What A Rogue Wants (32 page)

He wanted more. He wanted to shelter
her and ravish her at the same time. The dueling desires drove his
kiss to a frenzied level. He ravaged her mouth with kiss after
kiss, and she responded by pressing her mouth harder against his.
Their hands worked frantically over each other. He slid his hands
over her smooth skin, pushing her dress off her shoulder, tugging
open her bodice, and slipping a finger under her dress to release
her taut nipple. He wrenched his mouth away from hers only to lower
it to her nipple where he swirled his tongue around the peak. A
shudder of desire coursed through him when a strangled moan escaped
her. Whatever control he’d had left fled with the knowledge that
she wanted him with the same desperation. He cupped her breast to
gain better access, and he grasped her bottom in his other hand to
haul her firmly against his hard body.

He wanted her with an intensity that
blinded him to all else. Before he could make his muddled mind
decide what to do, she jerked away, and even in the dark of the
forest, he sensed her embarrassment by her frantic breathing and
the rustling of her clothes as she hastily drew her dress up to
cover herself. “I’m sorry,” he quickly said. God, he was a wretched
bastard. He’d almost taken his future wife’s innocence with the
cold dirt and dry leaves as their bed.

“
Please, Grey.” Her boots
crunched on twigs and leaves as she retreated. “You must leave me.
I’ll make my way home on my own.”

His mouth fell open. Damned, foolish
woman. This was exactly why he loved her. She thought to protect
him from her predicament. But she’d not considered that she’d be
raped or murdered before she ever got out of the forest. “How do
you plan to get home alone? Will you walk?”

“
I―I’d n―n―not thought how
to get there.”

“
That’s obvious,” he said
flatly. “This forest is teeming with thieves, murderers and
rapists. You’ll be lucky to make it out with your virginity
and
your clothes
intact.” He heard her swallow. Good. She needed to understand how
vulnerable she was without him. He suspected she’d fight his
proposal, but he’d prevail.

“
Maybe I cou―could hire
someone to take me home.”

“
Have you any
money?”

“
No.” Her voice was high,
strained. “Could you loan me some?”

“
Hell no. I’ll see you
there myself, Madelaine.”

“
You don’t owe me
anything.”

“
But I do. I love you, and
I intend to marry you.”

“
Oh, Grey!” She fell
against his chest, clutching his arms.

His heart lurched at her
touch.

“
This was much easier than
I thought,” he murmured in her hair as he caressed the silken
strands.

She jerked away. “No. You
misunderstand! I can’t fathom you’d still want to marry me now. I―”
Her words cut off as she slid her hand to his head and tugged him
toward her. He met her mouth in a sweet kiss that took his breath
and infused him with another rush of lust. “You can’t marry me now,
Grey. I’d never let you align yourself with me and the taint my
father’s dishonor will bring.”

“
This is more like how I
thought you’d react,” he said wryly.

“
It has to be this way.
You must know that.”

“
I know no such thing. All
I know is I’ll be the one to see you home safely or you won’t go
home at all.” Let her think the battle was over. He had many other
weapons he could use if she pushed him and he didn’t mind one bit
the idea of seducing her in order to secure her hand in marriage.
The foolish woman loved him just as much as he loved her. For the
first time ever, he was completely and utterly happy.

His throat constricted. He wasn’t
alone. Unloved. Unwanted. She loved him. He would make her see she
needed him. Couldn’t live without him. The idea of going back to a
life of loneliness made him shudder. No amount of denying his
feelings would work this time.

Once Grey secured another horse for
Madelaine, they set out toward Lancashire. Their relentless pace
made conversation impossible, a reprieve Madelaine welcomed. She
had no idea what to say. The idea of lying to Grey after he had
said he still wanted to marry her, and was risking his life to help
her, made her sick to her stomach. She wanted nothing more than to
be able to tell him the truth, but she couldn’t betray her father
that way nor endanger Grey’s future.

Besides, what if Grey was horrified
when he learned what her father had done, and he took the paper to
prove her father’s guilt? The possibility wasn’t out of the realm
of possibilities, given his brother was so close with the king.
Grey would feel loyalty to his brother and the king, and rightly
so. Madelaine’s own tug of loyalty to the king filled her with
conflict and uncertainty.

She wasn’t sure she agreed with what
her father was doing, but he did what he thought best for the
country, and he was counting on her to save him. He had told her
exactly what to do, and for once in her life she was going to be
obedient. She owed her father this much and so much
more.

By the time they stopped at daybreak
to water, feed, and rest the horses, tiredness seeped into her
bones, making her eyes flinty and her limbs heavy. She eagerly slid
from her horse toward Grey’s outstretched hands and didn’t pull
away when her body pressed down the length of his. The courtyard of
the inn was deserted, and no one came to take their horses as she
expected.

Once she felt steady, she
pushed away from Grey and glanced at the inn.
Layer upon layer of white paint peeled from the wood, and
broken shutters framed the dilapidated windows. Discarded paper and
glass littered the ground, and the smell of rotten fish filled the
air. Madelaine sniffed. The stench of years of garbage filled her
nose, gagging her. Her head pounded from lack of sleep and food.
She swallowed, her tongue thick with thirst, her throat dry as
kindling. “Where are we?”

“
The Navigation Inn. It’s
not fit for a proper lady, which is exactly why we’re here. We
won’t run into anyone we know, so your reputation will be safe.”
Grey stared at her, unblinking.

She nearly laughed. He was utterly
serious. “I hardly think my reputation will matter in a few days.”
If she was successful at retrieving her father’s paper and getting
it to the prince, her father would live. But either way, success or
failure, his betrayal of the king would become public, and whatever
slim chance she’d ever had at making a successful marriage would
disappear. Yet she didn’t care about that. The only man she would
ever want was the man standing in front of her, and she could never
have him now. Once he knew what she had done, he would hate
her.

He scowled. “As my wife
your reputation will matter to
me
, Madelaine.”

The fact he still wanted to marry her,
even though he thought her father was about to hang for treason,
filled her with an aching, longing love. She’d never betray her
father, but she could take one thing for herself. She grasped
Grey’s hand. “Let’s get a room.”

His eyebrows raised at her suggestion.
He grasped her hand. “One room?”

“
One,” she
confirmed.

He smiled. “Does this mean you’re
agreeing to marry me?”

“
Really, Grey.” She batted
her eyes flirtatiously, hoping to move his thoughts from marriage.
“For a man who is supposed to be a notorious rake, I’d think you’d
jump at the chance to share my bed.”

He brushed his hand slowly down her
cheek, his eyes darkening to a deep blue. “My love, I tremor in
anticipation of sharing your bed, yet I find myself in the strange
position of wanting to make sure you will be mine
forever.”

His hard thighs and center pressed
against her hips and belly as his gaze locked with hers. She
brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead. “I
will be yours forever. I vow this to you.” And it wasn’t a lie, so
she didn’t even stutter. In her heart she would be Grey’s wife,
though it could never be so on paper.

He flashed a wicked grin. “Then by all
means, let’s secure a room immediately.”

Strangely enough, as she followed him,
her knees did not shake with fear at the innocence she was about to
freely give away. Once she lay with Grey, it was doubtful another
lord would want her. Her heart pounded in anticipation, not
anxiety. Her only regret was that her father would be disappointed.
Then again, she doubted her father now held any expectations or
hopes of her making a decent match, so maybe she would not be
disappointing him on that count.

She followed Grey through the door of
the tavern. Ale and sweat swirled in the air, and haggard faces
glanced their way, dismissing them in the same breath. Grey had
been right. This place was disgusting and a perfect place to go
unnoticed.

As Grey spoke with the
innkeeper and secured them a room, Madelaine stood silently in a
corner of the shabby lobby, if you could call the small room
outside of the tavern a lobby. Once Grey was finished, he held out
his hand. She slipped her hand into his as he led her up a narrow
set of stairs. They did not speak, which was a good thing because
she did not think she could find any words to say besides
I want you
. At the top
of the stairs, he took a right, passed two doors then stopped in
front of the third. “This is us.”

She nodded and smiled. She didn’t want
him to think she was nervous, but suddenly she was. Her mother had
never spoken to her about the marriage act. She wished they’d been
closer, and she had an inkling of what to expect.

Grey led her into the small room,
dismal with its faded green coverlet, threadbare carpet and dented
dresser. The surroundings mattered little to her, as long as Grey
was with her, but the room smelled of mold, and that she couldn’t
stand. She strode to the small window, but could not get it open.
Behind her, she smelled a burning wick and light flickered against
the wall creating dancing shadows. Grey came up behind her, his
arms sliding beside hers, his hands covering her smaller ones.
“Together?”

She nodded, her heart beat increasing
with each breath. The window lock snapped open and Grey pushed open
the shutters, a cool breeze hitting her face. She inhaled deeply of
the fresh air heavy with moisture of an oncoming rain.

“
Madelaine,” Grey
whispered against her neck as he stroked her hair. She pressed her
back against his length. She savored the strength of the man behind
her and the warmth of his arms as they circled her waist and turned
her toward him.

He raised her chin until she stared
into his eyes. “Tell me you want me.”

“
I want you.” There was no
need to play coy or hesitate. Tonight would represent the thousands
of moments they would never share again. There was no time for fear
or anything else. She pressed her mouth to his, willing her
problems to the darkest recesses of her mind. Their tongues
intertwined and touched gently, then greedily.

He roamed his hands up and down her
back in a rhythmic, almost frenzied pattern. Then he delved his
fingers beneath the material of her dress, pulling the cotton
gently off one shoulder. The warmth of his fingers against her bare
skin sent a shudder through her body.

The material slid lower until her
breast was exposed, and he licked and teased the peak. Sensations
exploded through her and caused her to gasp. She curled her fingers
into his arms, afraid her legs would simply give out. He tugged her
dress over her shoulder, her hips and down her legs, somehow
expertly managing to find access to the juncture between her
thighs.

She pressed her hands against his back
to draw him closer, while he pulled her tighter, suckling harder as
his fingertips found the place throbbing between her legs. A sob
escaped her as she gave up any fight and gloried in the movement of
his fingers. They massaged her, her need building until she was
sure she would die. “Please,” she cried, not at all sure what she
was begging for.

His fingers moved at a more rapid
pace. “Let yourself go.”

Hadn’t she already? Yet even as she
questioned it, a crescendo built within her, her pulse pounding a
fierce beat through her veins as a hot, searing liquid exploded
within her. She sank into his arms, panting with the release of the
throbbing in her loins and buried her face against his chest as she
ran her fingers over coiled, warm arms.