The Price of Pleasure (11 page)

After a long walk, Reed returned to his bedchamber for a nap. If he was to spend his last night in Fleur’s bed, he wanted to be well rested.

Reed awakened refreshed and went to the kitchen to partake of another of Lisette’s excellent meals. There was even a fine Bordeaux wine to accompany the ragout, and fresh bread and a dessert to die for. Reed cleaned his plate and asked for seconds of the dessert.

Conversation centered on plans for Reed’s departure. Reed listened carefully, then asked a few questions of his own.

“Will I finally meet Andre?” he asked.

Antoine supplied the answer. “
Oui,
he will be waiting for you on the beach.”

Reed excused himself after the meal and went directly to his bedchamber, where he counted the minutes until the house quieted and he was free to go to Fleur. He left his chamber and walked the short distance to Fleur’s. He opened the door without knocking and stepped inside, closing the door softly behind him. Fleur was waiting; she turned from the window at the sound of his entry, her luminous eyes as dark as melted chocolate in the golden glow of a single candle.

She had stripped down to her shift, a white, diaphanous garment that revealed more than it concealed. Reed stopped in midstep, his silver eyes darkening as he admired her haunting beauty. Then she opened her arms to him, and Reed walked into them.

“Fleur, I . . . ”

“No, don’t say anything, Reed. What is there to say that hasn’t already been said? Let us enjoy the moment. They don’t come very often for people like us.”

“All you have to do is step aboard that ship with me for our liaison to continue,” Reed reminded her.

“You don’t mean that, Reed. Think about it. You and I are but a moment in time.”

Though Reed knew Fleur was right, he wasn’t ready for their relationship to end. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much? If we have only this moment, let us enjoy it.”

She gazed at him, her brown eyes soft with desire and alight with eagerness. He was charmed that she could feel and show more than one emotion at once. But that wasn’t the only thing he admired about Fleur. He had never met a woman like her.

“Kiss me, Reed. I didn’t realize how lonely I was until you came to us, and when you leave I shall be lonely again.”

Reed didn’t hesitate. He wanted to kiss Fleur as badly as she wanted to kiss him. He had thought of nothing else all day. That and how many times he could make love to her before dawn.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, setting his lips to the fragrant turn of her neck, then to her shoulder and finally over her mouth. He thrust his tongue past her open lips and stroked inside, offering a promise of pleasure to come. Her arms circled his neck as she melted into him, returning his kiss passionately.

A deep groan escaped his lips as he ended the kiss and broke contact with her body. His gaze never left hers as he slipped one finger beneath the strap of her shift and pushed it off her shoulder. Then he released the other strap; the garment drifted down her body to the floor.

Fleur smiled into his eyes as she grasped the lapels of his jacket and pushed it down his shoulders. He shrugged it off as she worked on the buttons of his shirt. After the shirt came off, he tugged his breeches down his hips and stepped out of them. His shoes and stockings were the last to go.

“Seeing you as you are now,” Fleur said, “one would never believe you were the same man I carried away from Devil’s Chateau.”

Reed sent her a wry smile. “Unfortunately, the scars on my body tell their own story. And in case you haven’t noticed, there are demons inside me that threaten my sanity at inconvenient times.

“But this isn’t one of those times,” he said, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her to the bed. He followed her down, propping himself on his elbows so he could stare into her eyes.

She touched his face. “I firmly believe you will defeat those demons, Reed. Time has a way of healing all wounds. Let me give you a happy memory to take back to England with you.”

She rose to her knees and pushed him down. She straddled him, dropping tiny kisses over his chest and shoulders. Her mouth found his nipples, and she nibbled gently. He arched and tried to unseat her, but she refused to budge.

“No, let me love you,” she whispered. “I want to do this.”

His erection strained against her bottom as she kissed a path down his torso, teasing him with nipping little kisses up and down his body.

A growl rumbled from his throat as Fleur’s lips moved lower, dangerously lower. She hesitated and looked up at him, her eyes kindling with heat as she scooted back and stroked the rigid length of his cock.

“You don’t have to . . . ”

But she did. His whole body trembled with delight as she bent her head and licked the head of his cock. Then she took him in her mouth, tasting, sucking, driving him to the edge of madness.

When she ran her tongue the length of his cock and over the tip, he shuddered violently. And when her hand slipped between his legs to cup his bollocks, Reed tipped his head back and gasped her name through clenched teeth. Raw, primitive lust surged through his veins. He was close, so very close, but he wanted to be inside her when he came.

Fleur grew bolder, licking down and over his wet slickness again and again. Reed stiffened. She had to stop before he . . .

“No more, love. I cannot bear it.”

Grasping her slender waist, he lifted her up and away, depositing her beside him on the bed. Panting harshly, he reared up and mounted her, his face stark, his silver eyes glittering hungrily. “Now it’s my turn to love you.”

Moonlight washed over her, burnishing her skin with gold. She was perfection, this woman who had saved his life. He covered her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue languidly inside, tasting himself on her lips. After kissing her breathless, he left her mouth in favor of her nipples, suckling just hard enough to make her arch and cry out. Her fingers clamped on to his buttocks, digging into the muscle as her breathing grew labored.

Reed slid from her grasp, working his way lower, feasting on sweetly scented flesh along the way. Parting the soft thatch of curls, he probed hungrily with his tongue, seeking the erect little nub of flesh hidden there. She made a soft gurgle of pleasure as he stroked over her clitoris again and again.

“You’re as perfect there as you are everywhere else,” he rasped moments before he covered her with his mouth. He worked her slowly with his tongue, flicking inside, then withdrawing as he continued to fondle the swelling nub of her femininity with the pad of his thumb.

“Reed! I’m . . . I cannot . . . ”

Trembling violently, Fleur cried out and rocked beneath him for what seemed an eternity. She was still lost in the throes of ecstasy when Reed moved up her body and thrust his cock inside her tight sheath. She arched upward, her body coming up to meet his. His body taut, teeth clenched, he rode her furiously to his own thundering climax, aware of nothing save his own pleasure.

Moments later they lay side by side, wrapped in each other’s arms, sated and weary.

“I will never forget this moment,” Reed promised. “Not ever, no matter what life brings. Even if we never cross paths again, I will remember this night.”

Before the fingers of a misty gray dawn pushed away the night, Reed had two more precious memories to store up and savor at his leisure. He left Fleur’s bed before the household began to stir and slept until noon.

Fleur was awakened hours earlier by Lisette, who swished into the chamber, sniffed delicately and opened the window.

“The room reeks of sex,
ma petite.
I trust you enjoyed yourself.”

Fleur opened her eyes, blinked blearily, sat up and gave a satisfied purr. “I enjoyed myself very much, Lisette. Do not begrudge me a few moments of happiness. Chances are Reed and I will never meet again.”

Lisette’s expression softened. “I begrudge you nothing,
chèrie,
but I fear your heart will be broken.”

“My heart is well guarded, Lisette,” Fleur replied, desperately wanting to believe her own words.

Fleur had always enjoyed the marital bed with Pierre, but what they’d done and how he made her feel was a far cry from what she experienced with Reed. After Reed was gone, she would have plenty of time to ponder the state of her emotions. But regardless of whatever conclusion she came to, she and Reed could be nothing more than brief lovers, like ships passing in the night.

Fleur kept busy the rest of the day, though her mind was as dismal as the weather. A light rain had fallen all day, and fog rolling in from the sea had lowered visibility to a few feet. Today was Reed’s last day at the cottage, and the weather was cooperating perfectly for his clandestine departure.

Tonight Reed would board a ship for England, and Fleur would continue on in France as if she hadn’t taken him as her lover. There were so many details involved with Reed’s leaving that Fleur found no opportunity to speak privately with him. They all met in the dining room for dinner that night to partake of roast beef and other dishes Lisette had prepared.

“Everything is in place for tonight,” Fleur said to Reed. “Rendezvous time is midnight. Antoine will bring the cart around at precisely eleven. We couldn’t ask for better weather. The fog will provide a perfect cover for the boat.”

“What if the ship fails to arrive?” Reed asked hopefully.

“Then we will return home and hope for a rendezvous tomorrow night. But that has never happened. The ship has always been there waiting. Nor have we been forced to use the alternate rendezvous.”

The plans set and the meal finished, Antoine and Gaston left to prepare the cart, while Lisette busied herself elsewhere. Reed and Fleur were alone at last, each dreading this final goodbye. Reed drew Fleur to her feet and led her into the parlor.

“This isn’t goodbye, Fleur. We’ll meet again one day.”

Fleur held scant hope of meeting Reed again in this life. And she was smart enough to realize that being besotted with a man she would never see again was futile, so she forced her thoughts away from Reed to the reason she was remaining in France.

Though she would admit it to no one, intuition told her that the authorities were closing in on her. If her time was limited, she wanted to save as many Englishmen as she could. But for Reed’s sake, she put on a brave face.

“One day I will return to England, and when I do, we may meet, but more than likely we will not. Perhaps you’ll be wed by then, with your heir on the way. All I ask is that you remember me fondly.”

“Fondly? You saved my life, Fleur. But for you I would be dead. What I will remember about you is your courage, your kindness and most of all your passion. You returned my faith in my manhood. Thank you for that, for everything.”

Reed pulled her into his arms, wishing he could say something, anything, to convince her to leave with him. But he knew he would be wasting his breath. Fleur felt the same about serving her country as he. So he did what his heart and body directed. He tightened his arms around her and kissed her one last time, drinking in her taste and essence so as to remember her forever.

When the kiss ended, Fleur gave him a wave and a wobbly smile and fled. He didn’t follow her. Nor did he see her again before he climbed onto the cart and left the cottage forever.

The ride to the rendezvous was damp and uncomfortable. The night was so foggy, Reed feared the cart would miss a turn and plunge off the cliff. But Antoine knew the way and kept the horse on the narrow trail. They proceeded without incident, arriving at the rendezvous at the appointed time.

Reed climbed out of the cart. “I can’t see anything. If there’s a ship out there, it’s hidden by the fog.” He walked to the edge of a steep incline and stared into the misty darkness, wondering where Andre was and if he should proceed down the slope to the narrow strip of beach.

“Welcome back from the dead, Hunthurst.”

Reed whirled at the sound of a familiar voice. “Who’s there?”

“Your friends know me as Andre, but you know me by another name.”

A lantern flared. Andre’s face came into view, and Reed recognized him as an operative he had met several times before. He was dressed in the same rough clothing as Reed, able to pass as a French peasant without difficulty. “Peter Weldon. You were in Paris the last time I saw you. What are you still doing in France?”

“I’ve spent the last few months searching for you,” Weldon said. “I was beginning to fear you were dead when I stumbled upon Devil’s Chateau. Then it took awhile to discover if you were one of the prisoners inside. It was Porter who told me about Fleur Fontaine. He knows her aunt. From her he learned that the countess was supposedly living in a cottage near Devil’s Chateau. I contacted her and together we hatched a plan to get her inside the prison.

“Before she found you, she was able to rescue Grimes and Leasenby. They hadn’t been there long and weren’t in as bad shape as you were. Fleur and her little group have worked wonders with you, though you are still a bit thin and pale. Now it’s time you returned to England and took your rightful place in Society.”

“To hell with Society!” Reed blasted. “How could you place Fleur in such a dangerous situation? You sent her into Devil’s Chateau without a thought for her safety.”