
Lennox.”

Irritation was fast turning to rage. “Hold your tongue!”

She shook her head. “You will hear me out.” Relentlessly, she
held his gaze. “You say that you wish to gain respectability for us. Yet, at the
very same time you try to impress them, how...? By seducing their women?”

Anger roiled in him. He wanted her to stop.

“Do you know what they call you in the burgh? The Libertine.
And they do not say it in hushed tones of admiration, no. It is said by those
who doubt your claim to respectability, and I do not blame them. Passion might
be the source of our greatest power, but not the way you have sought it
out...seducing women to hurt thine enemies. Well, now you are mired in a
situation you would do well to pull away from, but you won’t.”

At one time he might have been able to ignore the words, but
her description made his bones so tight that his teeth ground and he had to
grasp the bedpost to stop himself marching around there and silencing her with
his hand over her mouth. “I told you to hold your tongue.”

She shook her head, fire in her eyes. “Not until you tell me
why you do that. Why you take risks with their women when you have loyal witches
who can satisfy you in ways they cannot even begin to understand?”

This was the second time in the turn of a day that a woman had
faced up to him, exposing the deep flaws in his character, the ones he knew he
had, but denied.

“Because it is easy,” he admitted. “There are days when I am
sick to my belly with fear for our kind and I hate them for their superior ways
and their ability to call us on our beliefs. The witch hunters scour the land on
the promise of an ousting and the tally of lives ended cruelly grows ever
longer. I cannot bear it, and when I look at those men who smugly turn us
away...”

He sighed, for the confession shifted the weight he
carried.

“I am not proud of it, Ailsa, but my actions are often driven
by the need for retribution. I have given them every chance to accept us, but
when a reasonable offering is rejected, I see them stoning my mother to death
and forcing my young sisters to watch, and I want them to feel the pain that I
felt when
my
family was crushed and torn apart.”

They stared at each other in silence, then Ailsa’s lower lip
trembled and she skirted the bed and threw herself into his arms, clutching at
him.

He held her to him with one hand against her back. The sound of
her soft weeping against his chest only confirmed that he was making them all
unhappy.

“Everything you have said is true. You are a sensitive young
witch.” He stroked her hair. “You must ally yourself to a better master, for you
will be immensely powerful one day and you need someone to guard you well.”

Ailsa lifted her head to look at him. Her strange gray eyes
glittered with tears. “You have guarded us well. I want to stay by your
side.”

Lennox gave a wry smile. She was attempting to mend the rift,
but her accusations made him want to make amends in a different way. He set her
from him. “We will find your destined lover, just bide your time.”

He glanced at the window. Dawn was breaking. He was due to meet
Chloris. He snatched up his belt.

“You are going to her.” It was not a question.

“It is the time for action, Ailsa. Today the council issues the
list of the tradesmen who have been accepted into the guild. I want to see it
just to know that my efforts were not in vain. I will speak to the coven this
evening and if everyone is agreed, we head north to a new beginning. I must mend
things with Mistress Chloris in case the coven votes to depart soon.”

“You would have her leave with us?”

“It will take some convincing on my part, but it would be my
wish for her to come with us, yes.”

Ailsa took a deep breath, lifting her chin. “Then you had
better hasten to her side.”

Hurt still shone in her eyes and Lennox felt her withdrawing
from him.

“If you have doubts about me, perhaps you no longer accept me
as your coven master?”

She gave a sad smile. “Lennox, I cannot deny that I ache for
you, and I will miss you as a lover if you choose her instead, but you are the
Witch Master who gave me life when death took my sister. I remain loyal to you
and will follow wherever you lead us.”

There was honesty in her eyes, alongside the pain. “And I will
do all I can to ensure you remain safe.”

Ailsa nodded.

“We will talk more this afternoon, when I return from the
council meeting.” He wanted to reassure her, but things had been left incomplete
with Chloris the night before and he needed to be sure she understood how much
she meant to him before he went to the town.

* * *

Chloris watched him approach.

His tall figure moved through the trees easily, covering the
ground between them. The day was already warm and the air hazy between the
trees. Lennox seemed as one with this beautiful place, this hidden glen in the
forest. It was how she’d always remember him, strolling through the trees as if
he were king here. How was it that she had been allowed to love such a man, even
for a short while? He was gifted and handsome, and younger than she. He was also
wild and unpredictable.

When he closed on her, she smiled but she also put up her hand,
indicating she wanted space between them while they spoke. She’d set her mind on
how this would happen, and she meant to stick to it. But when she looked at
him—adoring the very sight of him, intoxicated by it—she knew it would be hard.
Nevertheless, it had to be done.

His smile faded somewhat when she raised her hand, but he
halted in front of her and bowed his head. “How are you today?”

“I am well. But there are things we need to say and things I
need to know.”

“Ask me anything.” The look in his eyes was brooding.

“There are things I’ve heard whispered, and I need to hear the
truth about them from your lips.” She put her back to the tree, resting against
it. “Tell me, how many women have you seduced?”

He looked uncomfortable.

That only confirmed her suspicions that Jean had been right. He
was a libertine, bent on satisfying his need and ruining women’s reputations as
he went. And she had fallen for his seductive ways. Even Jean had wanted to
taste his magic, she was sure of it. The question had haunted her, and it was
hard to state. She wanted to know his answer, though, and it pleased her
somewhat that he did not shrug it off, that it mattered what she thought.

He opened his lips.

She reached over and pressed her finger to them, halting him.
“Only the truth, I will respect you more for that.”

The truth was she needed to know this, to make her stronger.
She had to deny this scheme to have her run to him.

He looked somewhat rueful. “I do not keep count, but there have
been many. But...until you, they were at best a source, the vital life force
that I could harvest for my magic. At worst they were nameless, faceless lovers,
a momentary escape.”

Until me?

His eyes narrowed. He was silent a moment, as if he was
gathering his thoughts. “Physical congress is the cornerstone of our beliefs.
There is no greater power, and I am able to harvest it and use it to right
wrongs, to heal and to influence. And yet, until you...I did not perceive the
true value of what passes between a woman and a man, the simple act of sharing
one another when there is deep affection as well as desire.”

Chloris inhaled. This man who had so much understanding of the
possibilities between a man and a woman, more than any person she had ever
known, and his confession about not understanding it was almost unthinkable.

“I love you, Chloris.” There was a look in his eyes that
pleaded with her to understand. This was not easy for him. “You changed
everything for me. I treasure our moments together. They bring me closer to the
fundamental beliefs I subscribe to.”

This was not helping her to make distance between them. They
could not be together, she recognized that.